Amazon Updates
18 October 2001
Today our travels took us through an area of the Amazon where I saw the forest as I had imagined it.
We left anchor at the Xingu river late last night and travelled
by night down the Amazon river so that we would arrive by morning
at a small channel we would navigate by day to take us to Belem.
 |
Because of the size and draft of the Arctic Sunrise, we
had only been able to travel the larger rivers until now.
The channel we passed through today was narrow but deep and
we were able to get closer to the forest with the ship then
we have since I joined in Manaus. |
It was the Amazon of pictures and nature specials, thick forest
right up and into the water on either side of the ship. There
are many people living in small wooden house on stilts along this
part of the river.
 |
It took most of the day to traverse the channel and as we
went, children and sometimes adults would paddle out close
to the ship in small canoes. Most of the them only waved,
some of the children yelled out bom dia (good morning) as
we passed, and we could hear some of the children laughing
and yelling as they rode the wake of the ship behind us in
their small canoes. |
But we also saw the results of the destruction in the area.
There were many sawmills along this narrow channel, both big
and small. In the yards there were masssive logs stacked high,
in some place the piles went as far back as we could see.
Along the river banks we could see piles of wasted timber
and closer to the dock, sawn lumber waiting to be shipped
out. |
 |
We also saw one log raft of perhap a couple hundred logs close
to one of the larger mills.
Just before the sun set we left the narrow channel and entered
the Rio Pará which will take us close to Belem.
The helicopter Tweety is back from on board now that the Brazilian
government has recognised the Deni Indians'right to their lands,
and the pilot and mechanic are no longer needed for support and
emergencies in the jungle. It was our last opportunity to get
the helicopter up in the Amazon, and everyone who wanted a ride
got to see the Amazon from the air.
It was my first time in a helicopter, let alone flying above
the Amazon. The helicopter moves with such precision and it felt
very different from a small plane ride.
 |
We flew high above the ship and could see forest in every
direction. We could see the lakes created in the rainy season
that are disconnected from the main river this time of year.
We could also see some fires buring in the distance. Phil
spun us around - sunset, forest, ship, sunset, forest, ship
- until I was starting to feel slightly dizzy, then it was
time to set back down on the heli deck for the next crew
ride.
|
As we entered the larger Rio Tocantins that leads out into the
Atalntic ocean, the winds were strong and we encountered our first
choppy water of the Aamzon trip.
The ship is light on fuel and because it is an ice breaker which
doesn't have a keel, we were bobbing with the waves, a light spray
of Amazon river water breaking over the bow. It made me wish I
could stay on board for the crossing of the Atlantic to see what
the ship will do when it hits some real waves.
We are once again far from the river bank and the forest on the Tocantins, but in the darkness I could see many fires buring. The fires lit up the horizon with an orange glow and rising smoke. It is a roller coaster of emotions being here and constantly confronted with the natural beauty and the destruction of the forest, but more than anything it is an incentive to do something before we see more destruction than forest.
Tracy
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