Trip Report

Jack Ewing presented an informative talk and slide show of his two week trip to Brazil last July/August. Sponsored by the National Eco-Justice Committee of the Presbyterian Church, Jack paid his own way to travel to Rio de Janeiro to join up with Eco Tours, the company who organized the tour. The tour included on site speakers and opportunities to meet with leaders from the government and environmental groups. The trip involved flights to Brasilia, Manaus, and Rio Bronco; land travel, and boat trip 100 miles up the Negro River.

Jack said "Two weeks does not make an expert." The 60 people in the audience were impressed with the amount of detail he gave with each slide. The slides were organized by three themes: cities and their large populations, the size of the rivers, and the rain forest. He explained the joining of the Negro and the Bronco Rivers. There were many slides of wildlife, vegetation, and village life along the river. He included facts about the rubber companies, geography, roads, forestry and mining.

Our thanks to Jack for preparing and sharing his trip with us. We learned a lot!

• Jan Jacobsen adds a colorful footnote:

"While on the subject of the Amazon, there is a challenging computer simulation adventure program for Grades 3 and up called ‘Amazon Trail’. The player(s) must travel up the river on a life-saving mission to find medicine and deliver it to the hidden city of the Incas. Along the way they must make decisions about supplies, food, and identify plant life and wildlife in the rain forest. I have starved to death on every trip I have played!

"It’s an interesting way to encourage children to learn about the rain forest. Other simulation games produced by the same company are ‘Oregon Trail’ and ‘Yukon Trail’."
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