Boca de Valeria Brazil

Dear Family and Friends,

We only thought we were in the jungle until we arrived at Boca da Valeria, Brazil, a remote village at the confluence of the Rio da Valeria and the Amazon. Approximately 75 people live in this minute village, surrounded by the great rain forest of the Amazon Basin.

We tendered in to this small floating dock and brought with us pens, paper, baseball caps, hundreds of chocolates, and well over $ 100.o0 in one dollar bills to hand out to these gorgeous children who populate this town. They do everything to “earn” their dollars. Two darling little girls grabbed Vicki immediately and as I handed out the chocolates, they took one hand each and told her they would give her a guided tour of their little village. SO CUTE! They stayed with us the entire time, helping us buy various handicrafts offered by the locals in their little booths at the “best price”. We could have cared less how much they asked for their treasures, it was our privilege to aid their “economy”.

Children and young adults posed in traditional Amazonian costumes for a dollar. They displayed their animals….parrots, macaws, three-toed sloths, and other assorted mammals for photo ops…for a dollar. They gave you tours of their homes….for a dollar. They were all smiling and friendly and absolutely adorable. And everything was a dollar. They only get about 8 cruise ships per year at this stop but this is a major source of income for these simple, lovely people. Vicki took a picture of me with Terry Waite, one of our lecturers on board. You might remember that he is the renowned hostage negotiator, who worked for the Archbishop of Canterbury and was taken as a hostage himself in Beirut, Lebanon for five years in solitary confinement back in the 1980’s during the Reagan administration (Iran-Contra). He whispered in my ear…”This will cost you much more than a dollar”. HA!

We took a motor boat ride out of their village for about an hour up into the small tributaries of the Rio de Valeria into the heart of the jungle. Vicki and I took this boat to the “captains” home, about 20 minutes into the rain forest and saw his wife and children working around their place. His wife was working a small garden. His oldest daughter was in a small boat just off the bank washing clothes while his youngest daughter swam nearby. His two sons were building and/or repairing a boat for future use. Everyone contributes to the family’s survival.

It was strange but we saw very few men in the village. Most were women and children. The men were off in the fields, which were inland from the waterway, working the corn and soybean fields that are the principal vegetable staples, or out fishing which is the principal protein source for the village. No one looked like they were starving, which was a good thing.

We noticed the number of small children, from infant to age ten or so, were the largest segment of the population. Young girls start becoming pregnant about the age of 14 or 15 and have an average of six children in their lifetime. Paternity is not a critical issue in these parts and most of these women (girls) are never formally married. The village rears all the children and put them to work at an early age. Family is a loose term here.

We enjoyed our visit here and look forward to our trip up the river to Manaus, one of the largest cities in the middle of nowhere on the planet. Until then, God Bless you all,
Jud and Vicki

More Photos of the Amazon 1

More Photos of the Amazon. The Amazon River is full of sediment brought down from the Andes Mountains. It is what they call “white water”. It really isn’t white but it is a light chocolate brown but a really light looking color in the bright sunlight at this latitude.

Many of the tributaries that feed into the Amazon are what they call “clear water”. These are the rivers and streams which carry nearly pristine water from mountain runoff. But, most of the tributaries which feed into the Amazon are “black water”. This is water which is colder than the Amazon river water, more acidic than the Amazon river water (5.4-5.9 Ph), and slower moving than the Amazon river waters. This combination causes the two rivers to stay separated at their confluence from anywhere from 5 to 15 miles before they eventually merge. You will see some of the results in these photos.

Jud and Vicki

Alter Do Chao Brazil

Dear Family and Friends,

Ola from the Amazon River, deep in the heart of Brazil. We entered the mouth of the Amazon on Tuesday morning. It is just latitude 52 minutes south of the Equator and it was already 88 degrees at 7:00 AM. The delta is over 200 miles wide and has several islands we needed to navigate around, including one that is the size of Switzerland!

We passed Santarem, Brazil which we will visit when we come back down the Amazon and by 3:00 PM we reached our first stopping point at a small village named Alter Do Chao at the mouth of a tributary to the Amazon called Rio Tapajos. There was honestly not much there but a little town square with a small Catholic church, an open-air bar, where the Skol beer was really cold and a gorgeous beach with palm frond roofed huts. The high today was 99 degrees and 98 % humidity. Good GAWD it was hot. The jungle and rain forest here is really thick and I hope you like the pictures.

