Monday, November 4, 2019, Manaus Rubber, Brazil

Manaus Rubber Museum & Indigenous Village

 

We embarked on a speedboat ride along the Rio Negro, visited a rubber muse-um, and met indigenous Amazonians.  We began at the indigenous village on the banks of the Rio Negro.  This indigenous tribe of the Amazon is a mix of ethnicities—Dessana, Tucano, Tuyuca, Uanano, and Tatuya.  We witnessed a traditional tribal celebration during our visit.  

 Our air conditioned speed boat waiting for us to board.

 Homes along banks as we go up the Rio Negro.

Beaches along the banks; many Brazilians come to these as less crowded and expensive along the Atlantic. 

 Buzzards.

 Unloading for our visit to the indigenous village.

 Greeters.

 Village meeting house.

 Village population 40.  Moved here about 20 years ago from Peru.

 Greeting from village chief.  One of our tour guides translated for us.

 Opening parade inside village house. 

   

 Group photo.

 Taller trees are Brazil nut trees.

 Brazil nut husks are heavy enough to injury or kill if one drops on your head.  We were warned.

 In the kitchen.  Food smoker.

Cassava "flower" (granular).

We continued our journey by boat to the Seringal Felicidade rubber museum, on the bank of the Tarumá Mirim Creek, we enjoyed an introduction to the rubber industry and its boom during the 20th century.  We learned how the affluent pioneers once lived and the extravagant lifestyles they enjoyed as we heard tales of the vast fortunes accumulated in the region by wealthy barons.   Our guide regaled us with stories of the seringueiros, or rubber tappers, and the dangers they faced in their everyday lives.

 Boats along the bank of the Tarumá Mirim Creek.

  Our speed boat tied up at the museum dock.

Pier for high water.  The water level is low at this dry season; it will increase over 30 feet in the wet June and July months.

Plantation store and bar on bottom level.

  Rolls of rubber waiting to be sent down river.

 Stairway to plantation owner's house.

 Cashew nuts tree.

 View of creek from owner's front door.

 Inside the owner's house.

  

Church.  "Priest" was a plant by the owner; he would share confessions of "volunteers" and slaves about attempts to escape or cheat by putting scrap metal and tools inside rolls of rubber.   These were cruel plantation owners who recruited volunteers with lies who did not intend to carry out their promise of reasonable working conditions or pay.

  

 Owner's wife's quarters in a separate building.

 Inside the bar.

Owner's debt book.  Kept track of IOUs from volunteers and slaves.  Owner required workers to buy their own hand tools; when he told them the price of an item was $5 dollars he wrote in his book "ten dollars" because no workers could read writing.  He would throw parties for the workers, then add a fee to the books for the party and drinks.  This is a case of Tennessee Ernie's "I owe my soul to the company store."

 General store.

                                              Worker quarters.

 Grave yard.  Most workers did not live long enough to leave alive.

 Rubber "oven" to convert tree milk to rubber rolls.

  These rubber rolls weighed around fifty pounds.

Our guide demonstrated dropping a fifty pound rubber roll on the floor.  It bounced all the way back to his hands.

On our way back to the ship.  Manaus is becoming an industrial city (example:  there are over 30 motorcycle factories, including Harley Davidson).  These are condos developing up river from the old town.

Fairly new (2011) bridge across the Amazon.  It is the only bridge crossing the river and two miles wide.  The bridge is closed during storms.

We will head down river at 6 PM.  It will take 20 hours to get to the mouth of the river where we will drop off the local pilot.  We will have four "sea days" getting to our next destination, Recife.