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In Amazonas - 1998
In Amazonas - 1998
Jacek Pałkiewicz2006-06-18 22:36:03
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to do un impromptu bailey under the eyes of the others. Upon reaching the shore, we unslung our rucksacks, foodstuffs and hammocks.
Our first duty was to put our boots on, even if we would have gladly done without them, in this oppressive, humid conditions. In the luxuriant vegetation of the rain forest one must take every possible precaution against spiders, insects and, above all, snakes. Anyone who thought this rule was carrying caution to excess quickly changed his tune when a Mapanara snake, a fierce some, greenish-yellow creature about six feet long, slithered between the legs of one of our party, fortunately without striking at anyone.
Except for a few children, who could not overcome their natural curiosity, nobody came from the village to inspect us. There was no hostility, just indifference. The natives simply went about their own business, the women remaining inside the huts grating tapioca, the men sprawling in their hammocks. Some of the men were squatting outside the huts, chewing betel leaves, an activity which deadens hunger, but makes the face look vacant.
A few chickens were pecking at the wet, reddish clay. It often rains here and the paths rarely become dusty. On the outskirts of the village a few cows with long horns and skinny flanks were grazing, along with a handful of listless black pigs. A boy wearing a loin cloth was strutting around with a monkey perched on his head. Nearby a little girl was holding a small reddish animal which had a snout like a giant mouse. After a while the silence became almost oppressive. Even the dogs, hidden among the trees, had stopped yapping. I began to feel more and more uneasy. Our guide and the rest of my team had disappeared and I was left alone in the centre of the village, prey to a feeling of solitude and abandonment. I knew that the natives had no reason to be welcoming. Previous visitors to this out of the way place would have been traders, who sail upstream in order to barter cheap
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See photographs from:
Brazil Gallery
