La Selva

Now I am in Madrid, Spain.

I am one or two stories behind, details as to why will be revealed soon enough.

For now, lets talk lions and tigers and bears.

I made sure to get a flight during the day from Brasilia to Manuas, a large city in the Amazon. Of course, I also made sure to get a window seat.

Among the many sights tourists are expected to see in an Amazon visit is the "Meeting of the waters". Two rivers, the Rio Negro (black coffee in color) and the Rio Solimões (coffee with milk in color) meet at a fork. I knew that when I got to Manaus I would make every effort to avoid a package tour of the essential sites such as these. For this reason I got a day flight and sat at the window. From the air I got an uninterrupted view of this spectacular phenomenon. Like shy children at a school dance the waters refuse to mingle. Later I got to see it up close from a boat anyway. We can move on now.

What else did I get to see from the air? A massive amount of water, particularly for an Australian. There are more rivers here than anywhere else in the world. It is big and it is wet. Now wet season, the river/s are up to 20m higher than in the dry. The dense jungle (La Selva, from now on) was for the most part, flooded. When I saw the first river upon approach, I was stunned at how wide it was. Then, I saw another. Another. Another even bigger. Then I saw Manaus.

Out of the green and the black, an ageing soggy metropolis.

Manaus suffers. Manaus suffers from hatred. Travellers hate Manaus. Enviromental orgasisations hate Manaus. When you go, you too might hate Manaus.

For many it is simply a gateway to the Amazon for an expensive day in La Selva. Even with low expectations, upon arrival I hated Manaus. Correction: disliked.

Later, after much thought, my perspective shifted and I became sympathetic to those who live in the city. I accepted that the city itself is not the problem, only a product of a larger problem. Certainly Brail has in many ways benefited from the development affored to it by the natural resourses in the Amazon, however it is also clear that much irreversible damage has been done t the region. Regarding Manaus, the question here is:

What makes a city good? Or perhaps What makes a city bad? I tend to believe that a city is – the sum of its inhabitants. Once I overcame the remarkable smells, the towers of shipping containers lining the river, the filty port and the mouldy walls, Manaus relevaled itself as a friendly city born out of necessity. Manaus suffers from the same disease as any other city built on industry. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

So, if I didn't do a "Jungle tour" or a "Meeting of the rivers tour", what did I do?"





















Also, why am I using so many rhetorical questions in this entry?

Actually, to the first I will give an answer, so technically it is not rhetorical. Is that right? Fuck. There it is again.

Let's just move on.

I was walking the street of Manaus looking for someone that would take me into la selva without staying in a "Jungle Hotel". I wanted an experience without a brochure.

I found Carlos from Portugal. Old polo shirt, leathery skin and grey hair. Always a cigarette. Slimy and experienced. A wink every sentence.

Already in his office (we found out later that infact he has no office, he had just borroweed one for ethe afternoon) was another Carlos. Carlos II, a fellow backpacker is also Portuguese.



















From the start I had a confident mistrust towards Carlos. At the same time however I was fascimnated by his confidence that we would have a special esperience in la selva with him. He had lived in la selva in Venezueal for 21 years with an indigineous woman has had come to Brasil four years ago. Both Carlos II and I decided that, despite our doubts we would trust Carlos. We would leave in the morning with him and some things.

Whilst walking the the street with Carlos II a Brasillian man called out, in Portuguese, "Don´t trust that man, he has an illegal visa!" A little unsettling, and exciting.

On the run from the authorities with a slimy Portuguese man in the amazon!

For the three day stay IN la selva, Carlos, Carlos II and I had:

Machete
Canoe
Hammock (each)
Lighter
Pot
Pan
Plate (each)
Fork (each)
Mosquito net
Shotgun
Some food
Cachaça
Fishing line
Forked spear
Water
Some personal belongings
An Amazonian kid, Joga.

After a day of travel by road, boat, road, boat, canoe we arrived found a bank or Lago Mamori that was not flooded with water. It was however, flooded with mosquitos.

It was quite late in the afternoon, and because of the canopy it was almost dark. We hurried to build a shelter out of young trees and palm frongs. With the help of Joga we built a shelter wih two sides and a waterproof roof in about two hours. We used nothing but found materials. Vine for rope. Overlapped plam frongs for the roof. Our hammocks hung firmly from the structure. It was amazing.

We had caught some piranhas earlier in the day, so we made a fire a cooked them. We had two each, with some rice. They are a very tasty fish. By six or seven at night we were all truly rooted. It was at about that time that I realized even with clothes and repellent the mosquitos were also having their dinner.

They mosquitos were getting pretty bad, so we cut our only small water bottle into two cups and made capirinhas and retired to our the safety of out hammocks and mosquito nets.

Not so.

