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A quick business trip to Eastern BoliviaL


amazondk

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Last Wednesday through Friday I took a a quick trip to the Eastern Bolivian provinces of Pando and Beni.  I went with our customer from the States to check out sources of FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) Certified wood for some projects of his. Bolivia has the largest area of Certified tropical forests in the world.  These forests are concessions granted to local businessmen for sustainable forestry.  By being FSC Certified a company has an external audit to assure proper forestry practices.  This mechanism assures that the forest is harvested in a sustainable manner and that the local people are also benefited from the activitiy.  The area we went to see belongs to a gentleman named Don Augusto who has 365,000 hectares of forest concessions.  We first flew from Manaus to Rio Branco, Acre the most western state in Brazil.  Then we went 200 kms by car to Cobija on the Brazilian border in Bolivia.  From there we chartered a small plane to fly to Riberalta in Beni Provence.  And then on Friday we flew from Riberalta to the lumber camp village of Humaytha about 20 minutes by are.  And, from there to another lumber camp village of Nascebe about a half hour from there.  And, then back to Cobija arriving Friday evenying in Rio Branco.  It was a quick but enjoyable trip and I got to see some great forest from not too high in the air.  Unfortunately there was no time to get out in the forest.  I did see some new palms though.

The area we travelled in.

Googleimage.jpg

The Rico Airlines (a regional Manaus based carrier) 737 we arrived in Rio Branco on.  It is an older plane, but the seats were great.

Rico737.jpg

Some cows in route to Cobija from Rio Branco.  We were near Xapuri where the famous rubber worker vs rancher conflict happened leading to the death of the now considered hero of the forest Chico Mendez.  A lot of the local people do not consider him any hero, but rather a political manipulator which favored his own personal gain.   I really do not know enough of the real story to make an honest judgement.  But, in Brazil anything is possible.

Cows2-1.jpg

Brasileia is the Brazilian town on the border with Cobiija.  There is little if any border control between the two towns.  In fact we went into Bolivia and back an no one looked at our passports or even knew we were there.  A lot of Brazilians go to CObija to buy cheap imported goods, it is sort of a duty free area.  And, gasoline is a lot cheaper than in Brazil so the gas stations are always busy with big lines in Cobija.

The street down to the border in Brasileia.

Brasileia.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

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The Bolivians lost Acre to Brazil during the rubber boom.  In Cobija which is the capital of Pando Province there is a nice monument to the Bolivian heros and lifestyle.

Cobijamonumento.jpg

This is part of the same monument area.  I liked the palms.

Cobija1.jpg

This is Don Augusto, he is very much a Gentleman.  Unfortunately he was a bit under the weather and could not join us on the trip to the forest.

DonAugusto.jpg

Arrival at the Cobija airport.

Cobijaairport-1.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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We happened to be leaving just before the Bolivian president Evo Morales arrived.  The Military Police were there to great him.

WaitingforEvoMorales.jpg

Our ride to Riberalta and hours flight away.

ourplane.jpg

In route crusing over the jungle and rivers.

FlighttoRiberalta.jpg

Arrriving in Riberalta where the Madre de Dios and Beni Rivers meet.

ArrivingRiberalta.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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Bolivia's President Evo Morales had just left Riberalta and the military guard was still at the airport.  I guess he did not want to wait for the Gringos that were coming to invade the forest.

MilitaryarrivalRiberalta.jpg

There are no car taxis in town so we used the mototaxis.  They work ok as the town is not too big.  It is full of motor cycles.

mototaxis.jpg

StreetRiberalta.jpg

MototaxionthestreetRiberalta.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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One of the moto taxis broke it's chain so I ended up riding on the back.

BackofMototaxidk.jpg

There are quite a few tatched roof houses in town.  Riberalta has about 115,000 people.

Housewithpalmroof.jpg

What is very striking about Riberalta is the amount of motacu palms around town, the Attalea phaterata.  They are beautiful palms.  The locals eat the fruit.  I collected a bunch of seeds and brought back to Manaus.

