THE FINAL CALL

THE MESSAGES:    The Story of the Sir Peter Blake Memorial in the Amazon

                                            The Amazon – so stunning, so pure, so beautiful

                                           Visit Velha Airao -  every Intrepid New Zealander needs to go there

 

Date:                  January, 2012

Location:         Auckland, New Zealand

Morale:             High!

Narrative:       Marc Shaw – Expedition Leader

                            Comments: Janot Prat

Photographs: Clare Shaw, Marc Shaw

“The question is not what you look at—but how you look and whether you see.” -  Henry David Thoreau

Home.New Zealand. For Christmas.

The Amazon seems so far away and so long ago, suddenly. We have all forgotten when we had our last E-Group Meeting and our last laugh together. Now… there are just the memories that are best realised with family or with those also on the trip – such a story to tell. It needs a title and I am calling it ‘The Story of the Sir Peter Blake Memorial in the Amazon’.

 

It’s been a thrill to have gone back to the Amazon, ten years on. It is the sort of place and the kind of space that attracts attention and demands understanding. Rightly so, for The Amazon region is one of our world’s great repositories of the natural resources: water, wood and weather. Both I and my Expedition experienced all with resultant varying dipolar emotions.

Calm before the storm

Clouds rush in - warning of an approaching storm

We experienced the calm and the zeal of the Amazonian waters, the beguiling stillness yet also the claustrophobia of the Amazon rainforest, and the rants and rages of an Amazon storm in contrast to the serene beauty of a stilled Amazon night. No writing can adequately express the passions that these images create. A person just has to be there, and when they are there is an understanding of why this amazing region of our globe creates so much emotion in the various groups pushing for either global or personal survival, or (would it were so) both.

On landing in Manaus and seeing the rainforest for the first time it is as if the latter is saying ‘well, here I am. Come and check me out at your leisure or at your peril – your choice’. Then suddenly I am in the forest – albeit on a Brazilian Riverboat, travelling upstream. I feel the forest watching, looking at me, reasoning why I have come; for, so many have come in the past and usually done much harm. I hear the forest saying ‘are you another one… or do you come to be entranced by what I have to offer?’

Spellbinding images form themselves from our natural surroundings

When I first entered the rainforest, I noticed two things: the stillness of the airs and the quietness of the trees. They were watching me. There was a heavy, loaded stillness to just being in this primal  rainforest. Above, the unbroken canopy of green that prevents a clear understanding of the weather. Intimidating… initially. So much so, that I just wanted to look at my feet moving on the ground ahead of me. I was so focused on this task, concentrating on not stumbling over twigs, roots, vines. I was not ready to acknowledge the forest yet. A most unusual feeling for me. Walking, concentrating on my feet moving.

Man made nature steps

A pause in my walking. Look up, to see the majesty of the forest starting to unravel before my eyes. Dim, initially. Like being in a movie theatre before the main attraction is about to start. It takes a while for my eyes to adjust. When they do, however, there before me my raison-d’etre for being here in Amazonas. I realise that it is all about opening up my senses to being here. Colours initially dull, become heightened, sounds that appeared infrequent more clear and more recurrent, and homage to the forest’s magnificence more profound.

Everything around me feels to be in its right place. The Rio, the rainforest and the people. Many seek to criticise the deforestation and pollution in Amazonas, but I think folk need to be there to experience life and living in the Amazon before criticism is relevant.

Population increase showing it's signs at the ports of Manaus

For all this, there have been changes within and upon this environment over the last decade. They reflect a growing population in the region and also a lack of understanding, by the general populace, of the impact that an increasing population has upon this valued region. This is due to three primary reasons: a lack of education about the impact of such pollutants, a naivety about the impact of such pollutants and, thirdly, the need for survival in a harsh environment. People have to strive to live as best they can. Who am I to say ‘don’t destroy this environment – don’t eat too many of this species of fish – don’t store water in plastic bottles for they contaminate an environment’? It is rather patronising to think that I or those not living in this region should so comment.

A sign in Barcelos educating locals to keep areas tidy to avoid Dengue from spreading

 

Fish Image from the Original Blake Expedition

Janot was with me 10 years ago and during the many conversations that I have with him, he made some very useful comparisons between his first visit and this one. His observations on fish were particularly relevant:

“We visited all the markets in 2001, including the fish market to get our supplies, and I remember being amazed by the size of the different fish we saw there. Tambaki, Pirarucu and Tucunare were huge and looked both impressive and awesome. Now in 2011 Tambaki, a huge fruit eater fish, is still of respectable size when laid out, but both Pirarucu (the biggest fish in the Amazon, able to reach 3 meters and over and 250 Kilograms), and Tucunare (Peacock-Bass) along with all the different catfish, are drastically downsizing in length and weight.  I had the frightening feeling that this certainly shows the effects of commercial fishing in these waters.  As for the Tambaki, fish farming has been a success in the region, and this is probably the reason that this fishes’ size remains’.

 

Fish markets

A good thing then, commercial fish-farming is working and is a tool for the future, but at the moment the change in the drainage of the Amazon due to deforestation, and the growing pollution derived from a blossoming population probably impact upon the fish size. Having noted that, however, folk in Brazil are now aware of the risks of losing the Amazonas region, and there is greater attempt at eco-preservation and sustainability of Amazonian wildlife. It’s working, Miguel tells me, and he is delighted that finally the message is getting through to the younger generations.

A 2009 map showing deforestation of the Amazon in Red. This will have increased a lot by now

He says “you can’t stop those from an older generation from cutting down trees, but you can teach children to plant them. This way we can also teach children about the effects of deforestation:  such as the destruction of the superficial levels of the soils and the resultant washing away of this terrain by heavy rain”. 

 

Local woman and child

Amazonian land is generally acidic and nutrient-deprived with hinterland soils formed from the ancient bedrock of the northern and western regions of Brazilian, Colombian, Venezuelan and Guyanan shields and therefore poorly enriched and leached.  Even in recent times, those who misunderstood the region’s fragility have caused many a fiasco in the Amazon. Examples include the Trans-Amazon Highway(1971), and tax-encouraged cattle ranching (1970s–1983).

There is a bridge over the Rio Negro now. It has just opened. It cuts down transit time over the river to 5 minutes rather than the 30-45 that it would take by ferry. The fear of environmentalists in that this will open up the region to viral tourism. Tourism has been increasing at a steady rate, and it is largely containable within the current parameters for the development of the region. Miguel’s village of Novo Airao has become more tourist-oriented, and the people from Manaus go there in three hours by car rather than 18 hours by riverboat. More land travel, because of the bridge, could further add unwanted pressures to an already struggling regional infrastructure.

Why is it struggling? In simple terms, as I see them, it is because the rural regions are struggling. Folk in small villages can’t survive in them: no work prospects, no income, minimal survival costs, high cost of transport, low exposure to appropriate schooling and health services, minimal service infrastructure. This drives people to the main population centres that are already under population-stress. Cracks are starting to become gaps: crime, drugs, prostitution are harder to contain. More work is now available in Manaus compared to ten years ago – there are many car and motorbike manufacturing companies and more are planned for this ‘duty-free’ region. This gives more expendable money to workers. It is not hard to visualise extrapolations of more money, more demands on its use, and a struggling communal infrastructure. Emerging problems build into social crisis.

Janot comments: “I think the main reasons for desertion from the smaller villages are: firstly, the river can no longer provide families with the fish they need to survive, and secondly they cannot sell fish to gain extra money needed to buy fuel for either their riverboat engines or the village generator.  This is primarily due to the industrial overfishing taking place in the entire region. There is also television, available on the smallest of boats and the most isolated of villages, bringing with it glamour, pictures and advertising, all of which entice families and children to dream about a better life in a bigger place”.

Local fishermen setting off for the day in hopes of a good catch with which to trade

10 years on, a couple of further observations: Along the Rio Negro villages are growing, some better prepared than others. I felt that Novo Airao, Santa Isabel and Sao Gabriel are flourishing, whilst Barcelos, Santa Helena and Carvoairao are not. Some forms of employment are starting to bring dividends (tourism, transport, eco-hunting and fishing, travel) whilst others are not (indiscriminate fishing, turtle farming). Still, folk in the region are trying very hard, and with continuing assistance from many different national and international bodies there will continue to be improvements in the quality of life for the indigenous populace.

Did we make any difference with our travel to this region, either now or ten years ago? In truth I would have to say ‘not’. Most have never heard of Sir Peter Blake or that he was killed in the region. A few, mainly older, folk remember, of course, but that it largely a result of significant priming of the memory. Life and living have taken precedent over environmental concerns, the latter of which are simply not overly considered. Our Worldwise Expedition was largely observational, largely tourism  but also with projects that touched communities that we travelled amongst. In so doing, there seemed to be some significant happiness at life. A decade ago, our expedition never really determined this, as it did not get to know the local population.

