Wednesday ...did all the tourist stuff in Belem..including having 3 guys try to pickpocket me.

Thusday..decided to spend an extra day in Belem ,,went upto the museum of the Amazon..saw all the trees and wild animals. Then went out to buy the boat ticket and hammock.Friday ..Amazon boat... met a group of 5 African Muslims ..who didn't speak Portuguese and didn't seem to have much!!

I don't feel too well. I hope it's not the hepatitis coming back.. probably just lack of sleep and too many night buses.

10.- 22/2/99 Up The Amazon 

It became almost inevitable I didn't come across any work on the way north and now I am at the mouth of the Amazon. And since I am so near I might as well see what its all about. And since I have no reason I might as well stay in South America and see it all. So the plan is Belem to Santarem tonight. Then onto Manaus and Peru or South to Porto Velho and Bolivia.

Right now I'm in the very untouristed Amazon town of Santarem... giving a few special lectures at the English school.

Imagine this future scene ..When 95 % of the original trees have been cut down in the Amazon flood plain (the area which supplies with water at its highest point) As you travel up the Amazon river for 2000 Km the most common tree you see is a medium height palm, which idicates all the large trees have been cutdown. You find that even when you have travelled 2000 Km to Manaus you have travel 3-5 days to see virgin forest.

This would be terrible , but it's not some future scene...that's what I have found it is really like now!

You have to travel top see what things are really like not...not some simplified romantic picture you imagine ... I thought it would be like sailing in a small canoe through huge trees, and lots of wild animals .. ( Iknew most of the Indians had already gone so I wouldn't see many of those).

But I was surprised

1. Small canoe NO...Even at Santarem 1000 away from the sea it's 7 Km wide ...4000 Km upstream in Peru at Iquitos it's still about 1 Km wide. It's BIG.

2. All the original virgin big trees that man can reach easily by road or even canoe in the entire Amazon have been logged. The Amazon is so large that there is still areas of virgin forest as big as European countries.. but you can't get there withot serious amounts of of walking.

3. I saw river many parrots and river dolphins and apparently there are anteaters , sloths, and monkeys deeper into the forest. And I learnt even though the Indians have lived in harmony with the Amazon for 10,000 years + , they are probably responsible for there being no large animals left. (can't blame the large corporations for everything ..)

I travelled 1000 Km onto Santarem the river is big it's still 7 Km wide there and you see a few river dolphins. You also see that the people don't think twice about throwing the rubbish straight into the river. So that the city river beaches are completely dirty. I wonder what the next meal on the boat willl be ..possibly rice , spagetti , beans and meat ?

I visited Alto De Chao 30 Km away. I spent all day at the Indian Art Centre , it was very interesting. I understand that some things are best seen in museums or on television. Indians should be left alone. Contact causes foreign diseases, and alcohol addiction to kill them and their culture to be destroyed. Even if you think you are doing good.. give thenm a torch ..then in the future they need to buy batteries ..so they get into a capitalist way of life. Or you buy genuine artisanal products even at a fair price... They stop their old ways and turn churning out souless "not-real" products adapted to foreign tastes.

Steve Alexanders webpages.

Even though I don't like beaches much and Brazil has many incredible beaches this has to be one of the nicest I have ever seen .. a sand bank stretching out into the river withs lots of shady palm trees between pleasant beach bars. (Still there was some litter and I would want to go among the weekend crowds)