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amazondk
08-02-2009, 06:52 AM
I have checked out this forum from time to time, but never spent much time here. I am going to pay a little more attention to bananas and hope to learn a few things here. Bananas grow pretty well where I live just south of the equator surrounded by the Amazon rainforest. But, we are somewhat limited by supply of varieties.

There are a lot of bananas though.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Palm%20Talk/beira4.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Palm%20Talk/beira6.jpg

Bob
08-02-2009, 07:10 AM
Welcome amazondk and thanks for the great pictures. I used to read quite a bit about Manaus when I was in to tropical fish as this is the starting point for many expiditions. Many of the members here are interested in this as well. It's always nice to hear more from people in the tropics to see how to do things right. Looking forward to hearing much more from you.

Simply Bananas
08-02-2009, 07:12 AM
Great Pictures!! Welcome.

sbl
08-02-2009, 07:52 AM
Welcome--that is a lot of naners! Thanks for the pics!

Richard
08-02-2009, 08:17 AM
Hi Don, thanks for putting your "pin" on the map. You are definitely in the heart of the Amazon!

Eric
08-02-2009, 08:24 AM
Welcome aboard, Amazondk :) !
It's a friendly site with tons of info.... You appear to be up to your ears in Nanners. Nice!
Since you've been :lurk:ing about, you probably have some familiarity, still, if you have any questions about using the forum, just ask.
Enjoy!

amazondk
08-02-2009, 08:25 AM
Thanks everyone. I am from Montana originally, but have lived in Brazil off an on over a lot of the past 30 years and have been in Manaus since 2000. I have a spot on the other side of the Negro River, about 2.5 acres where I am developing a garden focusing a lot on palms. But, bananas are a quick satisfaction plant and provide good fruit as well. This is our dry season and I do not have a good irrigation system to keep newly planted things in the open watered properly so I am going to wait a couple of months until the rains come back to get a bunch of bananas planted. I have a few red bananas going and another one that was on my land when I bought it. But, I do not know which one it is.

It is the little one in this picture.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Palm%20Talk/IMG_1026.jpg

And, I am going to put some dwarfs called nanica here on this slope along with some low growing fruit trees like barabados cherry.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Palm%20Talk/IMG_1018.jpg

And, this is the same area looking down the slope toward the Negro River. As Bob mentioned a lot of tropical fish come this area. It is up the Negro in the area of Barcelos, about 400 kms up the river where most come from. The Negro river is black water that looks like tea.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Palm%20Talk/Japiim5.jpg

This is looking out over the river at high water time, now. During the low water period, October there is a sandy beach here. The pictures are of the same spot, just a little different angle.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Palm%20Talk/IgapoBVJul19.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Palm%20Talk/BVigapo02sept2008.jpg

amazondk
08-02-2009, 08:38 AM
For those that may not be familar Manaus a city of about 2 million situated where the Amazon and the Negro Rivers meet. The only road connecting Manaus with another city is the highway to Venezuela. Amazonas is the largest state in Brazil and is 98 percent standing forest. I love to show what life in Amazonia is like. It is incredible place.

Our country place is in Paricatuba which is at the point on the river where it narrows looking up from this picture which is taken from the Ponta Negra in Manaus.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Palm%20Talk/RioNegroJuly28-1.jpg

And this is from Paricatuba looking back at the same location and the river front of the Manaus.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Palm%20Talk/Paricatuba.jpg

Caloosamusa
08-02-2009, 08:56 AM
Welcome to the organization Amazondk!!!

Your wonderful pictures are appreciated and a blessing. May good weather and good growing be yours!! :2239:

CValentine
08-02-2009, 12:09 PM
Welcome Don!

Appreciate the pictures & the geographical information!!

We homeschool & the kids LOVE first-hand, personal interaction!!

We know of someone in Brazil now!! Yay!!

AND LOVES bananas! :) ~Cheryl

amazondk
08-02-2009, 12:36 PM
Thanks for the welcome,

Interestingly enough there is a big Texas - Amazonas connection. For one the Texans are the number 1 customers for the Peacock Bass fishing trips. And, two Nokia has a factory in Manaus that makes cell phones and is directly tied to Nokia Americas which is based in Dallas. When you fly during fishing season, September through March the planes to Miami always have fishermen from Texas.

dk

Jack Daw
08-02-2009, 01:20 PM
... May good weather and good growing be yours!! :2239:
Oh I SO know this phrase. :D
Agreed. There's no better feeling than to start digging in your garden after a hard day at work or in fornt of computer.

bepah
08-02-2009, 02:03 PM
Hi, Don.