As I gradually get back into my comfortable New Zealand way of life, and pause and look at the original quote that continues to be a driving influence for all my expedition and global travel. It is written by Jules Crevaux, French Naval Surgeon, and an expeditioner who explored the Amazon and who was killed there in circa 1840. I have used it on previous occasions. “A rushed journey is a waste of time; you can see nothing. I am here by the grace of God; I must take advantage of it and examine nature carefully, for I shall never return to these waters again. Instinct tells me to let myself drift with the swift current. Reason stops me: for an explorer, hurrying through an unknown land is like running away from the enemy”.

 

The Amazon. Just the word, conjures up vivid colourful images and sensations of richly diverse flora and fauna, extraordinary and remarkable rainforest life, giant lilies and massive otters, huge and vicious multi-coloured insects, and a sound and light show of seen and unseen animals and exploding or composed weather experiences. The 2011 Worldwise Expedition saw all this and so much more than can be expressed by the written word. Above this, it saw life and it experienced living in the most magnificent garden in the world. A garden, primarily, of trees -

“Todas as grandes civilizaçóes do mundo tiveran início com a derrumba da primeira árvole . . .

a maioria delas desaparecen com a derrumba da última”.

—Anonymous

[Translated:

All great civilizations of the world got their start

with the felling of the first tree.

The majority of them will disappear

with the felling of the last one.

Back to Manaus – Moving on down the Rio

 

Date:               14 – 16^TH December

 

Transport:        Riverboat Apurissaua – transfer to Pousada Chez Les Rois, Manaus

 

Location:         ‘Coffee and Cream’ The mixing of the waters of the Amazon

 

Preparation for home

 

Morale:           Tired otherwise excellent!

 

Narrative:        Marc Shaw – Expedition Leader

 

Photographs:   Clare Shaw

 

 

Kerris' footprint next to that of a large bird

 

The sounds of early morning laughter from an Expedition Crew still chortling about the caiman urinating on me lead me to a happy gathering a breakfast. There is nothing too much to say, really… Such is the silly energy that we all now have as we are starting to think more and more of home and Christmas.

 

 

 

Another breakfast of breads, fruit, eggs from Saba and Miguel (our cooks) in the kitchen announce the last day that we will be on Apurissaua. Today we transfer to the delightful Pousada in Manaus for our last couple of days here. Gosh, it is hard to imagine that 5 weeks has gone so quickly. So much travel and so much accomplished, both individually and as a group.

 

 

Cara, Clare and Kerris with our cook, Saba

 

But, I am jumping ahead a little for the day has only just begun. We had camped overnight near a lake down near Manaus– where the Rio Negro joins to the Rio Solimoes. A lovely location with its greens and blues and bird-songs and its quietness at night. A lot of people live here, in comparison to the northern reaches of the Rio Negro from whence we have come. Being near Manaus, there is evidence of a more affluent living standard. Nevertheless, it is all relative, because we saw a lot of poverty down in this region also. No doubt that where there are people, then the range of living standards varies according to personal means and application.

A local woman with her pet monkey

 

 

For all that, however, there is not the pollution that I would otherwise have expected from such a varied population. Oh yes, there were folk living on the edge of the river and there were communities living on boats in minor reference to the canals of Venice. Well, not really, but you get the idea. Folk living on houseboats and who have jobs, or not, on the nearby land bridges.

Local water houses

 

The thought of such living is very attractive, and Miguel gets out API 2 and we motor along the canals and look at how folk survive. Down here, in this part of theRio Negro and Rio Solimoes, there are more tourists than in our reaches of the rivers and so folk are a little less inclined to be so friendly to our voyeurism.

Stuffed Pirana sculpture

 

 

 

Houses on stilts, houses on floats, houses on a bit of both sorts of construction. A church, houses with aquatic gardens and  a few bars still empty at the noon hour – but not by much.  It is starting to get hot and soon the boys, and not a few girls, will be stopping for a ‘cleansing ale’ to ‘cool down the fettered and glistening brow’. Its nice to watch, but we don’t stare. That has not been part of our observation. The folk are friendly and always have a wave or a ‘hola’ to throw at us with a smile. This is one of the things that I like about this region. The people. Of course it is cliqued to say it. All travellers say this, but then isn’t that great that a great region also has people who are remembered for their friendliness in that region. Goes to make the region greater, in my view.

 

Cara taking photos of birds and caiman

 

 

Denise and Mark T. exploring in the kayak

Time to head on back to port in Manaus. It is late morning and we have just had our last meal on API1. We are all packed and travelling along the Rio Solimoes, a river 40 widths of the Waikato at this part of the waterway. Miguel comes to me and tells me that it is 10 minutes to the ‘mixing of the rivers’. This is rather a famous sight in this region of the Amazon, and already there are many riverboats wandering the water-flats with their loaded passenger cargo. It is where the black water of the Rio Negro meets the brown water of the Rio Solimoes to form the Rio Amazon. Different colours because they come from different alluvial deposits way over to the West of the continent.Venezuela and Colombia contribute the dark water of the Negro due to their aged rocks and land structure. Ecuador and Peruthe more recent colours of their younger geological strata. ‘Coffee and cream’ so the mixing is called.

 

 

Cara taking a photo of the 'mixing of the waters'

 

Now starting to get very hot during the early afternoon, and the reflection off the water makes for colours that emphasise the contrasts in this part of the river. Bosco, that wonderful man, drives API 1 around and over the junctional region a few times so that we can take photos. And take photos we did – snap snap snap. Unique sight. Tourist views. A must see in the region.

 

 

Another boat passing through the waters

 

Twenty minutes later, we head off again. This time in the direction of Manaus. Chug-chugging along and we see the bridge in the distance. It is clouded by a mist and haze, but the central shaft of it is quite apparent. New and opened within the last 6 months, it is the first bridge over the Amazon river-region. Cost about a billion, but apparently it is worth it to the locals who now are not so dependant upon transport by ferryboats and water-service. On the surface it does indeed seem a good idea but the Amazon story is littered with tales of transport monoliths constructed in this region… one by one they have all disappeared. This one seems very sturdy, but maybe it will last. Maybe.

 

 

Gradually we power up the river to Manaus and we see the hugeness that is this city on the waters of the Negro. Buildings that are aged and hang free on stilts to guard them from the rains. Slip ways for ship-building. High rise buildings that prod up into the sky. There is no  apparent pattern of this city, though I have to say that it has changed somewhat since my last visit. More affluence. More buildings with more glass that carry reflections of the day into the central region of the town where business is apparently done. We pass the markets that are centrally based. Overhead there are carrion birds that float on high and feast on garbage. We pass the mooring rings where boats are held up. A final look at the river and we decamp into API 2 to come ashore. Matt and Janot grab the company’s bags and thrust them aboard and then head to shore. The rest of us follow 20 minutes later on the return of API 2.

 

 

 

Ashore and in a transport van, we are already missing Apurissaua. Manaus is roads and lights and clutter and noise – though strangely no car horns. Stop at ‘the red’, let the other way through. I am feeling stifled already. Manaus is humid and by the time we reach our Pousada, we are steaming and ready for a swim and a soothing ale by the poolside. Time to relax and just enjoy our final moments in a region most grand and most majestic.

 

 

Rod, Janot, Marc, Matt, Mark, Liz, Kerris, Cara & David enjoy a cool off in the clear pool water

 

A storm beckons. All eleven of us watch the skies. All of us want a final message from nature. To hear and experience an Amazon Storm would be the icing on the cake. A storm first night in Novo Airao when we got to dedicate a memorial to Peter Blake in Miguel’s village and a storm the last night of our visit to Amazonas – what could be better planned.

 

 

 

Well, we got our storm. It is a beauty with ‘cracks of thunder’ and ‘blinds’ of light. Such rain. I can think of no way better than this to be the final curtain call for our Worldwise Expeditions trip to Amazonas. It has been an amazing journey and I have achieved this with a most caring group of people. People like Daughter Clare and her Fiancé Matt – my loved Family. People like Kerris, who I have known and loved all her life. Like Rod and Liz, Dear Friends for 30 years, Janot, a close friend who I would trust with my life, Mark, a true friend who has supported me in doing this  journey for 5 years (at least), Charmaine with all her soft personal charm and medical magic, Denise gentle in nature and sensitive to the cultures we observed, Cara ever smiling who worked so hard for the good of the trip, and finally David – last but not the least, delightfully charming  and whose temperament was much needed on this journey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Novo Airao – Hospital Visit – Moving on down the Rio

Date:                    12 – 13^TH December

Transport:             Riverboat Apurissaua – transfer to Pousada Chez Les Rois, Manaus

Location:              Novo Airao – south to the Rio Solimoes -The ‘mixing of the waters’

                           Preparation for home

Morale:                Excellent but looking forward to family!

