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| Predecessor to this church was built of Palm Fronds - 1661 |
Santarem, founded in 1661, is one of the oldest cities in
Brazil. It is located midway between Belem and Manaus and thus an important
regional centre of commerce for Lower Amazonia. Everything in this area is
either flown in or arrives by ship – there are no major roads and no bridges
across the Amazon River. It used to be home to Tapajos Indians (also the name
of the tributary river joining the Amazon here).
The waters of the Amazon are ochre coloured and opaque,
whereas the Tapajos is crystal clear with a tannin colouring. The rivers
support different agriculture and fisheries, as HP levels, temperatures and
sediment influence which species thrives. The rivers meet, but do not merge for
a while at Santarem, dividing the surface with a twisting border between black
and brown.
There were economic booms and busts caused by demand for
timber, rubber, coffee and gold. The latest big export is soybeans. Soybeans need
agricultural land, and the Amazon forest is being ‘cleared’ to an extent that
boggles the mind – not just the odd acres or hectares here and there, but deforestation
to the tune of the size of entire countries.
Having only 300.000 inhabitants, Santarem feels somewhat ‘cozy’,
lacking sky scrapers and the worst kind of slums, actually looking clean and somewhat
prosperous, except for the waterfront road. This is the main trading location,
where hardware stores, fishing stores, building supply stores, household goods etc.
etc. sit side by side, and everything practical and useful is sold to the
people who come over from remote islands and areas around Santarem, to get the necessities
of life.
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| Santarem Waterfront |
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| Building 'Volkswagens' |
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| Selling Fish by the Bundle |
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| Selling Budgies by the cage load |
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| Selling FiIsh by the Basket |
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| Colourful Edibles |
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| Snake Eye?? |
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| Kiss the Cod? |
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| Fish 'Tales' |
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| Getting a Load Full |
Multi storied flat bottomed river boats leave daily to
various remote areas up a multitude of tributaries throughout the Amazon Basin.
People carry their purchases in large waterproof plastic bags, deposit their
belongings under a hammock of choice and settle down to patiently await
departure (fluid scheduling) and their journey home. Due to the currents it
takes twice as long to travel the same distance up-river as it takes taking the
same one down river. River boats travel close to shore as the currents are less
there than in the quite violent mid-stream waters.
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| Motor Bike Taxi Stand |
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| River Boat Accommodation |
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| Last Kiosk before boarding |
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| Waving Good Bye from the Cockpit |
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| River Boat Passenger |
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| Climbing the Gangway |
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| Business Traveller |
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| River Ambulance |
There is a pleasant water front promenade, whose main
purpose is giving access to the dozens of riverboats carrying cargo, cattle and
passengers. There are hundreds of fishing boats as well as the Amazon
Volkswagen equivalent, a small wooden skiff with a tiny outboard motor. Lots of
derelict cast of vessels slowly decay and sink into the river mud.
A fish market is bustling with fishermen, vendors, shoppers
and of course – fish. Some of the 6000 species of freshwater fish of the mighty
Amazon River end up here. Some of the largest fish weigh over 250 kg, some cat
fish hang onto life and still wiggle whilst being butchered, some look
disgustingly ugly (but allegedly taste great) and some look fearsomely
dangerous. Workers transport entire baskets of these creatures on their heads,
a hundred pounds of more at a time. They protect their heads with flat topped
foam rubber helmets.
Traffic is hectic, with many people – not owning cars or
bicycles – use motorcycle taxis. They are duly licensed and passengers MUST
wear a helmet, provided by the driver.
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| Stuffed Piranha for the Tourists |
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| Fruit Stand |
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| Vegetable Stand |
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| Hardware Store |
The ship is out of peanuts, champagne, rye bread, bananas,
berries, most vegetables…not a serious problem, but one hears mumbling about passengers
being tired of eating carrots, broccoli and green beans every day, which are
called some imaginary new name for each menu. We had ‘magenta blossoms’ the
other day, which turned out to be red cabbage…
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| That's where we are hanging out |
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| Buenas Noches, Amigos.... |
