Welcome to my Amazon Adventure
Me and the village chief with his family. More pictures added further on.
A true adventure
by Wesley Dick
Amazon Adventure Chapter 1
When the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association scheduled a
meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico, I decided to attend and make that the
first leg of a trip to the Amazon River in search of new sources of
tropical fish imports. My company had been importing direct from
Iquitos, Peru and Leticia, Columbia since the early fifties and it was
time to check things out. Besides, I wanted to see first hand where
these beautiful little tropical fish came from. So began an adventure
that I shared with a now long time good friend.
I met Mark at the airport in San Juan as we were in line to board the
flight to Bogota, Columbia. Conversation revealed his destination as
Quito, Peru with no purpose other than that he had never been there
before. He was on vacation from his job as an International Tour Guide
from Belgium and had five months to kill so decided to explore the
continent of South America.
We boarded the plane and sat together in order to continue the
conversation. During this time he spoke fluent Spanish to the flight
attendant and also carried on a conversation in German with another
passenger. I commented on this and he explained that as a tour guide in
Europe he was required to speak all European languages and since he
conducted tours for "foreigners" including middle easteners and Asians
he was able to speak 14 languages rather fluently and a could get by
with another handful or more. When he learned that I was on my way to
the jungles of Columbia in search of tropical fish he expressed interest
and jokingly asked if I needed a "tour guide". I thought he was joking
but as it turned out he was serious.
When we arrived in Bogota he asked if I had reservations at any
particular hotel. I replied that I did not but figured there must be a
"Hilton" or "Holiday Inn" somewhere in Bogota. He laughed and said that
I should go with him rather than pay through the nose for an "American"
room. We grabbed a cab and after a quick exchange with the driver we
took off for a hotel. We shortly arrived at a small "native" hotel and
inquired as to a room for the night. Mark asked the price and was told
that it was six dollars. I might point out that my Spanish is
sufficent to understand much but speak little. In any event, Mark
countered with four dollars and the bidding was on. When they reached
five dollars Mark said that he first wanted to see the room. The clerk
escorted us to the room and Mark disdainfully glanced about and informed
the clerk that it was not worth five dollars and that we would look
elsewhere.
By the time we got to the third hotel I was beginning to wonder if the
effort was worth it but we ended up with a fine room for four dollars.
Quite a savings over the eighty to a hundred that I had anticipated at a
downtown hotel. We checked in and shortly thereafter decided to check
out one of the local restaurants.
We had an excellent meal and enjoyable conversation during the course of
the evening and we filled each other in on personal background and
became good friends. He reminded me of Peter Sellers without the
bumbling that is associated with Inspector Cousteau. I also learned
how serious he was about a jaunt into the jungle and it was decided that
he would accompany me to Leticia and then to Iquitos and we would part
there, me returning to Leticia and Bogota and home while he would
continue to Quito, Equador and then to a teaching position in Cartegena
before returning to Europe.
The next morning we took off in one of those "held together with baling
wire" aircraft complete with some passengers carrying barnyard critters
on our way to Leticia. The scenery out of the windows revealed nothing
but jungle below us as far as the eye could see. We learned that there
were no roads leading into Leticia from the outside world and the only
way to get there was by air or by boat on the Amazon river. I had been
told by an associate who flew the plane we regularly chartered for our
tropical fish and wild animal imports that the airstrip was simply a
modified town street with buildings on both sides of the runway but when
we arrived we landed on a brand new dirt airstrip that seemed to be only
partially completed.
The above mentioned associate was Art Jones who operated a wild animal
zoo in Slidell, La. at the time but later went on to found the Nautilus
exercise equipment company. Seems that on a visit to his sister's home
in Florida she asked him to fix her exercise equipment and as he did so
he decided that he could design something better than the piece of junk
he was working on and so he did. But that's another story. Art had
arranged for me to get together with Mike (the guy that was fighting
with an Anaconda in the National Geographic special on the Amazon)
Tsilikis who was active in collecting animals as well as buying from
native collectors and "compounding" them in preparation for shipment to
zoos and other outlets all over the world. After landing at the
airport we walked the short distance into town and found Mike's place
right on the river bank. Mike sat behind a hugh desk which was raised on
a platform and looked for all the world like a jungle warlord. Behind
him on either side of his desk were what seemed to be armed guards
standing at "parade rest". He warmly welcomed me and Mark and said that
he had made all the arrangements necessary for our trip into the jungle
in search of tropical fish. He had also taken care of our rooms for
the night. We thanked him and went to our rooms to prepare for an early
departure in the morning.
As it was still early in the afternoon we decided to give the town a
quick once over but as we left Mike's place I heard someone yell out
"Hey, Wesley!", and I turned to see one of Art's employees from Slidell
walking towards us. He caught up with us right in front of a handy
little sidewalk cafe so we all decided to sit down and have a beer or
two. Or three. So there we sat, Mark, George and myself having a
good time discussing our upcoming jungle jaunt when along comes a very
attractive lady from down the street and approaches our table asking
"Are you Europeans?" "Yes", "No", "No", from Mark, George and Wes.
She laughed and asked if she could join us, introducing herself as
Lydia Lamas. I jokingly asked if she was any relation to Fernando and
she gave me an icy stare and said "He's my ex-husband".
Amazon Adventure Chapter 2
We sat for another hour or so having very enjoyable conversation.
Lydia excused herself to take a nap before dinner and shortly
afterwards Mark also left to go back to our room leaving George
and I to catch up on various things. George suggested we go to a
little bar he was particularly fond of towards the edge of town.
Since the entire town was not much more than about a six blocks
semicircle on the edge of the river we didn't have far to walk.
We ordered another beer and renewed our talking only to be
interupted by a young lady rushing in from a back room and
proceding to stab the gentleman sitting at the table next to us.
The girl stabbed him several times and rushed out leaving him
bleeding on the floor and a girl he was sitting with in hysterics.
I told George that we should get out of here pronto but he
declined saying "It's only a little squabble between that guy and
his old girlfriend who stabbed him because he's got a new
girlfriend."
By this time a crowd had gathered around the bleeding philanderer
but it quickly broke up with the reappearance of the "ex"
girlfriend waving a pistol. As the crowd scattered she put
several shots into the poor guy laying on the floor. She
obviously wanted to make sure he was dead. Right about then the
"army" guys showed up and immediately placed her under arrest.
George explained that they had no police force, only the army to
keep order. They also had a naval contingent consisting of a tug
boat and five sailors.
I ordered another round. The entire incident didn't seem to
phase George a bit so I soon settled down as had most of the other
guests in the place. That is until every light in the place
suddenly went out!
Candles and oil lamps were being lit on tables around us as George
explained, "The town electric generator is shut off at this time
every night until six o'clock in the morning. No sweat! Let's
have one more and get you back to your room for a good nights
sleep."
We finished off the last beer and began the walk back towards the
river. The night was overcast and pitch black with no street
lights to help us find our way. George explained as we walked
down the dirt street that if your right foot gets wet you're
walking in the ditch on the right side of the road and if your
left foot gets wet... you got the picture. By keeping both feet
dry we were on course. After going about four blocks George
directed me to keep going straight towards the river and if both
feet got wet I had gone too far but Mike's place was right on the
left at the river. He turned right to go to his home which was a
block or so away in that direction.
I quickly sobered completely as I found myself alone on this dark
street in a very strange and wild town. I proceded down the
street when suddenly I was aware of someone in the dark coming
towards me. I stopped and listened but the sloshing footsteps I
had heard had also stopped. I started walking again and so did
someone else. I stopped again and asked in my best Spanish,
"Where is Mike's place?"
A voice replied as a cigarette lighter revealed a long-haired
blond hippies face that I recognized as being on the plane with us
earlier "Ya got me, man. I'm new here." He was stoned! I turned
him around and we both headed back towards the river and the
rooming house where he was staying. I fell into my bed and
probably passed out before I had a chance to fall asleep. Tomorrow
was another day.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 3
We awoke before daylight the next morning and proceded to the
river edge where we found our guide waiting beside a small boat
equiped with an outboard motor. The boat was already loaded with
enough supplies for at least a week in the jungle even though I
had told Mike that I only had about 3 days available. As it
turned out all of the supplies weren't for us anyway. Within
minutes we were headed upsteam towards Peru. I might point out
that standing on the river bank in Leticia one can look to the
east and see Brazil and looking south to the other side of the
river is Peru.
We motored upstream for hours with nothing but jungle on either
side of us with an occasional native boat occupant waving to us
as we passed. After about five hours of motoring we slowed and
approached the bank where a small tributary entered the Amazon and
pulled up onto shore right at the point. The Amazon is still
about a mile and a half wide even though about 2500 miles from the
mouth, and still navigable by deep sea freighters. The tributary
was almost a river in its own right.
"We'll make base camp here", the guide advised as we helped him
pull the boat partially up the sloping bank. It took us about an
hour to get settled in. When everthing seemed to his liking he
returned to the river bank and entered a thick growth of brush and
emerged a few minutes later sitting in a small dugout canoe and
skimmed over to where Mark and I were standing. He announced that
we would use this boat for most of our exploring. I jumped in and
realized that the boat was very similar to our native Louisiana
pirogues and required a good sense of balance to remain upright.
When Mark got in he almost capsized us so we advised him to just
sit very quietly, as would I, and allow the guide to do the
balancing. Before the day was out we had several near spills but
managed to stay upright and dry.
We proceded up the tributary and then into a smaller tributary.
Soon our guide found a spot to his liking and proceded to hand us
the fishing poles laying in the bottom of the boat. He also
supplied us with bait and suddenly we were fishing. Within
minutes we were pulling in fish almost as fast as we could re-bait
and throw out our lines. I recognized some of the species as
being adults of some of our favorite tropicals, such as large
silver dollars species, cichlids of several varieties, etc. At
one point I hooked a pirahna and the guide cautioned me to allow
him to remove the hook from its mouth. A few minutes later I
hooked another but lost it. When I went to re-bait my hook I
found it clipped off neatly about half way up. I could hardly
believe that teeth could shear thru the hardened steel of a fish
hook but before the afternoon was out we lost several more hooks.
Years later, in a doctors waiting room, I read an account in a
travel magazine by an author who related the same, so I swiped the
book (with the receptionists permission) to show skeptic friends.
Soon the bottom of the boat was covered with all sorts of fish as
evening was approaching. We returned to base camp and began to
clean our catch. At this point I must confess to not remembering
the name of our native guide so I'll call him Joe. Joe
disappeared into the jungle for about 15 minutes and came back
with a big hunk of something or other wood and began trimming it
down with first a machete and then proceded to scrape it across a
small, flat cheese grater. At first it looked like curley pasta
but after he sprinked it with salt and pepper and a little vinegar
we had a delicious heart of palm salad. By this time the fish
were cooking and we soon feasted. I might add that this was the
second time I had eaten Mylasomma Silver Dollar species but the
first for some of the catfish varieties. We also became "man
eating piranhas" as we turned the tables on the little devils and
devoured them. We stuffed.