Narrative:             Marc Shaw – Expedition Leader

Photographs:       Clare Shaw

Storm approaching at one of our swimming spots

The energies of our day commemorating a great New Zealander remains with us overnight and into the next day as we motor south to our starting town on the Amazon, Novo Airao. The sound of the early morning motor of Apurissaua awakens me. We had been ‘camped ‘ a little up stream in a protected loft of the Rio Negro last night, in case a predicted storm plunged upon us. The Brazilian riverboats have a very shallow draft to ply the Amazonas region, but this makes them very susceptible to overturning in a storm.

Bright green floating wild rice lines the water's edge along the river

Novo Airao. Early morning. We need more supplies for the remaining three days of our Amazon Experience. The stop is also a good opportunity to visit the local hospital. We have some medical supplies, like snake anti-venim – now no longer needed, that we can give for use locally. Miguel takes Mark, Denise and I to the front door, and we meet a lovely Nurse, Iris – from Germany. She has been working here at this facility for 14 years, married a local man and now has her family here.

Iris is wonderful – showing us around the various departments in the hospital. Not once did she cry ‘poor us we need more’. She told us HOW they made the best use of everything at the hospital. She was really the only clinician on hand for much of the time, as doctors are often quite hard to attract for this isolated post on the Amazon. Though three hours away from Manaus by road, an emergency is still an emergency and there needs to be someone to respond to it. Iris was ‘the one’ that did this and there is little doubt that she worked her fingers to the bone to provide adequate care for the community of 15,000 folk.

A walk around the medical facility passed though the emergency room, medical wards, obstetrical unit ( with 14 and a 16 years old girls there, frightened but trying so hard to be brave), the main operation theatre (clean and entirely adequate), laboratory facilities and so on. I determined that we could well help with the provision of a piece of medical equipment, so asked Iris to make a list of immediate requirements. Worldwise Expeditions will seek to help provision some article, in association with the hospital.

It was interesting to note here, and in the whole of the Amazonas Region, there is significant poverty – yet I cannot recall anyone asking  us to provide them with money. Having said that, I do actually recall a situation of begging but this was in the environs of Manaus – a major city of 2plus million – subject to the influences of societal dysfunction such as begging, alcohol and poverty.

A good visit, then, to the hospital and one that I and the other two totally enjoyed. Mark mentioned to me that he has looked at our expedition medical kit and he has determined that  we have much that could be used for the local population. I agree with him. We will give our medications to the hospital when we finish our stay in Manaus.

Pineapple growing strong

Manioc crops

 

Downstream we go. 6 hours by boat. More relaxing now that we have completed our main project for our trip – that of a memorial – and also our personal projects: medical research, dolphin observation and research, expedition equipment inventory, and direct communications security login with New Zealand. We now feel that we are more in ‘holiday mode’, and time for a few of the more touristy things to see and do: visit a tapioca making factory, make tapioca pancakes, cut Brazil and prepare nuts from trees, watch the making-of-manioc process.

Harvesting of Brazil nuts for Tapioca pancakes

We are in the vicinity of Manaus now and these tourism choices are rather more prevalent and show how the local community is responding to the need for change. With political issues now pre-eminent on restriction on deforestation, and reforestation, there is community pressure to maximise ecotravel and environmental awareness. It is good, then, that the local indigenous populations of Indians and Caboclos (mixture of Indian and European extraction) are now looking at alternative and more acceptable ways of life-working-skills.

Getting the fire ready for pancake creating

Brazil nut infused Tapioca pancakes. A little melted butter on top...delicious!

Down and a day’s travel from Manaus. This is lovely country. An archipelago of islands and their adjacent waterways. Not too many bugs, though I did get another round of the little ‘sods’ last night. My legs itch continuously and are swollen the whole time. Just shows that one has to be ever-vigilant in insect-bite prevention in this region. I just HAVE to learn to do my personal protection better. One BIG recommendation for those about to travel to the region. We have been using the Skinshield Insect Repellent – Active Duty product range on this journey. It is a big product seller in the Worldwise clinics throughout NZ and it’s odour is much kinder on the nose than other brands. In particular we have found the Active Duty Repellent Stick (40% DEET) the best ‘all rounder’.

Night-time: Next it is the caiman (alligator) spotting ride in API2. Off we go – Matt, Rod, David, Mark, Denise and I. This is a bit of fun, though we did not realise how much! The game it to have a ‘spotter’ out on the bow of the boat. His job is to shine a light into the Caiman’s eyes and then, when he gets close enough, just jump on him in the water. Hmmm, seems simple enough. After a few ‘dummy runs’ when we get quite close to a 2-3 metre long beast. Unmoving but ever vigilant, he gets wind of us and suddenly belts straight towards David and Mark. I have never seen vertical exercise from these two in our trip to date! The caiman then whams through them to the foreshore, smashing into API2 – crash – and with another more mild thud, it disappears. There is neither movement nor sound from the Intrepid New Zealand Expeditioners. We are totally shocked and stunned. Mark has even stopped talking, and David has paused in his photography!

Laughed at from our guides brings us back to reality. They are probably still laughing at us and our pseudo-bravo at trying to trap a caiman. Finally the guide, let me call him Alberto, sees a caiman of around 1.5 metres. This man knows stuff about caiman and fish. I can tell this for he has had a finger bitten off by a piranha fish, in the past. He is a seriously ‘hard man’. We move over to give him space, for we are still puce from our last foray into trapping these docile characters (not!) of the Amazon. Over he goes and right onto a poor little fella who is still looking at the torch-light. He is petrified and we can all tell this for he proceeds to urinate upon me.

Oh, now this is a very funny joke! Everyone laughs. I don’t. All try to reassure me that this is not, in fact, a mating call of the fauna of Amazonas. There is muffled laughter amongst the group and various comments from Mark (the Doc) that I may need counselling. I look at him shocked. More laughter. I wipe the urine off me. More laughter. Oh, aren’t we having fun! So much that apparently my comment of ‘we don’t need to talk about this later in our E-Group, do we Guys?’ produced such chortle and guffawing as never I had heard before on our trip!

Still – a happy crew is damned good to have after 5 weeks, and they have been a great team to have befriended.

A couple of days only until our trip is over. A couple of blogs left. 5 weeks. It has gone quickly.

VELHA AIRAO

Date:                11^TH December

Transport:        Riverboat Apurissaua

Location:         Velha Airao

A Memorial and a commemoration to Sir Peter Blake

A MAJOR MISSION OF OUR JOURNEY COMPLETE

Morale:           Extremely High!

Narrative:        Marc Shaw – Expedition Leader, Liz Tombleson,

                        Mark Taylor – Expedition Doctor

Photographs:  Clare Shaw, Cara Blomfield

 

Yesterday we arrived in a village that is the ruins of Velha Airao. Portuguese immigrants came here in the late 1800s, but the village never really made it to longevity. I guess that the living here was very hard and the folk that initially came here would have tried to make it another small town inPortugal, rather than a small town inBrazil.

This is the place that, 10 years ago, Peter Blake and the Jungle Team of his expedition camped the night together.

It is fitting therefore that we have decided that this will be the location of our commemorative memorial to him. It is rather a lovely place. Trees, a gentle day-time breeze, and canopy shade from the heat of the day.

The ruins around are particularly entrancing and most of the group headed off to see them yesterday whilst Janot and Matt and Rod and I prepared the location for the emplacement of the cross that Janot and Matt have made. Janot made the first one, out of wood, in the Casiquiare River 10 years ago – so it was a bit of a no-brainer that he should make thisone also.

Andre helps carry the cross up the hill

In the final moments of yesterday, the cross and its stand are placed. Today we are to glue in place names of those who have accompanied me on the Worldwise Expedition: Clare Shaw (my Darling Daughter),Matt Hall(My Dear Son-in-Law to be), Rod and Liz Tombleson, Kerris Adlam, Mark Taylor, Denise Barnfather, David Lloyd, Cara Blomfield and (of could) my good FriendJanot Prat. Miguel Rochas, our guide must also have a plaque, as must Charmaine Tate, who had to urgently go back toNew Zealandbut who was here for most of the journey. I would also seek to acknowledge the support of Gallagher’s (fromHamilton) who sponsored us the place plagues for all the Worldwise Team.

Placing the Plaques

Early morning 0730 and we leave API 1, and head off in API 2 to our commemorative site. 100 yards inland and with an elevation of 10 metres to the church, cross is very imposing and projects out to theRio Negro. Janot mixes the glue and places the tiles of everyone around the base of the cross. Bosco, our navigator, joins us in this task. Four of us, Bosco, Miguel, Janot and I were here with Blake 10 years ago. We remember. The memorial is finished and it really looks very impressive.

