For breakfast in Belém, a Brazilian city on the Amazon River, I needed a drink. The menu was baffling - all I knew were pineapple and mango juices. What about bacuri, buriti, muruci? Even my phone was confused with "uxi", a Zulu word meaning "you are". But then I spotted names from my journey downriver, like cupuaçu and açaí.
I'd picked up cupuaçu pods in Colombia 3,000 km back. In Peru, there was also açaí - a purple berry growing high on a wild palm. The Amazon is vast and varied but remarkably similar along its length.
My six-week adventure started with a conference on sustainable tourism in Peru. I'd set off from Belém towards the city that had been declared the location for the Cop30 conference, determined to cut air miles. I used public riverboats, met people working to preserve the environment and learned about the challenges of conservation.
Tourism can be a double-edged sword when it comes to saving the planet. Flying is CO2-intensive, tourism is a luxury. But some people see it as a way to support sustainable development. A schoolboy in Brazil told me his father was a rancher who burned forests to feed cattle. But he wanted to be a tour guide instead.
In Belém, I met Charles, who runs a small handicraft shop and sells his own açaí. "It goes with anything," he said. On Ilha do Combu, an atoll beyond the waterfront, I saw how açaí was becoming a valuable product for local farmers.
But rubber has had a very different impact on the Amazon. The discovery of its properties triggered a catastrophic series of events that still haunt the region today. Rubber made fortunes but also led to exploitation and disaster for indigenous tribes who were forced into harsher labour conditions.
Açaí has avoided some of these issues, but not all. Some people have dented its reputation with hyperbole about superfoods. On Ilha do Combu, Charles wasn't worried though - local demand was strong and prices good.
On my final journey on the river, I found a small cafe on an island near the mouth. The owner served me lunch with delicious river fish, pineapple ceviche and a dessert with pale green berries that I'd never seen before. "Like açaí," she said. But different.
I'd picked up cupuaçu pods in Colombia 3,000 km back. In Peru, there was also açaí - a purple berry growing high on a wild palm. The Amazon is vast and varied but remarkably similar along its length.
My six-week adventure started with a conference on sustainable tourism in Peru. I'd set off from Belém towards the city that had been declared the location for the Cop30 conference, determined to cut air miles. I used public riverboats, met people working to preserve the environment and learned about the challenges of conservation.
Tourism can be a double-edged sword when it comes to saving the planet. Flying is CO2-intensive, tourism is a luxury. But some people see it as a way to support sustainable development. A schoolboy in Brazil told me his father was a rancher who burned forests to feed cattle. But he wanted to be a tour guide instead.
In Belém, I met Charles, who runs a small handicraft shop and sells his own açaí. "It goes with anything," he said. On Ilha do Combu, an atoll beyond the waterfront, I saw how açaí was becoming a valuable product for local farmers.
But rubber has had a very different impact on the Amazon. The discovery of its properties triggered a catastrophic series of events that still haunt the region today. Rubber made fortunes but also led to exploitation and disaster for indigenous tribes who were forced into harsher labour conditions.
Açaí has avoided some of these issues, but not all. Some people have dented its reputation with hyperbole about superfoods. On Ilha do Combu, Charles wasn't worried though - local demand was strong and prices good.
On my final journey on the river, I found a small cafe on an island near the mouth. The owner served me lunch with delicious river fish, pineapple ceviche and a dessert with pale green berries that I'd never seen before. "Like açaí," she said. But different.
! I mean, think about it - you've got all these unique fruits like bacuri, buriti, muruci, and then cupuaçu and açaí that are super valuable because they're not as exploited as rubber was back in the day. It's crazy how some of these fruits have become a way for local farmers to make money without harming the environment 
. But at the same time, we shouldn't get too carried away with all the hype around açaí and other "superfoods" - let's just say it's a pretty cool trend 
. And can you imagine sipping on some fresh juice made from one of these amazing fruits? Mmm... my stomach is growling just thinking about it 
!
it's like people have gotten so caught up in hypes about superfoods that they forgot about the actual impact on the environment 
like, yeah açaí has its benefits but let's not forget about the history of rubber being super destructive for indigenous tribes ouch 
Can't believe I have to navigate through this forum's outdated design again... like, who thought it was a good idea to make the font size so small?! 
Ugh, I swear, every time I try to read something interesting, my eyes are watering from straining to see the words.
So, I'm reading about this person's trip down the Amazon and it sounds amazing! They're all excited about açaí and cupuaçu, which is cool, but what really got me was the part about rubber. Like, seriously, how can one thing have such a huge impact on an entire region? 
But, like, let's not forget the harsh reality of how some of these products are made. 
just think about how far back those cupuaçu pods from Colombia went - 3k km! that's some serious supply chain vibes 
and the fact that they ended up on an island near the mouth of the Amazon, serving as a dessert... wild 
. I was thinking about getting a picture of the Amazon River, but then I saw this article about açaí and cupuaçu... what's the deal with those? Are they really that good for you? I've heard some people say they're superfoods or something 
. And what's up with all the different names for them in Brazil? Like, bacuri and buriti, but also uxi? Is it like a local thing or what? 