Water, Air and Earth

Jon: just a short post today, because a.) we still have to download photos and I'm too tired to do it tonight, and b.) we have another early call tomorrow and I REALLY need to get some sleep.

The two real high points of the day today were our trip on the Xingu river to gather some sound and some images of life along this stretch of the river just by Alta Mira, and our 'field trip' to a community action meeting in any extremely remote little settlement in a part of Para state that will either be completely under water when the dam is completed or certainly cut off from much of the outside world.

First the water excursion: you'll have to wait for the video of this one, since I don't have an easy way to post it right now. Suffice it to say, there were some really strong impressions. First, we are talking about a lot of water. The stretch of the Xingu river next to the little city of Alta Mira is just one branch of the mighty Amazon waterway. Even as a relative 'back-water' (I mean that as a literal description, not to denigrate Alta Mira, which I am coming to like quite a lot), the Xingu river is close to two miles wide at this point, a little more than 200 Km from where it meets up with the Amazon proper.

There is a lot of water here, and if the dam is constructed as planned, levels could rise 6, 8 or 20 meters, depending on who you ask. A trip on the river was imperative, so we contracted with one of the local boaters, and set out with Thiago to record some amazing images and sounds, which we will share later.

Xingu River boat landing, Alta Mira, Brazil

The second big adventure was the trip to a rural settlement where about 50 people were meeting to discuss actions they were planning to take in connection with the pending construction of the dam. A lot of the discussion concerned payments offered by the federal government and how they should be handled. The overwhelming message, articulated by our new community organizing contact Marcello Salazar, was that however the government intended to treat these people, it needed to be done with due process, not rushed through in the attempt to sweep aside the interests and wishes of the people living here. The location was really quite beautiful, about 20 miles off the nearby highway, in a remote area that is slated to be entirely covered by water when the dam is constructed. The circle of residents appeared well organized, with several speakers, handouts and even a manifesto that was proposed to the group. Again, we got some great video and sound, but you will have to wait for them. What I am sharing here below, however, is this amazing picture of the sunset, as we bounced our way back to the main highway, heading back to Alta Mira. I've seen beautiful cloud formations in my life, but this was lurid, exotic, passionate color, followed just a few minutes later by great sheets of jagged lightening. It was a dramatic end to a very busy day.

Amazon Sunset, Para State, Brazil

Tomorrow, an interview with the woman who has become something of a heroine in these environmental wars, an indigenous woman who has very quickly become the voice of those who will be affected by the dam. I'm excited to finally meet Sheyla Juruna - you can see lots of stuff about her by searching for her name on You Tube. More reports tomorrow, if I can still stand up!

Bem noite.

Scorched Earth Policy

Jon: It was one of those clueless pieces of TV journalism that make me cringe. As the videographer/producer/reporter on this trip, I thought we should do a stand-up on the reality of deforestation in the Amazon. Claes and our local translator/producer/fixer/photographer-all-around great guy Thiago Diniz took us to a stretch of land that was so recently deforested that it was still smoking. Some how I had come to believe - like most Americans, I suspect - that when you clear a stretch of the rain forest, one day you have hundred foot tall trees and clinging vines and the next day you have flat, grassland. Well, of course, that view is totally wrong. The land has to go through a brutal and chaotic transition when the majority of the greenery has been torn down, but there still exists massive tree trunks, burning brush, and a huge mound of branches, smoking wood, and torched landscape. So I set out to do a stand up saying something about how 'the big industrial companies tear down the forests to make more money and to exploit the environment - blah, blah, blah.' When we finished the short stand-up, a small crowd of squatters who were making this hellish landscape their home walked over to us to investigate. As Claes began to communicate with them, it became clear that these people had nothing to do with big corporations. In fact, this property had been cleared by a loose collective of families who were doing their best to scratch out a better life for themselves and their families. In our conversations with the mixed group of three families, they claimed that the construction of the massive Belo Monte dam forced them from their old homes.

Deforestation, Alta Mira Brazil - Thiago Diniz Photo

There was no way for us to verify this of course. It could be just as likely that they are opportunistic speculators trying to make some money off this land. In that scenario, the actual "owners" of the property demand that the squatters leave. In turn, the squatters stand their ground and say they won't leave until they are paid. In other words, it could be a big shake-down. Nonetheless, these people did not appear to be evil speculators. They looked like a blended family trying to make something for themselves under very meager circumstances. Which was why we re-shot the stand up, with Thiago on camera, and Claes doing his usual intense and flawless audio recording. In explaining this little tale, I can't emphasize enough the scorched, no-man's land feeling of the place. It was positively apocalytic. The 100 or so acres looke like a bomb had exploded, except that scattered throughout this burning field, there were shanty's, huts and lean-tos that were serving as the house and homes of the people living here. Another irony is that the edge of this burned out field was right up against a military post, with manicured lawns, gates, flowers and an immaculate landscape. It only added to the dark and terrifying landscape we walked into, just across the Xingu river from the Brazilian city of Alta Mira.

Boots on the Ground

Jon: We're finally in Brazil. After 23+ hours of travel, the brief nap this afternoon in Manaus wasn't enough to catch up on sleep. We had a great dinner down town, near the historic Teatro Amazona, which is slightly out of place in one sense, but brilliant and beautiful on the other. More on the Teatro and the Portuguese in this part of the country later.

Mostly, I just want to send a single impression: flying north from Sao Paulo, I just couldn't help but dozing off, in something resembling sleep - I wasn't completely out, but I sure wasn't awake.

As the announcement came over the speaker system to 'fasten seat belts, get ready to land' I raised the shade and looked out the window for the first time in an hour or two.

It took my breath away.


The Amazon basin is so vast and so critical that it is sort of inevitable. We will be telling political stories and videotaping interviews in the next couple of days, all reflecting on the social, political and above all, environmental importance of the enormous plain. You can't help but feel, though, that the Amazon deals with the world on its own terms. It's not just a reference in studies, and the subject of vast quantities of science, journalism, art and culture.


I had been hearing all of this since childhood: how immense the rain forest is, how dazzling the play of water, trees, earth, and people.

But nothing prepares you for the inevitability of it all, the reality that these are the lungs of the planet, and the health of this sprawling giant is in fact, the health of the rest of the world.

Seeing the interplay of green foliage, muddy river, and towering cumulus tropical storm clouds, azure sky and the ocean in the distance - it is one of those deeply moving and memorable sites.

You will always remember your first view of the Amazon.

Down to the wire...

Jon: We managed to sell three more stories this morning, just two days
before leaving for Brazil.

It is great news, of course. We can use the work and also, it's for a new
client show we've never worked with before.

The problem, of course, is that it is going to be hard to get interview
subjects lined up before we go. Mostly, the existing interviews will work
for this new story, but still, it makes me anxious to not have all these
people lined up.

Claes has reminded me, however, that we have a really good record of landing
these interviews on the road. The really good news is that so many of the
other interviews and requests for assistance in each place we are going
seems to be falling into place. Carolina has been a godsend. She's set up
a number of interviews and has been persistent in reaching people whom we
were unable to reach.

Two of the interview subjects we've been pursuing for a couple of weeks now
have actually confirmed appointments. Whew...

I don't want to mention names at this juncture, but they will become clear
in future dispatches.

Now to get a bit of sleep...we have 20+ hours of flights ahead of us.