Attaleias.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

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River front Riberalta.

Lookinguptheriver-1.jpg

Some Gringos on a riverboat going to see the Bolivian wilds.

PortRiberalta.jpg

Amazondk in Riberalta.  Stay tuned the trip has more to come.  But, I have to go get my business taken care of first.  The trip is only about 1 third at this point.  And, some great shots are yet to come.

GringoinRiberalta.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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As always, great shots.  I love your travelogues.  It certainly makes me want to chuck it all and give in to my wanderlust.

If I won the lottery and never had to work again, I would sell everything I own and just roam around the world, staying a few weeks or months in a place before moving on.  I would leave everything behind and pick up what I needed at the next stop.  I must have been a gypsy in a previous life!

Palmmermaid

Kitty Philips

West Palm Beach, FL

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I got up early on Friday morning and went for breakfast at the market.  I did not take any pictures but it was a good experience.  You sit at common tables and have cafe con leche and pasteles.  The people were really friendly and good to talk to.  It also helps to brush up my Spanish.

This snake in front of the African oil palm was in front of the market.

cobragrande.jpg

This church is in front of the main plaza of Riberalta.

ChurchRiberalta.jpg

The plaza has some great royal palms.

RoyalsRiberalta.jpg

There was some sort of childrens parade getting organized.  Unfortunately I had to go back and check out of the hotel and catch our charter plane.

paradeformation.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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This Attalea phalerata was on the street on the way back to the hotel to check out.  I really like this tree.

Attaleastreettree.jpg

In front of the airport a Cayman attacked my bag and I had to wrestle it form the beasts mouth.  Life in the Amazon has it's hazards.  Fortunately I did not bring my notebook along in the bag this time.

Streetdanger-1.jpg

We walked out to our plane to take off to see the sawmlls and forest areas.

Goingouttotheplane.jpg

On the way out to the plane we passed this great DC 3 that Bo so kindly worked up the history on in the Palapa thread.

theoldc47.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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Here is our ride for the day.  The Captain turned out to be a great guy and it was an enjoyable flight.

Theride.jpg

We got airborne and left Riberalta behind.

LeavingRiberalta.jpg

We flew out of the rivers and forest on the beautiful morning.

ForestHumaytha.jpg

As we circled on arrival to Humaytha our first stop we got closer to the forest.  The Bolivian forest is distincly different from ours around Manaus.  The dry season is also longer and more pronounced.

Forest2.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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Due to the fact that the local cows were relaxing on the runway we had to circle several times before the cow herder managed to get the cows off the landing strip.  As you can our flight was protected by the Virgin Mary.  He did have GPS though as well.

ApproachHumatha-1.jpg

Once we landed the plane was surrounded by the village childeren.  They were on their way to school and stopped by the plane to see what was going on.  At the site is a sawmill belonging to Don Augusto and being run with his partner  a German who lives in Belem and is the wood business.

Arrival2Humaytha-1.jpg

Arrival3.jpg

ArrivalHumaytha.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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This should have been in a post before take off.  But, it is worth putting in.  At Riberalta airport there is an Aviators shrine complete with patron saint.

Aviatorspatronsaint.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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(palmmermaid @ Aug. 24 2007,09:49)

QUOTE
As always, great shots.  I love your travelogues.  It certainly makes me want to chuck it all and give in to my wanderlust.

If I won the lottery and never had to work again, I would sell everything I own and just roam around the world, staying a few weeks or months in a place before moving on.  I would leave everything behind and pick up what I needed at the next stop.  I must have been a gypsy in a previous life!

