Well digging, mud and water

Mud never looked so good! Better yet, the drilling team told me at midday that there was 12 meters of water in the hole. The next move will be to go down a few more meters to get to the sandy layer of soil and the main source of water. Evidently that will be soon because the larger tubes are already being prepared for lowering into the hole.

Well digging, new electrical box

In an earlier blog post I showed the electrical box provided by Celpa on the inauguration of the power line. It was for the basics of 110-120 living, like lights, television and so on. The electrical necessity for operating the submersible pump for a well is 220 watts of power, which means that the system had to be changed. Celpa didn't charge anything for adding the 220 option, but the wiring, box and other material ended up costing nearly 500 reais, some US$ 290! Fortunately, the cost was split into three equal payments.

Well digging, the tubes

60 meters of tubing wait for the happy day when they'll be lowered into the "hole" to shore up the cavity left by the well drilling team. Smaller plastic pipes will be inserted inside these, along with the submersible pump, for pumping water up to the light of day.

Well digging, pulverized rock

This pasty mud is the last material to come out of the well hole. I assume that it's the impeding rock that was ground to dust by the "needle", as shown in the previous post. It's quite possible that the drilling team will hit the vein of water by tomorrow. I'm told that the rest of the operation goes much faster. I hope. The dust on the road is getting to be more than a problem. It's getting to be dangerous.

Agulha, the rock buster

By 10:00 the well drilling team had gotten through the rock, thanks to the agulha, which is pictured above. The word translates into "needle" in English, but I prefer to call it the "toothpick". It's 80 kilos (176 pounds) of steel with a needle-like point that knocks the poop out of anything it hits. This impact tool is connected to a rope and dropped from the top of the hole onto rock, which it eventually pulverizes. I didn't see any sign of rock, so I assume what I saw was the pulverized version. To celebrate the occasion, the team took the rest of the day off to visit Cleuson, who lives about 3 kilometers from the Bosque. A well deserved rest. They've been working direct since Monday morning.

Old wood, continued

As a follow up to my last blog post, these are the jarana support timbers in place. There are actually four of them, but one is cut out of the picture. That's Ney, the carpenter, up on the top sawing roof timbers, which is of newly bought lumber.

Old wood

Thinking positively, I decided to build the support tower for the 2,000 liters water box, plus a third porch for setting up the old casa de farinha (manioc mill) that has been on the ground for the last two years. In pricing lumber, I discovered that I could afford very little of it. Prices have gone up so much for lumber, few people can afford it for anything. In the end, I finally decided to use what I had left over from other projects in the past. Ney, the carpenter, is a genius at making use of anything like that. In less than three days he built the basics of the porch and the support structure for the water box! The four esteios (support columns for the porch) are jarana (Holopyxidium jarans), which were cut from forest areas for planting soybeans several years ago. As you can see by the attached image, the outer surfaces are damaged from years on the ground, but the heart wood is solid enough to hold up an elephant. The log underneath is a different story. It's Brazil nut (Bertholetia excelsa), which doesn't hold up for very long, if left to the elements. What interesting is that both Brazil nut and jarana are from the same family, which is Lecythidaceae.

Well digging, rock

At more or less 44 meters, progress came to a screeching stop on the drilling of the well because of rock. How much rock, we don't know yet. It could be one the seize of a truck, or something small. In the meanwhile, the drilling team removed the auger from the train of steel pipes and started dropping the agulha (needle) down the deep hole onto the rock. I had to leave the site early today but I look forward to seeing the results tomorrow. I'm tired of dust. I want to see water!

Lombados

The dust factor, shown in the previous posts, continues to increase by the day. At Bosque Santa Lucia we try to maintain two spring breakers (lombados) on the road to keep traffic speed and dust down. On the unpaved streets of Santarem, we have the same problem. Local dwellers aren't very tolerant of dust and they resort of all kinds of tactics to deal with the problem. Most of the time a lombado is built up from dirt in such a way that drivers have to slow down in order not to damage their vehicles. Some people do the reverse; they dig a ditch across the road. And then some neighborhoods show political rage in their maneuvers to deal with unpaved streets. I could believe what my eyes were seeing when I came across the lombado shown in the attached image. This exaggerated lombado is probably the work of several neighbors.