After dinner it became dark rapidly and we sat around the small
fire just gabbing about the day when Mark reached over into his
pack and pulled out a small leather pouch. Opening it revealed a
fancy half pint bottle of 30 year old Napolean Brandy and 2 small
silver cups. It had been a gift to him from a friend in Cartegena
while there arranging for his temporary teaching position. Joe
got a small cup and Mark poured. There we sat sipping and
savoring every minute of our day. We thought it ended but about
an hour later Joe jumped up and said "Let's go!" and headed for
the river bank. We followed and asked as to where we were headed.
"To shine for Caimen." was his reply as we climbed into the small
dugout once again. It seemed even more wobbly this time after the
brandy and I was very worried that maybe Mark's sense of balance
would be even worse. And then there were the pirahnas we knew
lurked beneath the surface.
Soon we were gliding up the river and shortly entered a very small
tributary with lots of overhanging branches near the banks. Joe
began shining his bull light along the banks and we saw eyes
shining back at us from just about everywhere. The moonlight was
not too bright but just sufficient for us to see a vague outline
of the banks and the tree line above. Although we had been
hearing "jungle sounds" since sunset around camp the volume seemed
to increase as we quietly glided along. All sorts of noises! All
of a sudden we heard a jaguarundi (Joe's word) scream not too far
away. I felt no fear but such a feeling of joy at being there that
all of a sudden "goose bumps" started at my feet and worked their
way up my entire body in wave after wave all the way to my head
and I could feel the hair on the nape of my neck standing up
straight. Having been an avid Tarzan reader as a kid I felt the
urge to rip off my clothes and run off through the jungle but
reason prevailed.
Several hours later when we finally turned in for the night I
could hardly go to sleep because the smile on my face hurt so
badly. And so ended day one in the jungles of the Amazon.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 4
I awoke to the smell of coffee in the morning and was immediately
wide awake. Mark was stirring and soon we were all having a
breakfast of canned peaches along with another cuppa coffee. Joe
said that we would go upriver today and use the larger boat which
caused Mark to breathe a sigh of relief. I don't think that he
ever got used to the dugout. Included in the plans for the day was
to be a trip to a small native village.
We proceded upriver for about ten miles when Joe once again
turned into a small tributary which soon became extremely narrow
and heavily overhung with branches. I could see lots of "minnows"
in the water but didn't get a chance to net any at this time. I
guessed that there would be time for that later as I was eager to
visit the village. Suddenly Joe stopped the motor and we drifted
slowly for a few yards and came to a dead stop. I asked "What's
the problem?" and received a forefinger pressed to his lips in
answer from Joe.
We sat quietly for another minute or so while he listened
intently, for what I had no idea. I again ventured to ask what
the problem was and this time received a harsh "Shusshhh!" in
response.
We must have sat there quietly for about 15 minutes when all of a
sudden two sleek dugout canoes approached us from both directions
occupied by two young Indians. They pulled up beside us on either
side and began talking to Joe who seemed very apologetic. He then
offered them some of the canned goods (mostly peaches and other
types of fruit) and a box of salt which caused them to grin. After
a few more exchanges the two Indians left us and we were alone
once again.
"What was that all about?", I asked.
"Our propeller snagged their gill net which was strung across the
stream just below water level and tore it up. I realized that
they would probably be nearby so we were obliged to wait for them
to show their faces so we could make amends. Had we tried to
proceed we would probably have received darts in our backs by
now."
He explained that the cans of fruit were highly prized and were
one of the staple trading items along with salt and cigarettes.
Now I knew why we had what seemed to be a weeks supply for a three
day trip.
We proceded to the village with no further problems. We beached
the dugout and started walking towards a group of about 5 or 6
thatched grass huts. As we walked towards the village the young
braves all approached us while the women went about their business
as if we didn't exist. The first to approach me reached towards
me and pointed to my pack of cigarettes in my shirt pocket. I
smiled, took them out of my pocket and with a snap several
cigarettes protuded from the pack but he smiled back and took the
entire pack from my hand. Before I could say anything Joe
advised that I not protest but rather just let him have the whole
pack. The young buck took one and passed the pack on to the
others and soon they were all puffing away.
As an older man approached Joe told us that this was the chief
coming to welcome us. He walked up to where we were standing and
pointed to a tree about 40 feet from where we stood as he took a
dart from where it was stuck in his headdress along with about 15
more. He inserted it in the end of his blow gun and took aim at
the tree and with a quick blow the dart was sticking in the tree.
Another dart was quickly inserted and followed the first and
lodged about an inch from the first dart.
"He's showing off his skill", said Joe as a third dart completed
a target pattern that could have been covered with a silver
dollar. The chief smiled at me and offered his blowgun. "He wants
to see how good you are." said Joe. I was on the spot. I figured
I had pretty good blowing power since I played dixieland clarinet
on Bourbon St. in New Orleans in my younger days, so I lifted the
blowgun to my lips and gave a big blast.
A dart flew out of the other end of the blowgun and landed about
five feet in front of where I stood. Everybody broke up laughing.
Rather embarassed, I asked the chief to show me once more how he
did it and this time I saw that he didn't give a hard blow but
merely a little "phttt". He graciously handed the blow gun back
to me as his fourth dart joined the others in his target pattern.
This time I emulated his "phttt" and was amazed at how easily my
dart headed towards the tree and lodged about a foot directly
under his darts.
I handed the dart gun back to the chief and told Joe to tell him
"I don't want to try again for fear I split one of his darts with
my next shot." It must have been a good answer because once again
they all laughed and I was accepted by them all. I'm sure it was
for my sense of humor rather than my prowess with the dart gun.
The chief invited me over to his thatched hut and I followed him
inside. Since the incident of the dark night when the town
generators had been turned off I began carrying a small pencil
sized flashlight in my pocket for emergency use and now had a
chance to use it inside the dark hut. The chief was amazed as I
shone the light around the interior so I handed it to him for
examination. He was like a kid with a new toy. We went back
outside and he started jabbering with Joe who advised me that the
chief was offering a pig for the flashlight. He suggested that I
not accept the trade but rather say that it was important to my
work and I would need it in my travels. "He'll be very
disappointed in a few hours of playing with it when the batteries
run down", he explained, "and we don't want them following us
after we leave." Thank goodness the chief accepted the explanation
graciously.
As we wandered around the village in the next hour or so I was
taken by the homemade garments they all wore. They were simple
grass skirts and a grass "bib" of sorts which hung over their
chests from around the neck. I asked Joe as to the possibilty of
obtaining one as a souvineer and to my surprise he asked a young
buck standing near us. With a perplexed look at me he answered
Joe who relayed "About $1.20 American money in trade." "OK", I
said, and as soon as Joe relayed my offer the buck began
stripping to his birthday suit right there in the middle of the
village, handing me his garments. Years later I wore the outfit
at a pool party at my home and really shocked everybody when I
jumped out of the bushes around the pool and let out a yell. Of
course the outfit was rather skimpy on my 6'1" and 210lb frame as
opposed to the original owner who was about 5'4" and maybe 110lbs.
Maybe that's what frightened my guests.
Shortly thereafter we took our leave as Joe suggested we head
back to our camp. Mark and I did so reluctantly as we were
fascinated by the various activites both men and women were
performing as well as the kids who followed us everywhere. It was
almost dark by the time we arrived back at base camp but still
early enough to catch a few fish for dinner as we neared the camp.
Tonight we were probably all fast asleep by eight o'clock.
Unfortunately the brandy was all consumed the night before but Joe
fixed us what he called an "agua diente" which was a licorice
based liquor and very tasty.
And so ended our second night in the jungle.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 5
The following morning we again were up by daylight and had our
coffee and canned peaches for breakfast. Joe told us that we
would slowly head back towards Leticia today and stop at another
native village along the way. He also said that we would be able
to do a little fish netting even though I was not prepared to
bring anything back with me as I had not brought any containers.
Just looking would be enough for me at this point.
We watched as Joe hid the dugout in the brush along the river
bank and thought that it was probably more ritual than anything
as I'm sure that the local Indians could find it in a flash. I
guess that they just respected the fact that he "hid" it and as
such should be left alone. In so many ways they are civilized as
compared to the rest of the world.
As we slowly motored back down river Joe gave us a little
background on the locals. This was prompted when we passed an
absolutely huge tree which seemed to be partially dead and with
very few remaining leaves. This was a local landmark to the
Indians in this area as it was the spot at which their "father's
father's father" stood with God when the earth was created. It
seems that their great-grandfather was good buddies with God and
they created everything as a joint enterprise. I guess it would
give them a rather close intimacy with God at that.
After an hour or so of motoring Joe steered towards another small
stream which flowed in from the south and we once again found
ourselves in a veritable tunnel of branches and leaves as we
slowly puttered along. We soon came to a place where we could no
longer go upstream so we beached the boat and continued to go
upstream on foot alongside the stream. There were many places
into which I felt that a scoop with the nets I had would reveal
fish and I couldn't wait any longer. I stopped and scooped.
My memory is not what it once was but I believe that the first
species I spotted in my net was a fish that I had never seen "in
person" as I recognized the little Hyphesebrycon eos (dawn tetra)
from pictures in William Innes' book Exotic Tropicals which had
been my bible since the first week I became a hobbyist. Mark was
amazed that I was able to spout out the Latin name of a fish which
I had never seen before but I made him laugh when I told him that
I was good with fish but couldn't tell the difference between a
Ford or a Chevrolet unless I saw the name somewhere on the car.
We all continued to scoop around the little pools which revealed
a regular "community tank" of little tetras and small cichlids as
well as a variety of catfish. Most of the fish in this area were
on the small side. We caught (and released) severums and dwarf
cichlids which I had never even seen pictures of as well as pencil
fish, head and tails, and a few rather drab tetras which were also
not recognized. It was heartbreaking not to have containers into
which to place these fish but I consoled myself by knowing that
they would all be available very cheaply and ready for shipment
back in Leticia. We must have piddled the puddles for close to
two hours before Joe said that we'd better call it quits. Even
Joe had gotten into the excitement of dipping as Mark's and my
enthusiasm got the best of him.