Kitty,

I actually sort have settled down.  I am really pretty content just roaming around Amazonia.  It is a big place and my daily work or business is better put takes me there.  It is what I designed it to be when I got tired of working for big companies in a what you would call normal office environment.  We are actually setting up a small office here in Manaus now.  But, I will still be spending a lot of time out on the frontier of Amazonia.  It has cost a lot of money and taken quite a bit of time to get to where it is.  But, it has been worth it and I have gotten to know a lot of great people and spend my time in one of the worlds great places.

dk

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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Wow Don, makes me jealous being able to travel like you do and to such out of the way places.  Certainly not where most tourists seem to travel.  What might be some real differences you noticed there from Brasil?  How about food?  I always look forward to your 'travelogue' trips with so many great photos.  Keep snapping those pics for us.

Hawaii Island (Big Island), leeward coast, 19 degrees N. latitude, south Kona mauka at approx. 380m (1,250 ft.) and about 1.6 km (1-mile) upslope from ocean.

 

No record of a hurricane passing over this island (yet!).  

Summer maximum rainfall - variable averaging 900-1150mm (35-45") - Perfect drainage on black volcanic rocky soil.  

Nice sunsets!

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Don,

What an adventure! Just for us Forum members to be able to see your photos, and read your comments, from places that are so out-of-the-way that very few of us even knew they existed! Incredible! Enjoyed all the photos, and to see Attaleas being used in street plantings is pretty unique! Do you know the approximate elevation of those places you visited?

And to see all those kids around the plane, just great! You were obviously VERY far away from security check-points and silly people who ask you to take off your shoes.... :D

And thanks for posting the 737 photo! I'm sure you knew I'd appreciate that. As you no doubt know, Rico is a fairly small airline with a handful of commuter planes. They also have 3 older Pratt & Whitney powered 737-200s and a single, newer, CFM powered 737-300. The 737-200 in your photo has actually spent its entire life in Brazil: delivered to VARIG in 1975, and it's been with Rico since 2003.

Bo-Göran

Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

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i always enjoy "travelling" with you,don :D

great palms & interesting places.

the "prince of snarkness."

 

still "warning-free."

 

san diego,california,left coast.

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Nice travelogue.  I need to get a more useful grasp on Spanish  (and Portugese?) and head down to South America.   I was down in Bogota and Cartagena, Colombia a few years ago for a friend's wedding and it was beautiful.  We had to cancel the Brazil trip, and I regret that since we have some good friends in Sao Paulo who would have been willing to drop everything and travel a bit with us; now, they have a baby.  I'd love to see more of the continent.

Maybe I'll just do it later this year.  (But, of course, the wet season is the wrong time to go...)

Jason

Menlo Park, CA  (U.S.A.) hillside

Min. temp Jan 2007:  28.1 deg. F (-2.2 deg. C)

Min. temp winter 2008: 34.7 deg. F (1.5 deg. C)

USDA Zone 10A since 2000

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Thanks guys.  It was an enjoyable few days.  If we can get the Bolivians to produce something I should be back and this time be able to get out into the forest.  As to the differences you sure do notice that it is not Brazil.  I guess that is obvious.  Bolivia is a backwater of South America and is a poor country.  Even though Brazil has many of it's own problems the difference in wealth and infrastructure is striking.  The eastern lowlands of Bolivia are much different from the higlands where most of the population is.  As to food they eat a lot of beans and rice like Brazil , but also use a lot more potatoes.  We had a great fish dinner of Surubim or tiger cat fish.  This is a common fish here, but never preparted the way it was there.  They grilled the fish steak, put a fried egg on top and served with fried potatoes and rice.  The beer Pacieña is extremely good. The people are very friendly and courteous.  There were a few gringos around town, but I don't know if they were tourists or on some other mission.  It was quite dusty as this is dry season and soil is a fine clay for the most part.  The pople told me of a beautiful clear water lake close to Riberalta with great peacock bass fishing.  Maybe if I get back I can go over and catch a few.

Bo, the altitude at Riberalta is 463 ft  / 141 m.  That is about 163 ft higher than Manaus.  But it is a long way from the mouth of the Amazon where the water all goes.  I have another plane for you that I will post at the end of the thread.

Although it is beautiful over there in Bolivia and other parts of Amazonia I am continously impressed at just how beautiful the area around Manaus is.  I guess we sort of have the Caribbean of the Amazon here.  

