Amazon Updates
22 October 2001
We arrived in Belem the beginning of the weekend. The city is
just 120 kilometres up river from the Atalntic ocean and is part
of the Amazon delta as well as one of the most important access
routes to the Amazon.
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We can feel the influence of the ocean here, the air is
cooler, the wind is strong at times and throughout the course
of the day the ship gang plank moves up and down with the
tides.
Belem is the second largest city in the Amazon with just
over a million people, but unlike Manaus the city has retained
much of its old world charm. Many of the Portugese buildings
from the rubber boom still stand along the waterfront, on
mosiac titled streets lined with mango trees.
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Today I went to the local market, Mercado Ver-o-Peso, with the
cooks to stock up on some food supplies before we head out of
Belem. The fish market is in a beautiful neo-classical blue and
white stucco building, but inside it was a plain warehouse with
an overpowering smell of fish.
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It was very interesting to wander around looking at the
many different types of fish from the Amazon. It actually
made us think twice about our swim stops in the river. There
were catfish as long as I am, I got an upclose look at piranha
and their sharp little teeth, a beautiful brown and red
scaled piraracu, and many more strange and colourful fish.
In the end we settled for a large catfish about half my
height.
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After the fish are cleaned, the remains are thrown on the
mud flats of the river where perhaps hundreds of large vultures
converge for a feeding frenzy everyday.
My stomach had a harder time at the meat market, but it
is an old wrought iron open air building, so I just wandered
around looking at the different designs of the iron rather
than the hanging hoofs and intestines.
The rest of the market spans serveal blocks of open air
stalls selling live animals, fruits, vegetables, medicinal
herbs and roots, and many other unusual religious and "magical"
items.
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We are currently docked at the commercial port, beside stacks
of lumber waiting for export, but I did see something very encouraging
yesterday. Amoung the timber there was a large pile of FSC (Forest
Stewardship Coucil) certified wood stamped and ready to go to
the Netherlands. This is wood that comes from well managed forest
operations that does not destroy the forest and offers better
working and safety conditions for the loggers and mill workers.
I hope we are making a difference here and that the next time
I return to Brazil, I will see much more FSC wood on the dock,
and less timber from illegal and destructive sources.
Tracy
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