Footbridge reconstructed

The dry weather left our footbridge at Bosque Santa Lúcia high and dry, so we took advantage of the situation to reconstruct all 42 meters of it.  It's been ready for nearly 6 weeks but no rain to inaugurate the structure.  It connects the reception center to the main forested area at the Bosque.  There are times towards the end of the rainy season when the bridge is complely under water.  I've rebuilt it at least five times over the years.  This latest construction is the work of our caretaker, Clelson Teixeira ands brother Clei.

Dia de São Pedro

Flooding in front of the city, 2009

It's predicted that the current flooding of 2014 will be greater.  Get your canoe out of the garage.

Pebble on sand

Lilly pads

Mergulhão with fish

Canarana grass

Amazon River grass.

Merry Christmas

Meltdown on the Tapajós River, 2011

Scarlet ibis

Scarlet ibis at Mangal das Graças in Belém - Pará.

Meltdown on the Tapajós

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.

High waters

Water remains high at Alter do Chão with most beach areas flooded.

Canoes on the Tapajós River

River dolphins

Dolphins getting a free meal back of the fish market.

Acari

Acari at fish market. All fins whacked off for customer convenience.

Tucunaré

Peacock bass.

Frog eggs

Anyone for frog caviar?

The native scouring pad

I had the pleasure of traveling with Padre Carlos from the diocese of Santarem to the Amazon River floodplain area last week. It was fairly much an all-day riverboat trip to several communities in the need for potable water. Yeah, hard to believe, but living on the largest river in the world doesn't guarantee a drop of good drinking water. As a matter of fact, it's hard to come by any time of the year. But water is another story. What caught my eye was this leaf that Padre Carlos showed us. It's called "lixa unha" (fingernail file) because seems to be a marriage between steel wool and a rough scouring pad. He tells us that the leaf is used for clean pots and pans. Sorry, no scientific name.

Frogs, foam nest

Some frogs prepare a foamy nest to protect their eggs from predators and also to keep them in a humid environment. I discovered this one partially attached to a supporting timber under the footbridge.

Gil Serique

I was feeling guilty about having scared up that grasshopper into the spider web, but my friend Gil Serique told me a story even more somber. "Steve, once I inadvertently scared up two Orinoco geese that fled from the river bank and landed in the water. They were followed by 7 or 9 chicks that landed by them. All these chicks were eaten by a school of piranhas that did not give them a chance to fly. I got that on tape, just in case you want to check it." Image, Gil lecturing to a group of visitors from a cruise ship.