I realized at this point the advance preparations necessary for
those explorers who actually collect specimens either for
scientific or monetary reasons. And the difficulties they must
overcome to get them back alive. Art Jones had told me of some of
the earlier trips during which the natives were first told that
these little fish were wanted in large quantities and were
exchangable for cigarettes, salt, and the old reliable canned
peaches and other fruits. Most of the Indians were initially
skeptical that the little fish were of any value and initially
brought in fish which were more the eating size. Art told me of
one incident where a young Indian from fifty or more miles
downstream from Leticia had been shown some of the varieties and
sizes which were desirable. He returned to his village but was
unable to convince his tribesmen to help him collect. On his
own, he caught a large mess of little tetras and kept them in a
partially sunken dugout, changing water several times a day as he
had been instructed. Eventually, he paddled upstream the fifty
miles back to Leticia hauling the partially sunken dugout full of
fish behind his dugout, and made a good trade for his trouble.
When he returned to his village the rest of the tribe was
convinced that he had been telling the truth and soon they were
all collecting fish and making regular trips back to Leticia
hauling a veritable "train" of partially sunken dugouts behind
them just loaded with fish.
We returned to our boat and proceded back downstream to the river
and were soon once again headed back towards Leticia. We saw
lots of large fish jumping almost constantly and, again my memory
on this is a little dim, but I believe that Joe told us that some
of the "fish" we saw jumping were actually freshwater dolphins.
And then for yet another time we headed up a small tributary and
upon rounding a bend we came upon a rather large village. This
village had several more or less permanent buildings which were
constructed of saplings and thatched roofs as well as raised
floors of slender saplings or a type of bamboo. They were not the
same as the previous village which had consisted mostly of
temporary huts because of the nomadic tendencies of the other
tribe. These villagers had become a part of social commerce in
that they fished and hunted and supplied the residents of Leticia
with much of their food.
We approached one of the buildings to find several women in the
process of cleaning a large turtle for the meat. The shell of the
turtle had already been removed and was surrounded by about 8 or
10 small children who were giving it their full attention. About
500 flies were also giving it lots of attention and as we looked
closer we found that the kids were picking at bits of raw turtle
meat which still clung to the inside of the shell and popping the
dainty little morsels into their mouths before the flies got it
all.
We didn't stay here too long as we still had quite a ways to go
to get back to Leticia before dark so we gave our thanks for their
hospitality and said our goodbyes. We were back on the river once
more and this time the next stop would be Mike's dock.
Mark and I had lots of memories and stories to tell of our 3 day
trip. We were both looking forward to a good bath and a change of
clothing.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 6
After our bath and into some clean clothes Mark and I headed for
the little sidewalk cafe only a block or so from Mike's place.
George was sitting at the same table we had occupied just a few
nights before and Lydia was sitting with him. They had been
waiting for us to hear of our jungle jaunt. It was old hat to
George but Lydia was fascinated with the adventure and said that
she was angry at not having been invited. Since Mark and I were
leaving for Iquitos, Peru in the morning but would return in three
days we suggested that if she were still there maybe we could get
Mike to arrange for a one day excursion into the nearby jungle.
She was thrilled at the idea and decided to stay and wait for us
to return.
As we gabbed away a young man approached our table looking like
he had been lost in the jungle for a spell. George recognized
him and introduced us all around. I'm terrible at names so I'll
call him Hans. He was a 27 year old Dutch anthropologist who had
received a grant from his government to study the Amazon Indians
and had been in the jungle for the past ten months without seeing
another white man since he had left Leticia.
He began to tell us of his stay with one of the wandering tribes
during this period. This particular tribe was completely nomadic
and would only occasionaly stay in one spot for more than a day or
so. All during this period he followed them but they would barely
acknowledge his presence. They never were a threat to him but
rather treated him as a nuisance to be tolerated. Over the months
they ignored his presence and it was just a few weeks prior to his
sudden appearance at our table that he was finally "accepted".
He described how one evening the tribe had settled down for the
night and were eating their supper when a young brave sitting
across from him suddenly looked at him straight in the eyes,
reached into his mouth to remove his partially chewed food, and
offered it to Hans. Hans took the offering and put it into his
mouth, elated to have been finally accepted as one of the tribe.
Hans added that he was so happy about this acceptance that he
decided to come back to Leticia for a quick R&R as well as to
send in his papers thus far to his government. "I just HAD to
tell somebody", he said.
After his story we all exchanged personal background as well as
having excellent conversation in general. As mentioned earlier,
Mark was a linguist extraordinaire with his command of 14+
languages. Lydia and Hans both spoke five languages and George
spoke three which left me to say, "Three here, too. Just a
smattering of Spanish but I'm somewhat proficient in Profanity".
Mark suggested that the conversation be held in English in
deference to my limited abilities but during the next hour or so I
would sit fascinated and totally lost on occasion when the
conversations would flow from one language to another in
mid-sentence, or so it seemed to me. However, someone would
usually catch it and return it to English.
I eventually got around to asking Lydia what had brought her to
the Amazon. She began her story by telling us that her father, an
Italian nobleman, had left Italy during the late 1930's in order
to get his family away from the impending war. He moved the
family to Argentina which was where Lydia grew up and eventually
met a young Argentine actor named Fernando Lamas. They married
and moved to Hollywood where the marriage sort of fell apart. She
ended up going back to Argentina and then to Australia where she
now resided with her sister and sister's husband, an English
nobleman of some sort, who had a large sheep ranch in the outback.
She had just finished a return visit to family in Argentina and
decided to take a side trip to Leticia to see what the Amazon was
all about.
We had dinner without having to leave our "drinking" table and
soon we were all the best of friends. One of the waiters came by
our table and advised us that if any of us were interested the
cock fights would be starting in about a half hour at a place
several blocks away. When I said that I had never been to a cock
fight Lydia volunteered that she would bring me as her guest. The
others declined to go so we left them there and walked to the
"arena". It was a small building consisting of just a roof and a
small "pit" in the center and surrounded by about 5 rows of
bleachers for the on-lookers. We grabbed a seat on the top row
and settled in pending the start of the cock fights.
All of a sudden a fist fight erupted about ten feet from where we
sat and a fellow sitting next to me said, "Jump and run, senor".
I said "Why?" and he retorted, "There might be bullets!"
I quickly jumped off the back of the top row which was only about
shoulder height and helped Lydia down while all around us others
were jumping and running. I couldn't resist looking back and
seeing that several others had quickly broken up the fist fight
between the two by dragging them apart. One left in a huff while
the other returned to his seat and was soon followed by the entire
crowd of maybe 40 or so people. So once again we all sat waiting
for the first "bout".
Two roosters were brought out and their trainers taunted them by
repeatedly thrusting them towards each other until the roosters
were in a fierce frenzy. They suddenly released them and the
fight was on!
For about 5 seconds, that is, until the fist fighter who had left
in a huff a few minutes earlier came back waving a pistol and
firing at random. This time I didn't wait for the fellow next to
me to give any advise, but did a back flip off the bench landing
on my feet and yanked Lydia down backwards faster than I can
describe it. I quickly led her towards the back of the lot where
we were blocked by a bamboo fence. By this time things had once
again quieted down back in the arena as we returned to find that
several people had been wounded but no one was killed. Those
closest to the crazy gunman had no chance to run but alternately
had dived onto him and overpowered him before he could reload.
Once again the army showed up and hauled him off. The cock fights
were cancelled.
As the crowd dispersed Lydia and I found ourselves laughing at
the entire escape, probably in relief that neither of us had been
harmed. As we walked we approached a thatched building of good
size which sported a bright neon sign above the doorway. Live
music was coming from inside the building so we assumed it to be
the local version of a disco. I smiled gallantly and asked,
"Would you like to dance?" to which she replied "Yes." As we
smiled towards the door we once again heard the unmistakable
sound of gunshots and before our eyes the front double doors
opened wide and frantic people streamed out of the building.
At this we decided to call it a night and headed back towards our
little sidewalk cafe and safety(?).
Amazon Adventure Chapter 7
Mark in Iquitos.
I had neglected to mention that when I left San Juan I only had
about $100 cash on me as expenses for the APPMA show had been
higher than anticipated so I had phoned my office in Lacombe and
had a money wire sent to the Hotel San Juan. Unfortunately, the
hotel clerk advised me that he couldn't cash it but that I could
probably get it cashed in the casino.
My brother and I proceded to the casino where I was promptly
given ten $50 chips in exchange for my $500 money order. Hesden
still laughs as he recalls my country bumpkin reaction of staring
at the ten chips in my hand while I slowly rotated in a daze. He
suggested we stroll around for a while and then go back to "cash
in". We did so and I was promptly handed back my money order.
On my first meeting with Mike I explained my dilema and he said
that he could cash the check but it would take several days for
him to get up the cash and since I would be in the jungle it would
give him the time he needed. He gave me $200 at that time and
said that he would have the balance on my return. He was able to
come up with another $100 this morning and said that he would have
the balance on my return from Iquitos. I rightly figured that I
would be covered for my air fare as well as hotel and meals in
Iquitos. We left for the airport.
Mark and I took the early morning flight to Iquitos, Peru, and it
was even more "folksy" than the flight from Bogota to Leticia. We
arrived and went through customs with no problems and took a taxi
to a downtown hotel which Mike had recommended. I had to laugh
when Mark commented that we were back in civilization because the
town of Iquitos was not a metropolitan mecca but considerably
larger than Leticia.
We met a nice young man in the lobby of the hotel and he offered
us his services for our stay in Iquitos. He was an independent
cab driver and "tour guide". Naturally he and Mark hit it off
right away and he was duly impressed when Mark showed him his
International Tour Guide ID card. They were "brothers".
We had lunch at the hotel and sat next to a table of about 12 or
more German oil workers. They were extremly noisy and caused
quite a distraction to the others in the cafe. Our new guide
commented, "The Germans are as rude as Americans." I didn't
respond out of embarassment at having seen the actions of so many
American tourists towards the peoples of the countries they visit.
Our guide spoke some English but for the most part he and Mark
talked in Spanish. My questions were all in English and at one
point the guide said to Mark, "He speaks good English for a
Belgian." Since Mark was Belgian he had assumed that I was also
and used English since I didn't speak enough Spanish. I'm sure
that he wouldn't have made the derogatory remark about Americans
had he known my nationality so I didn't set him straight so as not
to embarass him. I felt somewhat like Peter denying Christ in not
admitting to my true nationality but figured that discretion
would be my best bet at this point since he obviously didn't like
Americans that much.
After lunch we proceded to one of the establishment of one of the
people from whom I had been buying fish. The owner greeted us
warmly and we began a tour of his facility. The entire operation
was basically out of doors in a large lot which was completely
fenced in except for the side which fronted on a small stream.