Several million years ago, after the continent of South America split off from the continent of Africa and started its trek west across the Atlantic Ocean, this huge shelf of land was slightly tilted and rainwater drained from the east edge of the new continent to the west. When this huge land mass started bumping up against the Pacific Teutonic plate, the collision forced a huge upheaval of the western edge and formed the Andes mountain range. This geologic change blocked the river flows traveling to the west. The subsequent backup of water, over time, formed a huge inland sea of fresh water which ended up covering nearly two thirds of the Amazon basin. Remember, that would be an area which is about the same size as the 30 western states of the United States (everything west of the Mississippi River)! This inland sea, one of the largest in the world at that time, lasted for about a half a million years. Then the Pacific plate started moving underneath the continental shelf, or more accurately, the South American continental shelf rode up over the Pacific plate, and the entire opposite tilt of the continent caused a reversal of water flow from the west to the east, like it is to this day. This caused the inland sea to drain into the Atlantic, leaving behind the Amazon River and over 2000 rivers and tributaries which are now the Amazon River Basin. The Basin contains the largest rainforest in the world, which, by the way, is responsible for producing over 30 % of the world’s oxygen. Think about that, no Amazon rainforest, no more us.

The rainforest is a separate eco-system all by itself and one would think that with its dense vegetation the topsoil would be several yards thick. It is not. The topsoil in the rainforest and surrounding jungle averages only three feet and much of it is as little as 2” deep. Below that is rich clay which averages 60 feet in depth, the remnants of the layer upon layer of compacted sediment left behind from the inland sea. It is a very delicate system which is under constant attack from cattle ranchers and soybean farmers, timber companies and developers who all need more land to expand their lucrative businesses. They are cutting down the rainforest at a rate of 100,000 hectares (about 2.4 acres per hectare) per year. Since this rampant elimination of the rainforest began in the later part of the 19th century it is estimated that 18 % of the rainforest has been depleted and the rate increases every year.

Brazil’s government, in cooperation with dozens of international organizations (like our guest lecturer Jean Michel Cousteau’s), governments and private companies, have put legislation and agreements in place to slow the destruction of the rainforest but still huge chunks of it are lost each year to over development, pollution and accidental as well as deliberately set fires. It is hugely important, not just to the nine countries whose indigenous wildlife, human well being and economies are directly linked to the health of the Amazon Basin but to the entire world’s ecology and environment, to preserve this unique and critical eco-system.
We will continue up the Amazon to Boca da Valeria and will arrive at 7:00 Amon Thursday. Until then, God Bless you all.

Jud and Vicki

Fortaleza Brazil

Dear Family and Friends,

On Saturday we arrived at Fortaleza, Brazil, a port and resort city on the east side of the continent which sprang up around the Dutch fort, the Forte de Schoonemborch, built in 1649. After the Portuguese defeated the Dutch the settlement grew but didn’t thrive until the port was opened for shipment of cotton to the United Kingdom in 1808.

When we arrived in port at 7:00 PM we went directly to the Teatro Jose de Alencar, a 19th century theater where we enjoyed a presentation of Edisca ballet performed by the most delightful young people, ages eight to late teens. These children are part of a program to take disadvantaged and homeless youngsters off the streets and teach them a craft and develop their artistic skills. They were incredible and their athleticism and grace were a pleasure to see. Following the ballet we had a cocktail party in the theater garden complete with freshly made Caipirinya, the national drink of Brazil and a Brazilian dance team with entirely too much energy. Caipirinya is made from fresh limes and sugar cane crushed in the bottom of a glass with ample portion of a special rum distilled from sugar cane and crushed ice.

The next day we had a private car tour. Vicki decided that shopping would be a better use of our transportation and our guide’s Portuguese language skills so we only briefly cruised the beaches, the pier and one more church and the rest of the time we spent in the 400 shops of the Mercado Centro. Shopping was not all that successful but we did enjoy our time in Fortaleza although I do not believe we will return any time soon.

Today at 3:59 PM we crossed the Equator for our fourth time at 0° 0’ 0” Latitude and 45° 21’ 13” Longitude heading northwest and here, in the middle of the southern hemisphere summer and the northern hemisphere winter, the temperature was a mere 77 degrees with rain. This is compared to the weather in Fortaleza of 89 degrees, scorching sun and 90 % humidity just 3 ° south.

Tomorrow we will put in for a technical stop at Macapa, Brazil for two hours to pick up our river pilot. At this point we will be at the mouth of the Amazon River, the largest, albeit not longest, river in the world. At 9:00 PM tonight, 18 hours before we reach Macapa, we will run into the plum of fresh water which extends over 200 miles out from the mouth of the Amazon, such is the volume of water coming into the Atlantic Ocean.

