Anavilhanas Ecological Reserve

[amazondk]

Here are a few shots from Google Earth of the our area looking up the Negro River.  The Negro River is the second largest river in Amazonia and has blackish gold water which results from organic matter as the river spreads out over the northwestern corner of Amazonas state reachin up to Colombia.  The islands resulted from material washed down from the Guyana shield.  The area of the Anavilhanas is now a Federal Ecological Reserve of 350,000 hectares.  In addition up the river a bit to the left side is the Jau National Park which is the largest park in Amazonia. The river is lined with white sand beaches.  During the low water season, September to December, beaches appear in the middle of the river.  It is a great place to go swimming and spend the weekend on a boat.  I have had a lot of memorable trips there.  My wife actually spent a lot of her childhood there.  Her mom uprooted the family and took them to live in the middle of the forest when she was 5 years old.  Her mom does not live on the land anymore, but it is still there.  We are going up to check it out in a few weeks.  Her father lives next to this place.  Who knows it may check out to be where we make our forest retreat.  It is about 1 1/2 hours up the river by 40 HP boat.  Not too far to be viable.

Looking at Manaus and the meeting of the Solimões and Negro rivers forming the Amazon River.  For some reason the muddy water looks blue, except for right at Manaus.

Looking up the Negro River toward the Anavilhanas islands.

[amazondk]

Looking up the Anavilhanas.   The first black water river on the right is Cueiras, this is near where Raquel lived as a child.

This is of the place where Raquel lived as a kid.  Where the yellow circle is shows the approximate area.  The place is off the river in the middle of the forest with a clear water stream of cold water running through it.  She lived there from 5 to 13 years.  That is one of the reason she makes such a good palm hunting partner, she knows her way around the forest better than me.

[amazondk]

These are a few shots of the river.   I have a lot of pictures of the area, some I believe with palms, but they are stuck away in a box in the attack.  So, I will have to take some on the next trip.  I hope that is in a few weeks.

A typical beach.

A few years ago I used to rent this boat of my friends to take customers up the river on weekends.  It is a great way to spend time on the river.

[paulgila]

doesn't look like you have to worry too much about rush hour traffic.

[amazondk]

(pohonkelapa @ Feb. 11 2007,21:13)

QUOTE

doesn't look like you have to worry too much about rush hour traffic.

For sure out of town traffic is not a problem.  But, in town things at times come to a standstill.  Manaus has 2 million people and the number of cars and motorcycles has expanded rapidly in recent years.  Since the cities streets were not designed for the amount of vehicles now cruising the streets at certain times of the day things get pretty congested.  In order to mitigate this there are some large projects on major arteries in progress making overpasses and the like.  For the moment this has made things worse.  And, on top of that the skill level of drivers leaves a lot to be desired.

One of Manaus's main streets.

[bgl]

Don,

Certainly a very different and fascinating place! I'm curious about those very long and skinny islands in the river. Do they get submerged every now and then? If not, do people live on them, and what kind of vegetation do they typically have?

Bo-Göran

[amazondk]

Bo,

The islands in the middle of the river are classified as an archipelago, supposedly the largest such land feature in a fresh water river in the world.  They are not inhabited and in fact are now protected with status as a national park.  For the most part the land area of the islands is submerged during a large part of the year.  The trees for the most part are still above water though. This vegetation is "igapoo" the same that is found along the banks of the river.  During the high water season there only a few beaches on the river margens remain.  But, as the water level drops there are white sand beaches all over the place.  The contrast between the white sand the black water is beautiful.  And, the water temperature at around 80 F is great to soak in.  

A few years ago I took a group of customers up the river to Praia Grande a great beach at the begining of the islands.  We left Friday afternoon on a 34 meter yacht and returned to Manaus on Sunday afternoon.  It is about 5 hours by boat to the spot.  While there I took a few people fishing for piranhas next to one of the islands in front of the beach.  The boat's captain was driving the outboard aluminum boat.  The women wanted to go into the flooded forest on the island to see what it was like.  As we got in maybe 50 meters manuevering the boat between the trees there was a loud crashing sound overhead.  The captain looked up and said, it is the monkey's that were exiled from the Ariau Towers Jungle resort not far away.  He then explained that one of the monkeys grabbed a tourists wallet from his pocket and scrambled to the top one of the hotels towers.  From there he began taking out cash, credit cards, and whatever else the tourist had and through it into the wind.  So, he and his mates were taken to the island to be exiled from the hotel.  The captain also had a story of piranha fishing.  He had a few tourists fishiing for piranhas close to where we were.  For tourists they use small cane fishing poles with meat bait on a hook attached to a line about 3 meters long.  A woman hooked a fish and pulled it rapidly into the air.  As it hit the end of the line the fish broke loose and came straight down landing in her lap where it took a big nasty bite out right between her legs.  Must have been not too good a sight to see.  Piranhas don't bother you in the water though.  But, you need to be real careful when you pull them into a boat.