Shade was provided by a thached roof but all sides of the
"buildings" were wide open. Fifty-five gallon drums had been cut
in two lengthwise with a cutting torch making two 25 gallon
containers from each drum. He must have had several hundred
lined up in neat rows on wooden racks and airlines were bubbling
in all tanks. He explained that each tank contained a "box" of
fish ready for shipment and the quantities varied from just a few
fish of certain larger specimens to as many as 500 of smaller
species.
All the while we were there some of his workers were constantly
hauling buckets of water from the river to give water changes to
the more crowded tanks. This was being done several times daily
or more as required. Dead were removed every morning and the
losses made up from backup tanks so that the count would be
accurate when bagging and boxing were performed pending a flight
out. There would be no time for counting then as our normal
shipments consisted of from 400 to 600 boxes or approximately
half the carrying capacity of a DC3. Things would get hectic
then as the fish would be put into plastic bags in cardboard boxes
and shuttled to the airport as quickly as possible.
The balance of the shipment would consist of live animals and
reptiles bound for either Art's place in Slidell or Tarpon Zoo in
Florida. I believe that Mike was either a partner or former
partner in Tarpon Zoo but liked being in the jungle rather than in
the states and spent his entire time either collecting and/or
buying from natives who collected.
When we left this establishment I had several other addresses
that I wished to check out. I had received letters and price
lists from these other people and wanted to see if they could
offer better quality or price than my present supplier in Iquitos.
Our driver had no difficulty in finding them but both were a
disappointment. The first place was a private home with about 50
half drums in the back yard and the second was about half that
size. I doubt seriously if either had ever made their first
shipment out of the country but had visions of a great business
they would have some day. Mana¤a, perhaps, but not today.
We returned to our hotel and strolled around the market place for
an hour or so before dinner. We also wandered down towards the
river where hundreds of river shanties and boats were crowded
together and he commented that it looked like a South American
version of Hong Kong. As we wandered through some of the narrow
passageways between buildings we on several occasions had to avoid
being drenched by people throwing waste water and possibly worse
out of their windows. We were later told that these were no
accidents but were deliberate attempts to agitate us. Luckily, we
returned to the hotel without incident and relaxed with dinner
and a couple of drinks before retiring for the night.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 8
Sample board of George's idea on mass marketing orchids in the states.
We spent the morning exploring the market place. It was a
beehive of activity and initially very confusing to us as we
could not make sense of some of the activity. However since they
seemed to know what they were doing we just fell right in to the
scene and before long Mark was haggling with some of the merchants
even though he wasn't planning to buy anything. The locals seemed
amused at his style of bargaining and before he knew it Mark ended
up with a pelt of animal fur of some type. He smiled and said that
he would put it in front of his fireplace when he returned to his
home in Belgium.
The fish market area was fascinating to me because of the size of
some of the species being displayed as food. Some of them looked
familiar but so many were totally strange to me. I guess Innes
never got around to cataloging most of these. Neither of us could
take it for very long however because of the stench in the air so
we returned to our hotel to pack for our trip back to Leticia. I
had seen the tropical fish exporters facilities and was satisfied
with the one we were doing business with at this time.
An afternoon flight was available back to Leticia this afternoon
and by this time Mark had firmly decided against going on to
Quito, Equador and was going to return with me to Leticia and then
back to Bogota. We found our local tour guide in the lobby
waiting for us and we were soon on our way back to the airport.
After about a two hour wait because of a problem with the
airplane we were finally airborne. We were definitely
apprehensive about the quality of aircraft repair available at
this particular airport but didn't have much choice insofar as
selecting another mode of transportation. The 400 mile trip down
the river would have been enjoyable but out of the question
because of the time factor. And there were no roads or trains
available so our choice was basically made for us. The flight was
without incident and we were back in Leticia within several hours.
It was like coming back home.
We headed straight for our little sidewalk cafe, luggage and all,
to find our friends all sitting at "our" table and surprised to
see us return a day early. Besides George, Lydia and Hans we were
introduced to a fellow named Johnson, first name escaping me at
this time. Johnson was my fish supplier here in Leticia and this
was my first opportunity to meet with him personally. George lived
with Johnson and his wife and between the two of them were the
suppliers of practically all of the shipments that Art and I
received about once a month, the Iquitos shipments being made
also once a month so that we received a shipment in the states
about every two weeks. Johnson was an independent dealer and
George was actually an employee of Art's.
Another new face, and a pretty one at that, was Helen. She was a
Canadian airline stewardess who was looking for an adventuresome
vacation in the jungle and had obviously picked her location well.
She and Mark hit it off well when she stated that she was planning
to move to Paris within the year and go to school to learn fashion
design. He offered to be her personal guide to Paris as well as
the rest of Europe. I asked if I could also avail myself of his
services if ever I were to travel Europe and he graciously offered
the use of one of his father's limousines and free stay in his
hotel while in Brussels. Mark said that his father considered him
the black sheep of his children because he didn't want to be a
part of his hotel staff but preferred the life of a tour guide.
The hotel life was too confining and boring for Mark.
It was late afternoon and I had time to visit Johnson's facility
which was only several blocks away so I took my leave of the
group and George, Johnson and I headed for his house. The others
said they would await our return for dinner.
Once again I found that 55 gallon drums were the industry
standard for holding fish pending shipment. Johnson had about
500 or so of these covering several lots next to his home with a
thatched roof covering for shade and a bamboo fence surrounding
the entire facility. I learned that he had basically "inherited"
the facility from an Englishman who had originally set it up.
Seems that the bloke had been extradited back to England for some
crime or other and had no choice in leaving.
After touring the grounds and learning that everything in stock
was scheduled for my company on the next flight I was grinning
from ear to ear. He knew that I was coming and had really busted
butt to make sure that I would see good quality fish ready for
shipment. We were invited into his home by his wife for
refreshments and a review of the packing slips and invoice which
she had been preparing. As we sat and talked all of a sudden
Johnson broke out into a sweat and the shakes and made his way to
a couch to lie down. His wife attended to him as George
explained that he was having a bout with Malaria and that it
happened frequently. As we sat and waited to see if it was going
to pass quickly
George showed me some photographs of an idea of
his and suggested that possibly we could work out some mutually
advantageous business deal. His idea was to mass market orchids
in the states thru the chain stores on a display rack in the
garden departments. His prototype display consisted of a piece of
plywood painted nicely with a jungle scene and pegs from which
hung a variety of wild orchids displayed in clear plastic bags. He
knew that most of our business was with the chains and thought
that I might convice the buyers to take on his line. I thought
the idea had great potential and agreed to take the pictures and
some samples back with me and approach some of the buyers.
Unfortunately it never got off the ground because within months
after my return to the states and before anything could be
finalized with George he left Leticia for Cartagena and I lost all
future contact with him.
Back to the momement, it seems that Johnson was down for the
night so George and I returned to the cafe and joined our friends
for dinner and conversation. Hans had since left and only Mark,
Lydia and Helen remained at the table.
Mark and I learned that Lydia had already approached Mike
regarding a one day trek into the jungle and that it had been
originally scheduled for two days hence but upon our early return
she quickly had him reschedule it for tomorrow. Helen had also
been included in the plans so we all returned to our rooms for a
good nights sleep.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 9
We were all down at the dock at daylight and found Joe already
there preparing the motor boat for our day in the jungle. This
trip would be downriver instead of up. Mike made one of his rare
appearances out of his office while we were loading up the boat
for our one day jaunt into the jungles along with the girls. I
was wondering why he had such a silly smile on his face as we
helped Joe with his chores. I was to find out later. We all
helped Joe finish his preparations and were soon were on board the
boat and cruising downstream. We waved to Mike as we headed for
new adventure this beautiful day.
The girls were enthralled as we cruised down river and kept
pointing out various things along the shore line to each other and
to Marc and me. Of course Mark and I were "old jungle salts" by
this time and attempted to look as blaze about their excitement as
we could although we were enjoying these new sights also. There
were many beautiful birds to be seen in trees along the banks of
the river as we continued on our journey for several hours. The
sounds were subdued compared to the nighttime sounds we had heard
on our previous trip but shortly we began to hear a chattering
which increased in intensity as we rounded a point. We asked Joe
what it was but he said that we would soon find out.
There ahead of us was an island right in the middle of the river
which our guide told us was called "Monkey Island". There seemed
to be thousands of monkeys in the trees as we approached and soon
pulled up onto the shoreline. The noise made by the monk eys was
almost deafening as we climbed ashore compared to the chattering
just fifteen minutes prior.
Joe told us that these monkeys had been captured by local Indians
for Mike and then turned loose on this island for future recapture
and shipment. The natural food supply on the island could not hope
to adequately sustain such a large number so additiona l food was
being brought in on a regular basis by some of Mike's employees.
We spent an hour or so wandering around in spite of the
difficulty in doing so and soon returned to the boat when the
girls gave up the fight. Soon we were once again cruising
downstream and enjoying the sights.
By late afternoon we had covered quite a considerable distance
from Leticia and asked Joe when he was going to turn the boat
around and head back. He smiled and said that Mike had arranged
for an "overnight" trip for us. Marc and I couldn't quite pictur
e the girls being comfortable spending the night in the jungle but
Joe assured us that they would be fine. At first the girls were
rather taken by surprise with this new development but were soon
smiling about it and eagerly looking forward to a night in the
jungle. Something they could tell their grandkids about!
Ten or fifteen minutes later we rounded a bend in the river and
there right ahead of us was a fairly large house camp on pilings
with a porch complete with rocking chairs and tables. We soon
pulled up to a little makeshift pier and tied the boat to a pil
ing. The girls were first out of the boat while Marc and I helped
Joe to unload some of our supplies from the boat. We were soon
all on the "veranda" sitting comfortably and having a drink and
discussing our day.
We helped Joe with unloading some of his cargo as the girls
wandered around inspecting our not so lavish accomodations for the
night but the soon returned and gave their approval. Not the
Hilton, for sure, but they indicated that they could cope. Joe
told us that this was one of several outposts which Mike had
scattered along the river for the convenience of some of his
employees as well as for his own relative comfort when going up
and down the river.
In less than an hour after we had docked Joe announced that
dinner was ready. It wasn't a gourmet meal but was more than we
expected under the circumstances. We all dug in and were soon
once again sitting on the veranda indulging in an after dinner
drin k which Joe served with his usual flourish. He called it
"agua caliente" which I believe translates to "hot water" in
English. It reminded me of Greek Ouzo. It was simply an anise
based liquer which most countries have under a variety of names.
