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A quick business trip to Eastern BoliviaL


amazondk

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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!

Same here Palmmeraid!  I'd be doing the same - traveling and staying as long as I wanted, then move on to another part of the world.  And when or if I wanted a break, I'd go visit family and friends for a while, then leave for another unvisited part of this earth.  I'm wondering if I'd ever want to really settle down again!  I'd share all the palm seeds I encountered.  Why would I need a garden if the world was now my garden.  Didn't David Fairchild say something like that?

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,

    Loved the tour! Thanks for showing us all something we don't ever see very much of. I look forward to the biennial being down in Brazil some day.

Jeff

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Thanks Don!  Your travel logs are awesome!  The scenery and the people are beautiful.

Matt Bradford

"Manambe Lavaka"

Spring Valley, CA (8.5 miles inland from San Diego Bay)

10B on the hill (635 ft. elevation)

9B in the canyon (520 ft. elevation)

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(kylecawazafla @ Sep. 21 2007,21:01)

QUOTE
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?

Kyle,

I am not totally sure about growth rings in tropical tree species.  There are rings, but I do not really believe that they are directly related to the age of the tree.  In all areas of Amazonia there is some seasonal variation with a dry season.  In this part in Bolivia the dry season is longer and more marked than here in Manaus for example.  The forest composition changes a lot from here to there.  Although some species are common to both areas.  What I noticed is that the understory in south western Amazonia has a lot of bamboo.  Here around Manaus there is virtually none.

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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(fiji jim @ Sep. 22 2007,19:51)

QUOTE
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

Jim,

Many years ago, 1972 to be exact I spent about 3 weeks on a rather isolated part of Fiji, Totoya Island in the Lau group.  It was quite an experience for a young guy.  I had no idea of where I was going, I just got on a boat and ended up there.  It was a beautiful trip.  On the way back the copra boat stopped all over the islands in route back to Suva.  Unfortunately I never got back there.  As to logging if the forest is managed it is not the problem.  What is the problem is conversion of forest into uses such as pasture land, soy bean plantations and other uses without proper planning or regard to the best use of the soil and ecosystem.  Logging always gets the bad wrap by the media, but reality is not quite that often portrayed.  It is a lot more dramatic to show a tree being cut down than a cow grazing in a pasture or a machine harvesting soy beans.

dk

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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I am glad everyone liked the pictures of the trip.  I have been very busy on the business front and have not had much of a chance to follow the forum.  It was a nice trip and I hope that some of my attalea seeds germinate.

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

I get what you are saying there.

There are good and bad ways to do everything.

Here most of the forest destruction for logging of the hardwoods is just left alone after.

No replanting. Also many of the rare Fiji palm sp are destroyed in the process.

Back in the 1960's the Britts cleared large areas for mahagony planting and now that is being harvested but we don't see much replanting. Only erosion.

It still seems that there is better land management in your region than here. Still lots of slash and burn for small cassava or tapioca plots and just burning for the sake of feeling the power. Primative ****.

I have been around those islands in the Lomaviti and Lau group. They still rarely see foreigners and subsist on the sea. Some of the nicest people here are in those areas where life has remained simple. No television or supermarkets.

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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Don, once again I feel like I've left my home and traveled abroad! I absolutely love your travel threads! Please keep them coming!!  :D

Dave Hughson

Carlsbad, Ca

1 mile from ocean

Zone 10b

Palm freaks are good peeps!!!!!

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Don

Very educational and entertaining.  I am happy to hear about all the conservation efforts there to protect the forests.  I wish we did as much here to protect what little forest/greenery we have left.  Sprawl is obliterating everything.  

Keep that camera with you on your trips.  The airplane views of the topography are interesting.

Thanks.

C from NC

:)

Bone dry summers, wet winters, 2-3 days ea. winter in low teens.

Siler City, NC

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(fiji jim @ Sep. 28 2007,17:21)

QUOTE
Don

I get what you are saying there.

There are good and bad ways to do everything.

Here most of the forest destruction for logging of the hardwoods is just left alone after.

