One of the many protected forest areas in Brasil is FLONA (Floresta Nacional) Tapajos, just a short bus drive away from the lively Alter do Chao. There are several indigenous communities living on the banks of Tapajos river and we decided to visit the little village of Jamaraqua. In the past, the community had been living with and from the forest while producing latex, but the traditional ways have long been abandoned due to proximity of civilization and development of tourism. Simple accommodations (mostly just places to hang hammocks), restaurants and strong government support are the main source of income for the communities now. The natural rubber production in Brasil went "from hero to zero" in the beginning of 20th century. When the kauchuk trees were discovered in South America and the brand new gummy substance opened new possibilities for many industries, the trade of latex was booming and bringing high profits to the Brazilian economy. Even the famous Henry Ford invested enormous amounts of money, buying land in the middle of the Amazon forest to establish Fordlandia, a rubber industry oriented town that would enable him to cover the rubber demands for his growing automotive business. His attempt failed spectacularly, because he didn't include the local knowledge about the rubber trees which lead to decay of his entire rubber tree plantation. But the times weren't bright for the others as well. In the colonial games and wars, the British snuck enough kauchuk seeds from the continent to start growing rubber in the already established colonies of eastern Asia. This hard hit for the Brazilian rubber industry combined with the invention of artificial rubber lead to downfall of latex production. In the communities of FLONA, this is now limited to production of decorative souvenirs that are offered to rare tourists that find their way to the community. The village life has changed a lot since the times of rubber production and with the already mentioned government support, the hard working daily routine in the forests has been replaced by lazying around, drinking beer and playing soccer. The insight to the once inevitable symbiosis with the forests is offered through guided tours into the rainforest on a well organized network of trails. The trails are well frequented and visible and we would not have a problem to complete the four hour hike on our own, but the skillful senses of a local person that had spent his entire life in the forest are the key for a genuine experience. Our guide Dido spent his youth helping out his father to gather latex. He told us they usually spent multiple weeks at a time in the forest, surviving just from the fruits of the local trees, a small corn patch and an ocasional meat treat if they were able to catch any of the wild animals. During the walk he was playfully mimicking dozens of different bird species, watching out for snakes and other wildlife and also managed to spot several edible fruits, that were totally out of the blue for a traditional European taste. The fruits contained unusual amount of protein and fats and were similar in consistency to a mixture of cooked potatoes and chestnuts. We were also introduced to a shy tarantula that has been living in the same underground hole for the past two years, met some poisonous frogs and were astonished by the magnificent samauma trees with wide spreading trunks and enormous canopies that have been ruling the forests for centuries. We enjoyed the relaxed village atmosphere for two days before returning to Santarem for another boat ride, this time towards Manaus. The boat was bigger this time, which meant that we could train our portuguese by watching dubbed movies at a simple on-board cinema and listen to loud and incredibly off-the-tune live music in the evenings. The river banks were different as well, sheltering bigger settlements that were becoming more and more frequent with the proximity of Manaus. The signs of industry were growing and the romantic feeling of the Amazonas rainforest was fading away. We arrived to Manaus and were quite annoyed by the fact, that we missed the famous meeting of the rivers while packing up our hammocks. We hopped in an Uber (which we were using very frequently and with great satisfaction in Brazil) to get to our couch-surfing host and were amazed by the vastness of the city. The only thing reminding of the Amazon forests surrounding this multi-million metropolis was the typical tropical climate with dark thick clouds that brought short-lasting, but powerful showers many times a day. As usual we headed to the market which offered everything one can expect from an Amazon port-city and strolled around the city centre which offered some nice sights such as the Manaus opera house. During our short stay in Manaus we were contemplating whether we should wage a detour to Venezuela and to the famous Roraima mountain which was only one night-bus away. We had a serious reason to avoid Venezuela, that went beyond the outbreak of malaria in Roraima region and the worrying comments of the fellow travelers we met on the way. We checked foreign advisor informations of multiple countries (they were all suspiciously similar) and they all stated the same: Avoid traveling to Venezuela if it is not absolutely necessary. But none of the worried travelers had actually visited the country and the discomforting information of the foreign advisors seemed distant and out-of-date. On the other side of the scale were our adventurous spirits and some positive news from a single young Brazilian traveler that lately spent almost a month in Venezuela. As you probably guessed, the adventure won again and the decision to conquer one of the major attractions in whole South America had in the end lead us deep into Venezuela, far beyond Roraima. But let's tackle the stories one at a time...