I have been here for a year (actively).
There are quite a few knowledgeable folks her and tou'll learn a lot.

We palmists needs to expand our horizons,.

John

conejov
08-02-2009, 02:53 PM
Welcome! Thanks for sharing your pictures keep us updated on your progress in planting the nanners and palms.

amazondk
08-02-2009, 03:45 PM
Hi, Don.

I have been here for a year (actively).
There are quite a few knowledgeable folks her and tou'll learn a lot.

We palmists needs to expand our horizons,.

John

John,

That is great it is always good to expand ones horizons.

dk

BananaAddict
08-05-2009, 08:55 AM
WOW... bountiful harvest of banana... thanks for the pictures...

island cassie
08-05-2009, 09:12 AM
Welcome Don! Thanks for the information about your area, and the wonderful pictures!

lorax
08-05-2009, 09:24 AM
Welcome Don! It's wonderful to finally have another Amazon member. I'm in Puyo, Ecuador, on the Rio Pastaza.

amazondk
08-05-2009, 11:16 AM
Thanks everyone. I just heard on the news here this morning that there is has been a quaranteen on banana shipments from the state of Roraima just north of Amazonas where 80 percent of the bananas consumed in Manaus come from due to an infestation of the red palm mite, I think it is called. That is not good. And, Manaus consumes a lot of bananas.

Hi Lorax, Nice to hear from you. I looked up your location and I guess you are at quite a bit higher altitude than I am. At my house the elevation is about 70 meters above sea level. It is interesting to note that some of the water that flows by in the Amazon in front of Manaus.

dk

lorax
08-05-2009, 11:31 AM
My house is at about 700masl, Don, and my stretches of forest go up to about 2100m - I'm just about on the headwaters of the Napo/Misahualli rivers.

amazondk
08-05-2009, 03:31 PM
You are just about due west of me over where the sun sets. I was somewhat close a year ago. I took a business trip to Iquitos. We flew up to Tabatinga on the border with Peru and then took an express boat up to Iquitos. It was a 14 hour trip. Not too comfortable, but interesting. I have been to Ecuador a few times, the last time I think was in 1989. Which is already a while ago. I never made it to your area though. I am sure it is very nice where you live, Ecuador like all of South America is a beautiful country. Quito is a nice place, but a little too cold and the air is too thin for me. We have now shifted into the dry or called summer season locally and it is real hot, 36 to 40 C everyday. The nights are about the same always though, 22 to 24 C.

dk

lorax
08-05-2009, 03:34 PM
See, and that's why I'm in Puyo - it's eternal summertime, but without too many sancudos or other bloodsucking bugs. It's summer here, too - our temps are just about exactly the same as yours.

Jack Daw
08-05-2009, 04:29 PM
I see you chose a weather sticker. Thanks for using both, Fahrenheit and Celsius. :goteam:

amazondk
08-05-2009, 04:48 PM
In our area there is a big difference to black water rivers and white water rivers. The negro river being the largest black water river. Insects of course are present anywhere, but there are not many most of the time to be a bother. On the white water it is totally different. We do have enough mosquitos though to have a problem with malaria and dengue fever. Which I believe are also problems in parts of Ecuador. The worst thing that I have to put up with is traffic. Manaus now has around 2 million inhabitants and a lot of cars, buses, trucks, and motorcycles. And, people driver terribly.

A few shots around town.

One of the riverside container terminals.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Palm%20Talk/ST1.jpg

The old part of downtown.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Palm%20Talk/centro8.jpg

Houses in thee riverfront flooded with the high water season, record level set this year.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Palm%20Talk/saorai12.jpg


End of the day at the pool of the Tropical Business Hotel looking up the Negro River. Our place in the country is at the point of the far left hand side of the river near where the rain is falling.