No replanting. Also many of the rare Fiji palm sp are destroyed in the process.

Back in the 1960's the Britts cleared large areas for mahagony planting and now that is being harvested but we don't see much replanting. Only erosion.

It still seems that there is better land management in your region than here. Still lots of slash and burn for small cassava or tapioca plots and just burning for the sake of feeling the power. Primative ****.

I have been around those islands in the Lomaviti and Lau group. They still rarely see foreigners and subsist on the sea. Some of the nicest people here are in those areas where life has remained simple. No television or supermarkets.

Jim

Jim,

I only became aware of the mahogany plantations there last year.  I guess with the price of mahogany today on the world market, that is, Swietenia macrophylla, that these plantations are quite profitable.  It is very difficult to grow mahogany in plantations here due to the attack by the native pest mahogany webworm, Macalla thyrsisalis.  Mahogany is actually sort of a secondary species growing in forest clearings when young.  The natural renovation of the forest is through tree fall due to storms or dying large trees pulling down a lot of other trees.  Since lianas connect trees in a large area one large tree falling will pull down a lot of other trees.  Our trees normally do not have deep root systems as they tend to spread out on the forest floor to recylce nutrients quickly.  Since mahogany trees are dispersed over an area of forest instead of concentrated the pest does not create much damage.  But, in plantations they attack the terminal but at a young age limiting trunck development of the trees.  One solution is to grow mahogany in association with other trees that attract the pest and limit attack to the mahogany.  But, at 8 meters of trunk or so the trees come under attack.  Since this pest does not exist in Fiji the trees should develop well there.  The area of the photos in this thread is an area with native mahogany in the forest.  Mahogany  has been prohited to harvest here in Brazil for the last 10 years.  Not that there is not any more mahogany.  It was over harvested and it also became a key point for attack by eco groups.  The tree does not grow natively around Manaus or this part of Amazonia.

In sustainable forest management trees are normally not replanted.  Harvest is limited to trees with a minimum diameter of 50 cms or more and the rotation cycle is 25 years to go back to a compartment of land.    At 5 years an inventory is supposed to be taken to determine the regrowth of the area.  If there is a problem trees may be planted in the clearings at this time.  In our forest here in 5 years a forest clearing has grown a lot.  

Fire is the main element used here to clear land for agriculture as well.  In fact it is about the only alternative for most people.  Cassava, or manioc is also the main food startch grown.  We have two varieties, the bitter manioc (called manioca) and the regular one (called macaxeira).  I guess the manioc was one of Brazil's contributions to the South Pacific.  It is a stable of both indigenous and local folks in the region.  The normal practice here is farm a plot for a few years then let it go fallow and go back after it has regrown with secondary growth.  For the most part this works ok.  Our soil is very poor and needs a lot of amendments to produce over an extended length of time.  The native people did develop large areas of human modified black soil though that is still used to this day.  This is called Terra Preta do Indio.  These soils go back as far as 3,000 years and are extremely high in organic content till this day.  So, there are alternatives.

I have very fond memories of my trip to Fiji.  I never made it back though.

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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Really enjoyed that thread, Don, thanks for sharing. Reminds me of my trip on the Rio Negro with Andrew Henderson's group last year. I liked the region.

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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Don

Thanks for more interesting information.

The knowledge that you have expressed here gives a better balance to the seemingly destructive habits of man with his exploitation of the environment.

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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Jim,

Do the Fijians grow bitter manioc as well as the non poisonous variety?  Here is a history and description on how manioc is used in Brazil.  Here in our region the course meal, farinha, made from bitter manioc is the basic starch of the people in the interior.  An interesting feature of local customs in Amazonia is that people in the country normally use only a spoon to eat with.  The main diet is farinha (manioc meal) and fish.  They dismember the fish with the spoon and then shovel the manioc meal in their mouths with the farinha.  The loca farinha in Amazonia is different than that consumed in other areas of Brazil.  It is much courser and not industrialized in general.

Here is the link on the plants use in Brazil - Manioc in Brazil

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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