0 Comments
Road traffic in the Amazon is still underdeveloped due to numerous rivers, wetlands and inpenetrable forests. The existing roads are yearly flooded and destroyed, which makes driving in wet-season more of a lottery than a planned travel. As it has always been in this area, river-boats still offer the best trasportation of people and goods. It is not strange, that the big port-cities are bustling with ships and boats from the smallest canoes to large and modern cruise-ships and tankers. Following the local habits, we chose to travel to the city of Santarem in a so called "slow-boat", even though we would need around 30 times less with one of the pricy yet numerous flights available between cities. Since each of the traveller is responsible for his own sleeping arrangement, we bought ourselves two simple hammocks for the way. To spice up the adventure, we bought the cheaper tickets for one of the smaller boats, that do not leave from the main passenger port. We also wanted to take advantage of the general rule, that allows the travellers to sleep on the boat already one day before departure. Fully packed with all our belongings we headed for the so called "port" in the darkness of the evening. The shady dock with rotten wooden pillars, an abundance of suspicious characters in the vicinity and the river favelas full of palafitos (simple wooden cottage that stand on pillars over the river) were not offering comforting feelings. Nevertheless we decided to board the boat, tactically position our hammocks (far away from the toilet areas and loud motors) and spent the night with only some of the fellow passengers. We woke up into a busy morning... The slow-boats are a sort of a combination between transport and passenger ships and the loading of the boat had already started in early morning hours. The cargo was a strange mixture of things that varied from toilet paper and diapers, up to air-conditioning units, tractor tyres, motor oil, autobus windshield and of course dried shrimps. We headed out to the market for a couple of hours to get some food for the passage and the crowdy scene on the boat at the time of our return did not please us at all. All around the deck and especially around our "tactical position", passengers have placed what seemed like an unmeasurable amount of hammocks. We were startled when we got the information that this is only a third of the boat's passegner capacity but in the end we had to accept that we will be contstantly bumping into other passengers while getting too familiar with sweaty feet of the closest neighbours. We departed more than 3 hours late because the manual loading of the boat required more time than expected. First day we were navigating many smaller canals and estuaries before finally reaching the main Amazon river canal. The vast amount of water along with the numerous little islands is overwhelming and only the dirty brown colour of the surroundings reminds that the boat is actually not cruising the sea. When the river-boats are sailing upstream they usually search for calm waters with slow current near the river banks in order to save on time and fuel. This brings the boat just up to some meters away from the magnificent amazon forests blooming all along the river. We were able to observe simple wooden houses placed all along the river that serve as homes for bigger or smaller communities living completely without access from the land. The children and youngsters are floating around in wooden canoues to play with the waves of the passing boats that probably represent most of their daily entertainment. Accompanied by their parents, some of them lance themselves behind the boats to catch them with hooks and ropes in a true pirate-style. After attached, they take a walk around the deck offering passengers home-made goods such as acai, fresh cheese, dried shrimps, fish, fruits and cooked corn. At night at some of the river passages the pirate games actually take place and the armed crew is scanning the suroundings with strong search lights to spot the potential attackers on time, before they can board the ship. During the day on the common deck the sounds of 80s and 90s music resonates from the flat-screen TV accompanied with the original videospots. It seems like the soundtrack hadn't changed from the time of the first boat-launch. Despite the limited space on board, everybody seems to find their place to spend the long hours of the ride. Among the interesting variety of people on board, it is not difficult to find a partner for a relaxed conversation which is the most popular way of spending time, apart from reading and doozing off in a hammock. Unfortunately, Manca was forced to do the latter for three days straight, since the flu that we caught in Belem repeated with high temperature and digestion problems. With the low number of bathroom spaces which encompass showers and toilets in a single two square meter box and are briefly washed with water only once a day, her situation was less than desirable. After three days we finally arrived to Santarem, a lively port-town at the confluence of the rivers Amazon and Tapajos. We countinued the same day to reach the small village of Alter do Chao that is famous for the most beautiful beaches in the Amazon basin. Although we heard a lot about it on the way, we had some serious doubts about the beauty of the river beaches. But the disbelief faded away on the first evening already, when we sat down on the promenade to watch the sunset over the Isla do Amor. Alter do Chao is nicknamed the Caribbean of the Amazon and during our week of stay, we decided that it more than deserved the title. Kilometers of white-sand beaches strech into the dark waters of Tapajos river, while the aubndance of greens are taking care for a comfy escape from the tropical sun. Dark rivers in the Amazon basin are flowing slowly enabling decomposition of organic matter that gives them the characteristic colour as well as just enough of acidity to prevent spreading of mosquitos. The combination of all of the factors actually wakes up the feeling of sea athmosphere that only dissapears when a dip in the water doesn't end up with salty taste in the mouth. We rent out a canoe to discover a nearby lake, where the river just started with yearly floodings (it was just the beginning of the rainy season). This enabled us to silently glide between the flooded trees while looking out for wildlife. Impressed over the lush forests, we