Most of us in North America will never encounter two of these rivers, but many of us have at least a passing knowledge and experience with the third.

Each, though, illustrates clearly the danger posed to population centers as well as the countryside if the right factors are present.

The Congo River

The river is the world’s deepest river and it is found in Africa. It has an outstanding overall length of almost 3,000 miles. This powerful river has a long and storied history established in mysticism and spooky folklore. It was called “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad. The rainforests bordering it have been rumored to contain wild pygmies, heartless cannibals, unbearable pains and more.
This river has a scary 75 – mile long canyon of the most uncertain than even the most experienced rafter couldn’t navigate. This section is mainly called the “Gates of Hell”. The upper Congo also ends all of a sudden with Stanley Falls, another 60 – mile stretch of dangerous rapids.

The Amazon River

The Amazon is considered to be one of the great rivers of the world. It is the second largest river in the world, only second to the Nile. However, if we look at volumes of water, it is certainly the largest river on the planet. Everything in the Amazon is taken to huge heights. Cat fish can grow up to 200 pounds in weight, and some of the biggest Anaconda snakes ever seen by man are found in the shallow areas of this river. This river is also home to bull sharks, a really aggressive and unforeseeable species of sharks. It is safe to say that the Amazon isn’t any of those rivers you go in for a leisurely afternoon swim, unless you want to face aquatic beasts that can literally eat you alive.

The Mississippi River

This is the largest river in North America and it passes through several American states including Louisiana, Minnesota, Arkansas, Wisconsin and Iowa. Although some of the areas of this magnificent river contains aquatic life like bull sharks and large pike fish, the true danger comes from its highly bizarre nature. At a stretch of almost 2340 miles, the water could be as calm as a tranquil backyard pool, but then a few miles upstream of downstream, a sailor could be facing risky riptides, dangerous floating debris and currents can could sink any type of seaworthy vehicle. These large bodies of water are very similar to human beings. One day they are nice and inviting, and the next day, they want to turn you upside down and have nothing to do with you.

Some takeaways:

• Each of these rivers play a very important role in the countries they are located and in sustaining life.
• Each has an inherent danger to them and can turn deadly in a heartbeat.
• Each is a larger scale version of rivers all over the world – good and deadly bad

To learn more about deadly rivers and the dangers they pose as well as how your local river can become a microcosm of their deadly behavior, check out Nailbuzz.