a misty morning on the Antun Cocha Creek off the Samiria River

As the end of the rainy season approached, the level of the rivers begin to drop. It was about halfway between high water and the lowest level when we traveled up this waterway. The forest was flooded way back into the distance so alligators, wild boars capaybayas etc. were not seen at the water's edge as they are at low water. An area like this probably could not be exploited by farmers or ranchers due to the fluctuation of the water level but it certainly could be ravaged  by illegal loggers and gold mining dredges if it weren't patrolled by forest rangers. One would hope that the rangers would have enough in their budgets for gas for their patrol boats.
As for the future and what climate change could bring, we could only wonder what will happen. Locals say that less rain is falling in this area. If the trend continues,  the forests could dry out leading to more intentional or unintentional forest fires.
Also, we wondered what will happen to these rivers as the sea level rises. It would appear that the rise would create a damming effect so that river water all over the Amazon Basin would back up and cause more flooding, impacting tremendously the riverine cities, town and villages from the mouth of the Amazon back to isolated reserves like the Pacaya-Samiria. The impact on the fragile flora and fauna can only be negative..

Another Delay/Trying Your Patience

We are embarrassed to report that our wrap-up post and final photo gallery are not going to happen anytime soon. Since our return, we have become too involved with catching up with our normal lives, grandchildren, managing a ranch (John), and beautiful northwest summer weather (David) to spend time on our blog and photos. We don't expect to be able to do so until the end of September. If you are still interested in our final update, please either come back then or send either one of us an email and we will let you know when it happens. Or you can leave your name in the Comment section below.

We apologize for the further delay. Thanks for your interest and patience.

David & John

7/2-3/2014 Belem & Home

On Wednesday our adventure ended when we traveled by taxi to the Belem airport to begin our return flights home. John flew home to Alta Gracia near Cordoba, Argentina via São Paulo and Santiago, Chile. David flew to Seattle via Brasilia and Atlanta. Both trips were long but uneventful, as neither of us arrived at the airport without his passport, although David had to abandon his trekking poles when passing through security in Brasilia.

Thanks to all of you for following our blog over the last month. Special thanks go out to our readership in Russia. As "administrators" of our blog, we have access to "statistics" showing the number of page views by country. Viewers in the USA accounted for 60% our total views. Surprisingly, 14% of our page views originated from Russia, the second most of any country. If you are a reader from Russia, we would appreciate it if you would post a comment about the reasons for your interest in our blog.

For better or for worse, this is not our final post. Please check back in a few weeks to read a wrap up with our final thoughts, as well as to view our final photo portfolio, including both recent photos and some going back to our first several days on the Clavero and of Walter Saxer of the Casa Fitzcarraldo. We are sorry that we were unable to keep up with the posting of photos along the way.

Happy 4th of July! 

6/30-7/1/2014 Belem

On Monday took a taxi to the Mangal das Garzas park which we had seen from a distance earlier the other day. Unfortunately, we found that parks and museums are closed on Mondays.

From the closed park, we traveled around the city enjoying the beautiful parks and then visited another open air market. This one had a section specializing in wooden furniture, some beautifully carved. In addition, there was an extensive section dedicated to holistic medicine made from local plants, roots, etc. John, who has suffered from a terrible cough brought on by a jungle related allergy or perhaps too much air conditioning starting on the Clavero, decided to try out one of their products. The one recommended was Xarope de Juca, a thick, green, sweet-smelling brew made up of local herbs. He has been taking this stuff and is still alive, with his cough beginning to improve.

The afternoon was dedicated to the World Cup, watching France beat Nigeria and Germany beat Algeria.

Today (Tuesday) we returned to visit the Mangal das Garzas Park. This is one of the best parks that we have seen in any country. It borders a wide branch of the river and is separated from the water by fifty yards of swamp,  thick with mangrove trees, some in flower. An elevated wooden walkway leads to the water’s edge high above the mangroves.  It is pretty spectacular.

Back on the dry land, a big building constructed in the style of the Indian Malocas, grass roofed and made of wood, houses a well-displayed museum dedicated to the history of water travel from hand made canoes to river boats particular to the Amazon. We learned that these river boats have their geneses in the early galleons that plied the seas between Portugal and Brazil. Ships design was adapted to fresh water but maintains its "roots" creating  unique looking vessels.   

Above the museum is a fancy restaurant where we were going to have lunch until we found that they did not have a big screen TV to watch Argentina vs. Switzerland.  We continued on to the rest of the park, visiting two large enclosures, one containing a great variety of birds, as well as trees and bushes and a little pond. The most interesting birds were bright red egrets that could fly at will around the big enclosure.

The second enclosure had a few birds and many trees and tropical plants and was filled with a variety of butterflies. We had never seen so many in one place and so tame if you can say that about butterflies.

Outside of the enclosures, other birds, the red egrets included, and iguanas roamed free. The same kind of snowy egrets that we had seen from a distance by the thousands up the Marinon River strode unafraid around the park letting us put our cameras in their faces. The same could be said for large iguanas that roamed the park.

We left in time to see the kickoff of the Argentine game back at the hotel.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching that game, as well as the US vs. Belgium game.