decided to head for a local nature reserve for a while and discover more about the Amazon forests from the local people. The roads from Sao Luis to Belem have been notorious for bus robberies so we weren't as confident to take another bus ride as up to now. In the end, the only thing that had been stolen from us on the bus ride was our health. We both caught some South American flu, probably from the ridiculously low temperatures on board, combined with the coughing of our fellow passengers and the constant smell from the bus toilet with broken doors. But yet again, we were lucky to find Lucas, a couchsurfer that had already visited Slovenia, who invited us to his home and gave us a place to rest for a while. His family is well situated and lives over a whole floor of an apartement building with multiple servants for cleaning and cooking. It is a different lifestyle that we are used to, but we got along very well and we really loved it when we all sat down together for dinner talking about the history of Brasil, about Europe and Slovenia, why we are not married yet :) or whatever the conversation had lead to. During the day we explored the city, including the biggest municipal market in Brazil with all that comes with it. The fish from the Amazon river that flows just meters away are cleaned, filleted and sold for petty money compared to European prices. The varieties of cashew and brasil nuts and different sorts of tapioca flower and farinha exceed every expectation. There are all sorts of dried meats, fish and shrimps and a big part of the market is dedicated to food stands that prepare these same delicacies for a midday meal. The market is also the place where we have seen the largest variety of fruits, drank the best juices, as well as bought our hammocks for the upcoming riverboat travels. \nBelem has a rich history that started with a small merchant and entry port for Amazon river exploration. The old port facilities have been very nicely renovated into a gastronomy halls and a riverside promenade. We decided to make a detour to the island of Marajo, the biggest river island in the world that is home to a strangely high number of water buffalos. We stayed there for a couple of days, enjoyed delicious buffalo cheese specialties and went for a bike ride that took us to a magnificent beach at the side of the island that opens to the Atlantic ocean. The island only has a couple of villages but plenty of big farms that spread over acres of jungle, mangroves, rivers, wetlands, fields and lakes with some of them even owning a great amount of the beachside. Yet again we were amazed how much fertile and beautiful pieces of land are available for sale and how much richness in natural resources Brasil has to offer. The potential for development is really enormous especially since in the remote northern regions the land is practically given away for free. Back in Belem we booked a boat ride up the Amazon and finally took advantage of our new hammocks. But the riverboat travel is a treat we need to explain and describe in a special chapter :) After three weeks of feeling at home in Barra Grande, we returned to our travel rythm and continued our way up the Brazilian northeast coast towards Sao Luis. The capital of brazilian state of Maranhao is the only city in Brazil that was founded by the French. Although only staying for three years before being run out by the Portuguese, the French heritage is a trademark that is promoted everywhere around the city. The mixture of cultures apparently had a special effect and the old part of the city that actually has a particularly European or even Mediterranean athmosphere. The facades of centuries old villas and mansions are still boasting with ceramic tiles that the wealthy merchants have imported from Europe as a status symbol. Unfortunately, most of the wealthy heritage that exists from that period was founded on the exploitation of African slaves. This part of Brazil is particularly influenced by the African culture with strong revolutionary movements that developed during the years of oppression. It is therefore not strange that Sao Luis owns the title of South American reggae capital. In a modern way the history can still be seen in the old city center today, where little markets, food stands and daily street parties coexist with a very high number of drug addicts mostly of African origin. A while ago, a high volume but more or less unsuccessful project "Reviver" tried to restore the reputation of this part of the city. While the buildings have improved their looks, the majority of the modern society living in skyscrapers on the other side of the river still consider the old city romantic yet dirty and dangerous. But since we already know the modern shopping malls and fast food chains back from Europe, we decided to stay in this very area which also offers very well organised museums about the citys history. Once we realised that the building of our simple hostel had been built in 1822 we also didn't complain about the constant noise of the workers renovating the rooms. In Sao Luis we met Adriana, a very interesting and friendly lady that runs a PR agency. She showed us her part if the city and invited us for dinner in her favourite beachfront restaurant. We were exchanging travel stories and we gladly listened to how she managed a train ride from Budapest to Prague without Slovakian visa sometime in the beginning of nineties when the Google maps and mobile data haven't yet fully corrupted the travellers. Only with her help, we were able to find probably the only place in the city, which could offer professional cleaning of our camera sensor, that we somehow managed to get all dusty and sandy already in the first month of our travels. For a day we visited a small village of Alcantara which used to be a weekend relaxation spit for the privileged in the colonial times. Although the mansions are already in ruins, the village retains an athmosphere that we know from the pirate movies partly due to the magnificent and strategic view over the ocean and the Sao Luis waterways. We traveled there by sea because the drive there takes more that five times longer and to the satisfaction of Gasper the boat actually used simple yet typical sails to get some of the propulsion power. After a whole day of exploring the ruins and one of the nicest beaches on our trip, we returned to Sao Luis to plan our further destinations. |
Timeline
February 2019
Categories
All
|