A new character

I know, I know! This image isn't in focus, but I couldn't do better under the circumstances. My camera is about ready for the recycling bin. Nevertheless, I found this small insect so intriguing, so different than any other I've ever seen, I couldn't resist sharing with my readers. Check out the turquoise colored gloves and boots! And those tattoos? Click on the image for an enlargement. This is the first time I've seen this character at the Bosque, but I hope it won't be the last.

Another beetle

This colorful beetle seemed to be mired down in water and humidity from an early morning rain.

Hairy Caterpillar, continued

I read somewhere that the word "caterpillar"means the hairy cat in French. It's not difficult to understand why when looking at the attached image. This caterpillar is not the same one shown on the previous post. It's much smaller and its hair is well combed. Amazing.

Hairy Caterpillar

I discovered this hairy caterpillar on the sink of the porch at the reception center today. Several of our woodsmen testified that this is one of the most poisonous of the caterpillars. Some of the descriptions convinced me that this little devil was to be respected.

Blue dragonfly

I thought there might be something different about each of the above images, but maybe I am presenting an overkill. The subject matter is quite small, as you can see by comparing the size of the leaf. It was so small, I did not even notice the colors. Turns out to be quite a beautiful dragonfly. That area where the wings are attached looks like some complicated mechnical engineering.

Hibiscus

Another hibiscus flower, likewise showing off.

Hibiscus

A hibiscus flower showing off.

Bosque logotype

The two readers participating in the opinion poll of the best logotype for Bosque Santa Lucia, chose the latest graphic design created by my son, Arthur Daniel. I personally liked the first one he did a few years ago. Maybe sentimental feelings because I've used it a lot. Daniel, top image. That's me hiding behind the tree!

Centipedes, continued

As I remember it, this little creature is also a centipede. It has that look of not being very friendly, but I'll ask Ted MaRae to give us a reading on that. This one was making its way across the floor of the back porch.

Millipedes

I followed the larger millipede around for a few minutes trying to get a picture of it as it moved in and out of the foliage. Compact digital cameras aren't noted for their fast shutter speeds ... and I'm not very speedy myself. But at last I was satisfied that I had at least one good image. It wasn't until I downloaded the chip onto the computer that I realized there was a second millipede. I wonder what else is down there under all those leaves? Post script: I originally called them centipedes. See Ted MacRae's comment.

Calabash gourd tree

We were in Alter do Chão last Sunday. I spotted this beautiful calabash gourd tree in the front yard of a small bar, only meters away from from where the Tapajós River and Lago Verde meet. Look at the fruit on that small tree. And there were a few others I didn't include in the photograph!

Geniparana flower

One pedal of this geniparana flower (Gustavia augusta) seems to have taken a liking to the stem of the tree. The family is Lecythidaceae, the same as the Brazil nut tree.

New logotype for Bosque

Our younger son, Arthur Daniel, is a graphic designer at a marketing firm in Belém. He has done all the logotypes for Bosque Santa Lúcia, the latest being the bottom design. The one I've used most is the first one listed in this post. To my readers, which one do you like? Click in the "comments" link.

Ruffled feathers

I was down at the waterfront to see our health team off to Juriti when I spotted these black vultures next to the riverboat. They didn't look too happy with the rain.

Another butterfly

This colorful butterfly wouldn't let me get close enough to take a closeup, so I got more leaf than butterfly. Click on the image for an enlargement.

Mean grasshopper

I joked about this being a mean grasshopper because when I was getting ready to photograph that so-called leaf-footed bug, it flew in on the same leaf as the bug. The latter was very fast to move out to find another place. Click on image for a better view of this little character.

Leaf-footed bug

I promised Ted MacRae at Beetles in the Bush that I'd enter these images of what he thinks might be a leaf-footed bug. I published an image of another one a few days ago, but it was more a silhouette. These will give him and my readers more details.

Bicycle seat, continued

And here's a better view of that helioconia butterfly on Cleuson's bicycle seat. Nothing like a shot of salts and minerals.

Bicycle seat

Check out that helioconia butterfly on Cleuson's bicycle seat. It just kept coming back. I joked with Cleuson that the butterfly liked the smell of his rear end. A closer shot of the butterfly coming up.

New visuals at Bosque

When the electric company put in the power lines, most of the trees bordering the dirt road got cut in the 15 meter swath. In recent months I had the tatajuba logs (Bagassa guianensis) cut into sections to serve as benches around a pau Brasil tree (Caesalpinia echinata), as well as a pau rosa tree (Aniba anelillia rosaeodora). In the image, we're looking at the young pau Brasil tree. Some sidewalks have been built on one side of the reception center.

