Rainy Season in Amazonas

[amazondk]

I took a few shots with my cell phone while over in Itacoatiara, 260 kms from Manaus, yesterday.  I guess they did not come out too bad for a phone camera.  It has been raining a lot and water buffalos seem quite happy.

Looking out at the Amazon River during lunch.  The main channel runs around 300 feet deep here.  The vessel on the far side is a LPG tanker waiting for a pilot to take it up to Manaus.  The Amazon River is the main highway of the region.  These pictures were from the good part of the trip.  Some 150 kms down the road, still 137 kms from Manaus my gas pump went dead and left me stranded on the side of the highway.  I was going up a hill when this happened.  I saw that there was a small house at the bottom of the hill so I coasted backwards to it.  At the time the resident of the house was coming out with his shotgun in hand to do some late afternoon hunting.  He was going after peccaries, the white liped ones.  I asked him if he I could park the car in front of his house for the night, and he said fine.  I think for 50 reais he would probably give any bothersome passers by a bit of lead from his gun.  He told me a good pig hunting story and then a local bus came by and I headed back to town.  Needless to say today I have to take my mechanic and try to retrieve my car.  I think it is time to trade cars, this one has become like a bad woman, only gives me headaches and costs a lot of money.

dk

As you leave Itacoatiara on the way back to Manaus (the road ends there in fact) you cross over a sort of swampy area that is used to graze water buffalo.  Cattle graze on the higher ground.  There is a good sized silk cotton tree - Eriodendron samauma on the horizon.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a bunch of Vitoria Regia water lillies flowering beside the road.

[Zac in NC]

Thanks for the pictures Don. Sorry to hear about your truck though. I can't imagine living in a place where Victoria grow. Thats so freaking cool.

Zac

[amazondk]

Phase two of the trip.

As I mentioned my car quite 137 kms from Manaus.  I went back yesterday with a mechanic to retreve it.  It was raining on the way over and not too pleasant a drive.  Once we got there the mechanic discovered that the main engine belt was damaged and the car was not driveable.  So, we hooked up a cargo strap to the car and pulled it behind his.  This is not legal to do here, nor is it very safe.  But, it would have been a real expensive and lengthy affair to get a tow truck there.  So, off we went to Manaus.  It was a very difficult drive as I had to keep the strap taunt to avoid running over it with the tire.  After about 4 hours of tense driving we made it back to the mechanics shop.  I am going to dump this car and get a pick-up truck as soon as possible.  I took a few palm pictures well there as well.  This is the area of the road with a lot of babassu (Atalea) and as always the Buriti, M. flexuosa.

LIFE IN THE TROPICS

dk

The car - this car has cost me so much over the years that I could have bought another one.

The guy who watched the car's little farm pond.

M. flexuosa - Buriti  Fruit

The drive home

[bgl]

Don,

Wow, what an adventure!! Having car problems in remote locations can certainly be a hassle. Let us know what kind of pickup truck you're buying!

Thanks for the interesting photos!

Bo-Göran

[amazondk]

Bo,

Yeah, it was a real drag.  Fortunately it could have been worse.  Car problems anywhere are bad news, but they get a lot worse when you are away from support systems.  At any rate things worked out ok.  I gave the guy who watched the car 50 BRL / 20 USD and he was more than happy.  He told me next time I drove by to see if he had shot any wild pigs and he would give me some meat.  I am not sure what we are going to do for a car. But, one of the best vehicles made locally for the type of driving conditions we have around here is the Chevrolet S10 quad cab 4 x 4 turbo diesel.  I am going to be driving up north to Roraima from now on to stay on top of our lumber export business and the road is real tough on regular passenger vehicles.  Both Nissan and Toyota make similar vehicles in Brazil, but the maintainence on the Chevrolet is less.  With gas prices at over 1 USD per liter diesel engines are a lot cheaper to run and maintain.  

What you really don't want to have is to get in an accident with injuries in such a place.  Then you are in trouble.  But then life is full of risks it just depends on how much risk you are willing to accept.

dk

[bgl]

Don,

Wow, maintenance on the Chevrolet is less than for a Toyota or Nissan!!?? That's amazing!