Mud hole full of dust

By midday the sun beats down on the dusty road going out to Bosque Santa Lucia with such intensity, I use a pair of Solar Shield sun glasses to see where I'm going. That gigantic mud hole that we face during the rainy season is just ahead in the lower image. Full of the wet stuff above.

Where's the rain?

It gets hotter and drier by the day. The dust factor is enough to kill anyone and everything, including younger plants and trees around the reception center at the Bosque. This once very small dirt road is now being used as a shortcut by dump trucks hauling asphalt to a road that is being paved to Mojuí dos Campos. Other trucks also use the route to make a connection between BR-163 and the Curuá-Una Highway. Dust, dust, dust! And where's the rain the weather man promised for the month of November?

Well digging, wet and sticky

At 36 meters the soil type has changed. Now it's wet, as you can see by the mud on the side of the auger head. It's possible that the crew will hit water tomorrow, if they can get down another 10 meters. So far no rock! The crew members are tired and a bit hungry because their boss man didn't bring food supplies. They used my cell phone to talk with him and he promised to bring food out yet tonight. This is super heavy work, the kind that requires FOOD. I would be more sympathetic to the problem but I pay an extra fee to cover food costs. Let's see what tomorrow brings. In the meanwhile, the dust gets thicker every day. I would love to see some water coming out of that well by this weekend!

Well digging, 36 meters

36 meters down and the merry-go-around continues topside. Notice that more counter weight is needed for the auger to bite into the earth. The are two men now providing the weight while two others turn the chain of steel rods connected to the auger.

Well digging, the dirt

The amount of dirt accumulated from digging a well with an auger is considerably less than that of one dug by a man in the hole. In the attached image you can see the volume of dirt produced by 26 meters of drilling. The reddish soil is the latest layer to be drilled. So far no rock! But the probability of hitting a piece of laterite rock is fairly high, so I won't be surprised if we do.

Well digging, the auger

The auger full of pay dirt is lifted out of the hole and placed in a position where the compacted soil can be removed. Then burned motor oil is put on the cutting blades and lowered into the hole for another round. I see several types and sizes of augers around the work site but so far only this one has been used.

Well digging, continued

The well drilling team of 4 persons seemed to have faired well in camping out on the back porch of the Bosque Santa Lucia reception center last night. The howler monkeys came for a visit and kept the crew awake part of the night but everyone was tired from a full day of work. On this second day of drilling, the men made remarkable progress in turning the auger. By late afternoon they were at a dept of 26 meters! At this rate, it's quite possible that they'll hit water in the next two days.

Well digging, continued

The well drilling team is responsible for cooking their own food, since we don't have a kitchen or cook to carry out these tasks. One of the team members quickly rigged up a camp-like kitchen on the edge of the woods. In little time the team was eating barbecued meat and a stew with rice. The first meter of the drilling is coming up.

Well digging - day 1

The decision to dig a well and to find the means to finance it isn't an easy one. I guess for that reason I've been hauling water all of these years. Now it's time to get on with the program. The summers (the dry season) are getting longer every year and the dust thicker. The tires on my car are wearing thin, as is my patience for the lack of infrastructure at Bosque Santa Lucia. Early this morning Sr. Assis arrived in his small pickup loaded to the gill with his team of four men and equipment for digging the well. By midday the equipment was in place and the drilling scheduled to begin in the afternoon. Depending on obstacles, like rock, it's expected to take 2-3 weeks. Assis tells me that his men are capable of drilling down to 80 meters with the auger, if necessary. The average depth for this kind of well in the neighborhood is about 60 meters.

Turtle skull III

An image of the two skulls together. The giant river turtle (Podocnemis expansa) and the yellow-spotted Amazon turtle (Podocnemis unifidis). For more information, refer to my book, Santarém - Riverboat Town, or do a fast internet search. There are mountains of references and I see no need in reinventing the wheel.

