Demarcation Diaries
4 September 2001
The Commandante Savio has sailed very slowly since we left Carauari
because the water level of the Rio Jurua is becoming shallower.
The speed we are travelling now seems to me more appropriate to
the pace of life in this area of the world. Especially during
the mid day, no one can work at full strength in the midst of
tropical heat. Oh well, except yesterday when we had to move 20-30
drums of kerosene to Carauari, so that the helicopter which will
be taking journalists and supplies into the field can get refuelled
in the small airport of Carauari.
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When the sun was right above our head, we were pushing
drums of kerosene, each weighed 200 kilograms, up the slope
of the beach, and it felt like... dehydrating.
Fortunately, I had my first taste of Amazon water this
afternoon. Our ship hit a stone on the riverbed and the
propeller was damaged. We needed to stop on a beach and
change the propeller.
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The water is quite muddy and alligators are a common sight in
this region, but we did not hesitate to jump into the water. Since
we departed from Manaus, Flavio, our captain, has been saying
that we would make good meal for the jacares (alligators).
Because I am smaller than most people on the ship, the "chines"
(Chinese in Portugese) is an ideal appetiser and I will probably
be the first one to end up in the stomach of the jacares. It is
a joke, of course, we wonder how the jacares will love this foreign
exotic cuisine, but sometimes Flavio also takes it seriously.
Like yesterday, the second that I jumped into the water, he told
me immediately to swim close to the ship. Well, safety is always
the first rule for us.
The crew members on the ship always mistake me as Japanese because
there are a lot of Japanese in Brazil. The Japanese come to the
Amazon for tourism, and some even own fruit plantations in the
region. In Sao Paulo and some other big cities, there is a big
population of Japanese immigrants. But if there is a minor twist
to history, the Chinese might become one of the key actors in
developing the Amazon.
In the 1920s when American developers tried to set up rubber
plantation in the Amazon, based on the system which the British
built in Asia, they were desperately looking for disciplined workers
to work in the newly established plantations and to build roads
and railways. The locals were too laid-back for the American plantation
owners, well, what do you expect from workers in this tropical
heat? So they thought about bringing in massive Chinese workers
here, just as they had imported Chinese to work in mines and build
railways in America at the turn of the century.
In 1924, a visitor from the US Department of Agriculture, Carl
LaRue even said that "a million Chinese in the rubber sections
of Brazil would be a godsend to that country." But for many
reasons, the plantation system was never successfully built up
in the Amazon, and the Chinese lost their opportunity to set foot
in this region.
If history had unfolded otherwise, the Chinese might have become
the main actors in developing the Amazon. And when development
in this sense often means destruction, you see why it is really
not a bad thing that I am being mistaken for the Japanese.
And it turned out that yesterday was Flavio's birthday! Since
the water is too shallow and hence dangerous to sail at night,
our ship pulled up to a beach in the evening, and then we had
a birthday barbecue on the beach.
We were accompanied by million stars and hundreds and thousands
of unknown insects. The mosquitoes here are probably the strongest
in the whole world, and they can bite through your long sleeve
shirt. But it didn't matter at all because we had a good time.
We sang happy birthday songs in different languages to Flavio,
and ate "tambaqui," a fish from the Amazon. Flavio said
this is the most multicultural birthday he ever had.
But we miss the turtles which should be laying eggs on the
beach at night. Flavio and Ribamar said that 15 years ago,
they could easily see hundreds of turtles sitting on the beaches
or enjoying sun shine on trunks of wood. But after years of
commercial catching, most of the turtles in this area are
gone. |
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Local governments now have to employ guards to look after the
turtle eggs on the beaches so they don't get stolen. It just shows
how unsustainable commercial activities, whether it is turtle
catching or logging, can drive species to the edge of extinction.
Kontau
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