A hot, humid day in Belem, Brazil

The temperature was 89 degrees with 94% humidity in Belem today. In other words, it did no good to wash and dry my hair before we left the ship this morning. With an equatorial climate the year around, our guide said their wet/dry seasons are differentiated by “rains every day” vs “rains all day”. As you might imagine, everything grows like crazy!

Belem, the capital and largest city of Para in northern Brazil, is the gateway to the Amazon River. It lies about 60 miles upriver from the Atlantic Ocean. It is sometimes called the City of Mango Trees which grow all over the city. The trees are loaded with fruit pretty much the year around.

 

welcome to Belem

 

Our excursion today began with a walk through the Ver-o-Peso Market. A complete sensory experience, it sells everything from medicinal herbs, local fruits and veggies to fresh-caught river fish. The market had a little bit of everything. It was interesting seeing the men hand shell the Brazil nuts and extremely hard root vegetables. 

 

hand shelling

Brazil nuts for sale

ground up casava leaves

The guy above is grinding casava leaves that are used as the base for a slow cooked Brazilian stew called Manicoba. The leaves are boiled for days to neutralize the toxins, then combined with some type of smoked meat to make a hearty dish, usually eaten with rice.

 

sights and smells abound

local crafts

fresh coconut drinks

colorful displays

what's inside these colorful hanging bottles?

 

Well, it could be most anything. There is a large section of the market devoted to the sale of these. Some contain perfumes or essential oils. Others are herbal remedies made from roots, leaves or flowers, or perhaps a local concoction for curing various ailments. Others contain a potion promising love, luck or health.  

From the market, we walked a short distance to the Forte do Castelo, built on the high ground by the Portuguese in 1616, then loaded back into the double-decker bus (thankfully air conditioned) and headed for the Emilio Goeldi Zoological Garden. By this time, we were very hot and taking advantage of whatever shade we could find. The garden wasn’t terribly exciting but we did see a variety of birds and butterflies. 

 

cannonball tree

beautiful bloom

 

 

The Cannonball tree produced round, woody fruits (the brown "cannonballs") and the pink, red and flowers from directly from the trunk and branches. It is part of the Brazil nut family.

 

Acai palm

The tiny (blueberry-size) berries on the Acai palm are a very big part of the Brazilian diet. Acai berries are highly perishable so cannot be exported. Most of the fruit (60-80%) consists of the pit in the middle, so the only way to eat them is to cook the juice out. It can be consumed as a juice, but most Brazilians prefer to mix it with tapioca or cassava flour (making it like a thick paste) and eat it alongside chicken or pork. It is highly nutritious. Others prefer to sweeten it with sugar.

Our last stop was to see the Basilic Sanctuary of Our Lady of Nazareth of Desterro. It was a beautiful cathedral and of course I snapped quite a few photos. The stained glass, tiles and majority of the building materials used in its construction were brought in from Italy and France. The wood on the very detailed ceiling is grown in Brazil. The recently refurbished bronze doors feature ornate carvings.

bronze carved doors

ceiling detail, Brazilian wood

stained glass imported from Paris

"3 wish" bracelets on chain fence surrounding cathedral

I asked about the colorful ribbons that line the fence surround the cathedral and are for sale on the entrance side. Our guide explained that one is supposed to tie them around their wrist while making "3 wishes” and wear them until they fall off on their own. Little old ladies sit under umbrellas outside the front of the cathedral trying to sell them.

Our last stop was at a Museum of Gems, which housed a former convent and prison. We were not allowed to take photos inside, but we could snap photos of the attached chapel.  

 

small chapel adjoining gem museum

By this time, the rain was coming down pretty hard. We were tired, sweaty and hungry by the time we boarded the tenders to head back to the ship. We went straight to our room and washed up, then went for a late lunch and headed back to our suite for some R&R. 

*I failed to mention that guests have been warned to be alert to their surroundings if going ashore alone. There was a strong police presence around us during our entire excursion and at least one guy tagging up the rear to make sure no one straggled behind. If you're not a local, you're an easy target for theft. Our room steward told us of an incident where one of the crew members was robbed at knife point. Now I'm having second thoughts on trying to clothes shop in our next port!