Bela Vista Update

[amazondk]

After lunch I found my spot in a hammock beneath some trees. The view is looking out form the hammock toward the Mauritia grove at the neighbors place.

[amazondk]

This is the part of the property that Raquel's mother has planted manioc. There are two types planted bitter manioc to make farinha (manioc meal), and what is called locally macaxeira which is eaten cooked. The Cubans call this yuca. There is another picture of the concrete slab in bad condition and the brick structure that we are going to convert into the first part of the house project. And, here is a picture looking out the front of where the house will be toward the Attalea maripa.

dk

[amazondk]

I walked around the section of the lot with secondary forest in a good state of recover and next to the Mauritia grove encountered some real interesting palms I believe that they may be some sort of Bactris. They have very fine hairs on the leaves. Maybe someone has an idea of what they may be. It is a pretty little palm.

dk

[amazondk]

The forest section of the lot is re-establishing the forest nicely. I don't know how long has been since the last time it was cut, but it probaly was 20 years ago or so. Maybe a little less. There is not evidence of large stumps in the area so I imagine that the area has been cleared and regrown many times over the years. Here ia another shot of the forest floor composition. And, a nice little palm I found. I am going to put some primary forest trees mixed into this area and open up enough light for them to develop well. I am going to put some tabebuias and others in. And, help the palms grow. I think I will keep this part of the lot in natives putting in the exotics in other areas. The more I look at the place the more potential I find to create a great tropical forest river get away place. One of the things that came to mind was putting a raised deck near the Mauritia grove on the hill side nestled next to the forest area. The last picture is another small palm that I found. I am sure that the more I look around the more I will find. There is a nice canopy formed already creating good conditions for a home for plenty of nice plants.

dk

[realarch]

Hi Don,

Oh boy look at you in that hammock! got a chuckle out of that one. That should be your avatar.

Thanks for the geographica (is that a word?) maps are another one of my many diversions. Love the dynamics of geography, both political and physical.

Interesting when you were talking bout Iquitos and it's location, for some reason I had it in my mind that it was located way south of Manaus, but not the case. In fact the lodge we'll be staying at is along the Napo river which eventually winds it way down to Iquitos. I'm trying to get a handle on the palms I would most likely see while I'm there, but there are so many species I'll probably just have to snap away and try to identify later. The guides however are supposed to be very good and hopefully they will know the names, at least the local names of most of them. I would get off on seeing a monkey or two as well.

Tim

[DoomsDave]

Hmm.

So, what's the little brat doing now?

Hmm

[amazondk]

Dave,

Right now he is keeping his mother busy. BUt, yesterday he was in charge of gardening.

dk

[amazondk]

Tim,

The hammock is a great invention. The water you will see in Ecuador will eventually flow by Manaus. It is pretty much a straight line if you look at it. I majored in Geography in college and I love maps. It is always good to know where you are.

dk

[_Keith]

Don,

You know, until you started sharing your life in the middle of the Amazon, I have to confess I never would have entertained going to Manaus. But now, well you if you hear a strange knock on the front door followed by Aye-eee, either lock it and run out the back door, or accept your fate and know you were responsible.

[amazondk]

Keith,

You would be more than welcome at any time. But, if you timed things when the big peacock bass are in season it could make things even more interesting. That is if you like to fish. And, not that anyone ever has a guarantee of catching fish. But, the effort is most of the fun anyway. I am sure you would feel quite at home here. Some of the local music even is similar to the music from your area. That is Forro music from the Northeast of Brazil which relies a lot on the accordion. Although there are a lot of differences to Louisiana, both places have landscapes dominated by rivers and forests, and swamps. I have a plan to get some structure to our place in the coming months. I am going to close in the brick structure shown above, it is 4 x 7 meters. That is a pretty easy and cheap thing to do here. Then to start with I am going to make a tatched roof structure behind it on the cement slab. I have a lot of the wood already to make the structure. And, palm tatching is easy to get over there, and cheap. I am going to have to run electricity in since the public power only gets to about 300 meters from the lot. My mother in law I think used a telephone wire to get some power to her house. Which definately does not work. It does not even run a fan well. But, by using a strand of aluminum power cable you can get good eletricity in. You just hook it into the nearest power line, which is a common practice around here. At least until the public power gets a line to the street I can have power. There is a small water line that runs down there from the village well and water tank. Water reaches the area 3 or 4 times a week. So, by installing a 2,000 liter or so water tank, I can have water to use. Eventually I am going to drill a well of about 60 to 70 meters depth. But, first I have to get other things done. My cell phone picks up from there so I have communication. And, since my main internet connection is via a cell phone GPRS/Edge modem I have communication. We now have 3G cell phone networks either operating or setting up here so things should improve on that front quickly. Since a lot of my work is either via internet or telephone I should be able even to do some of it from there. That will make the ferry boat bottle neck a lot less of a problem as I will be able to choose my times to come and go better. This weekend as I was sitting on the edge of that weathered ciment slab looking out at the river at the end of the day I was very impressed at just how beautiful a place it is. And, how lucky I am to be able to spend time in such an environment. It is is not a hard trip from Lousiana to Manaus these days. There is daily service via TAM airbus 320 from Miami to Manaus. It is a five hour non stop flight. Hope to see you here.

dk

[realarch]

Take plenty of photos Keith!

[Jeff in St Pete]

Don, I really enjoyed this thread. What a great slice of paradise you have there on the river! Your son is very lucky to grow up in such a place.

