Amazon files - Rio Negro

Here I was, paddling happily away on the Rio Negro, on my borrowed three plank canoe. It was 2005? Life was good. I was spending two sedate weeks on a river yacht, with family and friends. Days consisted of contemplation, eating simple good food, conversation - and paddling.  The paddle, I still keep. I stands in my living room, and reminds me of the good days.

Canoa

Another beautyfull canoe picture. Can't get enough of them...

Where'izit gone? ...

... they are cutting it down... the forest. Thankfully there is plenty still left there. Different than in other places. So, there is still hope that "they" (actually it should say; "we") still manage a turnaround.

Flying boys

The kids in the amazon have different options regarding leisure. Hunting, swimming, paddling... and flying... ?... check the flying boy in the forest. Can you spot him?

Amazonian public transport

Public transport in the amazon region is almost entirely done on the rivers, by more or less open runabouts. You can find hundreds of such bunches in Manaus, the capital of the State of Amazonas.

Drivers licence?

Luckily there is no drivers licence required for canoes... Kids use them to go to school. I mean... only if there is a school, of course. At least in a distance which takes under 1 or 2 hours paddeling to get there.

Get a tow

Being towed for a while is also good fun. Me and my blue canoe on the Rio Negro.

Maybe the first "Tow-in-Stand-up-Paddle-Surf" ever to be practiced on the Rio Negro! Big board...

Today, I finally managed to finish the 5th image of the "Musgo" series...

Lonelyness

This is how the typical houses on the margins of the great rivers of the amazon bassin look like. This one is from a channel in the Anavilhanas Archipel, on the Rio Negro. Note that this is during high water season. At low water, this house has a pristine white beach in front of it. Exceptionally this one does not have an Acai field right next to it. Acai os one of the main items of the regional menu.

The Anavilhanas Archipel is the biggest sweet water archipel in the world, and a fascinating pool of species. One can observe plants, orchids, gigant trees, many birds. And it has one of the best peakock bass fishing grouds (http://www.treksafaris.com/FishingBrazil.asp) in the world.

And, since you ask, during high water it is not even worth putting a hook in the water, since the fish spread out into the forests for feeding on fruit and seeds.


Image from the internet: As you see, peacock bass shows only at low water... They are angry fighters...

Water and canoes

That's what boys grow up with in the Rio Negro region - water and canoes. It is allways a great pleasure to watch the kids jumping and playing around the river margins.

Take a good look at this picture, and see the boy flying from the treetop. I have no idea how he got there... But I was there. I took the picture.

Well, blogs need something radical to attract attention. There you have radical.

Canoeing Moments

Paddling at night was an adventure I have tried a couple of times during the Rio Negro travel. I did this when we were exploring the smaller afluents of the Rio Negro. And only if I had time to get a little familiar with the surroundings during daylight.

The river has many arms, islands and smaller afluents, turning the place into a maze, in which it is easy getting lost. The darkness at night is absolute. There are no lights, except the stars and the moon. And there are no indication signs giving directions, of course.

On a special occasion, we parked the boat for the night on a lagoon-like river loop. There was only very little current. I ventured out, paddling in the darness over the absolutely flat water. As the boat and its noises faded into the distance, I felt like slowly penetrating into another, ancient and primitive world. The moon and stars were hiding behind clouds, and the darkness was almos complete. The treetops on the margin were only faint shaddows.

I stopped paddling and listened to the noises of the forest. Peace was all around. Suddenly I heard breathing noises and gentle water movement. I was not alone. Botos, pink river dolphins were moving about.

It is not uncommon tho see them during daylight for brief moments when travelling on the river. But they are allways in the distance. Now they were invisible, but I felt close to them. They were relaxed, and I could hear them breething. They usually live alone, but here I was in company of two of them. Maybe a couple, or a mother with a calve.

There was nothing spectacular about it. I couldn't even see the animals, nor anything whatsoever. The exact absence of any visual reference and the notion of vastness, was what was made this so special a moment.