After a few of these Joe suggested that we all turn in so we
could get an early start in the moring. We didn't need any
additional prompting.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 10
We all were up and ready to go by six or so the following
morning. We had a hasty breakfast of fruit and were soon all once
again in our little motor boat giving a last fond look at our
"Jungle Hilton" as Helen had dubbed it. I don't believe that she
wa s used to such basic accomodations in her travels as an airline
hostess. Lydia, on the other hand, said that while her sister's
home in Australia was quite modern even though far from any
metropolitan area, the vastness of their sheep ranch required
several cabins long distances from the main house and she had
spent time in those on occasion.
After an hour or so Joe headed the boat towards shore. He
advised us that we were now ready to take a little juant into the
surrounding forest. Again I was concerned regarding the girls
ability to trek through what had seemed impenetrable growth from
th e shore. As it turned out once we were on land and away from
the edge of the river it wasn't nearly as dense as I had thought.
It was, however, even more impressive than I imagined! The
beauty of the entire scene was too much for me to describe from
memory and I only wish that I had taken my camera with me instead
of leaving it back at Mike's place. Much to my surprise, Joe be
gan telling us the names of some of the plants and, in some cases,
how they were utilized by the native Indians. He was quite a
botanist in his own way.
The bases of some of the trees were magnificent and it seemed
that they must have been here since the beginning of time. We
must have walked a mile or so before turning back towards our boat
but this time Joe walked us by a different route. Occasionally
the undergrowth was too dense to go through easily but Joe came to
the rescue with his machete and knocked away a fairly clear path
for the girls whenver necessary.
In addition to having left my camera back at Mike's I had also
left my fish nets much to my regret. Some of the small isolated
pools we came across were full of little tropical fish. This is
what I was here for and my excitement was very apparent to th e
others even thought they probably wondered as to my sanity. I was
successful in being able to scoop up a few with my bare hands just
to show the girls what they looked like from a side view but I
don't think that they were overly impressed. Just wish I could
have found some neon tetras or cardinals to show them. They were
more impressed with the orchids than anything else they saw.
We saw lots of birds and a few monkeys but that was about it.
Occasionally we saw a glimpse of animals on the ground but they
disappeared so fast we weren't able to determine what they were.
At one point Joe smiled and told us that we were being watched by
some of the local Indians. I think he said this just to see the
girls reaction. When he saw that the girls didn't seemed
frightened and even asked him why they didn't show themselves he
explained that they didn't have anything to say to us so why
should they bother showing themselves. Needless to say, Lydia and
Helen thought it ra ther exciting to know that our every move was
being watched. They were constantly looking around to see if they
could spot someone.
We made it back to our boat without a single glimpse of any of
the native Indians and I must admit that I was hoping that they
would make contact with us also just to see how they girls would
have reacted. Within minutes we were all aboard and heading back
towards Leticia and civilization. Well, almost civilization.
We docked back at Mike's pier late in the afternoon and
immediately headed for our little sidewalk cafe for a drink or
two. George was there waiting to hear of our adventure and he got
his ears full. I think that the girls were more excited in
telling him of our adventure than when they were experiencing it.
We decided to have a bite to eat before returning to our
respective rooms but it was several hours before we all decided
to call it a day and get some sleep. A wonderful day at that!
Amazon Adventure Chapter 11
Helen being amused by our host's pet bird.
Helen relaxing on the house boat.
Our host with Lydia and Helen seated.
Mark with the jungle in the background.
The following morning we met George for breakfast and another
rehashing of our previous two day trip into the jungle. As we sat
there overlooking the river I asked George about a small houseboat
which we could see docked across the river. Even at that distance
I had noticed occasional dugouts coming and going from upriver and
downriver and docking for short periods of time. I asked him what
it was all about.
"They're some of the local Indians who come to trade with the
owner. The Indians are reluctant to come into Leticia which to
them is too intimidating. They prefer dealing there where there
is minimum contact with others."
"What do they trade for?", I asked.
"Mostly salt, canned peaches and cigarettes. And a few other
things." He replied.
"All the necessities of civilized man." Mark said.
"What's the chances of us going over there and checking it out?"
"I'll see about getting someone to bring us over." George replied
and got up from the table and headed for the river. Shortly he
was back and said that he had arranged for someone to take us all
over.
After breakfast we all headed once again for the river and were
soon motoring over to the house boat. As we approached we could
see that it was simply a wooden barge with a small cabin on one
end and a canopy over the balance of the barge. A wooden railing
extended all around the barge and under the canopy was what can
only be described as a small old time general store. A small
counter with a few shelves behind it stocked with a variety of
items and a few benches along the railing. And a small bar
stocked with a few bottles of liquor. That called for a drink!
The proprietor was a young man in his late twenties who stumbled
over himself in serving us. I think that he was impressed with
seeing two such lovely ladies. So much so that he made himself a
drink and joined us in having a drink. The drinks were th e same
as Joe had served us at the "Jungle Hilton", the anise based "agua
caliente".
"It's the local drink of choice", he explained.
"You're an American?" I asked even though it was obvious.
"Yep!" Came down here on vacation about eight years ago and
decided to stay. I love it here. I was in college back in the
states and studying to be an attorney but the thought of going
back to the states after spending a few weeks here was too
distaste ful to consider. My dad was really upset when he found
out."
"He's an attorney," he continued, "and wanted me to follow in his
footsteps. My only hope of being able to stay was to continue to
have him send me money to live on so I told him that I would only
stay for a few more months during summer vacation and t hen return
to school in the fall."
"When fall arrived I wrote and told him to let me spend an entire
year down here and if he'd consider sending me my law books I
would continue my studies here on my own and would return in a
year. That was eight years ago."
"So does he still send you money?" I asked.
"I don't need that much money down here. And what little I do
need I can earn here on my houseboat. I saw the need for the
local Indians to have a place where they could feel comfortable in
their trading so moved my boat across the river from where it w as
originally docked on the Leticia side of the river. Basically I'm
acting as an agent for some of the traders in Leticia and get my
cut. The traders come over here as required every day or so to
pick up their goods and bring me more supplies. I have everything
I need right here."
"What kind of traders?" Mark asked.
"Fur, animals, birds and fish and even some foods." he replied.
"Tropical fish?" I asked.
"Yeah, lots of them. A fellow named Rokes started me with them
several years ago and it has become a big thing. Rokes is no
longer here but there are several brokers in Leticia that I trade
with."
"Johnson one of them?"
"Yes".
"That's who I'm buying from now so I guess that I'm getting
indirectly from you. As a matter of curiosity what is the going
price for neon tetras. I'm paying Johnson anywhere from a penny
and a half to three cents each. How can he sell them so cheap?"
"I get 'em at the rate of about 3 for a penny," he laughed, "but
get a penny apiece from him. So we're both just about tripling
our cost. But even at those prices the quanties are large enough
to make it profitable. And I'm sure you're making a good pr ofit
back in the states.", he added.
The rest of our little group were getting bored with all this
business talk so I satisfied myself with this information and we
began talking about other things. As the day progressed and the
temperature began to rise we were all soon half dozing and the
conversation became very sparse. We were totally content to just
sit and bask in doing absolutely nothing. I began to see the
wisdom of this young man's decision to give up his law studies for
this life style.
He served us a snack meal about noon. Canned sardines were the
main course along with crackers. Just like back in the states. We
all decided to top it off with a dessert of canned peaches. We
each got our own can and loved it. More of just doing not hing
for several more hours.
Along about two o'clock he went into his cabin and returned with
a law text book and began reading. He looked up at us and said,
"I'm still planning to go back to the states and join my dad's
law firm one of these days. I've continued my studies while down
here and think that I could pass the bar exam tomorrow if
necessary but will probably return to the states in a year or so
and go back to school for whatever time is required to get my
degree. Excuse me while I do a little homework."
We didn't head back to the other side of the river until about
five o'clock. We hadn't done a thing for the entire day but enjoy
ourselves tremendously in our accomplishment of having done
nothing.
More to come....
To be continued ....if you are interested in this true story let me know at
wesdick@charter.net or sign my guest book with a comment.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
We sat for another hour or so having very enjoyable conversation. Lydia excused herself to take a nap before dinner and shortly afterwards Mark also left to go back to our room leaving George and I to catch up on various things. George suggested we go to a little bar he was particularly fond of towards the edge of town. Since the entire town was not much more than about a six blocks semicircle on the edge of the river we didn't have far to walk.
We ordered another beer and renewed our talking only to be interupted by a young lady rushing in from a back room and proceding to stab the gentleman sitting at the table next to us. The girl stabbed him several times and rushed out leaving him bleeding on the floor and a girl he was sitting with in hysterics. I told George that we should get out of here pronto but he declined saying "It's only a little squabble between that guy and his old girlfriend who stabbed him because he's got a new girlfriend."
By this time a crowd had gathered around the bleeding philanderer but it quickly broke up with the reappearance of the "ex" girlfriend waving a pistol. As the crowd scattered she put several shots into the poor guy laying on the floor. She obviously wanted to make sure he was dead. Right about then the "army" guys showed up and immediately placed her under arrest. George explained that they had no police force, only the army to keep order. They also had a naval contingent consisting of a tug boat and five sailors.
I ordered another round. The entire incident didn't seem to phase George a bit so I soon settled down as had most of the other guests in the place. That is until every light in the place suddenly went out! Candles and oil lamps were being lit on tables around us as George explained, "The town electric generator is shut off at this time every night until six o'clock in the morning. No sweat! Let's have one more and get you back to your room for a good nights sleep."
We finished off the last beer and began the walk back towards the river. The night was overcast and pitch black with no street lights to help us find our way. George explained as we walked down the dirt street that if your right foot gets wet you're walking in the ditch on the right side of the road and if your left foot gets wet... you got the picture. By keeping both feet dry we were on course. After going about four blocks George directed me to keep going straight towards the river and if both feet got wet I had gone too far but Mike's place was right on the left at the river. He turned right to go to his home which was a block or so away in that direction.
I quickly sobered completely as I found myself alone on this dark street in a very strange and wild town. I proceded down the street when suddenly I was aware of someone in the dark coming towards me. I stopped and listened but the sloshing footsteps I had heard had also stopped. I started walking again and so did someone else. I stopped again and asked in my best Spanish, "Where is Mike's place?"
A voice replied as a cigarette lighter revealed a long-haired blond hippies face that I recognized as being on the plane with us earlier "Ya got me, man. I'm new here." He was stoned! I turned him around and we both headed back towards the river and the rooming house where he was staying. I fell into my bed and probably passed out before I had a chance to fall asleep. Tomorrow was another day.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 3
We awoke before daylight the next morning and proceded to the
river edge where we found our guide waiting beside a small boat
equiped with an outboard motor. The boat was already loaded with
enough supplies for at least a week in the jungle even though I
had told Mike that I only had about 3 days available. As it
turned out all of the supplies weren't for us anyway. Within
minutes we were headed upsteam towards Peru. I might point out
that standing on the river bank in Leticia one can look to the
east and see Brazil and looking south to the other side of the
river is Peru.
