Vale Do Aço

Friday – 15/01/16

VALE DO AÇO 28

Proceeding on our path marked by iron, still alive in the Vitória-Minas Railroad (EFVM), in the social relations and now in its fluvial variety, we continue our journey between two of the largest cities in the entire Doce River valley, Governador Valadares and Ipatinga. With the exception of our stop in Naque, located where the Santo Antônio River empties, our day is essentially marked by the road and by Arana, who guides us upriver. The BR-381, not only because of its proximity to the river but also because of the rapid contact it induces throughout this stretch, strongly marks the entire region and drives economic development, too. Factories, industries and speed are striking presences here. This is the first region we have crossed on this expedition with such few social practices linked to the river. Although present, the presence of small autonomous communities, perhaps forgotten from other points of view, is smaller than in the ColatinaValadares stretch. The traveller cannot ignore the traditional urban features of the surroundings, conditioning those dependent on the river to a hybrid lifestyle, between the rural and the urban. Because of this, we stop less to collect reports, since we are looking for small communities, leading us to question our own methodology and even the validity of our work. Until now, it has proved efficient, as we have seen the river as a whole – maybe we will need a boat from now on?

Friday – 15/01/16

As for the geography and physical first impressions of the region, it is possible to point out striking characteristics. Despite the severe drought, intensified by the considerable use of river water, upstream from Valadares the green is more present and erosion, though existent, is less marked than on the way from here to the sea. The great mountains and even the massive boulders no longer mark the landscape, as if this immense sea of hills29 in southern Minas Gerais were broader and more uniform in its variation, contrasting with the mountainous drought spattered with inselbergs that mark the landscape of the state boundary. Here is also one of the first places where we see remnants of the Atlantic Forest, providing a different climate to the entire region. Indeed, it rains today, an extraordinary fact that has left us stuck in Ipaba all day. We end up leaving late the next morning and head to Revés do Belém and Córrego Novo; again we find few residents along the river, which here runs isolated between mountains. We also pass by the Rio Doce State Park. As the roads still run far from the river, activities close to it are rare. Even the local residents are unaware of riverside communities. Several times we try to get close to it, then we proceed to São José do Goiabal, where we set up camp on a rainy night.

Friday – 15/01/16

“We are in Naque, close to Nanuque, right at the mouth of the Santo Antônio and here we find Hoscar Isaías in his stories. - The river looks like a dead fish curd that furiously invades its blue waters. A modern plague version cursed the region. This is a disaster of marked violence for every sad testimony.

Hoscar has lived the Doce in various ways, on fishing boats, on its many islands with ancient ones. He tells, as a nightmare, of the day the mud arrived and the sea of dead fishes: piaba, carapeba, bass, anchovy, peacock bass, tilapia, mullet, dourado, ticupá create a flood of death next to the mud.”