Looking out upon the Rio Negro

I ‘conduct’ our dedication to Blake with a few words, after which we gather to perform our waiatas. We do a stunning job of the whole event (even the energy of the singing was great –  making the rehearsing  that we did over the last four weeks worthwhile). My heart delights. I am so proud of this team.

Worldwise Expedition Team Amazonas 2011

The whole event is recorded by Clare and Cara. A photo of the ‘four here 10 years ago’, and the event is over. All tell me of their honour at being part of this occasion. We are elated and thrilled to have been here to salute a famous New Zealander. So much so that we are tolerant of the fire ants that burn each of us (particularly Clare, who succumbed to a very severe series of expletives on received a ‘burn’ of particular note halfway through our ceremony) in a memory not dissimilar to that of 10 years ago when we also made a dedication to Peter Blake. The junction of the Casiquiare and theOrinocoRivers.

I, was very close to the occasion of 10 years ago, and So I have asked both Mark and Liz to make their comments on a day of personal significance to our group:

The cross setting in its position

Liz had some lovely comments to say:

Viewed from the river, the memorial cross to Sir Peter Blake looked completely in context – slender, graceful, stone-coloured against the backdrop of the simple, unpainted and weathered wooden church behind it, the small cross at its apex echoing the symbolism of its new companion.

 

Once the tiles had been laid by Janot, our ceremony had been simple and unaffected; a few words in tribute to Sir Peter Blake by Marc, the placing of our hands on the cross, a salutation to Sir Peter Blake, spoken in unison and then the rendition of our kapa haka.

 

I like to think the Maori waiata sung so far from New Zealand summoned the collective spirit of our nation to surround the memorial to this man so loved and honoured there.

 

It feels in good hands, this memorial. The area is a national park, the handful of people living there are quietly vigilant and it is available,{but not unconditionally so} to be visited and honoured by those New Zealanders seeking a more intrepid journey on this amazing river in an astonishing part of the world..

 

My final thought as the cross slid from sight behind a screen of small trees is that there is now a place on the Rio Negro for others to visit and reflect on what was and what may have been. I hope my children go there one day.

 

Mark, our Expedition Doctor, has been superb in his support of our trip and being one of the ‘originals’ who has been involved right from the start of our planning 7 years ago… I have asked him to comment on his perception of the dedication:

Velho Airao. A name that I hope will become well known amongst future travellers to this region. A place with both a history and a future for New Zealanders around the world. For this is the last place that Sir Peter Blake and all his ‘jungle-crew’ spent in an Amazonian firest, together, almost exactly ten years ago. So it has a special history. But that is not all. For the small village of one house, a chapel and a school has its own unique history as well. Three large ruins also inhabit the village, originally built by three Portuguese families in the late 19th Century. These once grand  structures have a reputation for harbouring ghosts and there is no doubt that they are remarkably atmospheric. I suspect a night in one of them would be a wonderfully eerie experience. While much of their structures are still present, the jungle is rapidly reabsorbing these once majestic houses and I delight in these most atmospheric buildings. Creepers climb up textured plaster walls, while a palm tree grows from a floor. Bricks lie crumbled in pieces in a corner, now intermingled and entangled in tree roots. There is greenery everywhere. But fauna is also invading this territory. Ants are everywhere, mosquito’s invade, while a massive bees nest sits atop one of the more ornate and splendid walls.

The village sits high on a bank, magnificently overlooking the now massive Rio Negro. The far bank sits in the hazy distance. It is almost unimaginable to think that when the river is at its full height, it will be lapping at my feet, rather than the ten to fifteen metres below us where it passes at present. The volume of water then must be phenomenal.

 

But the reason for our presence is that this is to be the final resting place for the Sir Peter Blake memorial, our main “raison d’être” for being here. I have enjoyed how Janot and Matt have gradually been constructing a large concrete cross over the last four weeks, with various pieces of Kiwiana embedded into it. They have lovingly brought it into the world and should rightly be very proud of it.

 

Everything feels right about the chosen site. It sits just in front of the small but well kept chapel, overlooking the river. A million dollar view. But maybe best of all, the local caretaker, who remembers Blake’s visit, takes ownership of the project. In fact, he became the main builder when the cross is concreted into place and we know that the memorial will be well looked after in the future.

 

On the morning of December the eleventh, two thousand and eleven, Janot embeds clay tiles into the base of the memorial, each containing the name of one of our group, as well as that of Miguel. It looks both solid and classy. It looks, just……..right.

 

The ceremony is short but moving. We all gather around the cross to pay our respects while Marc speaks. As always, his words are both poignant and passionate. I don’t think anyone present was unmoved and I feel both proud and honoured that I have been lucky enough to be part of this ceremony. I feel this is shown when we perform both Te Aroha and Tuturi Mai Nga Iwi. We have been practising these two lovely Moari songs under Liz’s expert tutelage for four weeks now with steady improvement all the way, while the girls Poi dancing has become all but professional. But the power and passion that go into this, perhaps our final performance is simply inspiring. Instinctively, we all know this too. This performance had everything we had to give. Once again, a pride emanates around us, an intangible feeling of a job well done, a debt finally settled. Closure at last.

CARVOAIRAO AND THE RIO BRANCO

Date:                9-10 December

Transport:        Riverboat Apurissaua

Location:         Carvoairao

Quiet canoe riding

Amazonas beauty

Morale:           High

Narrative:        Marc Shaw – Expedition Leader

Photographs:   Clare Shaw, Mark Taylor, Marc Shaw

 

Blue and white church

It is early in the morning and the motor of API 1 changes its rhythm. We are approaching the river-bank, We are going to dock and have a look at a town that has been here for a long time yet still remains a small town. The blue and white church in the centre of the village is the most prominent and recognisable structure.

 

Early Morning Carvoairao

Other assorted houses all adjacent to it catch the early morning ‘matt sunlight’. The effect is rather beautiful, though the town itself is rather a ram-shackle place – pock-marked roads, buildings with house doors eschew, buildings with no hint of surveyor overview, buildings of brick and concrete slab with wooden framed doors and windows, and a newly mown/cut football field that is uneven and with rocks in the middle of the field to create a rolling mound of disproportion.

No one up in this 20 family town. It is 0700 and hammocks still hold their human forms sleeping. Jandals and other treasures underneath them – a ball-cap. A bottle of water or a used can of beer on its side after getting a bloke to sleep. Houses quiet and unperturbed by our presence at this time of the morning.

Asleep in a hammock

The sun dashes against the walls of homes and gives a warmness of colour. The dogs barking incites an occasional yell from those in- a-door at the nidus of waking. No shops but there is a neatness in the town layout. I walk the quiet streets with Janot, and later with Rod. We don’t talk. It would seem wrong in the silence at this end of the town. The other end has the generator going. Electricity. The church lights are still on. An occasional house features a naked bulb, no street lights though.

Whilst we walk and view this town, Miguel comes to me and tells me that he has now got a guide to take us up the Rio Branco. Bosco is not experienced in this part of the river so we have to get someone with local knowledge. A small ruddy Cobaclo (local) is our man.

Guide watching the early morning waters of the Branco

He comes up to me nipple line, but he has an enchanting smile that he flashes as he tells me the story (through Miguel) of going fishing a week ago and catching a caiman (fresh eater alligator). He also caught another smaller caiman that was attacking his fishing line. Leaving both where they were overnight, he was going to dispose of them the next day – only to find that they had both been eaten. This caused Miguel much humour as he tried to imagine the size of the animal that ate them both. Our guide went on with his story telling – apparently he was out hunting peccary (pig-like animals) yesterday. He suddenly found that he and his wife were in amongst around 60 of them but with no gun! They managed to capture three small ones to rear, but whilst they were hunting them they came across three jaguars that were doing the same thing. More humour and mirth from both Miguel and the guide. I looked at them both trying to find the humour in their story!

5 hours travel. We arrive at the small feeder-river to a lake (lake McQuarie), off the Rio Branco. It is here that we hope to see the Amazonas animals of our dreams! Miguel enchants us to this… but then he enchants us to anything  that he wants, such is his invitation to partake in what he is doing. His soft and gentle voice guides all his invitations to us to see the Amazonas and its animals! He casts his spell over us with his stories of this region.

A lunch of fish, bony piranha. Matt has caught around 10 of the bony little buggars. Razor sharp teeth, one does not want to get into the river with any cut, bleeding to attract them. The frenzy of them eating is such that they collectively can ‘eat a horse’ in around 10 minutes. There is a silence around the lunch table as we all reflect on this fact.