Neutral person

I ran into this naked character in the forest a few weeks ago. I think that she/he/it was showing off a beautiful suntan.

Another butterfly

Well, I seemed to have gotten a better picture of the leaves than the butterfly. The genus of the plant is miconhia.

Nondescript Butterfly

Sort of a nondescript butterfly, but handsome, nevertheless.

Spider on Imperial Palm

This spider is so cryptic, it was almost invisible. Check out the posterior part of the animal. It looks exactly like a face, or a mask.

Black Bug and Pebble

This black bug stayed around long enough for me to take some pictures. I didn't notice at the time, but it seems to be missing part of one antenna. The pebble is embedded in cement walkway.

Hugging beetles, continued

"I can't get any closer. And that darned photographer won't give us any privacy."

Hugging beetles

Chega mais, as the Brazilians say. Get closer.

Pacific Princess, continued

Our visitors arriving from the ship. English speaking guides, Mr. Alex (facing the passengers) and Mr. Amilson (in yellow shirt) divide the group in half for the walking tour. It was a good day for everyone.

Pacific Princess

It is good to have the road to Bosque Santa Lúcia open again because it allows passengers from some of the cruise ships to visit us for a nature walk. Yesterday we received 30 visitors from the Pacific Princess, plus two ship staff. It was a very lively group of people interested in seeing everything we had to offer in the forest and also our small museum of woods. I took this picture of the ship when I returned to the city. I couldn't help noting the lack of activity at the Santarém pier. Normally it is full of buses, taxis, guides and lots of passengers. Maybe the "crisis" has struck the cruise ship business too. I didn't ask, but I couldn't help from noting the low ebb.

Caladiums

I'm tired of photographing and describing mud holes. Let me get back to what counts, flora and fauna of the Amazon. I never get tired of seeing caladiums. There's such a variety of them and they always look different from season to season.

Road to Bosque is open, continued

The next day, Áurea and I made a test drive to the Bosque in our small Fiat car. Here we are about to enter the area that I've often referred to as Lake Maria. Over the last year it has almost swallowed the car on every trip to the Bosque. Then it got so bad, even big trucks and buses were forced to take the detour you see to the left. Then it closed down too. I had to cancel all my private tours to the Bosque and finally the buses taking ship passengers also had to cancel out. Although the road is still makeshift, it's passable. I look forward to doing ecological tours again!

Road to Bosque is open, continued

Sr. Jaci's red farm tractor has been a blessing in getting the road to Bosque Santa Lúcia open again. That blade on the front is perfect for spreading out dirt and also for the construction of drainage ditches. Right after we left him here, five truckloads of gravel (clay with some rock) was dumped at this site. When we returned from the Bosque, Jaci was already spreading the material over that section of the road. I should add that all this hard work, and some expense taken on by a few of us, is very makeshift. To do the road construction right, it will require a lot of heavy equipment. That's where the mayor's transportation department will come in, we hope. As I mentioned, the change in local politics may make this possible.

Road to Bosque is open

Good news at last. The road to Bosque Santa Lúcia is now open to traffic. You can see what remains of the granddad of mud holes in the attached image. There's still plenty of room for reverting the picture of access, but more help may be on the way. The folks in the red pickup are from the mayor's office of transportation. Because of some unexpected changes in local politics, they are suddenly available to help. I was asked to accompany the road engineer from the city to the Bosque and then around the corner to the local community of Poço Branco, pointing out the most urgent of repairs. The fellow in the foreground is Sr. Jaci, who owns one of the largest soybean farms in the area. He was instrumental in doing a lot of the roadwork as we see it in the image. His presence had nothing to do with our visit. He was there waiting for a load of gravel (clay with some laterite rock) that would be put on top of this fill dirt. Off to the right is Bimba and his son. They live next to the Bosque. Next image.

Bosque revisited

Some traffic is getting through the mud holes going to Bosque Santa Lúcia and the small communities beyond, but mostly trucks and vehicles built higher off the ground. Áurea and I decided to try our luck yesterday in our small Fiat. Just to play it safe, we took the back route, which means the soybean fields further down the road. We made it, but I would not want to try the trip after a rain. It's easy to get stuck and difficult to get out. Our tours continue to be canceled until such time the road opens up again. As noted in previous posts, the most difficult of the mud holes was repaired by volunteer help from a neighbor on the highway. We then established a "kitty" of resources for filling up major obstacles with gravel (clay with laterite rock). That was quite a few days ago and as of date, no gravel. Lots of excuses, but no dump truck and no gravel.

