016.Amazon River 01.River navigation

2023-01-20

When navigating the Amazon river, it takes 3700 km from Iquitos in Peru to Belém in Brazil at the river mouth.

In a village with no land routes, the several weekly port calls of regular ships were a lifeline for the economy and livelihood, and were also an event. A lot of locals came here. It is the scenery in the village that was between Manaus and Santarém.
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川幅もそれほど広くないイキトスーレティシア間は、熱帯らしい森林風景を間近に航行する区間。ペルー、コロンビア、ブラジルの辺境のため、のんびりとした生活が残ります。テロ活動が活発だった1990年初めのペルーでは、陸路がなく、テロリストとは無縁なアマゾン河でも、川辺の検問所の警官による頻繁な検問があり、真夜中も２、３度、叩き起こされました。人種差別の激しかったのもペルー。唯一のアジア人乗客に対して、下級船員が、チーノ（中国人の蔑称）と、毎日何度も、見下したように声を投げ掛けます。

アマゾン河に接するコロンビア領はほんの数十キロ、そのレティシア（タバチンガ）で船を換え、ブラジルに入ると、検問もテロ活動もアジア人差別も、嘘のように消えました。たった一本の国境線で切り替わる現実。川幅は少しずつ広がり、マナウスを超えると、雄大な大河の風景が現れます。

アマゾン河の暮らしとランドスケープを、3700キロという長い断面で、鮮烈に切り取って行くのが、この船旅。

Liner ships in the Amazon river relay at Leticia in Colombia, Manaus in Brazil, and Santarém depending on a liner. A passenger often has to wait the connecting liner during several days at the transit point.

In towns or villages without land routes, liners are the only lifeline for transporting goods and people. Arrivals are an event that happens several times a week. Many people gather at the port. Children from the village use the liner as a diving board into the river, and a small boat approaches from the opposite bank to deliver goods. Passengers get on board for various reasons as the only means to go to the outside world. Some criminals are handcuffed to a ship's post.

Between Iquitos and Leticia, the river was not so wide. A liner sailed through tropical forest scenery up close. In the remote area in Peru, Colombia, and Brazil that the liner passed, leisurely life remained. In Peru in the early 1990s, terrorist activity was active. Even in the Amazon River, where no terrorist activities occured since there were no land routes, the police frequently checked passengers at riverside checkpoints. They woke passengers up two or three times in the middle of the night. In Peru, racial discrimination against Asians was also severe. A junior sailor called me "chino" (a derogatory term for Chinese people) many times every day in a condescending voice since I was the only Asian passenger.

The Colombian territory bordering the Amazon River is just a few dozen kilometers away. I relayed a liner in Leticia on Colombia side, and entered Tabatinga on Brazil side adjacent to Leticia. In Brazil, the checkpoints, terrorist activities, and discrimination against Asian disappeared. The situation switched with just one borderline. The width of the river widened little by little, and a majestic landscape of the river appeared across Manaus.

The river navigation vividly cuts out the life and landscape of the Amazon River over a long cross-section of 3,700 kilometers.

Amazon River near Iquitos