Full moon

               Full moon - Santarém - Pará - Brasil - 06 de Julho, 2020 -  Steven Winn Alexander

Stolen transformers produce energy elsewhere

The new power-line pole on the left is a replacement for the one broken in half during a storm last week.  The second pole is an older one, which has housed several transformers in recent times, all which have been stolen by criminals wanting to make quick profits.  The last one was installed by Celpa less than a week ago.  I have some doubts about their installing other one, given the financial loss from these occurrences.  Sad for the Bosque because we depend on electricity for lights and water.

Piracema Fish Restaurant - Santarém - Pará - Brasil

High up!

Afternoon visitor

Cerejinha at Parque Municipal de Santarém

Beautiful visitor

Fowers at Fundação Esperança

Anteater vs. traffic

Where man treads, wildlife disappears.

Santarém, Pearl of the Tapajós River

Holiday greetings

Aqui está desejando a todos o melhor de Natal para 2012. Que os dias restantes atender às suas expectativas de um mundo melhor. Obrigado por compartilhar um pouco de sua própria vida conosco. Here’s wishing everybody the best of Christmas for 2012. May the remaining days meet your expectations for a better world. Thank you for sharing a little bit of your own life with me. It’s made the difference.

Açaí with tapioca

Belo Alter Hotel in Alter do Chão

Belo Alter Hotel in Alter do Chão, one of the finer places in the Amazon to relax and enjoy life.

Soybeans

Trucks waiting to dispatch their loads of soybeans at Usina Mato Grosso on the Santarém-Cuiabá Highway.

Flower

Flower at Sitío Dona Cecilia

Muddy road

Last Wednesday we were scheduled to receive three busloads of passengers from the cruise ship, Royal Princess. Unfortunately, it rained the night before leaving a layer of mud that was impossible to pass over. Normally this wouldn't have happened, but some politician decided to help us out by running a patrol over the road. The loose dirt hadn't been compacted by traffic, thus the mud following the rain. I got stuck in my car. Actually, I didn't get stuck. The rear wheels locked up because of the accumulated mud in the area around the tires. My Fiat wheels up front were turning, but the rear wheels were simply dragging. About an hour later two of the tour buses entered the dirt road, only to get stuck about half way to the Bosque. An emergency bus was sent in. It got stuck too. Finally, the tour was canceled and the passengers walked back to the highway, in the mud. Every vehicle entering the road got stuck. The road was open the next day because the sun had dried up the mud and some traffic had compacted it down. Image, a truck being towed into a wide spot in the road.

Bosque Reception Center

Only a stone's throw from my "get-away house" is the reception center for Bosque Santa Lucia. No big deal, it houses two bathrooms and a collection of wooding representing the Amazonian forest. The bathrooms are the favorites!

Dryness

This past week I was "shooting the bull" with some of our woodsmen under the shade of an old jack fruit tree, when I spotted José Garcia passing by with a string of horses. About fifteen minutes later he passed us again and headed off on another trail. "What's he up to?", I asked one of the woodsmen. "He looking for grass" he responded. I guess there was none around. It's been very dry in this part of the Amazon. Only one good rain in the last two months, which occurred at the end of October. Prior to that we had gone a full two months without rain. Although we got a light rain last night, the weatherman says it's going to be the middle of January before we get wet.

Rural dogs

Local dogs around Bosque Santa Lucia are always noteworthy. It's been my experience that they don't live a long happy life. Generations of dogs have come and gone since I've been here. Some follow their owners out to the highway, BR-163, where they are unexpectedly run over by speeding vehicles. Others die of snake bites; some die of disease; some starve to death and some just disappear. And then there are some that settle in with neighbors, who feed them. Yes, that's me. I shouldn't do it, because in reality they belong to other people. I remember one dog I nurtured back to health from a total state of starvation. One day I arived at the Bosque to discover that she had been killed by the true owner because she had eaten some duck eggs. I promised to never get a attached to another dog belonging to others. Hum, so be it. The dog in the upper image established residence at the Bosque some months ago, also a case of skin and bones. I refuse to get attached to her emotionally, but I do feed her and she seldom leaves the Bosque premises. She pays for her expenses by performing as a watchdog when I'm not there. The dog in the lower image belongs to the neighbors across the road, Sr. Carlos and his family. There are a pack of kids there and they seem to take good care of the dog. Nevertheless, he is quick to cross the road when I arrive at the Bosque and he has a voracious appetite. I have to keep an eye on where I place food because he will climb upon tables, or wherever, to get to the goodies.

Neighbor's dog

Although I entitled this blog entry the "neighbor's dog", I have to say that in reality, I've become the owner. Not that the legitimate owner has transferred the rights over to me. It's that the dog made the decision. She adopted me and refuses to leave the Bosque Santa Lucia reception center. You see, it's a question of something basic, called food. When she showed up at our place she was still a young pup and on the verge of starving to death. I could count every bone in her body. You guessed it. She's now older and fattened up, so to speak. She's also a good watch dog. Anything that moves, gets barked at, which might explain why wild animals aren't seen around the center. Man's best friend!