[_Keith]

Keith,

You would be more than welcome at any time. But, if you timed things when the big peacock bass are in season it could make things even more interesting. That is if you like to fish. And, not that anyone ever has a guarantee of catching fish. But, the effort is most of the fun anyway. I am sure you would feel quite at home here. Some of the local music even is similar to the music from your area. That is Forro music from the Northeast of Brazil which relies a lot on the accordion. Although there are a lot of differences to Louisiana, both places have landscapes dominated by rivers and forests, and swamps. I have a plan to get some structure to our place in the coming months. I am going to close in the brick structure shown above, it is 4 x 7 meters. That is a pretty easy and cheap thing to do here. Then to start with I am going to make a tatched roof structure behind it on the cement slab. I have a lot of the wood already to make the structure. And, palm tatching is easy to get over there, and cheap. I am going to have to run electricity in since the public power only gets to about 300 meters from the lot. My mother in law I think used a telephone wire to get some power to her house. Which definately does not work. It does not even run a fan well. But, by using a strand of aluminum power cable you can get good eletricity in. You just hook it into the nearest power line, which is a common practice around here. At least until the public power gets a line to the street I can have power. There is a small water line that runs down there from the village well and water tank. Water reaches the area 3 or 4 times a week. So, by installing a 2,000 liter or so water tank, I can have water to use. Eventually I am going to drill a well of about 60 to 70 meters depth. But, first I have to get other things done. My cell phone picks up from there so I have communication. And, since my main internet connection is via a cell phone GPRS/Edge modem I have communication. We now have 3G cell phone networks either operating or setting up here so things should improve on that front quickly. Since a lot of my work is either via internet or telephone I should be able even to do some of it from there. That will make the ferry boat bottle neck a lot less of a problem as I will be able to choose my times to come and go better. This weekend as I was sitting on the edge of that weathered ciment slab looking out at the river at the end of the day I was very impressed at just how beautiful a place it is. And, how lucky I am to be able to spend time in such an environment. It is is not a hard trip from Lousiana to Manaus these days. There is daily service via TAM airbus 320 from Miami to Manaus. It is a five hour non stop flight. Hope to see you here.

dk

Don, I would really like to try that someday. And yes, I was once a uber fisherman. It ruled my life. And I also wanted to catch a Peacock Bass. Not so much today, the fishing thing, but I promise myself to get back to it. Life put a few things in the middle.

I have a feeling your home would be right up my ally, except for the language barrier. But I suspect a good Cajun smile will work when all else fails. And another gringo friend, haha.

So, you think this music would fit in, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP4onf7C4Zs, maybe I could bring a Zydeco band down with me. It is funny, I am an old head banger, but this music brings a part in me alive that feels like my dad more than me, but boy does it do it for me.

One day, my friend, here or there, we shall meet.

keith

[amazondk]

Jeff,

I am glad you enjoyed my slice of the Rio Negro. I feel that I was very fortunate to grow up in such a great natural place as Montana. My other kids have always enjoyed Amazonas and I hope that it has helped them. And, I hope to create the best environment for my youngest to grow up in. I guess that is one of the most important things we can give our kids.

Keith,

Thanks for the music. I have been a fan of cajun music for a long time. In fact Louisiana has always been a part of the US that has attracted me both culturally and geographically. Montana was even part of Louisiana at one time. Thanks for the music. Here is one of the more popular forro bands from Northeastern Brazil that are popular here in Manaus, Aviões do Forró. I am sure there is a peacock bass in the river with your name on it. I need to go fishing more. Fishing season is arriving soon. I hope I can take advantage of it somewhat this year. I will be waiting for the knock on the door.

dk

[amazondk]

We went over to Paricatuba for the day. I sort of took the day off. It was hot until a rain storm came by after noon. Then it was less hot. In the first picture it is noticable how much the river has dropped since the last picture I posted from this spot. The second picture is looking down the river front towards Manaus. This is not the view from my lot but from the other end of the village.

[amazondk]

The street that goes along the river front through the village.

Bela Vista Street in front of my lot. My lot is on the left. I recently put some more barbed wire along the fence posts. Eventually I will either make a brick wall or a hardwood fence.

[amazondk]

My monther in law's little garden in raised boxes always looks great.

The chicken population is growing faster than they get consumued.

Papayas grow well. I guess that is pretty safe to say for most places in the tropics.

The manioc patch that my Mother in law planted is starting to develop. Most of it is bitter manioc, called manioca here. This is the type which is poisonous if eaten without being processed first. It is made into farinha, meal, after it is squeezed, grated, and baked. One part has macaxeira, known by many as yuca, which is sweet manioc and can be eaten directly. The view is looking from the back of the lot more or less toward the river.

[amazondk]

I cleaned out the brush under this nice tree in the back of the lot. Its leave fold up during the night. I have hired a guy who is clearing the brush for me. I really can not get over there enough to make a dent in things. Plus the price is right.

I need to figure out what species this tree is. If anyone has an idea please let me know. It is common in secondary forest growth.

There are a lot of these trees with beautiful purple flowers around the lot and also around town. I am going to have to cut some of them down to make way for other things, like palm trees. But, there will still be a lot of them.

Hopefully in the next few months I can get this area fixed up and a simple structure made to spend the weekend in.

The African oil palms I planted a while ago are doing ok through the dry season.

[amazondk]

I noticed this time that I have a jatoba tree (Hymenaea courbaril) growing on the permiter of the lot toward the river. The jatoba produces a wood called Brazilian cherry in the USA and is a very popular speces for flooring. It's leaf is real easy to indentify.

The tree is also used for treatment of various ailments by making a tea from the bark. This poor tree has suffered quite a bit of damage from people taking barck.

There are a lot of cashews blooming and the fruit should start appearing soon.

[Mark_NoVA]

Thanks for the interesting photos!

Out of curiosity, what is the barbed wire protecting your property from?