The Tupi people, one of the main ethnic groups of Brazilian indigenous people, believe in a male supernatural being called “Curupira” that guards the forest in Tupi mythology. I crowned this BLOG with his name because I aspire the BLOG, which deals with insects as part of the nature, to play a role just like Curupira who protects the forest from the destructive habits of man.
17 Sep, 2008
September 8th, Manaus was packed with cars everywhere after a holiday weekend. It took more than an hour to get to a place where you would normally arrive in 30-40 minutes.
Manaus, the provincial capital of Amazonas state, is often referred to as a tropical rainforest city; however, far removed from people’s idyllic image, it embraces a population of 1.8 million and more than 400,000 vehicles. It appeared that all of the cars in Manaus were off and running as if trying to make up for lost time--a scene quite reminiscent of Tokyo in the early ‘70s. With a view to easing heavy traffic, the construction of overhead crossings and widening of roads is going on everywhere, but ironically such roadworks add to hindering traffic. That also reminds me of Tokyo in the early ‘70s.
People were making long lines at the counters of every bank. It would take more than an hour before you could draw your money—a familiar sight after a long weekend because they bank their money as burglary protection before every holiday. ATMs are also in place everywhere, but the limit on a single withdrawal is set quite low, so they may serve individual clients’ needs but won’t do for businesses.
Over the three-day weekend, I had gone fishing at a place about 150km away from Manaus. Fishing on an aluminum ‘canoa’ (boat) afloat on the Amazon all day long was a physically demanding endeavor for an old man like me, so I went fishing only for 2 or 3 hours in the morning and evening, and mostly indulged in a long nap in my lodge for the rest of the day.
My only catch was a foot-long tucunaré (peacock bass) but the accompanying younger 2nd-generation Japanese-Brazilian friends (in their 40s) of mine showed the spirit of Amazonian ‘holiday’ fishermen to catch enough to make a large feast of ‘sashimi’ and ‘Ceviche’ (a Peruvian dish of marinated fish with lemon, salt and chili pepper) every night.
Penned on the 8th of September
