One of the highlights of the trip for me was to
meet and interact with local people – Amazon Indians – tribes whom I had
studied nearly fifty years ago when reading for my Social Anthropology Tripos
at Cambridge. We had been fortunate as we studied under the Masters – people who lived with tribals in various cultures across the world – the Nuer of
Sudan, the Amazon Indians, the Aborigines etc and who had written the seminal
works on each of these tribes – works which became our textbooks. In all
honesty, I have forgotten all I had studied, but I was keen on seeing the
tribes and how they lived today. I did not expect them to even know that there were
Indians elsewhere in the world – I would always make Huber tell the tribal that
I too was an Indian but from another country. A look of awe, of surprise, but
essentially non comprehension that they are uneducated in geography and don’t have
a clue of where India lies. It is a natural reaction.
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| Teaching the group how to throw the net |
My first reaction was that their way of life
remained very much the same all these years - hunting and gathering – fishing,
farming for rice and gathering various fruit and hunting in the jungles. My guide
Huber confirmed to me that his tribe of Yagua Indians still use blowpipes when
hunting. Here you see Huber demonstrating the art of fishing with a net. My photo
captures the exact moment of the net landing on the water and in my earlier
blog on the Amatista, there is a photo of the catfish caught by Huber.
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| Natural ventilation and a moveable structure |
Robinson, our chief guide, told us that there were
some 53 languages spoken in the region where we were travelling. Most of the
people we met were Cocama Indians. One comes across a variety of Amazonian
locals in the strangest of places in the forest. It is estimated that there are
more than 200 tribal communities living here, many of whom have no contact with
the outside world. Scientists have not yet studied all these ethnic
communities. An interesting fact is that the tribal’s speak in their own
language that is understood by their community only. About 170 varied languages
are estimated to be in use in the Amazon area. I don’t know how they arrived at
this statistic but I saw many Indians in canoes, singly or in a group of 2 or 3
fishing in the loneliest of places. If anything happens, there is no cell phone
or means of communication to the village.
On one trip by the skiff, we were met by a group of
adults who stopped us. They asked us to wait for the Chief who came and spoke
to Robinson. After a 15 minute chat, he went away. Robinson, ever the diplomat,
said: I never say ‘No’ I always say ‘Yes’ to them because I need their help. What
I do afterwards, is different as I have to look after my clients and my company’s
interests. The locals wanted Robinson to bring our group to his village to buy
their handicrafts. For whatever reason, Robinson could not oblige but he
politely sat and chatted and then sent the Chief away.
All along the river bank, throughout the main river as well as the
tributaries or diversion, there were dwellings – simple huts with thatch roofs
or aluminium sheets. Most of them had one or two sides open to the elements
presumably for ventilation. You will see in some photos, that the water at high
tide or in rainy season comes right up close to the base of the huts which are
generally on stilts to stop animals entering. Also they can see if snakes etc
creep up into the house.
This is a beautiful peaceful scene taken around sunset when the
water reflects the scenery.
At the Lodge where we had to check in before entering the Reserve,
we saw these foresters rolling the logs together – the trees must have fallen
naturally. We did see a lot of deforestation where trees and brush had been
removed by cut and burn techniques for cultivation of rice.
Here we are at our overnight stop where the ship had been beached
gently into the mud. The local children came alongside – in fact our boatman
lives here and he pointed out with great pride his two kids to us.
We went one late afternoon on a canoeing trip – each one of us
with a local lady canoeist. We spent a good 45 minutes paddling around in
a large circle which gave us a chance to see the local jungle and their environs.
It was wonderful as it was a cool afternoon just before sunset. We went through heavy
vegetation and at one time i thought we were going through an arch but in fact
it turned out to be an arch of trees and leaves naturally formed. There were
several islands and people inhabiting them but we did not see them.The rowers were each paid S 8 for their labour which was around
US$ 2.25 – so I gave my rower a tip as i felt she deserved it.
One of the interesting events was a lunch at the house of an Indian
lady. Theobaldo Capijo, age 47 years, his wife aged 44 years had cooked lunch for
us. They have ten children from 3 years to 27 years old! There are 94 people in
their community of Monte Allegro. There are 40 children in the school of whom
22 are in primary school. After a starter on some meat on a skewer which was
really tasty, we had the main course sitting on the grounf, local style. We ate
with our right hand fingers which was my normal style anyway! Lunch consisted
of :
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| Manioc, meat, bananas |
·
Yellow tomato or cocona juice – very tasty
·
Lemon grass juice – which had slightly lemony taste but
refreshing.
·
Manioc or yucca boiled
·
Tiger catfish which was a real delicacy and specially prepared for
us.
·
A rodent called a paca which was meant to be a guinea pig but i
did not fancy it.
·
Bananas or plantains – boiled.
·
Huane – sticky thick rice. With eggs wrapped and cooked per portion
in banana leaf.
·
Onion and chilli mix – for those who wanted to spice up their
food.
The food in general was bland and it could be the natural taste or
for the tourists. I don’t know.
We went in a wee bit concerned at what was being offered to us
but actually it turned out to be interesting.
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| the full platter |
The hut actually was very spacious and like all local huts it was
open plan. The kitchen must have been at least 25 ft x 20 ft in size and well
laid out.
