After lunch, we set off in the canoe. I was kinda disappointed at first because the canoe was motorized and very loud and we were going pretty fast. Thankfully, though, about 15-20 minutes from the lodge, the canoe driver shut down the motor and Krishna (our guide), moved to the bough of the boat with a paddle. From there we spent about 2 hours paddling though the marshy tributaries of the Negro River. Krishna explained that during the dry season, the area we were exploring was inaccessible by boat though there would be more fauna to see at that time. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the local flora though he«d only been in the region for 4 years or so (he was originally from Britich Guayana). We saw rubber trees, wild rice, and spike trees that you really needed to keep an eye for (our canoe was just a regular canoe, very close to the water - often, we would pass so close to the various plants that someone was always carefully scrambling out of the way of a spike tree). As far wild life goes, we only saw a couple of birds and a lot of insects. One particular type of bird was a beautiful black, with striking, vibrant yellow markings on it«s belly, back and tail feathers.
On our way back to the lodge, we stopped at the house of a local farmer. Our guide showed us the primitive equipment the family uses to make manioc flour (a ubiquitous condiment throught Brazil), the farmer cut open a husk from one of his palm trees that contained brazil nuts (I had no idea that was how they grew!), we also got to sample a creamy fruit that is usually served cold and is often compared to ice cream. They had an amazing lemon grass plant and a garlic plant. They sold home crafts (I bought a necklace) made from the seeds of various native plants. The children were beautiful - the man and his wife had 6 children - and the homestead was neat and clean though primitive. There was a marking on the house that indicated the local health inspector had recently visited to search the area for malarial breeding grounds (and didn«t find any). According to Krishna, the family owns quite a bit of land and harvests a number of different fruits and vegetables that are regularly picked up via boat bound for nearby villages and the larger city of Manaus.
Posted by jfer at February 22, 2002 2:41 PM