[http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Album%202/210220081581.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Album%202/210220081589.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Album%202/210220081601.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Album%202/210220081597.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Album%202/210220081596.jpg

City Streets

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Album%202/Winterdaymao.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Album%202/110420081860.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Album%202/180420081880.jpg


The middle of nowhere.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Album%202/RioJauaperi.jpg

amazondk
08-05-2009, 04:55 PM
I see you chose a weather sticker. Thanks for using both, Fahrenheit and Celsius. :goteam:

Jack,

Since the world still is divided on this issue I figure it is the best way to see things. Of course I work and live in a metric world. But, I am still very linked to the USA, so I guess it is best.

dk

lorax
08-05-2009, 05:02 PM
I'm on a turbulent river myself - the Pastaza here is so full of rapids that it's only suitable for kayaking, not navegation, and the worst of everything but the malarial skeeters get blown off by the wind it generates - I'm at the point where the Amazon planes meet the Andes. Further downriver the Pastaza becomes a black river, where the Bobonaza joins it. About an hour and a half north of me, though, we have green rivers, and there's a terrible Dengue problem there.

Puyo itself is an unassuming little town of about 50,000 - the road that comes here was only recently paved; it used to be an excercise in portage with burros to get here. At least we're far enough off of the Pastaza that the city doesn't flood during the rainy season.

Here's the Rio Puyo, which is a clear-water river.
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Best%20Photography/Landscapes/SunsetRioPuyo.jpg

And here's the Rio Tena, a green one.
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Best%20Photography/Landscapes/RioTena.jpg

And the Rio Pastaza, which you were on in Iquitos, as it is closer to the Andes
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Better%20Know%20A%20Biome/LowTransitionalForest.jpg

Our forests look very similar, though!
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Better%20Know%20A%20Biome/BiomeAmazonBasin.jpg

amazondk
08-05-2009, 05:11 PM
Lorax,

Thanks for the pictures of your part of Amazonia. It is a very big place. There are many similarities to the flora we have here to what you have. There are differences as well. Where Manaus is located there is a meeting of serveral forests, the one from Guiana and Venezuela coming south, from the Atlantic, and from the south and the Andes. In all of these there are common species. But, there are also endemic ones and a lot of variation. We do not have the altitude variation here, although the highest point in Brazil is in the state of Amazonas on the Venezuelan border it is a long way away.

It is hard for someone that has not been to Amazonia to comprehend how big the place is. Greater Amazonia is larger than the continental USA.

dk

lorax
08-05-2009, 05:27 PM
I know - it's even bigger than Canada (which is where I hailed from originally) - one day I'm going to get in a dugout canoe in the Rio Misahualli and not stop until I make the Atlantic Ocean - I think it will be an interesting trip.

CValentine
08-05-2009, 05:27 PM
All the beauty...
Captured in pictures.
Amazing & Beautiful!!!
Thank you!!! :) ~Cheryl

lorax
08-05-2009, 05:28 PM
Just more incentive for you to come and visit, Cheryl!

conejov
08-05-2009, 05:30 PM
Thank you Both Beth & Don For sharing pictures of your areas. In the near future I want to visit Peru and go in to the Jungles.

lorax
08-05-2009, 06:29 PM
Oof, come to Ecuador instead - Shining Path is active again in the Peruvian Amazon.

conejov
08-05-2009, 07:27 PM
I actually want to Travel through most of South America. I dont mind trekking through jungles Ok Ok Then Ecuador is on my list too.

amazondk
08-05-2009, 08:15 PM
I know - it's even bigger than Canada (which is where I hailed from originally) - one day I'm going to get in a dugout canoe in the Rio Misahualli and not stop until I make the Atlantic Ocean - I think it will be an interesting trip.


I at one time thought that might be an interesting trip. But, I guess I am sort of lazy now. Airplanes are a lot faster. And, you can stop over at certain places then go on to the next. There was a German guy a few years ago that swam down the Amazon from Peru to the Atlantic. And, then there was a Japanese guy that jet skied up the Amazon from the Atlantic to Peru. I guess I will just sit on the bank of the river an watch them go by. That way you spend a lot expend a lot less energy.

Also I have been out on the Amazon river in bad weather, and it is not fun. The waves can get up to 3 meters and sink boats. I have travelled a bit down the Amazon, called the Solimões before it get´s to Manaus in a 17 foot aluminum boat with a 15 HP outboard in a storm and it was not something I am anxious to repeat.

But, I could get you a good deal on one of these wooden canoes if you stopped by here.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Palm%20Talk/CanoasJul19BV-1.jpg

amazondk
08-05-2009, 08:45 PM
My wife in a canoe on the stream she was raised in the middle of the jungle.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Indianaconoa.jpg

This stream used to be her front yard.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/DKIgarape2.jpg

amazondk
08-06-2009, 03:21 AM
I hope it is ok to make this thread a get to know Manaus thread. I guess it would be an ok place to do this. As where you live and who you are tend to be pretty well connected. Manaus has it´s problems like all cities. But, it is a great place to live.