There was a chap selling paintings in acrylic and because of my
interest in art, I bought two of them – showing local fauna and flora. They were
basic designs but I thought interesting colour combinations. After coming back
home, i learnt that many handicrafts are actually made in the cities and sent
to the villages for them to sell as local stuff, so I don’t know if the
paintings were local or made in a city by someone else.
These are the local ferry boats which take people from each
village to the next. There are no berth. Just the deck. If you want to travel
overnight or even on a long day time journey, don’t forget to take a hammock
along!
We also went to a village called Santa Cruz where we spent some
time. First Robinson showed us some plants which were used for local medicine or
cooking. Interesting as they grew them in small plots next to the house, the
people are subsistence farmers and fisherfolk. Poor but seem to be happy. We were
not asked to pay any money to them. I think this was part of Huber and Robinson’s
commitment or maybe the tour company arrangement to show how locals live and
survive in the jungle.
We went to a few huts and met the owners. Robinson would ask them questions
on how many people lived there, what they did for a living... i am sure these
were questions asked each time but the answers were always refreshingly fresh
and not stale. One of these huts,
though large, had many people living in it. The man of the house was lolling
around on a hammock whilst the wife cooked. She had a gas stove and was quite
well off. There were partitions to ensure some modicum of privacy.
This baby caiman was the pet of a villager and she carried it
around in a small bag!!
We spent a good amount of time in the school. Robinson was Master
of Ceremonies and the children seemed to love him. He got them into rows, height
wise and then he made them call out our names after we had told the children! After
that, groups of children came and sang or spoke a few lines in the local
language which Robinson translated. The finale was the tourists sang a song
which was actually a nursery rhyme to the children. Absolutely hilarious as some
of us knew the lines, the others made do and the children had no clue of what
we were singing. But we all enjoyed.
We had been told by the guides that we could contribute to
educational tools for the school. Now, we had not been told by the tour company
anything about this and frankly i was sceptical about the whole thing – what school,
what children, what items, how much to give etc etc. The guides were clear ..
no obligation. It was totally our call on what we gave. Some gave, some did
not. What really surprised me was the considerable amount of books, paints,
notebooks and other stationary items which we gave as gift to the kids. Sets
were made and distributed by each tourist to each child... the balance, and
there was a lot, was given to the Principal to distribute at a later date. I think
this was a phenomenal gesture by the guides for educating poor children in such
a village. Kudos to them.
Here we have the group buying local handicrafts from the
villagers.
Due to the heavy rains, all houses are on stilts if near the water
or on dry land. My favourite reminder of the local villagers was this cheerful
grand mother who showed us cashews growing with their fruit and out of our
group only one person could tell what they were. She was a cheerful soul...
totally ageless.
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After finishing
our visit to Lima's famous Pachacamac’s archaeological heritage site, we continued
further to see the artisan cooperative which is at Lurin. We had been warned
that it’s a rough and tough neighbourhood and to be extra careful. Lurin is
south of Lima Centre and reached by the famous Pan-American Highway which goes
from the capital of Equador to that of Chile. The ceramic artisans from Ayacucho
create the traditional retablos, pottery, Andean style Christmas decorations,
the famous colourful Tree of Life etc. There are also other artisans using
different materials. Despite what Lonely
Planet might say, there is no central shop – you have to visit each artist at
their own independent workshop. 
I had
called up Decidu Oricaya (Tel: 4303674) who is the Coordinator to ensure that
he was there to meet us and to show us around. The data on the group was brief -
all we had was they are a group of artists who sell their wares collectively. Lurin
is only 48 kms from Lima Central but it felt so different. The route on one
side was lined by a huge sand or slag heap which had excavation in its centre.
Demarcations were made from top to bottom at regular intervals to show the
ownership of land. As we neared Lurin, we saw shelters, sheds, and small huts
in rows along these hills. Imagine what it must be like to commute or walk in
winter or in rainy season where there are no tarred roads. We had to go off the
main road after a couple of detours as we got lost but Decidu managed to give
directions to our driver. 
The Coop
is actually in the middle of a slum consisting of single storey hutments lined
in rows. Generally clean area except for the occasional rubbish heap. Groups of
youngsters hung around the sidewalk corners. Seeing this, we decided to call Decidu
out to meet us. He immediately gave me a leaflet in Spanish which detailed out
their activities. Whilst Decidu rode on his bike, we followed behind him to the
house of a ceramic artist Jaime Sisaq and his wife. The other artisans are in the same area but
not next to each other. 
I was
keen on buying local ceramic or textile work. I had also heard that there were
good wood carvers. Both Jaime and another artist whom we visited who was
actually next door, dealt solely with religious designs in miniature sizes! Both
of these potters work in the front half of the house what we would call the
garage area. They don’t own cars so they utilise this space effectively. They use
moulds which are about an inch big for the figurines and then lay them out as
per the layout. We walked through the workshop seeing each process but I felt sad
that I could not find anything other than these very Christian designs. We saw
some bracelets and some rings which were nothing fantastic but we felt obliged
to buy them having taken their time – so we got a few bracelets and pendants. I
think they rely upon bulk sale as each of these items cost a pittance – US$ 1
to 2 max and sometimes you get 3 pendants for a dollar. The wood worker was
closed. So next stop was the textile weaver.
