July 22 Farmland mapping and Pico Papagaio
Three different groups set out in jeeps to plot the land and interview farmers in the mountains surrounding Triunfo. Once arrived at the decide site, our group split up into two to save some time. I was in the group that got to walk downhill towards a floodplain, an area thAt was shared by two farms.
The daughter of the farm (maybe in her early20s) took me along and showed me all the fields and subsistence gardens that the farm had. We also were allowed to enter the farm proper: The house had several rooms overall, one enters through the kitchen where two pots were boiling away on a wood-fed fire (there was a gas stove nearby but propane is probably difficult to transport). The kitchen opened to a room furnished with a table and chairs, another room with table and chairs and one big refridgerator was adjacent to this room. From here one could enter the living room that sported two red couches. Off these rooms there were bedrooms behind curtains most of which furnished with several bed stands and nothing much else. Overall there were 11 people living at this house! There was one bathroom and a functioning cistern outside that provided running water. One daughter of the farm actually lived in Germany for a while but is now in Sao Paulo with her three children. Many of the men work in the sugar cane fields of larger plantations further south--so clearly the farm does not feed all.
The farm produced a mix of cash crops which is sold in the local market and multiple-crop gardens for personal use.
In the afternoon our jeeps brought us up the mountains to the highest peak of Perenumbuco, the Pico do Papageio. On the way up we stopped several times to see various solutions to the water availability problem on these mountains. One farm had a 50m deep well from where they pumped out their drinking water; the actual water table could be accessed through steps dug in a tunnel. Bats were inhabiting this cave-like feature. In another instance thee was a perched water table located high above the farmland in a cavemwhich then provided the water. On the hike up to the cave we passed agave plants 1 1/2 the size of humans.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
July 21
Tour through Triunfo
Triumfo is located in the highlands, in the backlands--for the most backlands are dry.
Triunfo is located about 3000 ft (1,200 m) above sea level, located on the granitic massif sporting a lot of greenery. Whereas the typical economic pattern in the lowlands is that of large plantations with workers settled along the edges, that of the highlands usually consists of small farms which is directly related to the physical environment as well as the lack of market proximity.
Triunfo itself is a much wealthier place than the towns encountered on the way here, it even sports a theater as well as several churches, stores and the like.
Coffee production was brought to Pernumbuco but it diffused from here to Sao Paulo where it brought also industrialization. Coffee production in the highlands of Pernumbuco caused a more egalitarian society than in as with plantations because it was worked on small farms which also produced food crops because of the distance to Recife. At present there is no coffee production
People that moved into these highlands were also better integrated with regional Indians, the Carirs.
Triumfo is located in the highlands, in the backlands--for the most backlands are dry.
Triunfo is located about 3000 ft (1,200 m) above sea level, located on the granitic massif sporting a lot of greenery. Whereas the typical economic pattern in the lowlands is that of large plantations with workers settled along the edges, that of the highlands usually consists of small farms which is directly related to the physical environment as well as the lack of market proximity.
Triunfo itself is a much wealthier place than the towns encountered on the way here, it even sports a theater as well as several churches, stores and the like.
Coffee production was brought to Pernumbuco but it diffused from here to Sao Paulo where it brought also industrialization. Coffee production in the highlands of Pernumbuco caused a more egalitarian society than in as with plantations because it was worked on small farms which also produced food crops because of the distance to Recife. At present there is no coffee production
People that moved into these highlands were also better integrated with regional Indians, the Carirs.
July 20
Caatinga vegetation and site of bones
Pousada -- Teatro Nova Jerusalem, Fazenda Nova
I rose at 5:30 am and took a long hike around the grounds. It was surprisingly cold outside, needed my sweatshirt. The hotel is situated in a compound that sports several large stages ( I counted 8 but it may be more) for the staging of the passion play. Next to each stage there is a sign listing the scenes of the passion play to be played on this particular stage. Quite interesting.
After breakfast we were stuffed into two jeeps 12 or more people per jeep; every nook and nanny of the jeep was put to good use including the roof which held about four people each. We drove into the caatinga -- comprised of vegetation of the arid region of the Brazilian shield. We were lucky to have been here at the end of the rainy season since a lot of plants were at the verge of blooming. Prrdominant plants are cation types of cactus as well as other drought-resistant, often thorny plants.
