The Port of Santarem, Brazil
We learned today that the people of Brazil gained their freedom, from a military regime, in 1985. They are very proud of the fact that they are self-governed. There are 200,00 people in Santarem. We saw much poverty or what we perceived as poverty, but many happy people. The language barrier kept us from conversations but our guide spoke very good English. He teaches Portuguese in the primary school. He has never been out of Brazil but is saving to travel to Connecticut in 2010.
We had an opportunity to see Brazil nuts and cashews as they grow. That is a photo, on the left, of a cashew nut hanging in a tree. Now we can understand why they are so expensive. We sampled about 20 fruits and Jack tasted the local sugar cane liquor-VERY POTENT- was the adjective!. Then our hosts showed us manioc, a root that looks like horseradish but it is a starch like potato. We watched how it is grown, harvested, peeled, ground, and the liquid, which is a deadly poison was squeezed out of it. Then they sift the damp flour to get it a uniform small size, roast it to dry and it is ready to eat. The webshots photos show all this. http://community.webshots.com/user/pins4 They make cakes, porridge, or sprinkle it on everything. It is tasteless, and the guide knows of no nutritional value he just kept saying a starch.
Our host then showed us his rubber trees, which he can tap for 150 years before the tree is “done” as long as it is protected from the termites. They harvest the latex 6 days a week for 6 months and then let the tree rest. I wonder if they too rest, as it seems they are always busy. The rubber tree is protected and caught cutting it down prison is your punishment.
The afternoon was spent at a lovely beach with 82 degree temp and a breeze. We are at the moment at a latitude of 2 degrees 24.8 south of the equator so the 82 degrees really seems hotter. We had a nice beachside lunch of local fish, rice, salsa and manioc. Coca Cola is a large bottle and 600 ml of beer served in a cooler that we would expect a wine bottle to sit in, to keep it cool.. Local residents of all skin tones surrounded us, and it was fun to watch the family dynamics, not much different than at home. Well, the children did seem to show more respect for everyone.
6:00 pm our time which is 2 hours ahead of home and I hear the motors starting as we prepare to leave our last port on the Amazon. We travel all night and will be out of the Amazon tomorrow night. I cannot believe that we have had the opportunity to fulfill a dream. How blessed we are! Next stop Trinidad.
We learned today that the people of Brazil gained their freedom, from a military regime, in 1985. They are very proud of the fact that they are self-governed. There are 200,00 people in Santarem. We saw much poverty or what we perceived as poverty, but many happy people. The language barrier kept us from conversations but our guide spoke very good English. He teaches Portuguese in the primary school. He has never been out of Brazil but is saving to travel to Connecticut in 2010.
We had an opportunity to see Brazil nuts and cashews as they grow. That is a photo, on the left, of a cashew nut hanging in a tree. Now we can understand why they are so expensive. We sampled about 20 fruits and Jack tasted the local sugar cane liquor-VERY POTENT- was the adjective!. Then our hosts showed us manioc, a root that looks like horseradish but it is a starch like potato. We watched how it is grown, harvested, peeled, ground, and the liquid, which is a deadly poison was squeezed out of it. Then they sift the damp flour to get it a uniform small size, roast it to dry and it is ready to eat. The webshots photos show all this. http://community.webshots.com/user/pins4 They make cakes, porridge, or sprinkle it on everything. It is tasteless, and the guide knows of no nutritional value he just kept saying a starch.
Our host then showed us his rubber trees, which he can tap for 150 years before the tree is “done” as long as it is protected from the termites. They harvest the latex 6 days a week for 6 months and then let the tree rest. I wonder if they too rest, as it seems they are always busy. The rubber tree is protected and caught cutting it down prison is your punishment.
The afternoon was spent at a lovely beach with 82 degree temp and a breeze. We are at the moment at a latitude of 2 degrees 24.8 south of the equator so the 82 degrees really seems hotter. We had a nice beachside lunch of local fish, rice, salsa and manioc. Coca Cola is a large bottle and 600 ml of beer served in a cooler that we would expect a wine bottle to sit in, to keep it cool.. Local residents of all skin tones surrounded us, and it was fun to watch the family dynamics, not much different than at home. Well, the children did seem to show more respect for everyone.
6:00 pm our time which is 2 hours ahead of home and I hear the motors starting as we prepare to leave our last port on the Amazon. We travel all night and will be out of the Amazon tomorrow night. I cannot believe that we have had the opportunity to fulfill a dream. How blessed we are! Next stop Trinidad.
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