Lesser known
Places
or lesser known aspects of better known places
September 18, 2007 - small update on jangadas.
A place is also a time. It cannot be separated from a time and you really cannot go back again. Some places remain stable enough so that it is almost possible, but you will have changed if nothing else. One thing that I do not like about the way the world is going is that most places appear to lose character. Too many are getting "globalized." The world is going to go flat when every place starts looking much like a typical U.S. Interstate exchange with the same chain restaurants and shops. Thank goodness we aren't there yet. I'm thankful to those fighting the trend. There is entirely too much already.
I'll never forget shock and sadness as I returned to a corner in Tokyo in 1981 to find the little bars and restaurants that were uniquely Japanese gone. Those little places, often with little bamboo fountains and traditional decorations, had been obliterated. I stood on one corner with a six foot plastic, internally lit Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken towering at my back to see the golden arches on another, a Pizza Hut on another and a sleek brick, glass and chrome club with a "Japanese Only" sign completing the view. At least the last was obviously Japanese. I occasionally like all of these places, but not in Tokyo at the expense of what had been something unique. Since so much is gone to bland I may try to capture some of what was.
Popularity alone often makes a place less characteristic and intimate. I had the good fortune to visit Stonehenge when one could walk among the stones. Some days were so slow that one could almost be alone among the stones. Now it must be viewed from a distance for its own protection. Even worse, a significant number of visitors are vandals or complete fools. The first are criminal the latter should stick to commercial theme parks where animals are fakes and pumps make geysers spout. As restrictions are placed on everyone at natural spots to protect these babes in the real world from themselves all of us lose something. Still, in many cases the simple increase in traffic with more people able to travel is the cause.
In my opinion the most unfortunate change is brought about when locals themselves bring in bland external competitors or these are forced upon them. My corner in Tokyo is one case. The fact that in a land of absolutely wonderful food, Brazil, the two main eating establishments in the São Paulo airport are quite familiar to anyone from a tiny U.S. town is bizarre. I sometimes have a horrible view of the entire world like the U.S. Interstate system. Pull off at any exit and you could be anywhere. The arrangement is different, but the signs and interiors of restaurant clones are pretty much the same. At best they may decorate with a few local photos or prints. A virtual tour of the world might really be about all that is worth while if that horror comes about worldwide. Why travel to get the same effect we now do between I-95 Exit 15 and I-10 Exit 35?
The background of this page is from a small town, Paripueira, north of Maceió in the state of Alagoas, Brazil. They date from 1968-1973, but as of 1999 things were still recognizable. The fishing rafts, jangadas, have mostly changed from the logs shown here to Styrofoam encased in plywood and the sails of those on Maceió beaches now carry advertising. Still, such views can be found not too far away -- for a time anyway.
On these pages I'll try to visit some places at the time I first knew them. If, as I hope, I revisit some I will provide updates. I hope to avoid the travelogue trap and concentrate on smaller, odd or unique views of these places:
Jangadas and Jangadeiros
The jangada itself is almost always awash and usually semi submerged. These are the original log jangadas. The ones seen now in and near cities are plywood enclosing Styrofoam blocks. As the trees used for these logs began to vanish and come under protection the design changed. So did the use of the craft itself. The big seagoing fishing jangadas and the fishermen using them have largely vanished as fishing co-ops were formed using regular small boats rather than jangadas. The boats are not particularly unusual, not as picturesque, but I expect fewer fishermen simply vanish now.
The jangadeiro, the man on the raft, can sort of perch on a bench/rack like structure in the center. He is one of two great romantic "occupational" icons of the Northeast (the Vaqueiro of the Sertão is the other) featured in folklore, art, song and legend. They often go beyond the reefs, occasionally at night, and have reportedly been seen many miles out to sea. Old, sad songs and stories refer to the jangadeiro never seen again. The more fortunate stay near the reefs and work fish traps off the beaches.
Jangada landing with fish traps in the background
Jangadeiros are increasingly attempting to earn a living from the tourist trade in cities like Maceió and my impression is that many of the reefs have been fished out and damaged by various practices. I do know that one where my children and I liked to snorkel before 1987 was almost completely dead and barren in 1999. By 2007 I saw not one living thing other than algae and seaweed while wading off the beach in Maceió where my children were introduced to urchins and bright reef fish. Fortunately, local governments and people are beginning to take the loss seriously and are taking some steps to stop destructive practices.
Headed Home (1970)
Jangada Links
Endangered Coast organization has a page giving some background on the craft and the fishermen titled The Disappearing Raft Fishermen of Brazil. Of particular interest is the description of the 1600 mile voyage in 1941 voyage by jangadeiros that led to Orson Welles' suppressed film on the subject. The voyage was repeated in 1993 and is described in Ceará Fishermen - Sailing for a Cause (opens 29kb .pdf document). It also describes how jangadeiros, led by Francisco Jose do Nascimento, the 'Dragon of the Seas,' fought against slavery by refusing to transfer slaves to and from ships. The page, Jangada Days, describes conditions and attitudes today. Along with so much that made places unique jangadas are increasingly seen only as sanitized tourist attractions.
After a too long absence the beautiful beaches of Alagoas may be seen again on the Turismo de Alagoas pages. Those beaches, Francês, Pixaim, Jacarecica do Sul, Sonho Verde, Antunes, Tatuamunha, Mirante da Sereia near the city and Jatiúca, and Ponta Verde in the city are now part of an increasing tourist industry. Litoral Norte contains air photos, including Japaratinga where the hotel on my home page is located. Paripueira is the location of the jangada photographs on this page. The Litoral Sul page shows beaches extending south to the Rio São Francisco, where the river mouth and sea create huge expanses of sand and dune. The São Francisco page shows those as well as the colonial city of Penedo and town of Piranhas, also seen on one of my Places pages (Entremontes and Piranhas - Rio São Francisco). The Maceió page covers city beaches and some of the city's sights. Since the state is named for the Lagoas, be sure to see that page.
If anyone is interested in a taste of humor and an extensive tour of the Northeast I recommend the 2003 film Deus É Brasileiro (God Is Brazilian). The film starts in coastal waters, lands in Piaçabuçu (beach seen on Litoral Sul) and ventures through cities and into the Sertão.
Hotels are located where there were coconut plantations 25 years ago. Hotel Jatiúca, the first real resort hotel, is about all that protects what remains of the original grove (until about 1978 it extended across Ponta Verde to Pajuçara. The hotel has a stunning pool winding among the coconut trees. Many of the rest are ordinary high rise.