ALTER DO CHAO AND HENRY FORD

ALTER DO CHAO AND HENRY FORD

We stopped at another community located on the blue waters and white sand beaches of the Rio Tapajos. It reminded me of being in the Mediterranean. The Tapajos is another river that eventually flows into the Amazon. There are two seasons in Amazonia: the rainy season from November to May and dry season from June to October. We did get a little wet every day, but these are short, tropical rains and 10 minutes later the sun can be shining.

We climbed into our bus (no air conditioning) and drove inland for an hour to an area called Belterra. This is where Henry Ford founded a rubber plantation in the l920’s to produce rubber for the Ford Motor Company. He brought American engineers to Belterra, planted millions of rubber trees, built homes, a school, hospital, machine shop, church for his workers. Unfortunately, climatic conditions undermined the project and Ford had to sell his holdings to the Brazilian government in l945. The rubber groves still stand and the plant is operated under the auspices of the Brazilian government. Who would believe that 90 years ago Americans came and built a community employing 5000 Americans and Amazonians in the middle of the Amazon jungle? This is yet another unbelievable Amazonian history lesson!