6/24/2014
We took a taxi out to the CIGS army
base, Centro de Instrucao de Guerra na Selva (Jungle Warfare School). This is
the base for the rangers that protect the Amazon from neighboring countries,
drug traffickers, illegal loggers and miners, etc. In addition, they rescue
wild animals which have been illegally caught. These animals are put into a zoo
on the grounds of the base. Here we saw various kinds a felines, large and
small birds of all kinds, peccaries, tapirs, capibarras, snakes, etc.
The zoo is spread out and the cages are large.
 |
| Entrance to CIGS army base. |
 |
| Entrance to CIGS zoo. |
 |
| Jaguars everywhere. |
We then headed for the Museo del
Indio (Indian Museum) which was filled with nice displays of ceramic, baskets,
weapons, tools, etc. of many of the tribes of the Amazon. David was frustrated
because no photos were permitted.
From there we went to check on our
boat for tomorrow to Santarem. At the dock where it was supposed to be, it was not. Finally we located a
guy who said that he had not seen our boat in weeks. He looked at our ticket
and suggested that we return to the office of the Tonico Agency which had issued the ticket. He
said that Tonico could be found under a mango tree just outside the entrance to
the dock we had visited yesterday. This seemed a bit of a stretch, so we
returned to the hotel and called our travel agent who confirmed the mango tree
office.
After lunch, there was Tonico under
his tree on a busy sidewalk at a tiny desk. He said he had been
trying to reach us. Our boat had been changed to the Golfinho. His son offered
to show us our quarters in the boat, so off we went. But no boat. We have been
assured that it will be back tomorrow morning, but keep tuned. Contingency planning for the last week of our trip has begun.
 |
| Updating boat reservations under mango tree. |
 |
| Boats represented by Mr. Tonico. |
 |
| Hopefully not our boat to Santarem. |
I have read all the material you have posted with amusement , what a difference since the 70’s . My boat that I traveled across the Amazon delta on did not have any other water then what the river gave and for bathrooms the “ poop deck “ was it , that is a board with holes in it at the stern of the boat for all to see when you used it. If you forgot to bring food you did not eat and once arriving in Belem as far as I can remember we just grounded and got off in the muddy banks each for himself.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes we had any kind of creature along for the trip. Noah's ark comes to mind. Cabins , no. All open and with hammocks ( bring your own ) or sleep on the deck , which I did. I can’t remember but the vessel was at least 180’ made of wood and there were several hundred passengers. I ended camping out on the roof as to get away the down side was that there was no shade and I made the fatal error making my camp aft of the smoke stack. Call me little black Sambo since I was covered in soot from head to toe.
Direct TV , bathrooms, cooked meals not on my boat. At the time I would been happy with toilet paper instead of newspaper and there again if you forgot to bring newspaper you would loose.
Looking forward to have you back on the 3rd of July. I start working full time on July 7 and then for the next 5 weeks full time +++ . Instead of going out perhaps we could get together and cook some bush meat since I am sure that you have acquired a taste for same in the past few weeks?
I tried to comment on your blog page and found it rather a cumber sum procedure and gave up.
These are comments from David's friend Gunnar Wickman