Day 2: Drive into the Amazon
Saturday, 28 April 2007. Woke up at 5:30 am to catch our cab to the airport. We were a bit behind schedule since the cab driver, who usually drives to the other Sao Paulo airport (Guarulhos), took a wrong turn, but we made it to the Congohas Airport after only a slight delay.
The airport was an absolute madhouse. I wish I had taken a picture, but I was afraid that if I stopped moving I would have been trampled to death. Since the following Tuesday, May 1st is Labor Day (or International Workers Day), this is technically a holiday weekend. Add to that a multitude of weather-related delays and cancellations from yesterday, and it was enough to make the scene at the airport today look like something out of The Lord of the Flies. Luckily, we're traveling with two native Brazilian colleagues (Prof. Carlos Roberto de Souza Filho and Dr. Beatriz Ribeiro da Luz) who managed to get us checked in despite the madness. We flew from Sao Paulo to Brazilia and then to Maraba, a small river-front town in the Amazon Basin. Although we flew over the Carajas region, the could cover prevented us from seeing much. In Maraba, we picked up local geologist Joel Beunano, who did his PhD research in the Carajas mine. After that we boarded out rental car for the 3-4 hour drive to Carajas.
The drive to Carajas was not what I expected. We were driving southwest, deeper into the Amazon Basin. I was expecting a drive akin to a drive through the coastal redwood forest in Northern California, with huge trees lining a twisting roadway. Instead, we drove along a largely treeless, grassy plain that consisted mostly of farms and ranches. Clumps of trees on hills were visible here and there, as was the occasional lone Brazil nut tree, a protected species. The scale of the deforestation in this region is staggering, but upon further reflection is probably on par with that in the US. What fraction of pristine US forest remains? Less than 5%? 1%? I'm not sure of the exact number, but it's not a big number.
After our drive, we reached the town of Parauapebas and the gate to the Carajas mine. The mine (actually multiple mining sites) sit in a protected forest preserve. So it's weird that the best-preserved forest in this region is that under the protection of the mining company. Almost everything outside of the mine property has been cut down, while the mine itself is largely an untouched wilderness. Unfortunately it was dark when we arrived, I couldn't really tell how dense the jungle was past the mine gates. But we arrived at our hotel without further incident.
The airport was an absolute madhouse. I wish I had taken a picture, but I was afraid that if I stopped moving I would have been trampled to death. Since the following Tuesday, May 1st is Labor Day (or International Workers Day), this is technically a holiday weekend. Add to that a multitude of weather-related delays and cancellations from yesterday, and it was enough to make the scene at the airport today look like something out of The Lord of the Flies. Luckily, we're traveling with two native Brazilian colleagues (Prof. Carlos Roberto de Souza Filho and Dr. Beatriz Ribeiro da Luz) who managed to get us checked in despite the madness. We flew from Sao Paulo to Brazilia and then to Maraba, a small river-front town in the Amazon Basin. Although we flew over the Carajas region, the could cover prevented us from seeing much. In Maraba, we picked up local geologist Joel Beunano, who did his PhD research in the Carajas mine. After that we boarded out rental car for the 3-4 hour drive to Carajas.
The drive to Carajas was not what I expected. We were driving southwest, deeper into the Amazon Basin. I was expecting a drive akin to a drive through the coastal redwood forest in Northern California, with huge trees lining a twisting roadway. Instead, we drove along a largely treeless, grassy plain that consisted mostly of farms and ranches. Clumps of trees on hills were visible here and there, as was the occasional lone Brazil nut tree, a protected species. The scale of the deforestation in this region is staggering, but upon further reflection is probably on par with that in the US. What fraction of pristine US forest remains? Less than 5%? 1%? I'm not sure of the exact number, but it's not a big number.
Blurry view out the window of the van. Note lone Brazil nut tree in center of otherwise treeless plain.
After our drive, we reached the town of Parauapebas and the gate to the Carajas mine. The mine (actually multiple mining sites) sit in a protected forest preserve. So it's weird that the best-preserved forest in this region is that under the protection of the mining company. Almost everything outside of the mine property has been cut down, while the mine itself is largely an untouched wilderness. Unfortunately it was dark when we arrived, I couldn't really tell how dense the jungle was past the mine gates. But we arrived at our hotel without further incident.
posted by Bradley Thomson at 11:41 AM
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