We motored upstream for hours with nothing but jungle on either
side of us with an occasional native boat occupant waving to us
as we passed. After about five hours of motoring we slowed and
approached the bank where a small tributary entered the Amazon and
pulled up onto shore right at the point. The Amazon is still
about a mile and a half wide even though about 2500 miles from the
mouth, and still navigable by deep sea freighters. The tributary
was almost a river in its own right.
"We'll make base camp here", the guide advised as we helped him
pull the boat partially up the sloping bank. It took us about an
hour to get settled in. When everthing seemed to his liking he
returned to the river bank and entered a thick growth of brush and
emerged a few minutes later sitting in a small dugout canoe and
skimmed over to where Mark and I were standing. He announced that
we would use this boat for most of our exploring. I jumped in and
realized that the boat was very similar to our native Louisiana
pirogues and required a good sense of balance to remain upright.
When Mark got in he almost capsized us so we advised him to just
sit very quietly, as would I, and allow the guide to do the
balancing. Before the day was out we had several near spills but
managed to stay upright and dry.
We proceded up the tributary and then into a smaller tributary.
Soon our guide found a spot to his liking and proceded to hand us
the fishing poles laying in the bottom of the boat. He also
supplied us with bait and suddenly we were fishing. Within
minutes we were pulling in fish almost as fast as we could re-bait
and throw out our lines. I recognized some of the species as
being adults of some of our favorite tropicals, such as large
silver dollars species, cichlids of several varieties, etc. At
one point I hooked a pirahna and the guide cautioned me to allow
him to remove the hook from its mouth. A few minutes later I
hooked another but lost it. When I went to re-bait my hook I
found it clipped off neatly about half way up. I could hardly
believe that teeth could shear thru the hardened steel of a fish
hook but before the afternoon was out we lost several more hooks.
Years later, in a doctors waiting room, I read an account in a
travel magazine by an author who related the same, so I swiped the
book (with the receptionists permission) to show skeptic friends.
Soon the bottom of the boat was covered with all sorts of fish as
evening was approaching. We returned to base camp and began to
clean our catch. At this point I must confess to not remembering
the name of our native guide so I'll call him Joe. Joe
disappeared into the jungle for about 15 minutes and came back
with a big hunk of something or other wood and began trimming it
down with first a machete and then proceded to scrape it across a
small, flat cheese grater. At first it looked like curley pasta
but after he sprinked it with salt and pepper and a little vinegar
we had a delicious heart of palm salad. By this time the fish
were cooking and we soon feasted. I might add that this was the
second time I had eaten Mylasomma Silver Dollar species but the
first for some of the catfish varieties. We also became "man
eating piranhas" as we turned the tables on the little devils and
devoured them. We stuffed.
After dinner it became dark rapidly and we sat around the small
fire just gabbing about the day when Mark reached over into his
pack and pulled out a small leather pouch. Opening it revealed a
fancy half pint bottle of 30 year old Napolean Brandy and 2 small
silver cups. It had been a gift to him from a friend in Cartegena
while there arranging for his temporary teaching position. Joe
got a small cup and Mark poured. There we sat sipping and
savoring every minute of our day. We thought it ended but about
an hour later Joe jumped up and said "Let's go!" and headed for
the river bank. We followed and asked as to where we were headed.
"To shine for Caimen." was his reply as we climbed into the small
dugout once again. It seemed even more wobbly this time after the
brandy and I was very worried that maybe Mark's sense of balance
would be even worse. And then there were the pirahnas we knew
lurked beneath the surface.
Soon we were gliding up the river and shortly entered a very small
tributary with lots of overhanging branches near the banks. Joe
began shining his bull light along the banks and we saw eyes
shining back at us from just about everywhere. The moonlight was
not too bright but just sufficient for us to see a vague outline
of the banks and the tree line above. Although we had been
hearing "jungle sounds" since sunset around camp the volume seemed
to increase as we quietly glided along. All sorts of noises! All
of a sudden we heard a jaguarundi (Joe's word) scream not too far
away. I felt no fear but such a feeling of joy at being there that
all of a sudden "goose bumps" started at my feet and worked their
way up my entire body in wave after wave all the way to my head
and I could feel the hair on the nape of my neck standing up
straight. Having been an avid Tarzan reader as a kid I felt the
urge to rip off my clothes and run off through the jungle but
reason prevailed.
Several hours later when we finally turned in for the night I
could hardly go to sleep because the smile on my face hurt so
badly. And so ended day one in the jungles of the Amazon.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 4
I awoke to the smell of coffee in the morning and was immediately
wide awake. Mark was stirring and soon we were all having a
breakfast of canned peaches along with another cuppa coffee. Joe
said that we would go upriver today and use the larger boat which
caused Mark to breathe a sigh of relief. I don't think that he
ever got used to the dugout. Included in the plans for the day was
to be a trip to a small native village.
We proceded upriver for about ten miles when Joe once again
turned into a small tributary which soon became extremely narrow
and heavily overhung with branches. I could see lots of "minnows"
in the water but didn't get a chance to net any at this time. I
guessed that there would be time for that later as I was eager to
visit the village. Suddenly Joe stopped the motor and we drifted
slowly for a few yards and came to a dead stop. I asked "What's
the problem?" and received a forefinger pressed to his lips in
answer from Joe.
We sat quietly for another minute or so while he listened
intently, for what I had no idea. I again ventured to ask what
the problem was and this time received a harsh "Shusshhh!" in
response.
We must have sat there quietly for about 15 minutes when all of a
sudden two sleek dugout canoes approached us from both directions
occupied by two young Indians. They pulled up beside us on either
side and began talking to Joe who seemed very apologetic. He then
offered them some of the canned goods (mostly peaches and other
types of fruit) and a box of salt which caused them to grin. After
a few more exchanges the two Indians left us and we were alone
once again.
"What was that all about?", I asked.
"Our propeller snagged their gill net which was strung across the
stream just below water level and tore it up. I realized that
they would probably be nearby so we were obliged to wait for them
to show their faces so we could make amends. Had we tried to
proceed we would probably have received darts in our backs by
now."
He explained that the cans of fruit were highly prized and were
one of the staple trading items along with salt and cigarettes.
Now I knew why we had what seemed to be a weeks supply for a three
day trip.
We proceded to the village with no further problems. We beached
the dugout and started walking towards a group of about 5 or 6
thatched grass huts. As we walked towards the village the young
braves all approached us while the women went about their business
as if we didn't exist. The first to approach me reached towards
me and pointed to my pack of cigarettes in my shirt pocket. I
smiled, took them out of my pocket and with a snap several
cigarettes protuded from the pack but he smiled back and took the
entire pack from my hand. Before I could say anything Joe
advised that I not protest but rather just let him have the whole
pack. The young buck took one and passed the pack on to the
others and soon they were all puffing away.
As an older man approached Joe told us that this was the chief
coming to welcome us. He walked up to where we were standing and
pointed to a tree about 40 feet from where we stood as he took a
dart from where it was stuck in his headdress along with about 15
more. He inserted it in the end of his blow gun and took aim at
the tree and with a quick blow the dart was sticking in the tree.
Another dart was quickly inserted and followed the first and
lodged about an inch from the first dart.
"He's showing off his skill", said Joe as a third dart completed
a target pattern that could have been covered with a silver
dollar. The chief smiled at me and offered his blowgun. "He wants
to see how good you are." said Joe. I was on the spot. I figured
I had pretty good blowing power since I played dixieland clarinet
on Bourbon St. in New Orleans in my younger days, so I lifted the
blowgun to my lips and gave a big blast.
A dart flew out of the other end of the blowgun and landed about
five feet in front of where I stood. Everybody broke up laughing.
Rather embarassed, I asked the chief to show me once more how he
did it and this time I saw that he didn't give a hard blow but
merely a little "phttt". He graciously handed the blow gun back
to me as his fourth dart joined the others in his target pattern.
This time I emulated his "phttt" and was amazed at how easily my
dart headed towards the tree and lodged about a foot directly
under his darts.
I handed the dart gun back to the chief and told Joe to tell him
"I don't want to try again for fear I split one of his darts with
my next shot." It must have been a good answer because once again
they all laughed and I was accepted by them all. I'm sure it was
for my sense of humor rather than my prowess with the dart gun.
The chief invited me over to his thatched hut and I followed him
inside. Since the incident of the dark night when the town
generators had been turned off I began carrying a small pencil
sized flashlight in my pocket for emergency use and now had a
chance to use it inside the dark hut. The chief was amazed as I
shone the light around the interior so I handed it to him for
examination. He was like a kid with a new toy. We went back
outside and he started jabbering with Joe who advised me that the
chief was offering a pig for the flashlight. He suggested that I
not accept the trade but rather say that it was important to my
work and I would need it in my travels. "He'll be very
disappointed in a few hours of playing with it when the batteries
run down", he explained, "and we don't want them following us
after we leave." Thank goodness the chief accepted the explanation
graciously.
As we wandered around the village in the next hour or so I was
taken by the homemade garments they all wore. They were simple
grass skirts and a grass "bib" of sorts which hung over their
chests from around the neck. I asked Joe as to the possibilty of
obtaining one as a souvineer and to my surprise he asked a young
buck standing near us. With a perplexed look at me he answered
Joe who relayed "About $1.20 American money in trade." "OK", I
said, and as soon as Joe relayed my offer the buck began
stripping to his birthday suit right there in the middle of the
village, handing me his garments. Years later I wore the outfit
at a pool party at my home and really shocked everybody when I
jumped out of the bushes around the pool and let out a yell. Of
course the outfit was rather skimpy on my 6'1" and 210lb frame as
opposed to the original owner who was about 5'4" and maybe 110lbs.
Maybe that's what frightened my guests.
Shortly thereafter we took our leave as Joe suggested we head
back to our camp. Mark and I did so reluctantly as we were
fascinated by the various activites both men and women were
performing as well as the kids who followed us everywhere. It was
almost dark by the time we arrived back at base camp but still
early enough to catch a few fish for dinner as we neared the camp.
Tonight we were probably all fast asleep by eight o'clock.
Unfortunately the brandy was all consumed the night before but Joe
fixed us what he called an "agua diente" which was a licorice
based liquor and very tasty.
And so ended our second night in the jungle.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 5
The following morning we again were up by daylight and had our
coffee and canned peaches for breakfast. Joe told us that we
would slowly head back towards Leticia today and stop at another
native village along the way. He also said that we would be able
to do a little fish netting even though I was not prepared to
bring anything back with me as I had not brought any containers.