Turtle skull II

I'll leave the final decision up to the biologists but I think this is a tracajá (Podocnemis unifidis) skull. The common name in English is yellow-spotted Amazon turtle. Coming up, an image of the giant river turtle and this one together.

Turtle skull

I can't remember where I came by this river turtle skull but I've had it for years. Maybe from one of my many trips into Peru. There are several varieties of turtles in the waters of the Amazon River. This was obviously one of the large ones and we can be sure that it was fully utilized for making an assortment of turtle dishes. River people are crazy for foods made of turtle.

Fern rhizome updated

That fern rhizome I showed a few days ago, the one on the old fallen log, has taken on some new features. Note the new fronds (the white nodules) developing from the rhizome. I'm anxious to see if they will look like the fiddle head ferns I used to see in Alaska.

Correction on Kalanchoe post

It's always great to receive comments on my posts, especially when it's a learning experience for me. A student of medicinal plants at Padua University in Italy alerted me to the fact that the plant in the attached image, formally referred to as Kalanchoe pinnata, is now classified as Bryophyllum pinnatum. The student's name is Jacopo Simonetto. His blog address is www.jacopo13.blogspot.com Check out his pictures taken in Ecuador. Fantastic stuff! Thanks Jacopo.

Yellow ixora

First blooms on a yellow ixora (Ixora chinensis) at Bosque Santa Lucia. I also have the red variety, Ixora coccinea. Red is by far the most popular kind.

Angelim

New leaves on an angelim (Hymenolobium sp) tree at Bosque Santa Lucia. There are different species of angelim trees but I suspect that it's angelim pedra (Hymenolobium petraeum). I planted this one from a seed I collected from an older tree near the entrance to the Bosque.

Kalanchoe pinnata flowers

These are the flowers of kalanchoe pinnata, a plant that spreads like a weed in the semi-shaded areas of Bosque Santa Lucia.

Kalanchoe pinnata

Despite the lack of rains recently, the Kalanchoe pinnata plants are producing abundant numbers of flowers. The two most common names for this medicinal plant are pirarucu and folha grossa. The nomenclature "pirarucu" refers to the very large scales on the pirarucu fish (Arapaima gigas) and "folha grossa" depicts leaves that are very thick. An image of the flowers coming up in the next post.

Paper wasps II

This paper wasp nest is being build under the roof of the front porch of the reception center at Bosque Santa Lucia. Actually the nest may have been completed already. It appears that some of the comb cells have received the queens eggs and have been sealed off. Now comes the question, which one is the queen? Click in on the image for an enlargement of the image.

Paper wasp nest, abandoned

Paper wasp nests come in many different forms and shapes but in general the combs aren't enclosed, as the case of the bell wasps. The one is the attached image, which was built in a Pau Brasil tree, is a very elongated comb. Construction was started several months ago and abandoned after the reproduction process. It seems to me that the structure is fitting of another family, but nature says only one time.

Bell wasp nest II

This is a bottom view of the wasp nest with the only entrance to the 8-story building. I'm sure that these nests are 100 waterproof when in use. They are always placed out on the end of a high tree branch, where predators have difficult access. I've read that the wasps secrete a chemical on the tallow that supports the nest that wards off ants and other insects wanting to invade the palace.

Bell wasp nest

One of our cruise ship visitors must have brought this wasp nest in from the woods because I found it on the ground close to where the bus had been parked. I was about to throw it away but when I noticed that one side of nest was open, exposing a series of combs. I've seen many of these nests hanging from the trees but I had never seen the inside of one. It's like an apartment building of several stories without windows! The entrance to the building is a small round hole at the bottom of the structure.

Peccary skull III

You may remember that I referred to the peccary as having been killed. Looking at the skull from this angle, it's obvious that it was indeed killed with with a firearm. I've read that there was a time when this wild pigs roamed the region in large numbers. Likewise, I've read that they were slaughtered in large numbers. No doubt about that! Although these animals still exist in the Amazon, they are not likely to be seen by the average by passer.