Any time any one wants to stop by and see a bit of our area just let me know.

dk

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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Dear Don  :)

Fentastic coverage like always,i think in years to come i may even forget to watch the national geography channel and i feel like singing...one of 007 bonds track ! "Nobody does it, better....make me feel so....

And don in one of the river stills..the river is seen bending its cource i think the geographers call that formation as the OX BOW Lake ! have you folks heard of it ? if not then see it from Don's Still above.

thanks & love,

Kris  :)

love conquers all..

43278.gif

.

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Kris,

Actually I am a long way from James Bond.  It is really just another day at the office.  A very remote one, but the office.  Iam glad you enjoy my posts and pictures.  I like taking them.  As to the ox bow lake that is when one of those bends in the river gets cut off and no longer has a direct link to the river channel.  In this case the river channel is still compalete.

Here is an example of an ox bow lake.  It is off to the left of the river channel.

oxbowlake.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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Bo,

You are quite right as to airport security.  We went through the Cobija airport shortly before the President of Bolivia arrived as I mentioned above.  They registered us for our flight and asked only for our documents for the flight manifest.  No one looked at anything else.  We calmy went through the door past the military greeting squad for Evo Morales and out to our plane and left.  When we got to Riberalta he had just departed to Cobija.  In fact I so no border control at all.  So, it is little wonder that a lot of cocaine going into Brazil easily crosses the border.  The Bolivian air force did shoot down a small Brazilian plane with cocaine smugglers this week farther south.  But, they were coming from Brazil with no flight plan and got caught.

dk

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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We left the airstrip at Humaytha and went over to look at the sawmill. The sawmills and forest areas that Don Augusto operates were set up by and American company which explored mahoganny and spanish cedar.  They had around 1 million hectares of land.  The only trees harvested were these.  A Malaysian / Indonesian company took over the area and Don Augusto was an employee of theirs.  The main owner I believe is in jail in Indonesia, house arrest at his mansion.  Don Augusto managed to by the assets at a good price and tak over the forest concessions which now are 365,000 hectares, still a very large piece of land.  This facility is only now starting to be reactivated.  The logistics are sort of a challange.  The wood is sawn into boards and put loose on a barge to Riberalta.  From there it is loose loaded on a truck and shipped to La Paz going up the Andes mountains passing over 12,000 feet.  Then the wood is bundled and sent to Arica, Chile for export.  There is a road being built from Brazil to the Peruvian coast which will make the shipping much easier.  

Off to the sawmill

Offtothesawmill.jpg

The sawmill

Thesawmill.jpg

This is a skidder.  A tractor used for pulling logs from the forest.  It is very agile and is the lowest impact means of extracting logs.  In an FSC project strict guidelines are followed to minimize forest damage and enhance regeneration.  The haverst cycle is 25 or 30 years depending on the plan.  The minimum diameter of a tree cut is normally above 50 cms at the chest.  In the forest inventory all trees are registered.   They are seperated by current harvest, future harvest (in 25 years), and seed trees.

skidder.jpg

A future dinner being raised at the sawmill housing complex.

pigs.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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The river that runs by Humaytha which we just flew over.  If you look closely you may see a cayman that was swimming around waiting for dinner.

River2Humaytha.jpg

RiverHumaytha.jpg

A house in the village.

Humaytha.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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This pile of old Itauba logs has a ficus and a real nice philodendron that have decided to claim the area. Itauba is an extremely resistant wood and these logs could easily be there another 100 years.

ficusonitaubalogs.jpg

Philodendronsonlogs.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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We decided not to go into the forest as time was running short and we had to fly over to the other sawmill at Nascebe.  Thiswas a 30 minute or so flight.  

Taking off out of Humaytha.

OutofHumaytha-1.jpg

You can see the palms  in the forest well in this shot.  I think they are probably the Attaleas.  Many trees lose their leaves this time of year and you can see some of them.

forestpalms.jpg

palmsandforest.jpg

In this picture you can clearly see the areas of flooded forest.  The lower vegetation has water a lot of the year.  I believe I saw Mauritias there.

