Santarem and the Rio Tapajos

January 2, 2012

Santarém, Para State

We have now left Amazonas State and entered Para State. The city of Santarém is the 3^rd largest city in the Amazon basin. It lies on the Rio Tapajos just a couple of miles from where the R. Tapajos joins the Amazon at another non-mixing meeting of the waters similar to that at Manaus. The R. Tapajos is what is called a “clear” or “Black” river (though it is actually green). These tributaries of the Amazon all have similar qualities – clear water in shades of green and brown that are acidic and do not harbour mosquitoes. The native people drink, bathe and cook with these waters though they do not recommend the same for us!

This morning we boarded a river boat that took us to the “meeting of the waters” and then to the Igapos (flooded forest) and lake Maica.

Santarém is a hub for agriculture and here the forest shows all the deforestation things you hear about. The air is thick with smoke and there are many agricultural industries around this area. There is a large Cargill soybean terminal here and stockyards and other evidence of rainforest agriculture.  The area we navigated through is inundated with water during the rainy season so all livestock have to be moved to higher ground. They raise climate tolerant Bos Indicus cattle here (or ears and humps as Dale calls them) that are not beautiful to look at but can survive the heat, the wet and the bugs. Though not always as evidenced by large flocks of vultures.

Cruising down the river we saw river dolphins (grey – the pink ones are very rare) and many fishermen plying their trade with anything from a piece of string to a spear to a net to a regular rod. The waters here are thick with fish including species of catfish and the ever present Piranhas.  We did some Piranha jigging ourselves with a piece of meat on a hook and string. A couple people caught them – I had some good bites but never managed to set the hook and they made off with my bait. Toothy little buggers!  We were also treated to a first hand look at cleared lands and cattle rearing Amazonas style.  The cattle we saw did not make either of us think of a nice juicy steak, that’s for sure!  Further into the Igapos and Lake Maica we saw more native wildlife – hawks, vultures, egrets, a sloth and many large iguanas.  All of it is fascinating.

We did not have rain yet today, though there is time yet for that. We had quite a strong easterly wind which after 5 days into this adventure felt lovely, cool and dry. It is amazing how quickly you can adapt to such a radically different climate. I was grateful that the camera didn’t fog up and I wasn’t a puddle of sweat lying on the deck. On the other hand – it was 34 or 35 degrees Celsius (around 95F) so we are not exactly rejoicing at it either.

Tomorrow we head for a small village called Boca de Valeria. Here we hope to get up close and personal with some sloths and maybe catch a glimpse of some parrots and capybaras (the largest rodent in the world, famous from documentaries about anacondas eating them).  Tonight – we dine on beef in the traditional Argentinean style (why not Brazilian we ask??) and enjoy the air conditioning. We are amused each evening by a group of six Brits from Liverpool and Manchester. They are a cheerful and entertaining bunch and have kept us laughing for 2 nights now. We hope this continues. I have also struck up a lovely relationship with our head Maitre d’hotel. He guards my health by keeping alcohol out of my food. Each evening he brings me the next evenings menu, makes suggestions and, when there is no alcohol-free version, has the chef make me something nice. It is all very civilized. He is also teaching me a new word in Portuguese every night  - so far I have Felice Neuvo Annas (my spelling is probably abysmal) for Happy New Year and Gelo (ice) along with Bom Dia (Good day).

Well – it’s a start!