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 It was raining—they have two seasons here, rainy and wet—
but the fine misty rain was cooling and no one
paid it any attention as they went about their business.
By Louvinia Smith
From 25,000 feet in the air the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea sparkled like
sequins on turquoise silk as we began our Amazon adventure. As we approached the northern
coast of South America, it lay like a map beneath us. We got a breathtaking view of the
little village on the seashore from where the major highway goes through the mountains to
Caracas, the Capital of Venezuela. It is a huge metro sprawled all over the mountainous
landscape. It looked so different from actually being in the city where 5 o'clock traffic
is 24 hours a day.
Miles and miles of lush green jungle spread like a dark green carpet spread under us
until we slowly got closer to the earth and got our first view of Manaus and the mighty
Amazon . Manaus is a very large city (over a million people) literally carved out of the
jungle. During the long drive to the city from the small airport to the harbor, we passed
the modern downtown business district and residential areas that were a mixture of
affluent homes and very poor homes. Our cruise ship remained docked at Manaus while
passengers headed off in different directions—to an overnight jungle camp, on
regional boats up tributaries of the Rio Negro and Amazon in search of birds, and of
course, to the famous Opera House, built during the rubber boom in the early part of the
century.
Professional dancers perform dances in three skits. The first represents the region's
different Indian nations—their clothing and ceremonial dances typical to each tribe.
The second skit portrays life during the rubber boom era, which includes immigration from
Europe and other regions of Brazil to work in the rubber tree plantations. The third skit
depicts Manaus today: modern trade (duty free port), contemporary cultural life, and
Carnaval. Their costumes are extravagant and are the same as worn in their Carnaval, which
is the second largest in South America.
If shopping is on your agenda, free shuttles take you to the Tropical Hotel on the bank
of the Rio Negro River where there is a delightful strip mall including a fine jewelry
shop. The taxi ride out to the hotel is about 15 miles and you get another tour of the
city. The outlying suburbs are lovely and clean but the closer to the pier the more people
and the more cluttered the streets. Manaus is not a safe city and we were warned not to be
out alone.
The large cruise ship, tied up to the city's floating landing stage, looms over dozens
of arriving and departing wooden riverboats, giving passengers an altogether different
show. The people eat lots of bananas as most of the riverboats were loaded with them and
they were carried by truck from the dock area. Manaus has no road access most of the year
so the rivers become the highways for the people and goods.
After two days and nights at the dock, the cruise ship eases slowly into the
mainstream. The Rio Negro, tinted darkly with vegetation, meets but does not immediately
mix with the lighter, silty Amazon a few miles below the city, creating a distinct line
that trails across the surface for several miles.
The mighty Amazon River, with 12 times the flow of the Mississippi River, boasts 1,100
tributaries, 17 of which are more than 1,000 miles long. The river is so wide—200
miles when it reaches the ocean—that only astronauts are able to see across the
mouth. And only on their way to the moon do they pull away enough to observe the Amazon's
entire 4,000-mile-length from source to sea.
Early the first morning down the river one can see an old town almost falling in the
river. The village of about 2000 Caboclo (people of mixed heritage—Black &
Indian) has been relocated to a new site back in the jungle.
Later in the morning you may take a gander into another Caboclo village, Boca da
Valéria. The natives are very friendly. Many came out in paddleboats to greet us. The
natives not in boats waited at the dock. It is a very tiny village where housing is
primitive and poverty is rife.
The next day we arrived at Santarém, located at the point where the Tapajós and
Amazon Rivers meet, forming the "Meeting of the Waters." Santarém is one of the
Amazon's most important trading centers, serving hundreds of villages located along the
rivers. It was raining—they have two seasons here, rainy and wet—but the fine
misty rain was cooling and no one paid it any attention as they went about their
business.
We passed the Mercado Modelo, where you can find everything from live chickens to
tropical fruits and hammocks. Trucks loaded with coconuts lined the streets, selling cold
coconut milk. There are few cars but many bicycles and ox carts.
A stop at the Flour House (Casa da Farinha) finds natives making manioc flour with very
crude materials. We observed the tapping of rubber trees and watched a native cut open a
Brazil nut with a machete. There are about 15 nuts in each shell, which is similar to a
coconut shell. With a few more chops of the machete the nutmeat appeared. Samples were
surprisingly crisp, fresh, and delicious.
A short ride through dense jungle brought us to the resort town of Alter do Chão. It
is a surprising vision—with broad white sand beaches, waving palms, and gently
lapping waters. It is a place of leisure because of the still-native community and unusual
beaches. It offers a chance to swim in the Amazon from a safe, sandy beach without fear of
piranhas, stick fish, or snakes. Native school children perform folk dances in the main
square, Praça de Nossa Senhora da Saúde. They also serve us a passion fruit drink, which
is barely palatable.
We continued to the Center for Preservation of Indigenous Art, Culture & Science,
where we saw the largest and finest collection of Indian artifacts (representing 56
different nations and over 2,000 original pieces) from indigenous tribes of the Amazon.
The American-born owner and his Indian wife refer to their collection as a political
statement, depicting a people in danger of extinction through neglect, politics, and
invasion by outsiders in search of land, timber and gold.
He believes that the pure Indians' isolated ways of life are doomed. One of the largest
groups of Indians, the Tikuna of the Upper Amazon, had their first European contact in
1532 and today number 23,000, while another group, the Assurini, first contacted in 1971,
number only 57 and are, in effect, considered extinct, the child population having
dwindled to just seven.
The artifacts are splendid in their beauty and the background music haunting. Some of
the artful pots on display can only be made by 10 Assurini women. The native children are
precious but know only two words of English—One Dollar—if you take their picture
with their strange pets, three-toed sloths. The sloths look like little teddy bears and
are very lazy—draping bonelessly over the child's arm. The children's strange pets
also include pet boa constrictors, alligators and spider monkeys.
Ashore and aboard we spotted gray and pink river dolphins, kingfishers, and colorful
parrots, but the other wildlife was elusive. As the river widens to the Atlantic, the
tree-lined shore retreats to the horizon, and crossing the equator at the mouth of Amazon,
King Neptune boards our ship to punish wayward passengers with all manner of messy
concoctions—an age-old sailing tradition.
Ever since the first explorers set foot in South America nearly five centuries ago,
this fascinating continent has inspired myth, controversy, and speculation. Invaded by the
conquistadors, converted by the missionaries, plundered by treasure seekers and studied by
scientists, South America is still a mystery to many and a cornucopia of natural wonders
unlike those found anywhere else in the world. The Amazon adventure gives one a rare
insight into the special beauty and exciting variety of our sister continent.
The author is a freelance writer living in historic Vicksburg,
Mississippi, USA. She travels extensively and lives alone with her Schnauzer dog, Sparky.
You can get in touch with her at louvinia_smith@yahoo.com
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Sheila Beers