Just looking would be enough for me at this point.
We watched as Joe hid the dugout in the brush along the river
bank and thought that it was probably more ritual than anything
as I'm sure that the local Indians could find it in a flash. I
guess that they just respected the fact that he "hid" it and as
such should be left alone. In so many ways they are civilized as
compared to the rest of the world.
As we slowly motored back down river Joe gave us a little
background on the locals. This was prompted when we passed an
absolutely huge tree which seemed to be partially dead and with
very few remaining leaves. This was a local landmark to the
Indians in this area as it was the spot at which their "father's
father's father" stood with God when the earth was created. It
seems that their great-grandfather was good buddies with God and
they created everything as a joint enterprise. I guess it would
give them a rather close intimacy with God at that.
After an hour or so of motoring Joe steered towards another small
stream which flowed in from the south and we once again found
ourselves in a veritable tunnel of branches and leaves as we
slowly puttered along. We soon came to a place where we could no
longer go upstream so we beached the boat and continued to go
upstream on foot alongside the stream. There were many places
into which I felt that a scoop with the nets I had would reveal
fish and I couldn't wait any longer. I stopped and scooped.
My memory is not what it once was but I believe that the first
species I spotted in my net was a fish that I had never seen "in
person" as I recognized the little Hyphesebrycon eos (dawn tetra)
from pictures in William Innes' book Exotic Tropicals which had
been my bible since the first week I became a hobbyist. Mark was
amazed that I was able to spout out the Latin name of a fish which
I had never seen before but I made him laugh when I told him that
I was good with fish but couldn't tell the difference between a
Ford or a Chevrolet unless I saw the name somewhere on the car.
We all continued to scoop around the little pools which revealed
a regular "community tank" of little tetras and small cichlids as
well as a variety of catfish. Most of the fish in this area were
on the small side. We caught (and released) severums and dwarf
cichlids which I had never even seen pictures of as well as pencil
fish, head and tails, and a few rather drab tetras which were also
not recognized. It was heartbreaking not to have containers into
which to place these fish but I consoled myself by knowing that
they would all be available very cheaply and ready for shipment
back in Leticia. We must have piddled the puddles for close to
two hours before Joe said that we'd better call it quits. Even
Joe had gotten into the excitement of dipping as Mark's and my
enthusiasm got the best of him.
I realized at this point the advance preparations necessary for
those explorers who actually collect specimens either for
scientific or monetary reasons. And the difficulties they must
overcome to get them back alive. Art Jones had told me of some of
the earlier trips during which the natives were first told that
these little fish were wanted in large quantities and were
exchangable for cigarettes, salt, and the old reliable canned
peaches and other fruits. Most of the Indians were initially
skeptical that the little fish were of any value and initially
brought in fish which were more the eating size. Art told me of
one incident where a young Indian from fifty or more miles
downstream from Leticia had been shown some of the varieties and
sizes which were desirable. He returned to his village but was
unable to convince his tribesmen to help him collect. On his
own, he caught a large mess of little tetras and kept them in a
partially sunken dugout, changing water several times a day as he
had been instructed. Eventually, he paddled upstream the fifty
miles back to Leticia hauling the partially sunken dugout full of
fish behind his dugout, and made a good trade for his trouble.
When he returned to his village the rest of the tribe was
convinced that he had been telling the truth and soon they were
all collecting fish and making regular trips back to Leticia
hauling a veritable "train" of partially sunken dugouts behind
them just loaded with fish.
We returned to our boat and proceded back downstream to the river
and were soon once again headed back towards Leticia. We saw
lots of large fish jumping almost constantly and, again my memory
on this is a little dim, but I believe that Joe told us that some
of the "fish" we saw jumping were actually freshwater dolphins.
And then for yet another time we headed up a small tributary and
upon rounding a bend we came upon a rather large village. This
village had several more or less permanent buildings which were
constructed of saplings and thatched roofs as well as raised
floors of slender saplings or a type of bamboo. They were not the
same as the previous village which had consisted mostly of
temporary huts because of the nomadic tendencies of the other
tribe. These villagers had become a part of social commerce in
that they fished and hunted and supplied the residents of Leticia
with much of their food.
We approached one of the buildings to find several women in the
process of cleaning a large turtle for the meat. The shell of the
turtle had already been removed and was surrounded by about 8 or
10 small children who were giving it their full attention. About
500 flies were also giving it lots of attention and as we looked
closer we found that the kids were picking at bits of raw turtle
meat which still clung to the inside of the shell and popping the
dainty little morsels into their mouths before the flies got it
all.
We didn't stay here too long as we still had quite a ways to go
to get back to Leticia before dark so we gave our thanks for their
hospitality and said our goodbyes. We were back on the river once
more and this time the next stop would be Mike's dock.
Mark and I had lots of memories and stories to tell of our 3 day
trip. We were both looking forward to a good bath and a change of
clothing.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 6
After our bath and into some clean clothes Mark and I headed for
the little sidewalk cafe only a block or so from Mike's place.
George was sitting at the same table we had occupied just a few
nights before and Lydia was sitting with him. They had been
waiting for us to hear of our jungle jaunt. It was old hat to
George but Lydia was fascinated with the adventure and said that
she was angry at not having been invited. Since Mark and I were
leaving for Iquitos, Peru in the morning but would return in three
days we suggested that if she were still there maybe we could get
Mike to arrange for a one day excursion into the nearby jungle.
She was thrilled at the idea and decided to stay and wait for us
to return.
As we gabbed away a young man approached our table looking like
he had been lost in the jungle for a spell. George recognized
him and introduced us all around. I'm terrible at names so I'll
call him Hans. He was a 27 year old Dutch anthropologist who had
received a grant from his government to study the Amazon Indians
and had been in the jungle for the past ten months without seeing
another white man since he had left Leticia.
He began to tell us of his stay with one of the wandering tribes
during this period. This particular tribe was completely nomadic
and would only occasionaly stay in one spot for more than a day or
so. All during this period he followed them but they would barely
acknowledge his presence. They never were a threat to him but
rather treated him as a nuisance to be tolerated. Over the months
they ignored his presence and it was just a few weeks prior to his
sudden appearance at our table that he was finally "accepted".
He described how one evening the tribe had settled down for the
night and were eating their supper when a young brave sitting
across from him suddenly looked at him straight in the eyes,
reached into his mouth to remove his partially chewed food, and
offered it to Hans. Hans took the offering and put it into his
mouth, elated to have been finally accepted as one of the tribe.
Hans added that he was so happy about this acceptance that he
decided to come back to Leticia for a quick R&R as well as to
send in his papers thus far to his government. "I just HAD to
tell somebody", he said.
After his story we all exchanged personal background as well as
having excellent conversation in general. As mentioned earlier,
Mark was a linguist extraordinaire with his command of 14+
languages. Lydia and Hans both spoke five languages and George
spoke three which left me to say, "Three here, too. Just a
smattering of Spanish but I'm somewhat proficient in Profanity".
Mark suggested that the conversation be held in English in
deference to my limited abilities but during the next hour or so I
would sit fascinated and totally lost on occasion when the
conversations would flow from one language to another in
mid-sentence, or so it seemed to me. However, someone would
usually catch it and return it to English.
I eventually got around to asking Lydia what had brought her to
the Amazon. She began her story by telling us that her father, an
Italian nobleman, had left Italy during the late 1930's in order
to get his family away from the impending war. He moved the
family to Argentina which was where Lydia grew up and eventually
met a young Argentine actor named Fernando Lamas. They married
and moved to Hollywood where the marriage sort of fell apart. She
ended up going back to Argentina and then to Australia where she
now resided with her sister and sister's husband, an English
nobleman of some sort, who had a large sheep ranch in the outback.
She had just finished a return visit to family in Argentina and
decided to take a side trip to Leticia to see what the Amazon was
all about.
We had dinner without having to leave our "drinking" table and
soon we were all the best of friends. One of the waiters came by
our table and advised us that if any of us were interested the
cock fights would be starting in about a half hour at a place
several blocks away. When I said that I had never been to a cock
fight Lydia volunteered that she would bring me as her guest. The
others declined to go so we left them there and walked to the
"arena". It was a small building consisting of just a roof and a
small "pit" in the center and surrounded by about 5 rows of
bleachers for the on-lookers. We grabbed a seat on the top row
and settled in pending the start of the cock fights.
All of a sudden a fist fight erupted about ten feet from where we
sat and a fellow sitting next to me said, "Jump and run, senor".
I said "Why?" and he retorted, "There might be bullets!"
I quickly jumped off the back of the top row which was only about
shoulder height and helped Lydia down while all around us others
were jumping and running. I couldn't resist looking back and
seeing that several others had quickly broken up the fist fight
between the two by dragging them apart. One left in a huff while
the other returned to his seat and was soon followed by the entire
crowd of maybe 40 or so people. So once again we all sat waiting
for the first "bout".
Two roosters were brought out and their trainers taunted them by
repeatedly thrusting them towards each other until the roosters
were in a fierce frenzy. They suddenly released them and the
fight was on!
For about 5 seconds, that is, until the fist fighter who had left
in a huff a few minutes earlier came back waving a pistol and
firing at random. This time I didn't wait for the fellow next to
me to give any advise, but did a back flip off the bench landing
on my feet and yanked Lydia down backwards faster than I can
describe it. I quickly led her towards the back of the lot where
we were blocked by a bamboo fence. By this time things had once
again quieted down back in the arena as we returned to find that
several people had been wounded but no one was killed. Those
closest to the crazy gunman had no chance to run but alternately
had dived onto him and overpowered him before he could reload.
Once again the army showed up and hauled him off. The cock fights
were cancelled.
As the crowd dispersed Lydia and I found ourselves laughing at
the entire escape, probably in relief that neither of us had been
harmed. As we walked we approached a thatched building of good
size which sported a bright neon sign above the doorway. Live
music was coming from inside the building so we assumed it to be
the local version of a disco. I smiled gallantly and asked,
"Would you like to dance?" to which she replied "Yes." As we
smiled towards the door we once again heard the unmistakable
sound of gunshots and before our eyes the front double doors
opened wide and frantic people streamed out of the building.
At this we decided to call it a night and headed back towards our
little sidewalk cafe and safety(?).
Amazon Adventure Chapter 7
Mark in Iquitos.
I had neglected to mention that when I left San Juan I only had
about $100 cash on me as expenses for the APPMA show had been
higher than anticipated so I had phoned my office in Lacombe and
had a money wire sent to the Hotel San Juan. Unfortunately, the
hotel clerk advised me that he couldn't cash it but that I could
probably get it cashed in the casino.