The mosquitos, particularly the large silent black ones that carry malaria, can penetrate the hammock. The attack from below, drawing blood from any surface that you lye on. There is a choice; let them attack one area relentlessly or allow them to spread their feast over various parts by continuously shifting your position in the hammock.

This, combined with the buzzing of the smaller mosquitos makes for a memorable night. Remember, it is only 7pm.

Before nightfall, Carlos II was a little worried about the lions and tigers and bears. To be more accurate, he was worried about the crocodiles, jaguars and snakes.

By the time ten o´clock came around Carlos II has worked himself up into quite a sweat. Of course, this is not difficult when the temperature does not drop below 28 ° (humidity 80%) at night in the canopy. But, my point is, he got really scared. Every bump, gust, rustle or drop would stir Carlos II into a frenzy of pacing and questioning.

Start Transcript.

Carlos II :What was that?

Two laps of fire.

Carlos: Nothing

Carlos II :Did you hear that?

Carlos: Yes, falling fruit.

Two laps of fire.

Me: Are you going to pace around all night Carlos?

Carlos II: DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT?

Me: Yes.

Minutes pass

Carlos II :Shit ! I am pretty sure that was a Jaguar!

Three laps of fire, one lap of Carlos and the shotgun

Me: Relax mate, go to bed.

Carlos and I: Shutup!

Carlos II: But I swear I heard something growl!

Carlos: It was me. Sleep now!

Carlos II: How can I sleep when the jungle is out to get me? Huh ? What have you done Carlos?You are crazy, trying to kill us man!

Two laps of fire.

Carlos: I will soon enough!

Minutes pass

Carlos II: I need to wee.

Me: So, wee.

Carlos II: Where?

Me: I don't care where.

Carlos II: I am scared

Two laps of fire.

Me: Have you never pissed in the bush before mate?

Carlos II: Not with snakes around.

Me: Just take it out and piss. Right there is fine with me. Fine with you Carlos, Joga?

Joga: snore

Carlos: Yes, fine with me. Piss now.

Carlos II: Okay, but I need you to come with me.

Me: Very funny.

Carlos II: No, I am serious!

Two laps of fire.

Me: You want me to be your piss partner? Okay but I am holding the torch and nothing more.

End Transcript.

So, Carlos II and I stood back to back whilst he pissed on a tree. He was squeezing hard to get maximum flow you know, get the job done fast. For this I was grateful.

Whilst standing back to back with Carlos II, I noticed something.

The dry leaves on the ground at my feet, were glowing silver. Carlos was not able to properly explain why, but the dry leaves were glowing a silvery white in the moonlight. I knelt down (Carlos II had finished pissing) and played with the leaves in between my fingers for minutes. This moment, as I crushed the leaves into a glowing powder, was the tipping point. It what my point of realization- I was in the Amazon. Carlos sneakily let us make small discoveries like this one independently; enriching our experience.

I spent the rest of the night listening to the sublime symphony of insect, but I could not wait to get up in the morning. I was first out of my hammock (although none of us bar Joga really slept) and attended the fire to make breakfast.

The following two days were spent observing la selva. I spent a lot of my time wandering around watching the microcosms of plants and trees, insects and birds, water and earth.

We spent time in the canoe gliding through the flooded sleva picking fruit off trees to eat and catching fish to eat. La selva put me at peace. Even with (serious estimation) 200 mosquito bites I was at peace. The first night was difficult, the second was worse. However, I was much more comfortable. I could have lay there and listened the sublime symphony endlessly. I followed patterns, listened for questions and answers, heard the harmony as a whole and picked out each individual click from the canopy.

The rest of the night I listening to the sublime symphony of insect, but I could not wait to get up in the morning. I was first out of my hammock (although none of us really slept) and attended the fire to make breakfast.

The following two days were spent observing la selva. I spent a lot of my time wandering around watching the microcosms of plants and trees, insects and birds, water and earth.

We spent time in the canoe gliding through the flooded sleva picking fruit off trees to eat and catching fish to eat. La selva put me at peace. Even with (serious estimation) 200 mosquito bites I was at peace. The first night was difficult, the second was worse. However, I was much more comfortable. I could have lay there and listened the sublime symphony endlessly. I followed patterns, listened for questions and answers, heard the harmony as a whole and picked out each individual click from the canopy.

Also, we speared a couple of crocodiles from our canoe in the night. We ate the second one with salt and lemon.

What else? I swam amongst piranhas, learnt to climb a tree like a monkey, learnt that you have to hold live crocodiles really firmly to stop them snapping, learnt to properly use a slingshot, and learnt to let go. I let go of my mistrust for Carlos, and was rewarded.

We arrived back in Manaus and thanked Carlos for what he had showed us, and for what he had not.

The flowing morning I boarded the Nelio Correos, a boat that I would spend the next five days aboard.