Two hours later, after the heat of the midday sun,  Mark, Clare and Matt, Cara, Kerris, Denise, Janot and I check to see that our riverboat is secure before heading upriver with Bosco driving.  We are going to observe the river and small lakes in the region and check out the bird-life. For the next 4.5 hours we slowly travel the regions and turn the boat-power off and just listen to the silence. It is wonderful. Birds of all sorts (herons, egrets, macaws, pidgeons), Howling monkeys, fish splashing, woodpeckers. All sorts of most marvellous sounds sparkle the air in the quietness that we have created. Bosco paddles very softly. We take photos. Clare does a sound recording of the silence and sounds. We search for all sorts of more entrancing animals but we do manage to determine that we have SEEN today 31 different species of animals collectively. Quite an achievement.

Janot, Denise, Marc appreciating the nature and it's sounds

Flight in the Rio Branco

Matamata

 

1700. Home as it is getting dark – it does get dark so quickly here. Flash our torches at the river sides to see f there are any caiman there. You can tell them because there eyes are reflected in the light. They are there… just watching us. Waiting!

Before we go to the evening meal it is time to acknowledge the wedding anniversary of both Miguel and his wife – married for 50 years) and also to Rod and Liz who have been married for 39 years!!! Great stories told and much love from us all.

Such a magnificent night

Piranha for dinner. I look around the table. There is a pause as we recall the bones that these little sods have, from our last meal. For one instant I additionally look to my arms and legs to see if I have cut myself! Reassured I tenderly thread my way through the maize of big and small bones that are the piranha… siphoning small slithers of meat into my mouth. The energy to eat soon is lost and I head for the rice and pasta. So much easier. The piranha gods will remember this the next time I swim, of that I am sure!

Put on Pink Floyd again. I can rest easy. My familiar is here!

GOING SOUTH EAST TO THE RIO BRANCO

Date:                6-8 December

Transport:        Riverboat Apurissaua

Location:         Santa Helena

Sandbank

A night!

The moment of the ‘final farewell’

Morale:           High to ethereal!

Narrative:        Marc Shaw – Expedition Leader

Photographs:   Clare Shaw, Mark Taylor, Marc Shaw

 

Riverboat Image

A day of recovery after the rigors of yesterday. It was good to have a slow day. Time to reflect on where we have been so far and what we experienced yesterday. The Amazonas region is just huge and it is so easy to get lost here – both mentally and physically. Drifting along on API 1 beguiles the mind. The geography of the region entices the traveller to explore.

cashew apple with a cashew nut

Back to Santa Isabela again. It is around 0700. We need supplies and as Miguel shops he comes across the local journalist for the regional paper. The man is interested in our story, and the reasons why we would want to come to this region. We talk. Some of the questions are provocative. They are parried. I comment about only the positive. No-one stands a whining tourist, besides our experiences are also good. An hour or so later he takes his final photograph of Matt and Janot with the cross that they have made to commemorate.

Cara and Janot transmitting Blogs

The day is hot. We have another two days of full-on travelling downstream to get to Barcelos. The Rio Negro is huge in width here – around 30 times the width of the WaikatoRiver. Driving into the breeze keeps us cool and also whisks away the Cartukie – very small bugs that leave a black mark centrally and which are extremely itchy. I call them the ‘no-see-em’ buggars.

In the distance another white strip on the skyline heralds an enormous sandbank. It is startlingly white. The whitest sand that ever I have seen. No shells, just pure sand derived from quartz, stone and the like miles back from whence we have come. It is at the spot we arrive. Time for a swim.

David, Marc, Matt and Mark cooling off

Bosco (our Brazilian Navigator) nudges the boat into an edge of sand and then the swim, checking first to ensure that there are no sting-rays around, by smacking the waters to shoo them away. The sand is warm but not hot at 1630 hours. There are no footprints on the sand. No one has been here. Purity.

 

Kerris checking out the beautiful sands of the beach

A Tern's nest in the sand

Is there pollution here? It is here. It’s a shame but there it is. Occasionally there is a beer can  or some form of plastic that floats downstream. Not too often, but probably the immensity of the region dilutes its effect and we don’t see so much evidence.  There is not much more than there was 10 years ago. That’s good. Miguel tells me that education is now starting to affect the minds of the young, giving them a responsibility for their environment. Considering the importance of this region, it is well to pass this job to the young for the older generations here have lived with rubbish too long to make changes.

The wildlife around this region reflects the purity of the environment, and it is pleasing to see so much both in the waters of the Rivers here and on lands and especially in the trees. I don’t recall seeing this much nature-life on my previous visit.

Kerris with a beautiful lily-like Flower

E-Group tonight thrust us in this enormous arena of light and beauty.  A most marvellous evening.

Sunset

On the sides of theRio, the trees and bushes are hazed and glow with the moonlight. Above them the skies seem to luminesce. There are no clouds. The stars burst down, so bright that they do not even sparkle. Clare puts on a track of Pink Floyd. It is the right track. Lord, but this occasion is wonderful.

After dinner, I race back onto the top deck. David and Rod and Liz also. Silence. Each of us in our own indulgent trance. Sooo beautiful. 30-40 minutes. The night is pure and seems so fresh. It is the most magical of nights that one could have ever spent here on the river.

Such magic in the region continues the next morning as Miguel comes to me whilst I am writing the Blog, and tells me that we are now coming to the spot where Seamaster and the Jungle Team separated 10 years ago. It was the last time that both I and Janot ever saw Peter Blake.

Spot where Seamaster and the Jungle Team separated 10 years ago

I asked to stop and have a look around the region. Yes, the sandbank that I remember was here, though now there is less sand as the river is so high at the moment. Many of this Worldwise Team (Rod and Liz, Janot, Denise, david and Mark) came with me and we went by API 2 to the beach. A most marvellous occasion. We stepped out onto this massive expanse of beach. To meet us within about 20 metres: Iguana and Caiman tracks. Heron footprints. Small frogs, as big (only) as a small fingernail, hopping along the beach. A small Caiman skull, 9 inches long, indicating that the little fella had probably been the catch of a bigger caiman.

Miguel and a caiman skull found on the beach

Terns flying overhead. An hour later – 0900 – hot now and starting to get hotter .

So many images here of 10 years ago. Peter Blake and his wife, Lady Pippa, taking me for a long ride up, in a Rubber Inflatable Boat(RIB),  into the adjacent harbour. Kayak races. Wonderful sunsets. A jungle crew (Janot and I and Ollie, Mark the American SEAL, and Alistair – a neat guy who was a delight to be with) eager to depart for the next stage of the expedition journey, and the pleasure that I felt in being with this team. Going to the jungle. It was to be a new experience for me. That was supposedly the dangerous part of our trip. Little did we know.

Very much ‘a memory day’ for me. The whole idea of expeditions was new to me then, and I was fearful of it. Until 10 years ago, my idea on an expedition was no-where that one’s hands got dirty, a glass of wine or two at no later than 1700, and a hot shower to get the ‘uckies’ of the day off!

Now, I am very much different and muchly thankful for the experiences I have had in the interim. It remains my wish that this current Worldwise Team will also have learned as I did. About oneself physically and emotionally, about ones relationships with other people, and how we individually impact upon others and this greater world that we are part of.

Surely we are here on this wonder-filled planet to enjoy ‘being’ and living. Surely we are here to enjoy each-other. Throw in a little bit of humour and a glass or two (not three!) of ‘a little something’ at the end of the day… and life  just doesn’t get any better than that!

TREKKING AND CLIMBING ANOTHER HILL – 10 YEARS AGO PETER BLAKE DIED

Date:                5 December

Transport:        Riverboat Apurissaua

Location:         Village stop on the Rio Negro

Trekking again!

Morale:           Good – then terrible – then excellent, several days after the trek!

Narrative:        Marc Shaw – Expedition Leader

Photographs:   Mark Taylor, Marc Shaw

 

The 5^th of December. Today is the day that 10 years ago, Peter Blake was murdered.

 

It is also the day that I and five others chose to go to climb a hill in inner Amazonia. It was intended as a dedication to him, but what a stupid darned thing to do. Blake would have smiled as we got lost several times, finally found our track, watched the guides get lost again and then ascend the hill only to be absolutely buggared at the end of the 9 hour day trek out to beat the closing night! Some dedication!!

a Magnificent tree we passed on our trek

Mark Taylor (the Expedition Doctor) tried to describe the need for humour on such a mission on our last blog – but I frankly failed to find any today. I was absolutely rooted! Looking at the others that came – Matt, Mark, Janot, Liz and Denise – they looked fairly happy to get back too! Just as the evening light was fading.

OK, so I admit to starting all eager beaver. 0600 and we are away. We are to have a short boat ride that we’re told will cut 2 hours off the total trip. Then we will have around a couple of hours walk – up the hill – have lunch – down the hill and a two hours walk home. Then party party party. WRONG!