The drive and subsequent hike culminated on a granitic outcrop of the pre-Cambrian Brazilian Shield. This shield is about 6,000 sq km in size, quite a huge batholith showing up outcrop on various mountain and hill tops in the region. Since the Brazilian shield was not subjected to the continental glaciation the Canadian shield experienced, it shows more fluvial and other water-based eerosional features such as hills and valleys with the occasional granitic outcrop or dome.
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Striking erosional features were 1. Sheet erosion of the granite and 2. nahmas, smallish round indentures into the rock which grow with age. In the largest one of these farmers found fossilized bones from animals of the last ice age: giant ground sloth, giant armadillo, mastodon and the like. It appears that these animals retreated from the waters to this area but their existence did not coincide with that of humans. Differing dating methods of teeth enamel, bones and cementing material revealed that there was a striking age difference with that of the cementing agent being considerably later (30,000??). The geologists and paleontologists of the university in Recife have been busy excavating, putting together, analysing and dating the bones resulting in several master theses as well as ph.d. dissertations.
Todays drive occurs along leeward side of the mountain of the Borborema Highlands which adjacent to the Borborema Oiedmont. This is the aa of agreste, a dry transitional region. Since we are driving along the lee side it is actually is drier than would be expected.. The south side shows more forested areas than the windward side. This is a typical Windward, leeward effect here.
In terms of Human occupation it is the most unsettled area of the region. Not much agriculture, more clothing industry which started as cottage industry and then blossomed to a relatIvely big industry. Also, there is a combination of rural and ecotourism e.g. activities as hiking, rock climbing etc.
We visited an outlet store which housed a variety of small not-so-much known brand stores representing the area's efforts at fashion making. Some of the t-shirts and dresses were really nice, others not so. Appantly it is common for a big international brand to buy a lot of the clothes of a certain small-scale clothes maker and just exchange the label.
Pousada -- Teatro Nova Jerusalem, Fazenda Nova
I rose at 5:30 am and took a long hike around the grounds. It was surprisingly cold outside, needed my sweatshirt. The hotel is situated in a compound that sports several large stages ( I counted 8 but it may be more) for the staging of the passion play. Next to each stage there is a sign listing the scenes of the passion play to be played on this particular stage. Quite interesting.
After breakfast we were stuffed into two jeeps 12 or more people per jeep; every nook and nanny of the jeep was put to good use including the roof which held about four people each. We drove into the caatinga -- comprised of vegetation of the arid region of the Brazilian shield. We were lucky to have been here at the end of the rainy season since a lot of plants were at the verge of blooming. Prrdominant plants are cation types of cactus as well as other drought-resistant, often thorny plants.
The drive and subsequent hike culminated on a granitic outcrop of the pre-Cambrian Brazilian Shield. This shield is about 6,000 sq km in size, quite a huge batholith showing up outcrop on various mountain and hill tops in the region. Since the Brazilian shield was not subjected to the continental glaciation the Canadian shield experienced, it shows more fluvial and other water-based eerosional features such as hills and valleys with the occasional granitic outcrop or dome.
.
Striking erosional features were 1. Sheet erosion of the granite and 2. nahmas, smallish round indentures into the rock which grow with age. In the largest one of these farmers found fossilized bones from animals of the last ice age: giant ground sloth, giant armadillo, mastodon and the like. It appears that these animals retreated from the waters to this area but their existence did not coincide with that of humans. Differing dating methods of teeth enamel, bones and cementing material revealed that there was a striking age difference with that of the cementing agent being considerably later (30,000??). The geologists and paleontologists of the university in Recife have been busy excavating, putting together, analysing and dating the bones resulting in several master theses as well as ph.d. dissertations.
Todays drive occurs along leeward side of the mountain of the Borborema Highlands which adjacent to the Borborema Oiedmont. This is the aa of agreste, a dry transitional region. Since we are driving along the lee side it is actually is drier than would be expected.. The south side shows more forested areas than the windward side. This is a typical Windward, leeward effect here.
In terms of Human occupation it is the most unsettled area of the region. Not much agriculture, more clothing industry which started as cottage industry and then blossomed to a relatIvely big industry. Also, there is a combination of rural and ecotourism e.g. activities as hiking, rock climbing etc.
We visited an outlet store which housed a variety of small not-so-much known brand stores representing the area's efforts at fashion making. Some of the t-shirts and dresses were really nice, others not so. Appantly it is common for a big international brand to buy a lot of the clothes of a certain small-scale clothes maker and just exchange the label.
