Amazônia

Just look at those trees!
The Sumauma, (Ceiba Pentandra), also known as the Silk Cotton Tree, and locally as the Wool Tree, Ceiba and Sumaumeira is a tropical species, one of the giants of the Amazon Forest and is found in forests bordering rivers and areas that are periodically flooded. (The one pictured in the photograph is in the Anavilhanas archipelago). They can easily reach heights of 50meters, and their canopies, which attain similar proportions, protect neighbouring trees. However it is their immense trunks with their enormous finlike supporting roots growing to a height of 7 meters that are so impressive. Flowers with white petals, fruit reaching 10 cm. in length, containing seeds covered in hairs complete the morphology of this magnificent tree.
When a tropical storm approaches, the tree releases huge volumes of water stored within its trunk, down to its roots, making a noise that can be heard from considerable distances. Almost all of the Amazon tribes consider the Sumauma to be sacred and around the girth of the huge trunks, they perform fertility rights, celebrate plenty and prosperity and hold general meetings to discuss tribal matters.

The young girl and the Amazon Porpoise
In the town of Novo Airão, 100km from Manaus, Monique Medeiros, aged 17, transformed the legend of the Amazon Porpoise, turning the conqueror into the conquered. An encounter nine years ago between the girl and a Porpoise, may alter   attitudes of the local fishermen, who, fed up with having their nets ripped by the Porpoises, and their catch of fish consumed, killed the Porpoises.    
It all started during a fishing trip with other boys, on the banks of the river Negro. A Porpoise slyly sneaked off with Monique`s fish, and whilst she ran off, frightened, the boys chased the Porpoise away, waving sticks and throwing stones. The next day, driven by the “Polyana” side of her personality, Monique returned to the river with a chunk of fish to present to the cheeky Porpoise in the event that it tried again to steal her fish. There was a happy ending, as the Porpoise was so delighted with the present of fish, that it started to bring its offspring to be fed too. Monique’s mother Marilda says, “to-day, there are eight Porpoises that come to be fed when Monique jumps into the water, so my daughter has turned the tables and conquered the Amazon Porpoise”.

The boys playing in the water
In the words of the Italian writer Humberto Eco (1932-), “through play, children learn how to live in this world, precisely because they will later have to repeat the same things, only for real”. This phrase applies beautifully to life in Barcelos, on the Rio Negro, with just one qualification. In Barcelos, these “water boys” as they are known locally, play whilst they are working.
Collecting ornamental fish, now under the strict protection and regulation of the State Government, has provided income in the region since the 1950’s, and much of the work is done by boys, giving them the opportunity to sustain their families. Using traps made of fine netting, they capture permitted species such as Cardinais, Acaras-Discos (genus Chichlasoma), Neon,Sarapo and Rodostonus, often spending the greater part of the day, and sometimes the night as well, in the water. Watching these charming children of the forest there is undoubtedly happiness and beauty, but one aspect concerns us when we realise that the “water boys” sell a thousand fish for the price that one fish will fetch in the Tropical Fish specialists in the big cities around the globe.

One of Natures “spectaculars” is the meeting of the Rio Negro and the River Amazon
At first sight, it is the Rio Negro that dominates the scene. Rising in Columbia, 1551km. distant, the dark waters of the river finally reach the ochre coloured waters of the Amazon, and it is at this point that nature provides an unforgettable, graphic visual effect. The waters do not merge, but flow parallel, one along side the other for several kilometres. The Rio Negro flows at an average speed of 4km per hour, slower than the 8km.per hour of the Rio Solimõs (the name sometimes given to the Amazon River at its upper reaches). The dark colour of the river is, in part, a consequence of its slower flow, as the forest sediments and residue have more time to decompose in the river waters.  This process creates humic acids and tannin, thus causing the darkening effect. The acidity in the water on the one hand inhibits the proliferation of blood sucking insects, some of which spread Arboviruses and other parasitical diseases like Malaria and Leishmaniasis. On the other hand, the acidity inhibits the proliferation of animal life. According to researchers, the River Amazon contains more than 2000 species of fish, whereas the Rio Negro has only 200. From the meeting point of the Solimões and Negro, the mighty River Amazon flows.

The Amazonas Theatre
The Amazon Theatre situated in Manaus is easily recognisable, by its vibrant dome, covered with 36.000 enamelled ceramic “scales”, imported from Europe, which create a mosaic of the colours of the Brazilian flag. The project for the design and construction of the Theatre was prepared by specialists of the Gabinete de Engenharia de Lisboa, and practically all of the materials used, except the wooden floors, were imported. The iron structure is from France, the chairs are of Russian leather, the marble is from Carrara, the crystals from Bohemia and Murano and the paintings are Italian. The inaugural performance in 1897 by the Companhia Lirica Italiana was La Gioconda de Ponchielle. During the First World War, the theatre closed and suffered from theft and depredation and items including imported mirrors, porcelain and silver ware were lost. It was re-opened in 1926, and since then has undergone several restorations, but recently, the theatre has assumed the roll of artistic presentations, remembering the Golden Era of Manaus, at the end of the 19th century.

Legends and Myths of the Amazon
The “Cult of the Waters” in the Amazon region is both an historical fact and an important collective psychological phenomena. Both the Amazon Indians and River Bank Dwellers naturally attribute sub natural powers to aquatic life forms.

O Boto, the freshwater Porpoise
The imaginary world of the Amazon Indians is rich with aquatic divinities and the myth of the “lover of the fresh waters” is alive and well in the Amazon region. This “man-fish”, fluvial Don Juan, this collector of amorous affairs that enchants like a mermaid, whose singing has the power to seduce is, in fact the Boto, (Sotalis Brasilienses).  On moonlit nights, young damsels hear the sound of his singing, and are seduced by this gentle, hansom young man. Consequently, in the Amazon region and Para, when a young girl is unable to identify the father of her child, it is said that the child was fathered by the Boto, the scapegoat of the Amazon region.

Muiraquitã
The most famous talisman of the Amazon is the Muiraquitã, and according to the romantic traditions passed down through the centuries, on sunlit nights, warrior women collect wet, soft stones from the depths of lake Nhamunda and polish them into various shapes, Toads, Cobras, Turtles and horns. The warrior women would then present the talisman to their lovers, to protect them against evil.