This is the main street downtown, Eduardo Ribeiro.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/EduardoRibeiro.jpg

This C and A department store has one of the highest sales turnover in Brazil. People from all over the interior of the state do most of their shopping downtown.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/CeAdowntown.jpg

And there is McDonalds. We now have a Pizza Hut as well. McDonalds took a long time to get to Manaus. The logistics of getting the food here was a problem for them.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/BigMac.jpg

Millenium Mall, a smaller upscale shopping center with a mixed use office tower, cinemas, and hotel.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Espressobarmillenium.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/jazzatlunch.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Japaneserestaurant.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Diadamulher.jpg

The Manoa street fair near my house. I buy my fish here normally.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Fruitstand2.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Fruitstand.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Fishvendor.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Matrixa2.jpg

Dalmatiansoap
08-06-2009, 03:35 AM
Hi Don,
hello from Croatia.
Whan I was a kid we had one comic book about one "super hero" named Mister No who flight with Piper plane and lived in Manaus.
Mister No - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_No)
Your posts reminds me at my childrenhood right away:ha::ha::ha:
Thank You
Joke a side, welcome at .org and I m looking forward for your pix and storyes!
Regards
:woohoonaner:

amazondk
08-06-2009, 08:49 AM
Ante,

Thanks for the link. I did not have that comic character when growing up in Montana, USA. I am sure I would have enjoyed the stories though. On my first trip to South America in 1971 - 72 I went down to the jungles of Eastern Bolivia to see the forest. I was travelling alone and on a small budget. I ended up staying in a small hotel in a place on the Beni River that was owned by a German guy that fit the description as an ex Nazi that got away from the world. He treated me real nice and it was a good stay. He was sort of the kind of guy you could put in to such a story. I have felt like I have been in some sort of comic book from time to time in different adventures in Latin America.


dk

CValentine
08-06-2009, 09:38 AM
The kids & I have enjoyed the adventures in South America via pictures!!!

A stream in the front yard, growing up in the jungle...storybook stuff!!! AWESOME!!

Che' is READY!!! Oh the adventures in our mind when we are 10yo!
Other than our Spanish is less than adaquate to get by...we'd be there in a heart beat.

France I can do...My Mother is 100% French, I can understand/slow speak...which would drive any Frenchman crazy.
I know some Italian...after that...I'm busted. :p

Beautiful Pictures!!!! Thank you for sharing!! :) ~Cheryl & the Kids

damaclese
08-06-2009, 09:49 AM
wow thanks for all the pictures both of you! looking at them made me feel strange. the contrast between your super wet lush green bug infested jungle and my super arid hot and some would say baron but its not. its defiantly bug infested. Most can can hurt you in the desert. made me long for my home In Missouri. many people do not know that in the south its allot like the amazon in places. theres many rivers and lush tangled Forest were in the summer it rains almost every day. no dengue or malaria fever! thanks again for sharing its wonderful and fill free to post even more pictures.
Thanks
Paulo

PS I'm definitely coming to see you some day Elizabeth if you have the time we could go see Machupichu ( so this ones not in my spell checker if you could spell it out i could add it)together

john_ny
08-06-2009, 10:05 AM
Hey Cheryl,
Think you need Portuguese for Brazil.

CValentine
08-06-2009, 10:08 AM
Uh-oh...Oopsie!!! :D

Good thing we get Rosetta Stone online free with the Military...

THX for the heads up John! :) ~Cheryl

lorax
08-06-2009, 10:59 AM
Macchu Picchu (old peaks), Pauly. You'll need to spend at least a month hiking in and around Quito (9,300 feet) first to acclimate to the altitude though - Macchu Picchu is at about 8,000 feet and it's currently only accessible by the original staircase unless you want to hire a helicopter (costly! and also not much fun.)