The Amazon River Basin is one of the most unique and critical ecological regions in the entire world. Covering nine South American countries, the Basin is nearly as large as the continental US in land mass and the biggest tropical forest in the world. There are over 1000 rivers, all of which are over 1000 miles long, in the Basin feeding into the Amazon River. 20 % of all the fresh water in the world is contained in the Basin. 4.5 TRILLION gallons of water enters the Atlantic from the Amazon each day! And along with all that water, 7.1 million cubic feet per second of sediment is discharged. Compare that to the Mississippi River where a mere 651,000 cubic feet per second is deposited into the Mississippi delta and Gulf of Mexico.

There are over 5,000 species of fish in the Amazon River Basin, which is an incredible statistic considering there is less than that in the entire Atlantic Ocean. One quarter (1/4) of all the species of animals on earth live in the Amazon Basin and more are being discovered every day. In just one hectare of land in the Basin, there are nearly 200 species of vegetation and, interestingly, in the adjoining hectare, there can be 200 additional species with virtually no overlap.

The geological explanation about how the Amazon River Basin was formed, beginning over 2 million years ago, is fascinating but I will leave that for the next Blog. In the meantime, we are looking forward to our 1000 mile journey up the Amazon River to Menaus (pronounced me-NOWS), the largest village at the top of the river we will reach. Until then, God Bless you all.

Jud and Vicki

Salvador de Bahia More Photos 2

Sorry, having troubles uploading photos. Will try again. Jud

Salvador de Bahia More Photos

Sorry about that, here are more pictures from Salvador de Bahia. Having trouble uploading pics so bear with me. Jud

Salvador de Bahia Brazil

Dear Family and Friends,

After the excitement of Rio de Janeiro, a welcome day at sea and 500 nautical miles later prepared us for the interesting city of Salvador de Bahia, the original capital of Brazil for 214 years. Founded in 1549, Salvador lost its status when that honor was given to Rio (and later Brasilia), but it remains the capital of the Bahia state. Salvador has some interesting architecture, much of it in the colonial style, and more churches than you can shake a stick at.

This city of 2,250,000 residents is 70 % Afro-Brazilian, a result of the slavery which was the order of the day until it was abolished nationally when Princesa Isabel, daughter of Dom Pedro II, signed the decree in 1888. Although under renovation, the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Rosario dos Pretos (Church of our Lady of the Rosary of the Blacks), which was built in the baroque style by and for slaves between 1704 and 1796, is a testament to the relentlessness of Catholic conversion. Slaves worked in the sugar plantations from dawn to dusk, seven days a week, so the only time they had to build their church was at night and only on the nights with enough moonlight to see. During the colonial era, slaves masked their religious beliefs under a thin Catholic veneer. Because of modern-day acceptance of those beliefs, Salvador has become the fount of Candomble, a religion based on personal dialogue with the orixas, a family of African deities closely linked to both nature and the Catholic saints. I am not sure what the Pope thinks of this.

One of the most beautiful churches is Igreja de Sao Francisco (Church of St. Francis), which was built in the 18th century on a site of an earlier church that was burned down during the Dutch invasion in the early 1600’s. After 92 years under construction, the ceiling was painted in 1774 by Jose Joaquim da Rocha, who founded Brazil’s first art school. The ornate cedar and rosewood interior is covered with images of mermaids and other fanciful creatures all bathed in gold leaf. I don’t know how much gold is in this church but it was reported as at least one ton and, at today’s prices could feed a small third-world country for a year. The sacristy in this church has furniture made from the wood of Jacaranda trees, one of the hardest of hardwoods, and is inlaid with ivory, rosewood and semi-precious stones and is pristine after over 250 years. There are some two hundred boy cherubs sculpted throughout the church. Originally sculpted with all parts anatomically correct at some point in history prudish sentiments prevailed and their privates were removed from all but two of these heavenly bodies. I am not sure what the Pope thinks about this either, but God is probably laughing.

The city is an interesting mix of old and new, separated by a 250 foot cliff that is connected by only two roads and a high capacity enclosed elevator. I hope you enjoy the pictures of old and new.

Another day at sea and we will be in Fortaleza, which the locals call “The City of Light” because they claim the sun shines 2,800 hours a year. We will see. Until then, God Bless you all.

Jud and Vicki
strong>