Brazil - The Amazon

Link to other threads on 'Shiney's Travels'
http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/shineys-travels.61299/

The Amazon is approx. 4,000 miles long and starts in the Andes mountains towards the west coast of S. America. The fantastic volume of water that eventually exits the river into the Atlantic on the east coast is said to be one fifth of the total amount of fresh water in the world.
The volume is so great that it sends the fresh water miles out into the ocean and fresh water can be drawn from the ocean even out of sight of land.

Over the years we have travelled different parts of the Amazon and most of our photos are old and faded but I've tried to copy some of them, from further up the river, for this thread.

I'll start off with the lower reaches around the mouth of the river - about 100+ miles inland.

At this end of the Amazon it's easier to reach the places by road but the river is still a major thoroughfare.

Big ships bring commerce to big towns.


A lot of local passenger transport is by these (that's what I took the above photo from)


There are big docks


Lots of small petrol stations


Lots of the locals that live on the periphery of the town need their small transports to get about as there are no roads out there (I'll show you further out, later)


And people live on their big cargo boats - with the equivalent of our proverbial 'brick outhouse'

 

Down by the waterfront is the older part of town and could do with a bit of renovation.



Plenty of herons and vultures everywhere






Although the do have markets and restaurants along the river


They've started on renovation but have, cleverly, put up paintings to hide the mess whilst they work. The only real part to this picture are the two boats in the foreground and the small part of a building protruding above the paintings.


I could do with some like this on the front of my car when I'm driving in London

 

Towards the outskirts of town the tourist accommodation isn't quite as salubrious as the posh hotels in the centre - although it says it's five star!


But life becomes more laid back




They still have satellite dishes on the roof




But you go shopping by boat - they obviously don't expect much in the way of waves!

 

As you get even further away the commuting becomes a bit more cramped.


Mail boxes aren't quite as we know them


Kids tend to mess around in boats


but the little communities have their own shops and bars

 

Further in it can be difficult to find somewhere to land








But paths can be found

 

Then you can look for flora and fauna (not a lot of colour around when we were there)

Pepper


Star fruit


Jack Fruit


Don't know




Termite nest

 

Bugs of some sort






A friendly bird in a little village. Mrs Shiney is always happy to have them on her arm



Even Tarantulas don't bother her! You wouldn't get me holding one - unless you paid me enough money

 

A lot further up the Amazon (900 miles further) - and quite a bit back in time (over 30 years)
things are a bit different. These photos are a bit faded. I've photographed them from some old prints I have in a photo album.

The main access to Manaus (capital of the Amazon region) was, and is, by plane but smaller cruise ships now go that far up the river.

We were just descending over the Amazon and coming in to land when a four seater plane took off across the front of us. It's the only time I've ever heard swearing from the cockpit . Here, we were on our way back down again.



When we were at Manaus the population was a million. Now it's just over two million.

There is a very good opera house opened in 1896 - . They imported the marble and chandeliers from Italy, the steel from Glasgow and a lot of drapery etc. from France.
My pictures of this were too faded so I found it on 'Rainforest Cruises' site.




There was plenty of 'street food' to be had and we enjoyed it. Cooked in front of you


Even chips


I'm not sure whether the vultures were waiting for food scraps or for us to collapse! Actually, they were on the roof of the fish market by the river.

 

This was the Opera House mouser - I don't think he trusted us too much as we wandered around the empty house. When building the place they installed their equivalent of air-conditioning. Underneath each seat was a hole that could blow cooler air (don't where it came from) which, apparently, was a godsend for the ladies who wore big gowns!


Manaus was an interesting place to visit but our 'four star' hotel (of the day) was not quite what you would expect nowadays. Health & Safety wouldn't have been too happy with our shower. The overhead shower rose was quite large and gave a lot of water but the heating of the water was a bit suspect. Sitting on top of the big rose was an electric heater (a small version of what would be a modern 'instant hot water' heater) and two bare wires were held into the power socket (immediately above the unit) by matches! Needless to say, we had cold showers

Before going further into the Amazon we stayed a few days and did some looking around. We were fortunate enough to know someone who was working there and he took us to some very good, and interesting, restaurants. The food was superb.

We visited the shops (many modern ones) and this was a combination of souvenir and usable artefact shop. Bows, arrows, spears and, on the extreme right, blow pipes. Whilst we were visiting a village in the rainforest one of the elders showed me how to make the curare they used for some of their darts!


On the way up the Amazon we came to where two rivers met (forming the main Amazon) and, as they were of different densities, temperatures and speeds it took them at least 10 miles to mix together.

The main river is up to 14 km wide at a thousand miles up the river. The two rivers that meet here are the Amazonas and the Rio Negro (named that for obvious reasons)



These men were commuting from the village to town - the ones at the back had to bail water out every so often!


Whilst we were travelling to the village in similar transport - but not so overloaded.


It was a fascinating journey through the dense rain forest with the sounds of the birds and wildlife.

 

A few small huts were right alongside the river (not sure what happens when the water rises) and the kids were showing off for the tourists.


They, obviously, wanted to show us their pets (for a small monetary donation ) so our guide pulled in to a rickety landing log! The girl was holding her pet baby alligator, and this was a larger one they had - in the water but on a piece of string.


Inside the hut they had a pet snake!


They also insisted on showing us their bee's nest I didn't get too close.


We went on to the small village where there were about ten small huts and the village communal hut - behind Mrs Shiney.


They were very hospitable and showed us how they lived. There were not many home comforts (probably all have mobile phones and satellite TV now) but there were a lot of chickens running around and they grew some crops in some very small clearings in the forest.

On a tree at the edge of a clearing was a dart board! This wasn't used with darts as we know them but with darts from their blow pipes - amazingly accurate.

 

One of the very tasty fish dishes we had whilst in Manaus was from the largest freshwater fish in S. America. The Arapaima grows very large and the record size is 15ft and 440lbs. Apart from being prized for its eating quality the scales are used for ornaments and, as they're quite rough, nail files.

You don't often see fish scales that size!



In a different area of the rainforest we were able to go off for a picnic.




and, after lunch, it was very peaceful to just sit and enjoy the seclusion


Although he seemed to have a different agenda!


Just nearby there were a number of cacao trees. This is the bean that chocolate comes from

 

Further south, but right inland at the border of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay are the famous Iguacu Falls. The area around it is designated National Park by both Brazil and Argentina.

The falls are almost 2 miles in length and form from 250 to 500 individual falls depending on the amount of water flowing.




This part is known as the Devil's Throat and it has Brazil on one bank and Argentina on the other. The mist from the falls rises a long way into the air and birds are constantly flying in and out of it.






Being a National Park they get a lot of visitors and so there are many rubbish bins around. Just what some of the wildlife like!