You're from about 2,000 feet, so Soroche (altitude sickness) is a real danger for you, as it was for me when I got here originally. I've since acclimated; it took me about a month and a half of headaches and nausea when I overworked myself. Now, when I'm in the lowland jungles I'm about twice as strong and fast as I used to be.

amazondk
08-06-2009, 04:34 PM
Cheryl,

I am glad you have enjoyed some images and thoughts from my part of the world. You could get by with Spanish in Brazil, most people understand it, but you would have to understand Portuguese to be able to understand them. My wife Raquel does not really see much special about growing up in the forest. But, she values the experience. Here mother is a very unique lady. A mother of 12, only 2 boys. She was born in a place called Cauerari on the Jurua river some 500 miles from Manaus. She was raised mostly by her mother as her dad died when she was young. She lived by the riverside and they harvested rubber in the forest at night. She loves to tell stories and has all kinds of jungle lore. When Raquel was 5 and the family was living in Manaus her mother decided to move the kids that were still at home with her up the Negro River to a place called Igarape Maravilha, Marvelous Stream in Portuguese. The place she homesteaded was 50 hectares, about 110 acres up a smaller stream in the middle of the bush. There she cleared some land built a house and planted manioc and other plants to feed the family and sell some of the products. The kids went to school by walking down about 1 km along the stream to where they could get in the canoe and paddled to school. They had to get up in the dark and take a bath in the cold water of the stream and as it got light walk down to the canoe. They would also once a week paddle to the village and go to church having to paddle home in the dark with a flashlight to find the way. It is about 2 kms by canoe to the village. She is much more at home in the forest than I am. It was where she ran around barefoot and went with the hunters as a kid. At I think 13 they left Maravilha and then moved to a town on the other side of the river. And, then she moved back to Manaus. Her mother went even farther up the river and settled another place. Her father ended up moving to Maravilha before they left, he worked in Manaus. But, when Raquel´s mom left he stayed and still lives there. The land we need to get fixed up and titled so maybe we can use it some day. It is a beautiful spot.

We took these pictures the first time I went there with her.

This is where their house used to be. Only some of the footings are left.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Raquelatholdhomesite.jpg

This is the trail that they walked to get to the canoe to get to school or just go out.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Raqueloldtrailtohome.jpg

This is the water in the stream. It is nice and cool and very clean.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Aguadoigarape.jpg

Raquel´s dad Sr. Raimundo in his canoe. He is retired and comes in to Manaus once a month to get his retirement pay.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Sr.jpg

Sr. Raimundos house.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/homesite.jpg

Looking up by the stream.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Buritisigarape.jpg

Igarape Maravilha

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/viewofneighborshouse.jpg

Looking out toward the Anavilhana archepelago, the largest of it´s kind in the world and a National Ecological Preseve. The Negro river is full of thousands of islands in this area.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/viewhomesite1.jpg

This is Raquel´s mom, Dona Bebe with our young son Caio in her chicken yard at her place now. Which is next to our country place in Paricatuba. Caio is 1 year 7 months now. He has a few brothers, our youngest son Daniel who is 2 1/2 months old, and my sons who live in the states, Shane who is 26 and now lives in San Diego, and Dylan who is 20 and goes FSU in Tallahassee. They both lived most of the their lives in Fort Lauderdale and some of the time in Brazil. Their mother is Brazilian. I also have a step son who I raised and is now 34 and lives in Fort Lauderdale. I guess I ended up with sort of a spread out family.

Dona Bebe looks after my plants when I am not around. She has a lot of great stories to listen to. The people of Amazonas are great folks and love their land. They may not have much frequently, but most feel it is a priveldge to live in such an incredible place. I do for sure.

dk

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Palm%20Talk/vovocaiogalinheiro.jpg

amazondk
08-06-2009, 04:55 PM
wow thanks for all the pictures both of you! looking at them made me feel strange. the contrast between your super wet lush green bug infested jungle and my super arid hot and some would say baron but its not. its defiantly bug infested. Most can can hurt you in the desert. made me long for my home In Missouri. many people do not know that in the south its allot like the amazon in places. theres many rivers and lush tangled Forest were in the summer it rains almost every day. no dengue or malaria fever! thanks again for sharing its wonderful and fill free to post even more pictures.
Thanks
Paulo

PS I'm definitely coming to see you some day Elizabeth if you have the time we could go see Machupichu ( so this ones not in my spell checker if you could spell it out i could add it)together