The boat took us to the landing spot alright, then we variably walked, got lost, found our way, got lost, and got lost when we were getting lost… on any number of occasions. The 5 hours trip took ‘just under 9 hours’. It was much more remote than the trip to the Araca -  no trails of any kind. We walked where the lead guide (there were three of them) took us with his metal-hitting-wood machete. Ting, ting, snap. On we would go. Over dead trees slumped on the ground with multi-varieties of fungi growing on them – generally one type of fungus per tree. Big and small. They were beautifully shaped and often gently coloured to fit in with the jungle. Interesting  also that the colours of the jungle tended to fit the jungle!

One of the many fungi we noticed

Strange thing to say… occasionally there were quite bright colours but generally there was a similar ‘finish’ to the jungle itself. Initially we walked on fairly flat and firm land, giving way to leaves and debris that had fallen from trees above. This gave it a springy feel and made the firmness of step essential. Rotting trees gave way to many a step and then there were the holes that armadillos and other animals created. Big bloody things, that if you did not watch your step then you were going to collapse into them.

Overhead it was not possible to make out much of a skyline as there was the very thick canopy of the trees above. Very hard to get much light below this and so at times during the morning it appeared as though it was close to dusk and dawn. The feeling of being in the jungle was at times claustrophobic and at other times ‘remote’ -  in that there was this feeling of disjunction; not feeling quite as though one was really ‘in the Amazon’.

Sounds of the jungle – quiet on the whole so that one did not want to make much of a noise. Overhead could be heard the sounds of birds with their various calling sounds ranging from ‘three calls’ to a sound a bit like a woodpecker in the big drum. Macaws overhead. Cicadas and insect noises, though not unduly so. Flies that circled one’s head and tended to stay with you for 20 minutes just hovering around your head.

And so we walked, initially very tolerant of the trail that we were on, for around 3 hours. THEN we DID start to get worried when the guides starting talking with each other and trying to decide which direction that we should be going in! One of then finally took off his shoes and climbed up a vine system and continued climbing to the top of the tree – around 30 metres. So high that we just could not see him. He yelled a direction and then came down. Fortunately,  Denise and Janot took the compass log of it and we then became regularly consulted as to the direction that we were going.

One of our guides climbing a tree to find out where we were

Another hour passed and the guides started talking again. ‘Where do we go now’? I asked one of them to climb another tree which he reluctantly did and we found that we were fairly well on the right direction. Phew, as it was now 1145 and I had made the prediction that we would need to turn back at 12 midday.

10 minutes later we were climbing the hill to get to the view. According to Janot the hill was around 300 metres high. We were, at times climbing at 20 degrees, 40 degrees and probably 50 degrees. There was no track to follow, just the ‘ca-ching’ of the machetes ahead .

Finally we got to the top and there it was = the Amazon basin. We were so tired that the three guides had to cut us a view . The photo I have included will show the result of our toil.

The Amazon Basin

 

Denise Liz Matt Janot Marc 'at the top'

Trip back was another 3-4 hours and was very hard work, especially for me. Just imagine that the humidity is 100%, there is no breeze anywhere where you are travelling – in any direction, that the water that you yearn to be cold is in fact warm, your boots cause your feet to ache because they constantly tell you STOP, and vines play at your feet trying to trip you up so that finally you give them a darn good ‘thrash’ with your walking stick to teach them a lesson.  Today, as Shackleton would say, was a stern day.

Absolutely Rooted!

Finally my feet overdrive the desires of my boots and we make it back to the boat landing. I am AGAIN absolutely rooted! I chastise myself for even contemplating this task, though this thought is cast aside with great speed after I have the first ‘ice cold’ beer and coooooooollll shower when I get back to Api 1!

Clare, Kerris, Cara,  Rod and David had had a marvellous day back to Api 1 and then adjacent village looking around and casting their good wishes on the local population. I am jealous! Why the ***** was I not there!

After  dinner, we have our E-Group. I was reminded that it was 10 years since Blake’s death. A marvellous night of group discussion about our journey and what Blake meant to Janot and me, and also to the others on our trip. Denise made the comment that ‘some people just should not die’, but she was then gracious to add ‘though Marc said something today that I found quite profound –  he said that the energies of such people live on into the future, and were it not for this event 10 years ago, then we would not be here today’. Then we broke out the Cachaca and had a couple of rounds of caiparinhas as I gave a toast to the memory of Sir Peter, and also to Ollie Olphert, Peter’s 2iC.  We also talked of our future plans – to more of these journey s and take others to places that they would not normally see. Everyone should see this most wonderful part of the world so that it can be appreciated that there is a global need to preserve it and other environmental treasures.

Being in the Amazon, we on our Worldwise Expedition can see how important it is to play our part in guiding others to a cleaner and more healthy world.

The son of Jacques Cousteau – the great French Explorer – wrote  ‘we need to preserve the rivers of the world so that they are like the nurturing breast for the oceans of the world, rather than what they are at the most which is more of a diseased kidney excreting toxins into the seas of this marvellous planet of ours’.

The issue is – how do we do this without patronizing or provoking others into re-action? We need to work with the rhythms of the people of this world, not against them – only then will change by possible.

HUMOUR ON THE RIO NEGRO – certainly required after this trek into the Amazon!

Date:               5^TH December

Transport:        Riverboat Apurissaua

Location:         Climbing hills in the Amazon to see the river basin

Exploration

Morale:           Like the Parson’s egg ‘Good in parts’! Decidedly poor during the journey,    for some!

Narrative:        Mark Taylor – Expedition Doctor

Photography:  Clare Shaw

 

The Jungle. Or Rainforest. Call it what you want, it can be a harsh environment for the jungle naive “Gringo” who might find himself trekking in this remarkable biome. Thanks to my vast experience in this environment, I have collated a list, in no particular order, of  some of the creatures you might meet in the Amazon..

1)     The Hole

This particularly nasty creature can be found in many different habitats, but the Amazon variety come in three different species. Firstly, there is the Armadillo Hole, a benign species, easily spotted by even the most innocent of Gringo’s, but one should still be wary. These holes have been seen to be large enough to consume an entire adult human.

The second type of hole is the Tarantula Hole. These sly holes are much smaller than their larger cousins, but are perfectly sized to consume a hole human foot in their jaws, causing a vicious twisting motion in the poor unfortunate victim. Many a gringo has come to an early demise with twisted or even broken ankles caused by these well hidden holes and one should be wary of them. Fortunately, the Tarantula’s themselves only come out at night and are of no great concern.

The third variety of hole is perhaps the most malignant. They are called…….Holes. Nobody knows where these well camouflaged creatures come from and they appear almost randomly in the jungle. Most remarkably, they come in all different shapes and sizes and there are sure to be some varieties that have still not been named by conventional science. Be careful.

Recent evidence has shone light on a particular sub-group of this species, who have developed a symbiotic relationship with another jungle creature, the Log (see later). These holes are only found on the far side of the “Fallen Log,” lying in wait for the foot of the innocent trekker, causing all sorts of expletives, anger and fear. These are vicious nasty creatures and not to be messed with.

Dappled light bringing out beatuiful colour in even the dead undergrowth

2) Light

Perhaps the most powerful in the rainforest, there are perhaps more varieties of this species than any other. The Amazonas variety is called the Dappled Light and is a shy creature. Remarkably, it is creature of most stunning predictability.

The huge green canopy overhead can often hide the Light for hours on end, causing an almost claustrophobic feeling for the trekker. Once light is resighted, there is an eerie lifting of ones spirits, that can lull the unwitting trekker into thinking there is lot of light around. Beware. This is not always the case.

3) Paths

One of the rarer and more shy inhabitants of the jungle, one can trek for weeks on end without a sign of these serpentine animals. But Gringo’s beware. Even if one has one of these creatures sighted, they can just disappear without warning, using their uncanny camouflage to slip back into the jungle, never to be seen again.

If one is within sight of a path, it means that you are going “somewhere.” But if one loses one’s path, the poor Gringo is now likely to be going “anywhere”. If this lack of path continues, then one may come into contact with a closely related cousin of “anywhere”, called ‘nowhere’. The Gringo Trekker should always try and avoid going “nowhere.” This place is massive. One could walk for hours or even days and still end up “nowhere” If possible, go “anywhere”, or preferably “somewhere”.

It is important not to be caught alone without a path. One can guarantee that one will never see that particular path again, as they are so shy. Strangely, on these occasions, one is better to go “nowhere,” for fear of ending up “anywhere”, while the rest of your trekking party is “somewhere.” On these occasions, your only hope of going “somewhere,” is to use your whistle to call your fellow trekkers, who by now could be “anywhere.”

close up of baby vines

4) Vines

There are two varieties of these incredibly long and thin creatures and it is vital for the Gringo to be able to differentiate between the two. The less aggressive “Canopy Vine” is a gentle creature, its long body stretching from the vast wall of green above you, down to the forest floor. They are often seen in groups called “Dangles,” and these creatures are so tame that one can even swing on them without fear of danger. The local Indians often use these to climb high up into the canopy, where they can see some of the local landmarks to tell which direction to go. If one is caught either “anywhere” or “nowhere,” this can be a cunning way of finding “somewhere.”

