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| The estuary of the Amazon |
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| Busses have ticket sellers riding along. |
I'm happy to have arrived at the bank of The River.
It's exciting, still rustic and has a rusty edge and earthly scent to it, and then you wander past the real people down to the waterfront which has been converted into... wait for it, upscale Restaurants, a happening micro brewery and (drum roll) Shopping. Then, 50 meters past the retro-piers, the Franciscans are feeding the hungry in a public plaza at dusk.
Meanwhile, I'm booked into a four star hotel again for less price than some of the lesser establishments I've been finding on the road - turns out Brazil has over built these (thanks World Cup and Olympics) and they're cheap if you book online (hotels.com) This one is 112 reals a night (US$ 50), garage and nice breakfast included.
Tomorrow I'm going to check out Amazon excursions but I'm skeptical of the advice which tells me that I must go up the river to Manaus (population 2.5 million) to begin exploring the Amazon. I suggest you overly the area using Earth - they're cutting and burning up there just like around here. I'm not realistically expecting to spy on a panther stalking it's prey or a tribe of semi-naked indigenous people dancing and shoot g monkeys for a group dinner to which I've been I've been invited - so I might just try to find a group of hikers with a guide familiar with this area.
Having driven through this terrain for days it's increasingly obvious that the deforestation is completely sanctioned, proceeding at 100% capacity and with no sign of abatement. Want proof, come up here and look at the multiple government road crews working 12 hour days; then follow new road development and look at the huge swaths of denuded and burning jungles that branch off of these new roads. Also, Brazil has more federal police than anywhere I've ever been; they are highly respected/feared, there are lots of them and they have modern equipment stationed at check points every 100 km along every road I've traveled throughout Brazil. They could stop the logging in a day if given the mandate. Perhaps policy will change with a new president (yes, I'm guessing, based on people I pseudo-speak with).
Cheers,
Nick
from my phone.
PS. When in Rome... Try to take the local bus. This got me several new friends. They have ticket sellers at a gate on the buses.
It's exciting, still rustic and has a rusty edge and earthly scent to it, and then you wander past the real people down to the waterfront which has been converted into... wait for it, upscale Restaurants, a happening micro brewery and (drum roll) Shopping. Then, 50 meters past the retro-piers, the Franciscans are feeding the hungry in a public plaza at dusk.
Meanwhile, I'm booked into a four star hotel again for less price than some of the lesser establishments I've been finding on the road - turns out Brazil has over built these (thanks World Cup and Olympics) and they're cheap if you book online (hotels.com) This one is 112 reals a night (US$ 50), garage and nice breakfast included.
Tomorrow I'm going to check out Amazon excursions but I'm skeptical of the advice which tells me that I must go up the river to Manaus (population 2.5 million) to begin exploring the Amazon. I suggest you overly the area using Earth - they're cutting and burning up there just like around here. I'm not realistically expecting to spy on a panther stalking it's prey or a tribe of semi-naked indigenous people dancing and shoot g monkeys for a group dinner to which I've been I've been invited - so I might just try to find a group of hikers with a guide familiar with this area.
Having driven through this terrain for days it's increasingly obvious that the deforestation is completely sanctioned, proceeding at 100% capacity and with no sign of abatement. Want proof, come up here and look at the multiple government road crews working 12 hour days; then follow new road development and look at the huge swaths of denuded and burning jungles that branch off of these new roads. Also, Brazil has more federal police than anywhere I've ever been; they are highly respected/feared, there are lots of them and they have modern equipment stationed at check points every 100 km along every road I've traveled throughout Brazil. They could stop the logging in a day if given the mandate. Perhaps policy will change with a new president (yes, I'm guessing, based on people I pseudo-speak with).
Cheers,
Nick
from my phone.
PS. When in Rome... Try to take the local bus. This got me several new friends. They have ticket sellers at a gate on the buses.