Pink River Dolphins - Botos

Of the five freshwater species of dolphins in the world, the pink Amazon River dolphin, Inia geoffrensis, or "bufeo colorado” as they are known in Peru and “botos" as they known in in Brazil, are considered to be the most intelligent.

These friendly, sensitive, mammals with a brain capacity 40% larger than that of humans, who have lived in harmony with the people of the Amazon and its tributaries for centuries, now face extinction in some tributaries.

Coloration: The reasons for the unique coloration of Inia geoffrensis are poorly understood, but the presence of capillaries near the surface of the skin probably accounts for much of its characteristic pink flush. Other factors may include age of the animal, chemical disposition of the water (especially iron content), and the temperature of the water.

The gray dolphins are usually regarded as "sacred" animals, especially by various Indian tribes. Up until recent times, the dolphins and people who live along the Amazon River existed in harmony with each other. It has only been within the past three decades, more or less, that the psychic relationship between the people and dolphins has been fractured as a result of deforestation and habitat degradation.

Text from: INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY for the Preservationof the TropicalRainforest

Comment: In Brazil, they are also often famed as the ones taking the virginity of young women. Now, ... why would they want to do that?!

Waterplanet

One of my favorite pastimes during the Rio Negro trip was paddling through the submerged treetops and explore the flooded landscape.

We travelled in June, which is highwater season. The heavy rainfalls of the previous months were past, but the watermasses still covered great parts of the land. This creates a quite peculiar environment where you have the impression to be on a waterplanet. You seldomly ever see dry land. You see the trees and forests, all right. But the ground on where they stand is covered with fresh water. Rivers are wide and large. And when I say wide, I mean veeery wide!!! This being so, the only real way to explore the region is by boat. And in my case the preferred means was by canoe.

I took the picture above during another voyage through the amazon. But his time by car. I will post about it further along.

The Rio Negro is part of a black water system. This means that the water has a very low sediment content. And that is due to the fact that the land and mountain ranges are very old and the sediment has been washed out during millions of years. You can confirm that when you do see the land. It is mostly very fine, clear white sand. All big trees stand on a thin cover of humus (roots and leaves in decomposion). And under the humus you see the white sand. It is also due to the humus that the water is blackish-redish in colour (see picture above). It looks very much like black tea – which, you could say it is... The tannin from the leaves also makes the water ph quite acid. Which is good, because the moskito can’t proliferate, since their larvae can’t live in the acid environment (water). Therefore you can travel on the Rio Negro without worrying too much about the bugs. Great advantage! This is as long as you stay on the river. As soon as you enter the forest, matters change a bit…

Our hosts, the Leuzinger family travels frequently in the region. Our destination was a tiny little village called Caicubi, where the Leuzingers are well known (link). This being so, I was able to borrow one of the indigenous canoes for the rest of the trip. We gave it back on our way back down the river. When we did give it back, the friendly owner of the canoe gave me the paddle, which he made himself, as a present. I still have it and keep it with love and care.

The little canoe was my favorite past time. I used it extensively for exploring the surroundings by day and sometimes at night. At night I never went too far from the boat, because getting lost would be easy, and very, very unconvenient…

Amazon Rainforest

Travelling in the amazon region is a phantastic experience. Even better so if done in company of famaly and dear friends. I was luck enough to do just so. Following an invitation from our long time friends, the Leuzingers, my mother and me joined the party for a two week boat journey from Manaus, and up the Rio Negro.

Travelling by boat is the only real way to experience the vastness of the amazon rainforest. Sailing for days along deserted river banks, covered with dense forest, over an endless horizont of endless masses of sweet water, gives a good impression of the of what the region is made of. The occasional expedition through the forest itself makes you humble before the wonders of nature.

But the nicest thing about this journey, was that I got lots of time enjoying the company of my mother and friends. We had long conversations over frequent meals and happy hours. There are not many place to go. The world passes by while you sit on your boat. The temperature is agreeable, the water nice and allways just a hop away. If the boat is sailing, a confortable shower on the stern platform does the trick.

All in all about the most relaxing trip I've ever done. And one of the most interesting too.