Just the other week I ran into a guy in the Pahoa Post Office parking lot. He was driving a Toyota Tundra. He told me "I've been a GMC executive all my life, but I'm retired now so I can buy whatever car I want, and this one will last for the rest of my life". He was probably in his mid 60s. I thought that was a pretty interesting statement.

And I should add that we have been driving Toyotas exclusively for the last 30 years, and I'm currently considering a full cab Toyota Tundra. We just sold our 1989 Toyota Van (almost 200,000 miles) that we never had any problems with. Except right at the end, which is why we sold it (but it was fixable - we just didn't want to spend the money on a 17 year old car).

Bo-Göran

[amazondk]

Bo,

The Japanese vehicles here are good, but have a lot more imported components than do.  Mitsubishi also makes a utility vehicle here, which according to the sawmill guys has the strongest suspension.  All I really do know is that with money I have spent on this Fiat I have I could have bought another one.  Another factor is that here in Manaus, like Hawaii, parts come from a long ways.  And, those vehicles with readily available parts end up being a lot more inexpensive.  There has been a tremendous growth in sales of Toyota lately and they do make a nice looking truck.  Big trucks like the States are not too common.  The largest one being the Ford F250.  The small trucks, guad cab 4 x 4 diesels, Cheverolet, Nissan, Toyota, Mitusbishi or Ford all run for around 40,000 USD new.  They are not cheap.

dk

[SubTropicRay]

Yikes Don.  Sorry to hear about your misfortune.

[Gileno Machado]

Don:

I also have an italian model of FIAT, a little bigger than your Bravo.

Mine is a Marea Station weagon, 2.0 litres 20 valves.

These cars are excellent but they were definitely not designed to our weather conditions...the engine ventilation intake is way underdimensioned unless you only drive in highways. Keeping these engines cool and refrigerated is always a problem in tropical summers. I'll certainly switch to Toyota or Honda soon...GM S10 sounds good too, and it'll fit grown up palms !!

[amazondk]

Gileno,

I found out what happened to the car after the mechanic took it things apart.  Somehow a small rock flew up and broke the protection around the oil pump and shot up into the timing belt (correia dentada) and broke some teeth on the tension wheel.  This through the whole engine off, ripped the belt and stopped the car.  So, it was really a matter of being impacted by the terrible roads we have here in Brazil.  I will have to drive the car for a while before trading as I just don't have the cash to do it right now.  I like to drive the car, but the cost of parts will kill you.  I am sure you have some of the same road problems around there that we do.  From what I have seen on the news lately things are really turning into a mess down in the Southeast.  Bridges have been washed out and all kinds of roads are closed.

dk

[Mike4284m]

(Zac in NC @ Jan. 06 2007,20:57)

QUOTE

Thanks for the pictures Don. Sorry to hear about your truck though. I can't imagine living in a place where Victoria grow. Thats so freaking cool.

Zac

I'll second that about the Victorias.  I always thought it would be amazing to have a good sized pond in my yard with these giants.  The ones here at Fairchild are quite the site.

[amazondk]

Ray,

Thanks.  Well this one was not to bad, it will just run around 500 USD to fix.  The worst part is that I had the engine rebuilt in September and changed this belt as well.   The head cracked by the water pump and caused the engine to over heat.  Then all kinds of things went bad.  I was in a bad situation as I could not sell the car the way it was and I still owe money to the bank on the loan.  The vehicle was like new afterwards so I was surprised by this problem.  The roads around here really suck.   This is one of the down sides of living here.  One of the joys of coming to Florida and driving on smooth nice streets and roads again.  But, I will take the trade off to be here, pot hole riddled roads and all.

dk

[amazondk]

(Mike4284m @ Jan. 10 2007,10:18)

QUOTE

(Zac in NC @ Jan. 06 2007,20:57)

QUOTE

Thanks for the pictures Don. Sorry to hear about your truck though. I can't imagine living in a place where Victoria grow. Thats so freaking cool.

Zac

I'll second that about the Victorias.  I always thought it would be amazing to have a good sized pond in my yard with these giants.  The ones here at Fairchild are quite the site.

Mike,

Here is an old Vitoria Regia shot I dug up.  This is in an area of flooded land called the Varzea in the eastern part of Amazonas State.

dk

[bgl]

Don,

Those are spectacular plants! I remember seeing a picture of a child on top of one long time ago. Any idea how much weight one plant can support?