Peccary skull II

One of my woodsmen at Bosque Santa Lucia found this skull in the woods not too far away from the reception center. I was really surprised to see it because peccaries haven't been seen in this region for several decades, so I'm told. It was half buried near an old homestead site, so who knows where it was killed and how long ago. Those are some very formidable teeth on the animal!

Peccary skull

My friend in Goiania, Gene Whitmer, recently sent me a link to an article by a scientist who announced the find of a new species of peccary somewhere here in the Amazon. It reminded me of my two peccary skulls at the Bosque Santa Lucia reception center. The one in the attached image is from an Indian village somewhere along the Amazon River in Peru.

The saw that sings

After chasing that black scorpion around yesterday morning, Cleuson decided it was time to fix a wooden bench that had fallen apart near the entrance to the Bosque. It needed some new supporting lumber, so he selected an old maçaranduba (Manilkara huberi) slat for the job. While sawing off the pieces, we discovered that the wood was still hard as nails, even after all these years of use in one place and another. Slowly but surely the saw got through the slat and Cleuson put the saw down. To my amazement the sounds of the sawing continued up in the trees some 30 meters from us. Cleuson yelled, Jacu! Indeed, there was a pair of chachalacas up there. They are very evasive birds and obviously not interested in having their pictures taken. After two or three short flights between trees, they disappeared altogether. As I suspected, they had been attracted by the sound of sawing. Cleuson tells me that hunters use many tricks to call birds in for the kill, including the rubbing of a palm frond on a machete blade, which produces a sound much like the saw. Then too, I couldn't help from remembering old days in Alabama, when my stepfather would call in turkeys by rubbing a piece of wood against a small cedar box, which produced a sound equal to a gobble/gobble.

Black Scorpion

Only this week I had told my helper at Bosque Santa Lucia, Cleuson Teixeira, to call me if he found a scorpion. As I remember it, the subject came up because he told me that he found a scorpion in the reception center while moving some furniture around to paint the walls. Well, so luck would have it, today he discovered another one under a board he had picked up next to the old outdoor toilette. He quickly came back to the reception center to let me know of the find. If I hadn't had the help of Cleuson in recapturing the critter every few seconds, I'd never have gotten a picture. As it was, I must have taken more than 20 pictures because it wouldn't sit still for a second, unless it was hidden from our sight. Delete, delete and delete, hoping that at least one shot might be acceptable. I ended up with two images worth keeping, so I was happy as a fly on ... you know what. Cleuson was quite firm in keeping his distance from the scorpion .. and with good reason. His father, Raimundo Teixeira, was stung by one of these creatures about three years ago when he was cleaning a trail at the Bosque. I was there at the time, so we headed off to the Santarem Hospital as fast as I dared drive. The hospital is only 19 kilometers from the Bosque but about half way, Teixeira went into shock. He was given several injections of medicine at the hospital at about 11:00 AM. It was almost midnight when he came out of the anaphylaxic shock!! That was proof that the black scorpion is one more dangerous critter. Look at the size of the stinger on this one. Click on the image for a better view.

Cupuaçu tree

I've shown the cupuaçu pod, the fruit and the foliage. Now comes the tree itself. In an open environment, the tree doesn't get very tall and it can provide lots of shade. This particular area is getting a bit congested with other trees and an imperial palm, so the tree is getting higher and higher every year. It's just beginning to flower. The fruit will develop quickly once the rainy season gets under way and the pods will continue to fall through July and August. Note the accumulation of old leaves on the ground. They are quite large.

Cupuaçu leaves

A couple of new cupuaçu leaves making their appearance on stage at Bosque Santa Lucia. Most of our trees are young ones along some of the walking trails of the Bosque. That came to be because I have the habit of saving the seeds and then randomly tossing them into the forest. Few germinate and survive, but nevertheless, it adds to the "pot".

Cupuaçu fruit

This is what the cupuaçu looks like inside. Each segment contains a large seed covered with a creamy-colored pulp. The pulp is removed with scissors, or special machinery, in the case of a commercial business. It's used for making juices, fillings for cake and chocolates and a thousand other things. Cupuaçu is by far the most popular fruit in the Amazon. The seeds can be used for making a chocolate called Cupulate.