Tours to Bosque canceled

The ground-operator for the Royal Princess and the Pacific Princess has canceled all tours to Bosque Santa Lúcia until such time safe access can be assured to passengers signing up for the ecological tour. I knew it was coming. Over the last few months I've had to cancel most of my own private tours to the Bosque because of road conditions. I tried everything to get the mayor's office to respond to the need for road maintenance, but to no avail. I still find it unbelievable that I wasn't successful in at least getting past that mud hole I refer to as Lake Maria. I talked with the secretary of tourism. Nada! I talked with his superior. Nada. I talked with a lot of other people too, including the secretary of planning for the municipality, who is "the man". He promised me that he would open up the road, but .... nada. I even wrote a nasty article in one of the major news pieces of Santarém. Nada! Our Bosque Santa Lúcia is on the edge of the city. Imagine what it's like out in the boonies. I'll be keeping everyone updated via this blog. I hope to see some of you there. Smile.

Lake Maria filled, continued

It's ironical that the first vehicle I saw to pass over the road construction was a logging truck. This kind of traffic is one reason the road becomes impassable. They are super heavy and some of them are the double trailer types. I can't make accusations, but everyone knows that most of this traffic is clandestine. The road connects BR-163 (Santarém-Cuiabá Highway) and the Curuá-Una Highway, a distance of only 8 kilometers. It's a way of avoiding the Federal Highway Police Station, which is located on the army base (8th BEC). Every now and then the Federal Police conducts monitoring of this situation and the traffic come to a fast halt, for awhile. Then it starts up again, especially in the darkness of night.

Lake Maria filled

A beautiful sight it was seeing the road to Bosque Santa Lúcia without that gigantic mud hole. The attached image shows where the lake used to be. Note that the bulldozer filled it with earth, which is great for fill, but it won't last long without some rock content, i.e., gravel. It rained a few times after this picture was taken, making it a general mess. Now we're waiting for the gravel to make the road passable.

Road to Bosque remains closed

I regret to inform my readers that Bosque Santa Lúcia remains closed due to lack of access from the Santarém-Cuiabá Highway. The mere 3 kilometers of dirt road to the Bosque is a Municipality of Santarém responsibility, but nothing has been done in more than 2 years. From time to time a few private individuals, like myself, dig into our pockets to make accessibility better. Unfortunately, the road conditions have gotten so bad, it's turned into major construction job. Two weeks ago some of my neighbors and I put up some money for operational costs of a bulldozer and a dump truck. It took nearly 8 hours of bulldozer time to drain "Lake Maria" and then fill it with earth. What's lacking now is to place gravel on top of the loose dirt. Day after day, we've waited for the dump truck and grader, but the rains spoiled all plans. The grader finally showed up, but no gravel. And that's where we are now. In the image, Cleuson, caretaker of the Bosque with a local neighbor, Paulo. Lake Maria in the background.

Fern

It's so great to see the fiddle heads coming off the rhizomes. This rhizome has grown from an old fallen log close to the entrance to the Bosque. In past entries, I've shown the ferns in the different stages of development. I never get tired of seeing them. They are real beauties.

Owl butterfly

On last Friday, we received the first cruise ship passengers of the season, the vessel being the Regatta. I was tied up in a staff meeting at Fundação Esperança until the last minute, but managed to get to the Bosque before the bus arrived. As I parked the car, I spotted this owl butterfly parked on the side of a tree. Even though I had many things to do at the last minute, I could not resist getting some pictures of it. The frayed wings indicate that birds may have discovered it before me.

Goats

The owner of the land next to the Bosque is originally from the northeastern part of Brazil, Ceará to be exact. It's an area that traditionally suffers from severe droughts, so it's not odd that many people raise goats. It's said that goats will eat anything, especially if they're hungry. I remember driving through Ceará a few years ago and I was impressed with the number of goats alongside the highways. They were everywhere ... and they were eating everything they could get between their teeth. I guess under these circumstances, one gets to like goat meat. My neighbor, a prominent lawyer in Santarém is no exception. Although every square inch of his land is fenced, his caretaker allows the goats to run loose along the roadside to eat the lush green grass that grows there during the rainy season. I wouldn't be talking about goats, except that we noticed that the newly planted palm trees along the entrance to one side of the Bosque were being eaten to the ground. At first we thought of caterpillars and grasshoppers, but one day Cleuson discovered that the goats were moving over to our land to do their thing. Young palm fronds can't be all that bad. Click on the image for a better view of the culprits.