“So – this – is – a – river?” asks Mole, one of the characters in Kenneth Grahame’s classic novel The Wind in the Willows. Rat corrects him: “The River.” Rat has spent his entire life “by it and with it and on it and in it.” As he explains to his friend, “It’s brother and sister to me, and aunts, and company, and food and drink, and (naturally) washing. It’s my world.”

For the novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Colombia’s Rio Magdalena was “the river” that carried his country’s life in its current. Both the river’s realities and its metaphors fill his writing. “The Magdalena, father of waters, [is] one of the great rivers of the world,” he writes in Love in the Time of Cholera, but he acknowledges that it is now “only an illusion of memory.” The novel’s aging main character, maneuvering along the river with the woman he loves, mourns all that has changed, including the loss of trees along banks of the Magdalena — deforestation which began in order to feed the boilers of riverboats just like the one on which they traveled.

In Every Day the River Changes: Four Weeks Down the Magdalena, debut author Jordan Salama recounts his month-long journey from the Magdalena’s headwaters in the Andean highlands north to the river’s delta where its waters flow into the Caribbean. Life on the Magdalena (and in greater Colombia) has continued to change since the publication of Love in the Time of Cholera in 1985. Environmental degradation has increased. Deforestation has led to extreme soil erosion, filling parts of the river with sediment so thick that it is all but impossible for riverboats to pass. Both the flora and fauna in this astoundingly diverse bioregion have been decimated as the river has been reshaped. “The Magdalena of the storybooks was the Magdalena of the past,” writes Salama.
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Every Day the River Changes is a book hinging on hope — hope that the violence will not claim more lives and also that the river can be restored in ways that will allow those living along its banks to attain more secure employment. Achieving some of those dreams may require international political and financial assistance, and Salama’s powerful book may itself inspire some US readers to work for justice and peace in Colombia.
Still, Salama never suggests that Colombia is on a path to imminent renewal. But his narrative shows that some Colombians — even the most powerless people he meets on his journey — are committed to contributing to the endurance of the river and the life that depends upon it. His book is “filled with stories of the very real struggles of humans and nature,” but it also full of “stories of strength, marked by passionate people who have long remained devoted to living meaningful, deliberate lives in the midst of hardship and solitude and don’t plan on stopping now.”
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Salama’s main goal is to explore how both a difficult history and a changing landscape shape the people he meets in the communities along the Magdalena. His conversations and relationships also lead him to consider the meaning of his own complex identity. Salama’s relatives in his paternal line were Syrian Jews who lived in exile in Argentina, and his mother’s lineage were Iraqi Jews who traveled the Silk Road. (Interestingly, the Colombian river derives its name from Magdala, an ancient city on the shores of the Sea of Galilee — an area not far from where his ancestors lived.) What Salama comes to understand about his roots is that his family and cultural heritage instilled in him a deep curiosity about the world. Learning about his ancestors’ extensive travels and explorations taught him the value of reaching out to strangers wherever he found himself and listening to their stories about their histories and their homelands.
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What Salama has produced is not only a moving book about social and cultural survival in the shadow of environmental and political chaos but also a deeply lyrical and astonishingly mature piece of writing that will move its readers. This stunning volume heralds an exciting new voice in narrative nonfiction.

See full review in On the Seawall: https://www.ronslate.com/on-every-day-the-river-changes-a-journey-down-the-magdalena-by-jordan-salama/

What an intriguing book! I chose to read it as my desire was to learn more about Colombia's history and culture, knowing there is much more to it than its reputation for conflict and drugs. What a great decision! The young author traveled by several modes of transportation (whatever was available) from the Andes down Rio Magdalena and encountered many fascinating people and learned about myths, traditions, lagoons, angry winds, sediment, oppressive heat, topography, exotic food and animals, staying safe, river reliance and rhythms of river life, refugees, thievery, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), riverbed "highways", modern-day nomads, scary bridges, resilient people and remarkable hospitality. Colourful descriptions of wooden boats, intricate filigree crafts, river turtles, wild fruits and the river singing are very immersive and powerful. Not only did the author learn about the river's past but also the present. The book is divided into three parts, the Upper, Middle and Lower Magdalena.

The book is divided into three parts, the Upper, Middle and Lower Magdalena. Amongst my (many) favourite stories include filigree crafts, fishing with kites and the biblioburro (love this!) as well as learning about the determination and strength of those who live(d) in fear of guerillas and sometimes dangerous creatures. The author's descriptions of life are vivid as are his connections to his ancestors in whose footsteps he may have walked. Many residents call Colombia Paradise...my Colombian friend would agree!

Up for an adventure? Read this riveting book about the twists and turns of a mighty river and those it sustains. What a great pleasure it is to learn more about this region of the world!

My sincere thank you to Catapult and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this wonderful book.

I thought this book was fascinating! Salama travels down the Magdalena River, a central river of Colombia that flows from the mountains to the coast. Along the way he delves into the culture, history, and politics of this country, from the once grand riverboats to guerilla warfare and environmental degradation. He meets the people along the river who make their lives there — from a woman trying to save a species of river turtle to a man travelling by donkey to deliver books to children in rural areas. And the writing is fantastic — smooth, thoughtful, and thoroughly enjoyable. I thought this book was great and will definitely be recommending it to people, especially if they want to learn more about this South American country.

Jordan Salama takes a journey down the Magdalena River in Columbia. Wherever he goes he is observant, welcomed and welcoming. He is not judgmental and wants to learn about the people and their environment. What was the river like in its glory days? What is the effect of current conditions on the river, now impacted by environmental factors? What was it like living along the river with so many competing political factions, and drug cartels? Saldana meets people who may seem to fall within stereotypes of bucolic river dwellers, but there is always an edge of the unexpected to them: craftspeople with old world skills; river navigators who intimately know currents and fishing areas; business ex-pats; a librarian bringing books to the off-the -track areas by donkey; environmental “warriors” concerned about the river and its future. Although this journey is along one river, Salama’s message about the vital links of people to the land and river easily serve as a global message to all. Hope this author continues to travel and share his adventures. Recommended. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this title.

I usually enjoy any book that can take me on a trip where I can experience and learn about a new corner of the world, and Jordan Salama’s "Every Day the River Changes" happily proved to be no exception to that personal trend.

Prior to picking it up my knowledge of the Magdalena was more or less limited to “a river in Colombia.” I genuinely had no idea that it was in fact THE main river, and held the majority of the country’s population within its surrounding river valley. That of course was the very tip of all that I was able to experience through this title. Salama covers quite a lot, and provides coverage on subjects including (but not at all limited to) the growing population of feral hippos originally descended from Pablo Escobar’s personal zoo animals, to the glory days of riverboat transport and traffic before the disruptions of war, the significant erosion challenges facing much of the river, and the man behind the famed Biblioburro library system. For some of the topics he covered and people he interviewed, I wish he devoted a bit more time and attention to in exchange for those I found a little less interesting. However, never did I find myself stopping and skipping ahead to the next chapter to see if the next stop along the river was able to hold my attention better. As aforementioned, my knowledge of the Magdalena and those living around it was almost nil, and so almost everything that I encountered in this book as I traveled via Salama’s words was something new. From start to end I consistently remained absorbed by this informative snapshot of a river and also a country.

For fellow travelogue fans - this is definitely a title to keep an eye out for.