Bo-Göran

[Mike4284m]

Thanks for the photo.  These guys scream tropical to me.

Bo-

From Kew: http://www.explore-kew-gardens.net/engMarc.../waterlilyN.htm

[amazondk]

Mike

Thanks for the link. I don't think I would put my baby on one in habitat though, there tend to be a lot of Caimans around the area where they flourish.   It is interesting that these lilies only appear at certain times of the year when the water levels are just right.  They disappear when the water gets too high.  They only return again after the rivers fall to their lowest point and then rise up to a certain level.  The place where they grow turn mostly into mud flats during low water.  

The location in the picture above becomes totally dry around September.  This picture was taken in March.  By May there are no more lillies there.  What you do not capture in the picture is the sound and feel of the place.  There are a lot of birds around and occaisionally you might see a large pirararucu rise.  It is a beautiful area.

dk

[Kris]

Dear amazon  DK  

hey we in india adore japanese cars very much

for its low maintenence cost,fuel efficency and

light weight.while cars from U.S & Europe are

very expensive to maintain,spares are expensive,

low on milage and it often fails in middle of the

road.and to name a few of those high maintenence

cars_Fiat,Peaugot,Chevourlet,Opel.

while people love some cars they are_Toyota,Honda,

Suzuki,Nissan & Mithushibi.

I feel you buy a Mithubishi_Pajero or Toyota_Land Crusier

they have 4X4 options with limited slip differential & ABS.

If the price of a new vehicel is a constraint then go in for

a used one. i love the above 2 brands since indians have

tested it throughly as we have bad roads & low quality

fuel down here.and they have stood the test of time.

even iam saving funds to buy one of the above models.

i have tried Fiat_Uno & Suzuki (Both Hatch back models)

the fiat has given me nothing more than bills...

And try me_you should drive the above said japanese vehicals

to believe what i have said.I hate unnessary bills & unexpected

breakdowns & low milage feature.

Take a test drive and just feel the difference of finer transmission,less noiser engine,less weight with more

mileage.and they are driver's car.unlike a merc which is

a choffer driver lux seden its like rolex oyster perpetual

day date automatic wrist watch which does not show

accureate time when compared to a cheap citizen or seiko

quartz watch.

And its a peity that after so long after the popular Model-T

from ford,till today american have not excelled in car

manufacturing.they may be the largest producers of

cars.but the quality is not up to my satisfaction.

Love,

Kris.

[amazondk]

Kris,

Thanks for the input on the car front.  I agree with you for the most part.  Here in Brazil imported cars are extremely expensive.  So, one pretty much has to go for those made locally.  The cars manufactured in Brazil are, Fiat, GM, Ford, VW, Honda, Mitsubhishi (pick ups only), Toyota, Nissan, Peugot, Citroen, and Renault.  There are limited models made by all of these next to their international offerings.  They are mostly the lower end models.  The GM vehicles are the European models not the USA models.  Fiat actually has captured tremendous market share due to the popularity of their low end vehicles.  The problem with mine is really the high percentage of imported components which increases maintanence cost a due to parts.    The Toyota Hi Lux is made here and is a real nice vehicle.  I guess time will tell what I end up doing.  The Chevrolet S10 has a good reputation here and is very inexpensive to maintain, which is a factor to look at.

dk

[Al in Kona]

Again, I really enjoy your photos from the Amazona and telling about your trips and all.  Sorry about your automobile problems - yes they can be a headache when mecanical problems arise.  

Our last two cars have been Toyotas and no real problems with either one.  I've heard from several sources that Toyotas are one of the most maintenance free cars on the market.  Take that for whatever it's worth.  Anyway good luck on your transportation needs.  

And keep posting those interesting and informative photos interspersed with palms when possible!

[amazondk]

Al,

I haven't heard from you in a while.  I hope all is well in your part of the world.  Toyotas have a good reputation here as well, both the passenger cars and the trucks.  One way or another I manage to get around.  Thanks for the input.

dk

[Zac in NC]

I seem to remember hearsing somewhere that the Victoria waterlilies can support up to 100 pounds if properly distributed on the leaf. Thats pretty amazing. I could also be full of caca too though.

Zac

[amazondk]

Zac,

All I know is that I will not venture to jump on one.

dk