Here is an aerial view of the islands.  You can see a bit of sand so it must not be high water.

By the way, remember my land hunting project.  As it turns out Raquel's mom has 50 hectares which I mentioned above.  The place is abandoned and more than likely we are going to go take it over.  The only thing I will need to get then is a boat to get there.  The area where the property is should look somewhat like this aerial picture.  Maybe not as many inlets, but similar terrain.

[bgl]

Don,

Wow, thanks for the explanation. And that would certainly be a unique location for you! Looking forward to updates on that!

Bo-Göran

[bgl]

Don,

I have a question. As I mentioned in another thread, I'm also checking a Swedish travel forum, where (mostly) younger people share their experiences travelling the world, and also ask for advise about all sorts of travel related issues. I happened to see a request from a guy named Robert. He is in Florianopolis right now, and travelling around South America. He wants to know the name of a reputable company in Manaus that organizes trips into the rainforest. Any ideas?

Bo-Göran

[Gileno Machado]

Don:

These aerial views are simply breathtaking marvelous...

Ever since I've seen that Globo Repórter special program on TV I've been dreaming of visiting the Anavilhanas with its 400 islands, the largest fluvial archipelago on earth. I've even written about these islands in the old forum sometime ago. That region upstream the Negro is probably still hiding incredible secrets in terms of fauna and flora, and possibly including many unknown new palm species. I've read about the Barcella odora palm before but never saw a picture of it in habitat, except that photo in Lorenzi's book.

The Amazon river is another marvel in itself...I've read in Veja that its water discharge surpasses that of Nile, Mississipi, Yellow, Volga and Niger combined !!! What a drainage !!

Put the beer in the freezer too...(and fresh açaí juice as well). Save the purunas for the european and paulista tourists, I'm coming for the peacock bass and Geonoma seeds soon...  

[Walter John]

What a fabulous use of Google Earth ! That river looks dark as ............

[bgl]

Incidentally, Wal's comment alerted me to the issue of satellite maps. While Google Earth is impressive, their coverage seems to be rather spotty. Excellent in certain areas, less so in others. For instance, their map of Leilani Estates doesn't show much detail. Another Forum member brought my attention to Yahoo's map, which happens to have MUCH better coverage of Leilani Estates (and maybe of some other rural areas as well - who knows!?). Go to:

www.yahoo.com

Then click on Maps on the left side of the screen

You may have to download something in order to view the map(s). This doesn't take long (well, maybe if you're on dial-up...)

You can presumably access a map of your area by typing in an address or a street-name. If you pick "hybrid" you'll get the satellite map WITH the street names.

The Yahoo map of Leilani Estates is probably at least 2 years out of date, but still MUCH better than Google's.

[Walter John]

Just checked out the Yahoo map. I can pinpoint my place but it's defiitely older than google earth by a long way. I'd say it's at least 5 years old going by the lack of palms in my yard. Maybe the US is more up to date on the map though.

Notice the difference in lack of growth

Yahoo map

[Walter John]

And the google earth map showing growth in my back yard.

[amazondk]

Bo,

Regarding the swedish travelers you could have them check these folks out: Amazon Explorers.  They have a good name and can give them a wide option of places to go based on price and what they want to do.

Gileno,

Peacock bass season starts around October, by that time I shold have things pretty well figured out.  I am gong up to check the land out week aftern next.  

A few years ago we did some fishing at just before sunset between a few of the islands.  There is floating grass lining the sides of the channels next to the flooded forest  There were a lot of birds singing and it was really quite special.  On the way back to the big boat just before dusk the bats starting flying along side the fishing boats as we raced through the calm water.  The fishing was no good, but the experience was great.  One of the great things about Amazonas is the tropical wilderness.  That is something you don't just find anywhere.  Nature is very overwhelming.

Wal, the river is very black, but also very clean.  It is like a big cup of tea.

dk

[bgl]

Don,

Thanks a lot for the link. I forwarded it to Robert.

Bo-Göran

[amazondk]

Hard at work in the Negro River, Praia Grande, Anvavilhanas.  I think the job was to consume cachaça with a beer chaser.  Not the best for ones system, but it seemed fine at the time.  This was taken a few years ago.  My favorite straw hat which I bought in Montana was still with me.  Unfortunately it got blown off on another a river and was sacrficed to to the river goddesses, the Iaras.  Life in the tropics can be really tough sometimes.

dk