James Hall Brazil

The Amazon Campinaranas

Before the storm. A view of the Agua Boa river showing how low it was with sand backs into the distance. Within a couple of minutes of taking this photograph we were completely drenched.
Before the storm. A view of the Agua Boa river showing how low it was with sand backs into the distance. Within a couple of minutes of taking this photograph we were completely drenched.

From Manaus we flew north to a camp on the Agua Boa river, just 100km north of the Equator. This is in the northern part of the Amazon forest. It is not strictly rain forest but is called Campinaranas, a mosaic of dense often thorny forest and savannah. The flight is almost two hours in a small plane to the landing strip and for the entirety of that two hours there are essentially nothing but trees beneath you. It is sobering to get this sense of the scale of the Amazon basin.

A view of the Agua Boa river
A view of the Agua Boa river
There was not really a 'typical' view from the river as the trees were highly varied. But these palms were distinctive along the side of the river.
There was not really a ‘typical’ view from the river as the trees were highly varied. But these palms were distinctive along the side of the river.
The moment you entered the jungle the trees closed in around you. Unless you were following a prepared trail, as we were, you could not move at all without a machete. This is a jungle you really have to hack your way through.
The moment you entered the jungle the trees closed in around you. Unless you were following a prepared trail, as we were, you could not move at all without a machete. This is a jungle you really have to hack your way through.

It was the end of the dry season so the river was low with high mud sides and large sand banks clearly visible all along its length. In a few weeks time, the rains will come and the river will rise several metres so that all of this is covered.

The weather was reflective of the end of the season. It remained warm, of course, in the high 20s or beyond, and humid but we the sky was overcast some of the time and we had one short-lived but spectacular rainstorm.

Off the main rivers there was an endless series of creeks, lagoons and lakes. This creek is covered in vegetation with small yellow flowers.
Off the main rivers there was an endless series of creeks, lagoons and lakes. This creek is covered in vegetation with small yellow flowers.

This part of the Amazon at least is quite to challenging to photograph because the ground is flat and covered with dense trees. It is difficult to get a landscape perspective of which reflects the depth and scale of where you are. And when you are on the river it is rarely possible to see more than a few metres into the trees at the side, which tower above you.