Paulo,

I am from a near desert, Great Falls, Montana. I love it there but it is both too dry and too cold for me anymore. In reality there are a lot of bugs here, but in general they are not concentrated in one place. And, in many places they are sort of a non issue. In my area the Negro River you are never too bothered by insects. There are some times of day that some little sandfly types can be a bother. And, in some places mosquitos can. But, that is mostly in areas on the flood plain, called the varzea. In some areas there are these nasty little biting bugs called piuns. But, fortunately here they are not around. There are a lot more bothersome bugs in the southern USA I think. On the other hand it only takes one mosquito to give you malaria. I have had malaria and it is no fund. But, if you live here taking the malaria pils is worse than getting malaria. I am glad you have enjoyed some glimpses of my life in Amazonia.

dk

john_ny
08-06-2009, 05:12 PM
Looks really neat. Had a tropical fish import business, once, and got some fish out of your town.
Never made it there myself, but did manage to get my wife tromping through the swamps, in Guyana, catching fish, on our honeymoon.

amazondk
08-07-2009, 08:28 AM
John,

Were you lookiing for tropical fish, or catching fish. I love to fish, but have not been out enough lately. A few years ago I was spending a lot of time in the country and caught a few nice peacock bass. But, then the best part of fishing is just being out.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/MauesSept1toSept6edited.jpg

john_ny
08-07-2009, 09:04 AM
We were catching tropicals, live.

amazondk
08-07-2009, 11:18 AM
Here is a picture of our littlest one, Daniel with mom in a hammock over at our place in the country at Paricatuba. We are going to make a little house on our lot soon, but in the mean time we sleep under a palapa type structure in front of Raquel´s mom´s chicken coop. It works ok for short trips. The nights in the country are always comfortable enough as well.

As you can see he is a blond, blue eyed kid. Brazilian´s have very mixed up genetics as can be seen from the contrast between the two of them. During the period of early European colonization in Brazil the Dutch has a big influence in the Northeastern part of the country. Many people who immigrated to Amazonia during the rubber boom years came from this part of the country. That is the case of Raquel´s ancestors and more than likely why our kids are fair. I am of norther European, scandanavian and British Isle DNA. So, I guess the mix lets the recessive genes come out on top.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Palm%20Talk/DanieleRaquelredeparicatuba.jpg

Here is a picture of the two young ones together in the hammock. I hope they grow up to like plants. They certainly will have enough around them.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Palm%20Talk/CaioDanielrede.jpg

Jack Daw
08-07-2009, 11:29 AM
Nice Don,
kids are always cute. Recessive DNA or not, still cute. :D

CValentine
08-07-2009, 11:40 AM
Beautiful children... :)

Beautiful family!!!

Beautiful place to live!!

Lucky Man!! :) ~Cheryl

Bananaman88
08-07-2009, 12:08 PM
Don- welcome to our little family here. Your pictures are amazing and I look forward to seeing more. I'll have to hit you up to do a story for our magazine sometime as you are lucky enough to live where bananas and so many other great plants grow year round. Glad to have you here!

amazondk
08-07-2009, 02:25 PM
Brent,

I would be an honor to write something. I am not an expert on bananas by any means, or really not much with other plants as well. I am sort of a spare time plant collector and have been so since a kid. I do live in a place which a lot of people who like tropical nature are curious about and would like to see or know more. And, would be nice to give people a little insight into what our reality is. This in many ways is much different from that portayed in the news. Amazonia is not buring down, it is not going to just disappear and there are 20 million people living in this part of Brazil which represents around 66 percent of the land area of the country It is an immense land with many kinds of landscapes and ecosystems. I have had the opportunity to get to some pretty different places and intend on continuing to do this as long as I may.

dk

Bananaman88
08-07-2009, 02:56 PM
Thanks for your willingness to help out, Don. Let me talk to our managing editor (Lorax) about what we could have you write. We already know you can take excellent photos! I write for the mag and am a co-editor as well, so we'll come up with something for you!

amazondk
08-07-2009, 03:16 PM
Here some pictures of my older boys. Both of them are dual nationals, American/Brazilian as their mother, my first wife is Brazilian. They lived for a while in Brazil while small and have frequently spent time with me here over the years. They have not been here for a while and I miss going fishing and beating around the bush together with them.

Shane when we went fishing while he was here two years ago.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Album%202/ShaneTrip470.jpg

And Dylan who is at FSU going into his third year..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a282/amazondk/Album%202/DylanHooters.jpg

LilRaverBoi
08-11-2009, 06:10 PM
Welcome to the org! Enjoy this place.....it's full of great people and wonderful information. If you have questions, just ask!

amazondk
08-12-2009, 08:32 AM
Thanks Brian. I look forward to learning a few things.

BR, dk