Climate Change in the Amazon

2015: From the mouth of the Valeria River looking toward the Amazon (brown water).

Traveling up the Amazon never gets old.  There are always new sights, delight at seeing favourite places again, and unexpected discoveries.  This is our fourth cruise to Manaus since 2012 and we were particularly looking foward to seeing our favourite boat captain and his family in Boca de Valeria.  There were hints of lower river levels at Santarem but nothing prepared us for the shock of seeing the previously wide mouth of the Valeria River reduced to a channel so narrow that it has been reduced to one-way traffic.

Mouth of the Valeria River, 2015.  Note green house on left.

Mouth of the Valeria River, 2016. Note green house, on left.

This is the green house from the river, 2015.

The owner of the green house, looking at her new front yard, 2016. 

This was her view in 2015.

A year ago we had the pleasure of seeing a medium-sized river boat anchored in front of the village. That river boat can no longer get within a half-kilometer of Boca.

River boat at Boca de Valeria, 2015

The reason: a severe drought reduced river levels so much that Adeuson's 35-foot boat with in-board motor could not move from it's home port in Santa Rita de Valeria, 25 minutes up-stream from Boca.  He told us that, before the dredge boats arrived several months ago, there was only a foot of water in front of the beach where boats land and people hike up the hill to the village.  "We could only paddle,", he said, adding that he was unable to provide "school bus/boat" transportation for children from Boca to the 10-year-old school in Santa Rita.  The one-room school house in Boca offers only three grades; the next six years are spent at the school in Santa Rita, after which students must go to Parentins--a 90 minute motorbike ride west.

The result of dredging was to fill in wetlands that had defined the western side of the river and reduce the channel from 50m to less than 10 in places.  This has meant the disappearance of large areas of the iconic Amazonian water lily pads, which so delighted us last year.

The change is immediately apparent from the Amazon: what was a wide-mouth river with wetlands to the west and a few small islands, is now land-fill on both sides.  It appears that the job was done quickly: undoubtedly, Boca de Valeria and Santa Rita are not the only villages along the Amazon to be so affected so providing access, however limited, was critical. Still, we lamented the fact that care wasn't taken to create a flaring river mouth at Boca, keeping to the extent possible the original contours of the land.

The Valeria River upstream from Boca--now a narrow channel.

Another impact of the drought has been lightening fires.  Adeuson pointed out an area near Santa Rita that burned several months ago after lightening ignited dry wood.

Still, our visit with the Barbosa family was a delight.  Adeuson's boat motor was out of commission so he teamed up with a friend--with a somewhat smaller and less comfortable boat--to ferry six of us up river.  Daughter Aline--who is clearly a Daddy's girl (she has been along all three trips we've made with him) is eleven and we met her 13year-old brother, Arrelson, for the first time. We also had the pleasure of meeting Adeuson's mother, who proudly showed off her two sewing machines--one pedal, the other electric.

Arrleson, Elba, Aline, and Adeuson Barbosa

Santa Rita has been electrified for at least a dozen years and they have had potable, running water for the same period.  Most houses have a satellite dish; Adeuson and Elba's kitchen is well-equipt with stove, fridge, and washing machine.

House with satellite dish, Santa Rita. 

General store, Santa Rita. 

Visiting Santa Rita, which welcomes visitors but does not put on a show like we found in Boca, provides insight into daily life in a modestly well-developed Amazonian village.  While the village does not yet have Internet, the school does--along with a computer lab.

Boca, in contrast, puts on a show for the tourists--some of which is interesting and some exploitative. The most  difficult scenes are small children, usually girls, dressed in what their parents want tourists to think is traditional indigenous Amazonian garb, with feather, painted faces, and skimpy outfits.  The parents want tourists to take pictures of their children--in exchange for a dollar.  It's very sad.

2014 - This girl was still out with her sloth in 2016.

I noted that, from our first visit in 2012 to this year, the number of children have multiplied.  Four years ago there were fewer than five; this year there were at least twelve.  There were also several adults in full traditional dress; unfortunately, they reminded me more of the costumes for the Boi Bumba festival in Parentins than the traditional dress seen in authentic pictures of indigenous Amazonians. 

An Amazon Catfish--looking across to new land fill, 2016.

One of the two houses in Boca de Valeria with murals on the walls.

One other fall-out from these cruse ship visits --and there are several, like the children lining up as people disembark, take their hands and lead them off for a tour, then expecting some payment--at least a dollar--is the level of not-so-subtle begging.  A open-air bar on stilts has been built that hot and thirsty visitors find most welcome. As I got to the counter, two teenage girls were standing there trying to get my attention because they wanted me to buy them pop.  I had never seen them before and ignored them.

The other side of the coin, however, are tourists who think they can take pictures of any and everyone--including those who are clearly posing or want their pictures taken with their pets--ranging from a capybary to sloths to baby Amazonian caimans--without giving those posing anything, and taking offense at the idea that they should give them a dollar.  My point to one was:  When you take something from someone, you pay for it; you are taking their image so you pay them. The tourist did not agree.

Back to the starting point: Manaus provided further confirmation of the precipitous drop in river levels, but I'll save that for the next blog.