YA LEUM.70 — Sleeping over in the Amazonia…
The second day in Puerto Maldonado was spent with another chestnut producer — Nino and his wife Estela.
Nino and Estela lived on the riverside of River Tambopata, in the jungle that is part of the natural reserve of Tambopata.
We left the city earlier and met with Nino, who showed us the cooperative of chestnut producers from Puerto Maldonado. He explained to us that the cooperative supported the producers regarding the processing and selling of the chestnut. Followingly, we crossed the river Tambopata to get to his property, which was located in a more remote area of the river.
Estela and Nino had a wonderful house, surrounded by fruit trees like papaya, cacao, orange, among others.
Around it, there was just the forest, where some animals less intimidated by the human presence appeared sometimes.
We walked through his property while Nino told us the stories of that place.
Although it was a less adventurous walk than the one from the previous day, we saw the bones of an anaconda, killed by human hands, the illegal deforestation that happened during the night and with the use of weapons, and we also found a plant that, according to Nino, people with cancer have been healed– cat’s claw.
Even though Nino was focused on the production of the chestnut, he produced the remaining food for his house.
Estela taught us how to cook juanes, a typical Peruvian dish, made of a mix of rice, olives, a hard-boiled egg, and homebred chicken, wrapped in banana leaves, cooked in a clay pot.
Nino and Estela had a chicken house with 25 chickens, so we went there to get a chicken for this dish…
This was the most interesting part… killing the chicken took 3 seconds: they held the chicken under one arm, twisted its neck slightly, and the chicken died instantaneously. I felt a mixed of shock and surprise…
The truth is that this typical dish from the Amazonian region was delicious and sometimes I still slightly remember its taste…
Nino worked on the property with a friend from many years, Elias. Elias was a short, thin, strong, and timid man with a light and deep smile.
Meeting Elias touched me particularly…
Elias always lived on that side of the river and he knew the jungle better than anyone.
During the dinner, he told us about his stories on the jungle, including the nights he spent sleeping inside the forest.
On the previous day, Sixto had told us “not even to my worst enemy would I wish him to spend the night inside the forest…”.
Yet, Elias was stuck in the forest 3 times during his entire life: twice because he got lost and another one because he was surrounded by boars so he ended up sleeping on the top of a tree.
The sound of the forest is wonderful, a true symphony. The animals, wind, leaves, and the water…
Yet, it is during the night that everything happens: animals leave their burrows and experience their habitat, which is so rich and colorful.
It was not the first time we heard a local saying “when we use a path we know, we have to follow it. If we take a left or right, we probably get lost because it gets impossible to get back.”
That was what happened to Elias — during one of his walks, when he looked back, there was no path anymore and no matter how much he walked around he could not find the right path. He had to wait for the next day to be able to find his way back…
In this part of Amazonia, locals are quite afraid of the boars because they generally appear in herds of 100. They are dangerous and attack people easily. One day, Elias was surrounded by a herd of boards and, to run from it, he had to climb a tree. The herd of boars surrounded the tree during the entire night, until dawn… It was scary, he said.
It was with Elias that I found out that in the Peruvian jungle people believe in Chullachaqui, an animal-like goblin, who looks like a person and can transform into a familiar person and persuades people to get inside the forest.
Elias says he never saw him but he knows many people, including children, who got lost in the jungle for days and days and when they were found they had no signs of dehydration, hunger, or unsightly. The locals say that Chullachaqui keeps them in safe and properly cared places.
On that day, Mathieu and I spent the night at Nino and Estela’s place, which is inside the forest.
During the night, we heard the monkeys, birds, chickens, and all the other animals we do not know.
Lying on our sleeping bags, we could look at the sky and the moonlight.
My heart exploded with joy, enthusiasm, and a little nervousness.
On the next day, we spent the morning with Nino and Estela, and we returned to Puerto Maldonado to spend time with our friends Rosi and Juan Carlos.
We visited the famous Lake Sandoval by boat, passing by alligators and the immense trees that surround it.
The sounds of the forest made everything magical and when we got to our destination, we were welcomed by the music of a howler monkey that dominated the skies with its sounds that can be heard 3km away…
Thanks to this couple, Juan Carlos and Rosi, we had the chance to know Amazonia like I never imagined before.
We are still friends, speak frequently, and are currently developing a project in the national reserve of Tambopata for forest and animal protection and to support local communities.
April 2018,
Patricia Assis