Beware the “Undergrowth Vine.” These common and mischievous creatures seem to gain enormous pleasure from tripping up the Gringo Trekker, before rapidly disappearing back into the undergrowth, using their fantastic camouflage as protection against retaliation. Once again, there is a huge range of sub-species of the “Undergrowth Vine,” but all have the same perverse goal in life.

These creatures are also remarkably tough, being impossible to injure. Even their juvenile form is hard as nails and can tangle around the ankle of even the fleetest of foot. Unfortunately, the Gringo Trekker is usually moving far too fast to really appreciate these creatures of the jungle. Perhaps its for the best, as their very subtle, low grade sniggering noise has been known to infuriate the Gringo Trekker to such a degree that they have been known to be driven completely mad and thrash out in anger and frustration at the nearest innocent sapling, shouting very rude words and threatening the poor, innocent sapling with all sorts of unlikely punishments (see later).

 

a fallen log

5) Fallen Logs

Common in the Amazon, these amazingly slow and lumbering creatures can be found everywhere. They have no scruples at all and will often lie on other creatures of the jungle, like paths or vines, without concern for their well being.

Standing on these “Fallen Logs” is not to be recommended. The Logs simply don’t like it. They are both slippery and often delicate. Slipping off one of these can be most dangerous. There are usually two patterns of these slips. The side slip, where the log moves just enough for you slip sideways off it, often causing injury to either the ankle or bruising of the hip. However, it is the Straddle Slip, that is particularly hazardous to the trekker. As each leg falls on either side of the log, ones genitalia can rapidly descend towards said log, causing the most terrible of injuries. Tears have been known to be released by even the most intrepid of explorers.

Close up of a sappling

6) Sapplings

These cheeky creatures have, for some reason, a bad reputation amongst Gringo Trekkers, yet they are often caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. As previously mentioned, many a trekker has blamed these animals for all sorts of injury and insult, thus receiving an awful beating in the process.

In reality, the most that the trekker will receive from a sapling is a quick slap in the face, which is best ignored for fear of invoking the wrath of its best friend, the “Undergrowth Vine.”

7) Moisture

This creature is everywhere in the Amazon. Quite frankly, there are so many around that it is quite impossible to avoid. Small and very clever, they get everywhere. Backpacks, cameras and clothing are no deterrent to these tyrants of the rainforest and they slowly munch away on everything that they find. Even the human body has no immunity against this terrible parasite, leaving the Gringo Trekker dripping with sweat all day long. Sadly, moisture never sleeps and there is just as much of it around at night as there is during the day.

8) Mosquitos

Again, whilst these insects plague much of the world, the Amazonas varieties are particular savage. Known to congregate in “squadrons,” they will often follow the naive trekker for hours on end, waiting for the moment when a rest is taken. Avoid this if you can, for the very moment you stop moving, the squadrons will descend upon you and do there very best to relieve of as much blood as possible, while leaving a little itchy calling card on your skin as a memento.

DEET is an effective repellant, but needs to be applied regularly. Once there is moisture around though, the DEET is difficult to apply and slips off faster than you can rub it back on.

9) Ants

For many, their travels through the rainforest coincides with a fear of predators like the Jaguar, Piranha and the Anaconda. Fear not. There is a creature far nastier than any of those and simply rules the jungle. No one is safe from these six legged dynamos. Though they come in thousands of varieties, they all seem to get in ones clothing and gear with remarkable ease. Not only do they give a very painful bite, they can also sting.

So many are their numbers, that Ants have their own roading system in the jungle. They are rather fond of using Fallen Logs, who are so lazy that they don’t seem to mind the ants crawling all over their backs. Long, well kept motorways criss cross the jungle floor. DO NOT. I repeat, DO NOT be tempted to use one of these motorways.

10) Tepuiss

Legend has it that these impressive hunks of rock that stick out of the flat Amazonas rainforest in the north and western regions of the Amazon Basin were once really evil sorcerers. Fortunately, natural selection over the centuries has meant that the local Indian tribes have built up an immunity to these landmarks. Sadly, the innocent Gringo has no protection and once spotted, they gaze longingly at these Tepuis, dreaming of climbing up to the top of them. Sadly, once in the sorcerers evil clutches, there is no cure for this tropical disease. The initial symptoms are mild, but the more Tepuis’s that are seen, the worse the affliction gets until the Gringo,or more usually, group of Gringo’s, set off for a trek to conquer a Tepuis. The spell is so strong, that these groups have been known to set off without food, water or even shelter. One of the worst symptoms of Tepuis Fever is taking guides who are unable to communicate with the group. No matter what language the group of trekkers are able to speak, these guides won’t speak it. BEWARE. Trying to communicate with these guides to ascertain how far it is to go will end in disappointment. At best, you will receive a gross underestimate of the true time it will take, leaving the weary trekker’s tired and frustrated.

close up detail of some fungi

11) Fungi

One of the stranger inhabitants of the Amazon Rainforest, these stunningly beautiful yet simple creatures come in many different colours, shapes and sizes. While initially, a multitude of photographic images are usually taken, by the fourth or fifth hour, all interest is long gone and the fungi will be fortunate not to receive the trekkers wrath, with a quick swipe of their stick.

12) The “Fu*k-off, Fu*k-off Fly

Avoid these if you can. Failing that, do try not to swear at these poor, sadly misunderstood creatures. You will, of course, fail immediately. Only with thousands of years of Darwinian adaption, like the local indians have, can the Gringo manage to resist the temptation to tell these flys to Fu*k Off.

They fly rapidly around your head, in tighter and tighter circles until one is left with no choice but to wave ones arms around, loudly screaming expletives at the said fly. It is somewhat ironic that this is exactly what the fly is after. It really is supremely adapted to its habitat. It is not widely known amongst Gringo’s that these flys feed on human expletives. Having feasted on a flurry of “fu*k off’s”, the “Fu*k Off, F*ck Off Fly” will immediately head to the next Gringo in the group, hoping to feed.

one version of the prickly palm

13) The Prickly Palm

It is enough to say that the name of this Amazon inhabitant describes it perfectly. Camouflaged to look identical to its close cousin, the “Smooth Palm,” it grabs at body parts with glee, especially hands and elbows, before inserting its vicious spikes into the soft skinned Gringo. These will need to be removed by an experienced physician ( probably the Rain Forests most dangerous creature).

Initial stages of the black fly bite. A few days on from this they are incredibly itchy and leave a black blood spot in the centre of the bite area

14) Black Fly

Don’t worry about these insects. You won’t see them bite you and the nasty little itchy bites won’t appear for another twenty four hours anyway, by which time you’ll have forgotten where the hell you got them from.

Now that we have a good all round knowledge of the creatures that inhabit the Jungle, I feel it would only be sensible to offer some advice on the important gear one should take into the jungle. This may surprise you. Forget about food and shelter. These pieces of equipment will keep you alive while others are falling by the wayside.

1) Noise

Noise is the Trekkers friend. Fortunately, Gringo’s are particularly good at supplying plenty of this substance. It is recommended to take this piece of equipment wherever you go, as it will scare away many of the nastier creatures to live in the vicinity. Even the infamous Jararaca, a snake known for waking up every morning in a foul mood, will scamper out of the way when confronted with noise.

Noise is also very good for morale. While too much can drive some trekkers demented, too little is a worrying sign. Too long a period without noise will usually end up in another innocent sapling being beaten to within an inch of its life.

rest stop - machete fashioned sticks in the foreground

2) Stick

Many naive trekkers will bring fancy, expensive walking sticks from their home countries to the jungle. This is not to be recommend. The jungle is full of sticks. No really, it is. I am constantly amazed when gringo’s keep bringing sticks to the Amazon, despite my advice that there are plenty there already.

With one sweep of a machete, a walking stick can be fashioned. Particularly useful for balance, support and fending off “slapping saplings”, these sticks also double as a weapon, to be used both offensively, on said saplings, or defensively as protection from many of the aforementioned jungle creatures.

However, beware. These sticks have amazing camouflage and can disappear into the forest within a second of placing it there. Fortunately, there are plenty of other sticks to choose from and great satisfaction can be had from making one from the previously mentioned “Slapping Sapling.”

3) Steripen

These devices are simply fantastic. Enough said that with one of these very clever inventions, one can turn dirty water into clean water, all with two clicks of a button.

4) Water Bottle

Without one of these, you have just rendered your Steripen useless.!

Now go out and enjoy the jungle, safe in the knowledge that you have all the information necessary to survive in this harsh but beautiful environment.