Floodedforestdryseason.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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This is the Nascebe sawmill complex.  There are two sawmill lines and they are producing decking for Europe at the moment.  The main species in the forest are Cumaru and Garapa.  Garapa is gaining market in the USA and is sold as Garapa Gold decking.

Nascebe.jpg

The cows were off the runway so we came straight in.

Landing2Nascebe.jpg

Instead of a group of kids we had a lone cow watching our arrival.

CowandPalmsNascebe.jpg

I would not call the ride a comfortable one if it were much longer.  Especially for big folks.

ArrivingNascebeourgroup-1.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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There was a lot more activity at this location.  The logs are mostly cumaru and garapa.  The Attaleas were here too.  I stuffed my pockets with the big seeds.  Now I guess I will see if they germinate.

PalmandLog2.jpg

This is a good sized cumaru log.  Cumaru is a very durable wood used in decking and flooring.  

cumaru.jpg

Nascebesawmill.jpg

They sawmill has a well structured line and produces finished decking on their moulders.

sawmillline.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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After leaving Nascebe we went directly back to Cobija.  And, then on to Rio Branco.  Rio Branco is a nice city of about 300,000.  I was surprised how organized it was when I first went there a month of so ago.  One of the things I can say for sure, the Bolivian female species can not come close to the Brazilian variety.  It was a good trip and I learned a few things.

Landing in Cobija.

ArrivalCobija.jpg

Here Bo, this plane was sitting on the ramp at Rio Branco airport when we left last Saturday morning on the way back to Manaus.  I think I know where it came from.  Maybe you can give me the details.

Total727.jpg

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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(mppalms @ Aug. 25 2007,02:13)

QUOTE
Nice travelogue.  I need to get a more useful grasp on Spanish  (and Portugese?) and head down to South America.   I was down in Bogota and Cartagena, Colombia a few years ago for a friend's wedding and it was beautiful.  We had to cancel the Brazil trip, and I regret that since we have some good friends in Sao Paulo who would have been willing to drop everything and travel a bit with us; now, they have a baby.  I'd love to see more of the continent.

Maybe I'll just do it later this year.  (But, of course, the wet season is the wrong time to go...)

Jason

Jason,

You really should not be afraid to come to South America during the wet season.  For the most part it does not rain all the time.  Although last year in Southern Brazil it rained an awful lot the first three months of the year.  Here in Amazonia we seldom have many days of continual rain.  I like the rainy season it is not as hot and plants don't need water.

dk

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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Don,

This really must be a very remote area with very few foreigners, and even less tourists, venturing here!? Checked the map, and it seems you were about 150-200 miles away from the Andes? I assume there must be some fairly steep mountains since Riberalta is at such a low elevation?

You're making it tougher and tougher (which is fun) - not to come up with a history for the aircraft in question, but figuring out which one you took a photo of! Total Linhas Aereas has four 727-200s in cargo version: PR-TTB, PR-TTO, PT-MTQ and PT-MTT. I have a heck of a time making out the registration number, but PR-TTB seems to be the most likely one. If so, this is is Boeing 727-223 MSN 22007 that began its life with American Airlines in July 1980 as N891AA, and actually remained with AA until early 2002 when it was returned to Aviation Capital Group Corp. (owner  since 1996). They converted it to a freighter and leased it to Total in Aug 2002. Most 727s have a MUCH more colorful history than that!!

Thanks for the 727 photo - and all the the other photos!

Bo-Göran

PS. Not to be picky, but judging by the map, seems you were more in the northern than eastern part of Bolivia!?

Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

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Bo,

You are right it is really more northern than eastern, but the Bolivians call all of the area east of the Andes the Oriente.   You are right about the road it is a frightening trip.  I did this trip in 1973 when things were less developed than now.  It is narrow and drop offs are incredible.  Don Augusto has a story of a truck driver that hauled wood for him to La Paz.  The guy stopped truck thinking that he had room to get out.  When he opened the door and stepped out of the truck he fell directly down 200 meters.  The roads are also not paved, but they are made of good gravel and stay passable according to what they tell me.  I think I will stick to airplanes for that part of the country.  Thanks for the information on the aircraft.  I will post some more when they come up.

dk

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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Wasn't thinking of the Andes as a dividing line (from an east-west point of view), but that obviously makes a lot of sense - anything to the 'east' of these impressive mountains would be eastern Bolivia!! Must be an amazing change in the environment & plants as you head up those mountains from the tropical lowlands.

Puerto Maldonado in Peru seems to be fairly close?(everything is relative...). Read somewhere, quite recently, that Puerto Maldonado with about 500,000 inhabitants is the largest city in the world NOT connected to the outside world via roads. You have to fly, or take a boat, to get there. Has Manaus been in a similar situation? I believe you may have mentioned this in some recent thread, and I know you talked about the road to Venezuela, but that's fairly recenty I believe. I assume there are roads connecting Manaus to the rest of Brazil (i.e. Brasilia and the coast)? When were they built?

Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

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Bo,

There is no road from Manaus to the rest of Brazil that is passable by a regular vehicle.  The highway BR 319 from Manaus to Porto Velho, Rondonia has been closed for around 20 years.  There is talk of restoring it, but nothing has happened yet.  The highway that I take north to Boa Vista, BR 174 goes to Venezuela and you can get to Caracas on it.  So, I guess you could say that Manaus is connected by a highway.  But, at 2 million inhabitants with no road connection to the rest of the country Manaus is sort of unique.  I sort of like it this way.  It keeps the rif raff out.

dk

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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Don,

This is completely off topic.... :D  but couldn't help but think of this little story after reading your last sentence above. When Richard Branson, who started Virgin Records, set up his first airline venture, Virgin Atlantic Airways (20 years ago), he wanted the first class section to be referred to as "upper class" and economy class section as "riff raff class". His business associates advised against that....! :D

Bo-Göran

Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

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Bo,

What has indeed happened is that coach or economy class has not become Animal Class.  First class and Business class of me is distant memory.  Back when I was a working in freight forwarding we frequently travelled on reduced or free tickets in Business class and even got upgrades to First class.  Flying just isn't what it used to be.

dk

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

82331.gif

 

Click here to visit Amazonas

amazonas2.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

Greath pictures Don. I was in Riberalta also, and saw some gringos there for exchange and learning spanish.-

The roof of the houses you are showing are made of JATATA that is the leaves of Geonoma deversa, with excelent properties for endure the tropical climate.-

Cheers. Gaston

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This is novice, but how is the grain on tropical wood? I heard that they don't produce annual rings there due to the lack of seasons. (although I guess you got wet and dry). Anyways, is there any way of seeing how old a tree is, and are the annual rings generally spaced evenly?

I'm always up for learning new things!

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(amazondk @ Aug. 25 2007,12:52)

QUOTE
Kris,

Here is an example of an ox bow lake.  It is off to the left of the river channel.

Dear Don  :)

thanks for that lovely still & info..

love,

Kris  :)

love conquers all..

43278.gif

.

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Don,

Great to see such isolated areas somewhat off the beaten track.

Your travel logs are great adventures for most of us.

You are lucky to be living close to such an expanse of nature. It makes our small islands seem even smaller.

I was also pleased to read of the tight controls on the logging. Sounds like there is still hope for the preservation of the forests down there.

Jim

Located on Vanua Levu near Savusavu (16degrees South) Elevation from sealevel to 30meters with average annual rainfall of 2800mm (110in) with temperature from 18 to 34C (65 to 92F).

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Thank you Don!

For giving us a truly worthwhile travelogue!

How about some shots around Manaus?

Yeah, you live there, but we here in el norte don't and would love to see.

(And pix of Brasilenias, or whatever they call a hot chick down there . . . )

dave

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