Cupuaçu pods

As a follow up to the previous post of the saint's altar, these are the whole cupuaçu fruit pods. Although they belong to the cacao family (genus Theobroma), they are not cauliforous, i.e., they do not develop directly from the trunk of the tree. They aren't ripe until they actually fall on the ground. The shell is hard enough that they normally don't break open on impact. There are exceptions, for example, when they fall from very tall trees in the forest.

Saint's altar in Cupuaçu pod

Local artisans in the region are ingenious at manufacturing beautiful objects from natural resources, like this cupuaçu pod (Theobroma grandiflorum) shown in the attached image. The depicted saint (given to Áurea by Jeremy and Maddy Campbell) is Nossa Senhora de Conceição, patron saint for Santarém. The base of the altar is made from a piece of Brazil nut pod (Bertholetia excelsa). Coming next, a picture of cupuaçu in its natural state of being.

Laterite rock

I find the habit of collecting rocks and minerals a hard one to get rid of, but it helps to live in this part of the Amazon when trying. Except for laterite rock, we don't have a great variety available. This kind of rock, as depicted in the attached image, is the result of water percolating through the soils for millions of years. The end result is that of deposits of rock which have a high content in the oxides of iron and hydroxide of aluminum. Some of it is as soft as sandstone but much of it is as hard as iron. It's used for construction of foundations for houses and buildings, as well as roadbeds, or anything else requiring rock.

Petrified Amazon log II

Here's a close up image of the petrified log that was donated to Bosque Santa Lucia. What reminded me of this artifact was an article that GingerV sent me these days about the Petrified Forest of Arizona. In younger days I remember spending time there with my grandfather, Steven Winn. He was a dedicated rock hound from the State of Idaho. For many years he and my grandmother, Edith Winn, would escape the cold winters of Idaho by hooking up their camper to his old vintage pickup and take off for Arizona and New Mexico. When I was studying at Berea College in Kentucky, I would hitchhike across the country during Christmas vacation to meet them in the southwest. I remember spending many a day with my grandfather on the back roads of the deserts and mountains looking for petrified wood and semiprecious stones. Just seeing this piece of petrified wood from the Amazon brings back many memories!

Petrified Amazon log

This piece of petrified log was given to me by Cristovam Sena, forester and noted consultant on the Amazon. Another forester had given it to him many years ago and I guess he needed to clean up his front yard and decided that Bosque Santa Lucia would be the perfect place to put it. I'm grateful for the donation because it's the only piece of petrified wood I've ever seen here in the Amazon. It's a fairly good seized chunk of rock and it weighs a ton. When I went by ICBS to pick it up, my thought was that I'd put it in the trunk of my car. Hum! I couldn't begin to pick it up. Sena's wife, Ruth, came to the rescue by having two employees help me. Even so, it was difficult task. For the time being, I've left it on the front porch of the reception center at the Bosque. I don't have to worry about anyone stealing it. Most visitors don't notice the petrified log unless told. It does look like any other log that's been on the ground for awhile.

Cicada

It's too bad that we people can't get out of our skins and start life all over, as the cicada does. What's amazing is how they are able to get out of the old skin (molt) without destroying it. Check out this link to see a live video of a cicada molting. I took this picture of a discarded skin on the side of a mahogany tree three days ago. A family from Austria was on tour with me that day. The couple's young son, maybe 3-4 years old, was fascinated with find.

Passion fruit flowers

Passion fruit flowers are visited over and over again by butterflies.

Red flower

All of a sudden this single flower appears from the edge of the forest, a spot where I had transferred many of my potted plants and palms earlier in the summer. The move was a good one because the sun and dust were taking their toll on everything. The red flower is from a plant that professora Inez gave me some time back. I have no idea what it is. Professora Inez has no idea what it is! Nobody knows what it is. The old retired professora has a yard full of plants, some potted and others in the ground. Few have names. I guess it's not important. What's important is that they are appreciated.