July 19
Field trip from Recife to the backlands within Pernumbuco
1. Outside Recife-Natuba
In Natuba we find the site of one of the former Mts camps (= former squatter camp) where people received land due to land reforms. This is a well succeeded formal land plan reform. The people here now are involved in truck farming for serving the market in Recife. The land was given to people who already worked on the land and thus knew how to work it. In the last 25 years these people have made arrangements with Walmart and other supermarkets and thus provide essential small-scale crops such as okra, coconut and other things.
Supermarkets were eager to find producers so they did not have to use airplanes to provide all these goods from the south. The same is truE for fast food restaurants.
The area was occupied initially by 300 families, so the industry supports roughly 1,000 people.
The new landless movement is about 15 years old.
15 km west of Recife we find the cut between the Brazilian Shield and the piedmont and lowlands. Vegetation in this very hilly area is referred to as 'caatinga' . We gain in altitude relatively fast. The soils are shallow, also due to lack of precipitation and Small-scale farming, cheese production,pineapple and other plants ofnthe ananas family.
Many of the ridges are covered with new, second or third homes of people from the metropolitan area; a transformation of the natural landscape which is getting more and more common.
2. Gravata
This town is a rather large and well-to-do center of activity. We stopped for banking and postal services.
3. Caruaru
This is a little town based on the craft of clay figurines. In the last 15 years these figurines have become quite popular in Brazil so that they are shipped throughout the country. This , in turn, caused the little village to grow but it also caused it to adapt its taste to that of the times leading to some interesting results.
4. Caruaru
This town sports a healthy cottage industry consisting of lace-making and similar handicrafts. In addition, a little further away from this town, we find Brazil's jeans clothing industry which evolved from cottage industry to national status.
Physically, this area is close to the Pernambuco fault line which continues in the African country of Gabon. This is, even though at a passive margin geologically, tectonically the most active area in Brazil. Even though, no fatalities were reportedm due to earthquakes.
1. Outside Recife-Natuba
In Natuba we find the site of one of the former Mts camps (= former squatter camp) where people received land due to land reforms. This is a well succeeded formal land plan reform. The people here now are involved in truck farming for serving the market in Recife. The land was given to people who already worked on the land and thus knew how to work it. In the last 25 years these people have made arrangements with Walmart and other supermarkets and thus provide essential small-scale crops such as okra, coconut and other things.
Supermarkets were eager to find producers so they did not have to use airplanes to provide all these goods from the south. The same is truE for fast food restaurants.
The area was occupied initially by 300 families, so the industry supports roughly 1,000 people.
The new landless movement is about 15 years old.
15 km west of Recife we find the cut between the Brazilian Shield and the piedmont and lowlands. Vegetation in this very hilly area is referred to as 'caatinga' . We gain in altitude relatively fast. The soils are shallow, also due to lack of precipitation and Small-scale farming, cheese production,pineapple and other plants ofnthe ananas family.
Many of the ridges are covered with new, second or third homes of people from the metropolitan area; a transformation of the natural landscape which is getting more and more common.
2. Gravata
This town is a rather large and well-to-do center of activity. We stopped for banking and postal services.
3. Caruaru
This is a little town based on the craft of clay figurines. In the last 15 years these figurines have become quite popular in Brazil so that they are shipped throughout the country. This , in turn, caused the little village to grow but it also caused it to adapt its taste to that of the times leading to some interesting results.
4. Caruaru
This town sports a healthy cottage industry consisting of lace-making and similar handicrafts. In addition, a little further away from this town, we find Brazil's jeans clothing industry which evolved from cottage industry to national status.
Physically, this area is close to the Pernambuco fault line which continues in the African country of Gabon. This is, even though at a passive margin geologically, tectonically the most active area in Brazil. Even though, no fatalities were reportedm due to earthquakes.
July 16
16 July
1. Field trip to modern port
We rose early to go to Suape (50 km fromRecife) which is the modern port area of Recife. It took over an hour in the bus to get there-- in the course of which we took Recife's first private toll road, left the city behind and rode through some coastal rainforest portion. The area between the bridge and the coastal forest is getting heavily built up with upscale residences with houses in the price range of up 800,000 dollars or more.
