March 22 – Santarem

The village of Santarem grew up around the spot where the Amazon meets the Tapajos River (another place where the waters run side by side). Today Santarem has blossomed into an important trading center and a vibrant city with a very busy waterfront. At least twice in history groups of people from the United States tried to settle here, once was after the Civil War when a group of 110 Confederates soldiers came from the vanquished Southern states. The Confederate soldiers ran into trouble when they tried to grow the same crops as they did at home and found out that the new environment was unfriendly and incapable of supporting those crops. Before long little remained of those settlers as most died of malaria and some came back to the States. Several of the original settlers remained, planting crops like rubber and sugar cane, and provided influences into the patchwork quilt that is Santarem. It’s said that the Confederate influence can still be felt (I’m not quite sure where or how as I didn’t notice). Then in 1920 Henry Ford purchased 60 acres near Santarem and figured he’d cultivate his own rubber. Pretty soon an American-style town sprung up with the un-Brazilian name of Fordlandia. His dream turned into a nightmare in the jungle. Torrential rains, poor soil and deadly malaria forced the plant’s closing and he turned the town back over to the Brazilian government following WWII. It still exists, a decaying testament to his failed venture but it serves as a center for the Ministry of Agriculture. I took the shuttle bus into the Fisherman’s Square on the waterfront this morning as I had a water tour this afternoon and I wanted to see some of the town. The waterfront was the highlight for me as it’s very busy with fruit and vegetable markets, tour boats, passenger boats, restaurants and some shopping. The market was interesting as they brought their things to market on these huge flat wheelbarrow type carts and vendors and people were coming and going, the produce was very colorful. With Santarem being half way between Manaus and Belem (at the mouth of the Amazon and the ocean) people and cargo come and go from this busy port to the two larger cities. Taking 24 hours to travel to the two bigger cities, most travel is done on large ferry boats. These huge boats have a few cabins but most have hammocks that hang all throughout the boat and are a lot cheaper than the cabins. (Hammocks apparently were invented here). So most people, businessmen and fisherman alike, swing from their hammock as they travel. The town, itself, is tired, rundown and unimpressive. The river and jungle, however were terrific. I boarded a riverboat and spent 4 hours meandering through the rivers and tributaries and on Lake Maica. We saw more river houses and some farms and lots of wildlife. Today I saw pigs, horses, water buffalo, monkeys, sloths, iguanas, a macaw, an eagle, lots of other beautiful birds, unbelievable brightly colored butterflies, more pink dolphins and piranhas. Part of our tour was piranha fishing. I caught one about an inch and a half in length, you fish for them with just a line with a hook and what looked like a small piece of steak. The line is wound around a piece of wood, and when they nibble, you yank. It was a fun day and it was great seeing interesting wildlife on our last port of call in the Amazon. Tomorrow: Cruising the Amazon