SAO GABRIEL – ON THE RIO NEGRO

 

Date: 1-3 December
Transport: Riverboat Apurissaua
Location: Sao Gabriel and environs, Exploration, Unable to travel further – the4 decision to turn back
Morale: Good – regenerated with some time exploring Sao Gabriel
Narrative: Marc Shaw – Expedition Leader
Photographs: Clare Shaw, Marc Shaw

Shop front

 

Sao Gabriel beckons us ahead. It is 1100 and we have been motoring since 0430 this morning to get here. For me there are decisions to be made about the ongoing nature of this journey. ‘Can we get to the Orinoco River safely?’ is the main question to be answered. I also have to take into account our ability to have adequate supplies for the journey and an understanding of the chronology of travel and tolerance of the group to ongoing travel with limited time to stop and ‘smell the roses’!

Camanaus in the main port at the southern aspect of Sao Gabriel. We alight here. There are rapids above us and we will not be able to get ‘Api 1’ above them to the main town itself.

port at Camanaus

Miguel addresses me in the morning as we arrive. We are to go to meet with the local military to see what support we can get from them and also to see how safe our anticipated journey will be. The Team join me in looking smart in our branded ‘uniform’, and we proceed to dis-embark, to get the bus the 40 minutes into Sao Gabriel.

Whilst waiting , who should arrive but the General himself. A surprise! He is on his way to Manaus and we have caught him just at the right moment. I am introduced as an ex-member of the NZ Army. A pleasant and attentive man, the General listens to Miguel and agrees to help getting us to the Casiquiare by providing an escourt to Cucui – on the border with Venezuela. Good news. Miguel is very pleased.

Matt, Marc, Liz and Rod check out the local architecture

Details are left over to the army second in charge, a Lt Col, who dialogues further with Miguel. Good news. An offer to take us all in his military convoy to Sao Gabriel is gratefully accepted. 11 of us pile in to three SUVs. We are away. Drop off is at the Federal Police by the beach where we moored 10 years ago. I remember the beach well. Beautiful white sands and an ideal place to swim. Tis a lovely spot.

Beach in Sao Gabriel

Into town then. Walking. A chance to have a look around. I do not remember any of this place, other than the beach. Over a hill, and down again. Ah, there is the main street. Miguel is looking for stores and for information to further our journey. He approaches me with very bad news. The trip to the Orinoco, our projected spot for placing the memorial to Blake, is going to be a long one and that is IF we start tomorrow. 2 days travel to Cucui, one day to San Carlos in Venezuela, three days to Junction of Casiquiare and Orinoco – 6 days there and probably the same back. I suspect a little over-estimate from Miguel but even with this… we are going to be travelling constantly for the remainder of our trip. There will be no time to stop and we will have to travel in longboats sleeping in hammocks. It would be rough. No time to visit villages and reach into the people of the region. Damn!

This is not good and it certainly will require a change of plan. I grab Janot and Matt and Clare and discuss the options with them. We decide to jettison this plan and go for one that enables us to travel back downstream and visit various villages. So many people on board, we really do need the chance to get off ‘Api 1’ regularly. I noted this when we came upstream and how hard people were finding it being cramped up on our Brazilian boat – majestic though she is.

We are all decided. Janot and I are obviously very saddened, but I need to think of the wider group. At the E-Group tonight I explain all to everyone. They are OK with this. Much comments about how sad that they are that Janot and I will not get to go to the original site… but I explain that we will revise our location to plant our commemorative cross to one downstream where there was a magic moment between Blake and his Jungle Team (of which Janot and I were part) 10 years ago. An old ruined building where there is little chance of floods taking our memorial. Also it will be easier for other NZers in the future to come to, to salute our famous New Zealander. We plan to GPS the site and write of its beauty so that future intrepid Kiwis will mark this off as a ‘must do’.

Kerris, Matt, Rod, Liz, Cara and Clare catch the bus into Sao Gabriel in the morning

Our change of plans allows for a welcome day for folk to ‘do their own thing’ the next day. Some trip into town on the buss, but I and Mark and Janot and David decide to go upstream against the rapids with Miguel. A 90 minute trip. Lovely country to pass through and such potentially dangerous waters that we need a new guide to take us through the region. Bosco, our amazing Rio Negro navigator gets a day off!

Janot and I meander together through the town and down to the harbour above the rapids where boats from the upper Rio Negro berth. Their flat bottoms enable them to snugly fit onto the beeches here. Their shape and structure give them an unique ability to move on the river, but woo betide them if they get caught our in the middle of the greater Rio Negro on a stormy night.

Boats upper Negro

One cannot conceive of how large the Negro is. Sure, it is narrower in this region where the rapids are, but it is still about 5 widths of the Waikato River. Further down, from whence we have come it is more like 20 widths of the Waikato!

Rapids at SG

 

Cara, Liz and Kerris investigate the boulders near the rapids

Sao Gabriel is a town for the military really. Quite a bit of money around, and a lot of SUVs that are very modern, and almost too big for the limited kilometres of road that There are in this region. About the same size as Barcelos, though much more active and energetic. There seems to be any number of military units based here, and it is easy to see why. We are right in the corner of a triad of countries: Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia. Drugs territory!

Beauty in a Restaurant

A main street that is quite active closes today, Saturday, at midday. Janot knows of a local restaurant. A meal and a beer for lunch. We are re-energised. The heat outside is quite extreme. High humidity.

Street Meat Sao Gabriel

Matt is in Chillie market heaven

Meander back to the beach of yesterday. We pass a couple of local lads who did not quite make it home last night lying in the street. A couple wander by trying to find home with the tell-tale swagger of one whose has over-indulged. Alcohol is cheap here and it is also a big problem with the local Indian population. A familiar story with its usual tragic consequences.

Cara and Kerris pick out fruit at the markets

A walk further up the street to the catholic church. Another couple of shops – one of which is advertising a party tonight and selling shirts as a form of entry. Janot looks at me and I at him. We buy a shirt. These things are not what one would ever wear, alive, back home. Luminescent, that have short arms and are multi-branded with the names of drinks, bars, and shops. We both buy one each, a little smile on our lips. My Daughter Clare goes totally hyperactive, that evening, when she sees it, refusing to allow me to wear OR to give it to my Dear Son back in New Zealand. That is before she refused to talk to me for buying it in the first place!

Ahh, the beach. Mark and Denise using the kayaks and going up and down the small rapids at the side of the much larger ones. Mark wipes out, laughs and has another crack… but Denise does the task well. Slaloming must be in her blood.

Further down the beach Miguel and Rod are present and chatting and swimming. At still another spot Cara and Kerris have sorted some hammocks out to act as a sunscreen on the beach.

Janot and I wonder down and find Clare and Matt – this is before I show Clare the shirt – a chat. It is hot. A cold beer. Ah, that is better! We now pause a little to await Miguel’s call for us to get the bus rude back down to Camanaus.

A good bus ride back with all the locals on board and looking as us – from another land, in more ways than one. The driver went and helped Janot buy some beers for us to drink on the bus whilst we were travelling!! Such service. 40 minutes ‘home’. It was all very pleasant.

Local Pub

Nearby on our walk back to ‘Api 1’ there is a Pub – well just a large room really with the bartender who sleeps on the bar. A few planks for people to walk out to it. The place is right by the side of the river and as such there are various ‘colourful’ odours. More drunks lying on the grass verge. There are dogs and cats that drift in and go to sleep on the floor. The place is probably one of the most squalid that I have even been to, but it had heaps of colour to it and a number of our folk indulged themselves with a beer or coke, or two, before the long trek of maybe 50 yards back to ‘Api 1’.

1900 and it is time for E-Group: lovely to talk with the group about their images of the day and then I discuss fully the change of plans and the reasons for them. All are content, and probably a little relieved at NOT having to spend 12 days motoring up to a river junction and back.

Tomorrow will be a day on the river. Time to ‘hit the hay’. A little bit of Pink Floyd for me to relax the mind.

Such is the magic of the trip.

AROUND SAO GABRIEL – A PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY

Date: 1-3 December
Transport: Riverboat Apurissaua
Location: Sao Gabriel and environs
Exploration
Photographs: Clare Shaw

So far, Generous Reader you have been subject to much writing and your reading of it. Time for a change, so what better way to salute the excitement of the region that we are travelling… than to show you some of the images of the places we visit.

Clare shows this side of our reportage most marvellously.

 

 

Mix of cloud colour as a storm rolls in on route to Sao Gabriel

 

Storm south of Sao Gabriel

 

Camanaus ambulance by the river

 

Api 1 River boat

 

Sao Gabriel

 

Moth

 

close up of growth on the boulders by the rapids

 

local village near Sao Gabriel

 

oven in local village

boarding Api2 at local village

 

cruising the river