The public port of Suape is located about 50 km south of Recife and is the first deep water port along the Northeastern coast. Before this port, oceangoing vessels had to go to Rio. On average, it takes ships from here to Rotterdam 9 days and to the Unitec States 7 days.
Inside Suape is a training center for people to acquire special work skills. ALS is a school training people to work with steel - 4000. People were trained there.
The Suape port has about 88,900 direct employees, so it is clearly a major employment location requiring a lot of manpower. The port is working on infrastructure: there are 32 km of railways for cargo trains, none for passengers. Employees are bussed back and forth by the big companies present here, others rely on long car commutes, most of them from Recife.
Some numbers:
Oil refinery 230.000 oil barrels/ day--some of the. oil comes from the huge oil reserve off Brazil's coast, some from other countries.
Shipyard 25,000 indirect jobs, 5,000 direct ones
Chemical complex = lots of jobs
45 % of Suape's area is considered protrected.
According to federal law for the environment = 30% of any acquired land must be protected, so some of the 45% an be expected to be built up in the future.
There is competition of places - between harbors of various states.
2. Trip to Porto de Galinhas
Porto de Galinhas was the port where slaves could be bought at a time when buying slaves was no longer allowed but using their labor was. A code was used to market the slaves: the chicken have arrived, hence the name of the port--port of the chickens. Tourist memorabilia are chicken of all sizes with or without babies. The original fishing village is becoming a tourist town fast. Already there are a lot of tourist shops lining more than one street. In close proximity one finds a very modern resort center with a long beach stretching as far as the eyes can see. This coast is seeing a boom in construction since more and more people are purchasing a second home here.
1. Field trip to modern port
We rose early to go to Suape (50 km fromRecife) which is the modern port area of Recife. It took over an hour in the bus to get there-- in the course of which we took Recife's first private toll road, left the city behind and rode through some coastal rainforest portion. The area between the bridge and the coastal forest is getting heavily built up with upscale residences with houses in the price range of up 800,000 dollars or more.
The public port of Suape is located about 50 km south of Recife and is the first deep water port along the Northeastern coast. Before this port, oceangoing vessels had to go to Rio. On average, it takes ships from here to Rotterdam 9 days and to the Unitec States 7 days.
Inside Suape is a training center for people to acquire special work skills. ALS is a school training people to work with steel - 4000. People were trained there.
The Suape port has about 88,900 direct employees, so it is clearly a major employment location requiring a lot of manpower. The port is working on infrastructure: there are 32 km of railways for cargo trains, none for passengers. Employees are bussed back and forth by the big companies present here, others rely on long car commutes, most of them from Recife.
Some numbers:
Oil refinery 230.000 oil barrels/ day--some of the. oil comes from the huge oil reserve off Brazil's coast, some from other countries.
Shipyard 25,000 indirect jobs, 5,000 direct ones
Chemical complex = lots of jobs
45 % of Suape's area is considered protrected.
According to federal law for the environment = 30% of any acquired land must be protected, so some of the 45% an be expected to be built up in the future.
There is competition of places - between harbors of various states.
2. Trip to Porto de Galinhas
Porto de Galinhas was the port where slaves could be bought at a time when buying slaves was no longer allowed but using their labor was. A code was used to market the slaves: the chicken have arrived, hence the name of the port--port of the chickens. Tourist memorabilia are chicken of all sizes with or without babies. The original fishing village is becoming a tourist town fast. Already there are a lot of tourist shops lining more than one street. In close proximity one finds a very modern resort center with a long beach stretching as far as the eyes can see. This coast is seeing a boom in construction since more and more people are purchasing a second home here.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Monday July 12
Waking up at around 4 am I knew I was restored for more adventures even if drained of some energy. So I went with Neha on the sunrise boat trip, a sort of ciau ciau to the world of the Amazon Basin. We saw all kinds of birds and generally just enjoyed the mood.
The last breakfast was sort of sad, since the Canadian couple will stay on. They even accompanied us to the boat--sweet, that's what they were.
/are. Together with the French couple, Neha, and one other woman we set out back to Manaus--a wonderful trip during which I saw the giant water lilies but we couldn't get our driver to stop for a photo.
