Speaking of water, we visited the site of the massive hydroelectric dam 5km upstream from the city. Wow. Not only is it an incredible earth-moving project, but it must to adhere to stringent environmental standards. No telling which restrictions may have been eased for this very profitable endeavor...
Our Odebrecht project manager/guide for the quick tour was fairly slick in his recounting of the details of construction; he has had a few PR lessons, I am sure. One encouraging detail that did stick with me during his spiel (em portuguese) was the allowance for the local fish population: the dam will include two `ladders,´ one on either end, so that fish can still migrate freely for spawning purposes. If I understood our guide correctly, the Madeira River has the greatest diversity of fish of any river in the world, and it is also the fastest flowing river in the world (proportional to its size), so those fish will need all the help they can get to navigate around the huge dam.
Below are a few more photos from the past couple of days, and that´s it for now. We are off to visit the port (yes, Porto Velho means Old Port), then a few more sights around the city. Atelogo!
an unauthorized photo of Indians (yes, i stole their souls and will pay for it later...)
the local fish market
an abandoned rail yard downtown
Rotary Club meeting
cheers at the local brewery
What is type of fish is that? the bog one...
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