The woman turned out to be a tour operator owner who had checked out the lodge. Her name is Louisa, a Manaus native but residing inFlorida. She runs Brazilnut which I came across in the Fromme tour guide. I also almost had my tours arranged by that company but decided against it because I thought the money wouldn't stay In Amazonia. Actually I was wrong on that one--she is working on an interesting ecotourism- sustainability project by means of which a village which has been deprived of income will get its own lodge and training of people on how to run it. In addition, she also is responsible for the University of Virginia's semester at sea Amazon portion. Ok, and she got me interested into looking at that program more carefully --she suggested a sabbatical - ( which I won't be granted for another 20 years). And, yeah, I am supposed to look her up in Florida.
Neha, the French couple and I set out to the airport where, it turned out, we all took planes into different directions of Brazil. All at a similar time. Funny how this worked out. Across three generations, I think we had a lot of fun and great learning experiences together.
I also spent at least 2 hours with Neha alone during which time I learned a lot about Southern Indian culture.
Unfortunately the Freench couple doesn't use facebook so I'll probably lose contact with them. Maybe not....
At the time of this writing I am sitting in an almost empty plane waiting for its customers Brasilia -- Recife.
The last breakfast was sort of sad, since the Canadian couple will stay on. They even accompanied us to the boat--sweet, that's what they were.
/are. Together with the French couple, Neha, and one other woman we set out back to Manaus--a wonderful trip during which I saw the giant water lilies but we couldn't get our driver to stop for a photo.
The woman turned out to be a tour operator owner who had checked out the lodge. Her name is Louisa, a Manaus native but residing inFlorida. She runs Brazilnut which I came across in the Fromme tour guide. I also almost had my tours arranged by that company but decided against it because I thought the money wouldn't stay In Amazonia. Actually I was wrong on that one--she is working on an interesting ecotourism- sustainability project by means of which a village which has been deprived of income will get its own lodge and training of people on how to run it. In addition, she also is responsible for the University of Virginia's semester at sea Amazon portion. Ok, and she got me interested into looking at that program more carefully --she suggested a sabbatical - ( which I won't be granted for another 20 years). And, yeah, I am supposed to look her up in Florida.
Neha, the French couple and I set out to the airport where, it turned out, we all took planes into different directions of Brazil. All at a similar time. Funny how this worked out. Across three generations, I think we had a lot of fun and great learning experiences together.
I also spent at least 2 hours with Neha alone during which time I learned a lot about Southern Indian culture.
Unfortunately the Freench couple doesn't use facebook so I'll probably lose contact with them. Maybe not....
At the time of this writing I am sitting in an almost empty plane waiting for its customers Brasilia -- Recife.
Sunday July 11
I finally came down with the virus or bacterium every traveler is so afraid of due to dirty water or so. So I am enjoying the river view from my lodge room--there are worse places to be with this condition!
It is amazing to me to finally see the Amazon Rainforest with my own eyes. I will have to say, the National Zoo in D.C. has done an amazing job at replicating a flooded forest area pointing out the life within the waters as well as that above ground. In addition they do an awesome training job for their volunteers--I was one of them for a year and a half. I didn't expect to see a lot of wildlife because during the flooded season there just isn't a lot around. Also, one must always look up, in addition to down.
With all this said, the sheer vastness of this ecosystem is difficult to fathom. Perhaps I should have invested in a river plane ride just to get a feeling for the dimensions here.
I felt good enough to join the people for dinner (me eating tasteless rice)--two more families had arrived but they didn't mix much. So, my group that evening consisted of the French couple, the American woman from India and the Canadian couple. The latter gave us some insight what life is like one island beyond Halifax. I will put this information to good use but won't add it here. Who knows, one day I might even visit them. These guys were a lot of fun.
.
It is amazing to me to finally see the Amazon Rainforest with my own eyes. I will have to say, the National Zoo in D.C. has done an amazing job at replicating a flooded forest area pointing out the life within the waters as well as that above ground. In addition they do an awesome training job for their volunteers--I was one of them for a year and a half. I didn't expect to see a lot of wildlife because during the flooded season there just isn't a lot around. Also, one must always look up, in addition to down.
With all this said, the sheer vastness of this ecosystem is difficult to fathom. Perhaps I should have invested in a river plane ride just to get a feeling for the dimensions here.
I felt good enough to join the people for dinner (me eating tasteless rice)--two more families had arrived but they didn't mix much. So, my group that evening consisted of the French couple, the American woman from India and the Canadian couple. The latter gave us some insight what life is like one island beyond Halifax. I will put this information to good use but won't add it here. Who knows, one day I might even visit them. These guys were a lot of fun.
.
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