My brother and I proceded to the casino where I was promptly
given ten $50 chips in exchange for my $500 money order. Hesden
still laughs as he recalls my country bumpkin reaction of staring
at the ten chips in my hand while I slowly rotated in a daze. He
suggested we stroll around for a while and then go back to "cash
in". We did so and I was promptly handed back my money order.
On my first meeting with Mike I explained my dilema and he said
that he could cash the check but it would take several days for
him to get up the cash and since I would be in the jungle it would
give him the time he needed. He gave me $200 at that time and
said that he would have the balance on my return. He was able to
come up with another $100 this morning and said that he would have
the balance on my return from Iquitos. I rightly figured that I
would be covered for my air fare as well as hotel and meals in
Iquitos. We left for the airport.
Mark and I took the early morning flight to Iquitos, Peru, and it
was even more "folksy" than the flight from Bogota to Leticia. We
arrived and went through customs with no problems and took a taxi
to a downtown hotel which Mike had recommended. I had to laugh
when Mark commented that we were back in civilization because the
town of Iquitos was not a metropolitan mecca but considerably
larger than Leticia.
We met a nice young man in the lobby of the hotel and he offered
us his services for our stay in Iquitos. He was an independent
cab driver and "tour guide". Naturally he and Mark hit it off
right away and he was duly impressed when Mark showed him his
International Tour Guide ID card. They were "brothers".
We had lunch at the hotel and sat next to a table of about 12 or
more German oil workers. They were extremly noisy and caused
quite a distraction to the others in the cafe. Our new guide
commented, "The Germans are as rude as Americans." I didn't
respond out of embarassment at having seen the actions of so many
American tourists towards the peoples of the countries they visit.
Our guide spoke some English but for the most part he and Mark
talked in Spanish. My questions were all in English and at one
point the guide said to Mark, "He speaks good English for a
Belgian." Since Mark was Belgian he had assumed that I was also
and used English since I didn't speak enough Spanish. I'm sure
that he wouldn't have made the derogatory remark about Americans
had he known my nationality so I didn't set him straight so as not
to embarass him. I felt somewhat like Peter denying Christ in not
admitting to my true nationality but figured that discretion
would be my best bet at this point since he obviously didn't like
Americans that much.
After lunch we proceded to one of the establishment of one of the
people from whom I had been buying fish. The owner greeted us
warmly and we began a tour of his facility. The entire operation
was basically out of doors in a large lot which was completely
fenced in except for the side which fronted on a small stream.
Shade was provided by a thached roof but all sides of the
"buildings" were wide open. Fifty-five gallon drums had been cut
in two lengthwise with a cutting torch making two 25 gallon
containers from each drum. He must have had several hundred
lined up in neat rows on wooden racks and airlines were bubbling
in all tanks. He explained that each tank contained a "box" of
fish ready for shipment and the quantities varied from just a few
fish of certain larger specimens to as many as 500 of smaller
species.
All the while we were there some of his workers were constantly
hauling buckets of water from the river to give water changes to
the more crowded tanks. This was being done several times daily
or more as required. Dead were removed every morning and the
losses made up from backup tanks so that the count would be
accurate when bagging and boxing were performed pending a flight
out. There would be no time for counting then as our normal
shipments consisted of from 400 to 600 boxes or approximately
half the carrying capacity of a DC3. Things would get hectic
then as the fish would be put into plastic bags in cardboard boxes
and shuttled to the airport as quickly as possible.
The balance of the shipment would consist of live animals and
reptiles bound for either Art's place in Slidell or Tarpon Zoo in
Florida. I believe that Mike was either a partner or former
partner in Tarpon Zoo but liked being in the jungle rather than in
the states and spent his entire time either collecting and/or
buying from natives who collected.
When we left this establishment I had several other addresses
that I wished to check out. I had received letters and price
lists from these other people and wanted to see if they could
offer better quality or price than my present supplier in Iquitos.
Our driver had no difficulty in finding them but both were a
disappointment. The first place was a private home with about 50
half drums in the back yard and the second was about half that
size. I doubt seriously if either had ever made their first
shipment out of the country but had visions of a great business
they would have some day. Mana¤a, perhaps, but not today.
We returned to our hotel and strolled around the market place for
an hour or so before dinner. We also wandered down towards the
river where hundreds of river shanties and boats were crowded
together and he commented that it looked like a South American
version of Hong Kong. As we wandered through some of the narrow
passageways between buildings we on several occasions had to avoid
being drenched by people throwing waste water and possibly worse
out of their windows. We were later told that these were no
accidents but were deliberate attempts to agitate us. Luckily, we
returned to the hotel without incident and relaxed with dinner
and a couple of drinks before retiring for the night.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 8
Sample board of George's idea on mass marketing orchids in the states.
We spent the morning exploring the market place. It was a
beehive of activity and initially very confusing to us as we
could not make sense of some of the activity. However since they
seemed to know what they were doing we just fell right in to the
scene and before long Mark was haggling with some of the merchants
even though he wasn't planning to buy anything. The locals seemed
amused at his style of bargaining and before he knew it Mark ended
up with a pelt of animal fur of some type. He smiled and said that
he would put it in front of his fireplace when he returned to his
home in Belgium.
The fish market area was fascinating to me because of the size of
some of the species being displayed as food. Some of them looked
familiar but so many were totally strange to me. I guess Innes
never got around to cataloging most of these. Neither of us could
take it for very long however because of the stench in the air so
we returned to our hotel to pack for our trip back to Leticia. I
had seen the tropical fish exporters facilities and was satisfied
with the one we were doing business with at this time.
An afternoon flight was available back to Leticia this afternoon
and by this time Mark had firmly decided against going on to
Quito, Equador and was going to return with me to Leticia and then
back to Bogota. We found our local tour guide in the lobby
waiting for us and we were soon on our way back to the airport.
After about a two hour wait because of a problem with the
airplane we were finally airborne. We were definitely
apprehensive about the quality of aircraft repair available at
this particular airport but didn't have much choice insofar as
selecting another mode of transportation. The 400 mile trip down
the river would have been enjoyable but out of the question
because of the time factor. And there were no roads or trains
available so our choice was basically made for us. The flight was
without incident and we were back in Leticia within several hours.
It was like coming back home.
We headed straight for our little sidewalk cafe, luggage and all,
to find our friends all sitting at "our" table and surprised to
see us return a day early. Besides George, Lydia and Hans we were
introduced to a fellow named Johnson, first name escaping me at
this time. Johnson was my fish supplier here in Leticia and this
was my first opportunity to meet with him personally. George lived
with Johnson and his wife and between the two of them were the
suppliers of practically all of the shipments that Art and I
received about once a month, the Iquitos shipments being made
also once a month so that we received a shipment in the states
about every two weeks. Johnson was an independent dealer and
George was actually an employee of Art's.
Another new face, and a pretty one at that, was Helen. She was a
Canadian airline stewardess who was looking for an adventuresome
vacation in the jungle and had obviously picked her location well.
She and Mark hit it off well when she stated that she was planning
to move to Paris within the year and go to school to learn fashion
design. He offered to be her personal guide to Paris as well as
the rest of Europe. I asked if I could also avail myself of his
services if ever I were to travel Europe and he graciously offered
the use of one of his father's limousines and free stay in his
hotel while in Brussels. Mark said that his father considered him
the black sheep of his children because he didn't want to be a
part of his hotel staff but preferred the life of a tour guide.
The hotel life was too confining and boring for Mark.
It was late afternoon and I had time to visit Johnson's facility
which was only several blocks away so I took my leave of the
group and George, Johnson and I headed for his house. The others
said they would await our return for dinner.
Once again I found that 55 gallon drums were the industry
standard for holding fish pending shipment. Johnson had about
500 or so of these covering several lots next to his home with a
thatched roof covering for shade and a bamboo fence surrounding
the entire facility. I learned that he had basically "inherited"
the facility from an Englishman who had originally set it up.
Seems that the bloke had been extradited back to England for some
crime or other and had no choice in leaving.
After touring the grounds and learning that everything in stock
was scheduled for my company on the next flight I was grinning
from ear to ear. He knew that I was coming and had really busted
butt to make sure that I would see good quality fish ready for
shipment. We were invited into his home by his wife for
refreshments and a review of the packing slips and invoice which
she had been preparing. As we sat and talked all of a sudden
Johnson broke out into a sweat and the shakes and made his way to
a couch to lie down. His wife attended to him as George
explained that he was having a bout with Malaria and that it
happened frequently. As we sat and waited to see if it was going
to pass quickly
George showed me some photographs of an idea of
his and suggested that possibly we could work out some mutually
advantageous business deal. His idea was to mass market orchids
in the states thru the chain stores on a display rack in the
garden departments. His prototype display consisted of a piece of
plywood painted nicely with a jungle scene and pegs from which
hung a variety of wild orchids displayed in clear plastic bags. He
knew that most of our business was with the chains and thought
that I might convice the buyers to take on his line. I thought
the idea had great potential and agreed to take the pictures and
some samples back with me and approach some of the buyers.
Unfortunately it never got off the ground because within months
after my return to the states and before anything could be
finalized with George he left Leticia for Cartagena and I lost all
future contact with him.
Back to the momement, it seems that Johnson was down for the
night so George and I returned to the cafe and joined our friends
for dinner and conversation. Hans had since left and only Mark,
Lydia and Helen remained at the table.
Mark and I learned that Lydia had already approached Mike
regarding a one day trek into the jungle and that it had been
originally scheduled for two days hence but upon our early return
she quickly had him reschedule it for tomorrow. Helen had also
been included in the plans so we all returned to our rooms for a
good nights sleep.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 9
We were all down at the dock at daylight and found Joe already
there preparing the motor boat for our day in the jungle. This
trip would be downriver instead of up. Mike made one of his rare
appearances out of his office while we were loading up the boat
for our one day jaunt into the jungles along with the girls. I
was wondering why he had such a silly smile on his face as we
helped Joe with his chores. I was to find out later. We all
helped Joe finish his preparations and were soon were on board the
boat and cruising downstream. We waved to Mike as we headed for
new adventure this beautiful day.
The girls were enthralled as we cruised down river and kept
pointing out various things along the shore line to each other and
to Marc and me. Of course Mark and I were "old jungle salts" by
this time and attempted to look as blaze about their excitement as
we could although we were enjoying these new sights also. There
were many beautiful birds to be seen in trees along the banks of
the river as we continued on our journey for several hours. The
sounds were subdued compared to the nighttime sounds we had heard
on our previous trip but shortly we began to hear a chattering
which increased in intensity as we rounded a point. We asked Joe
what it was but he said that we would soon find out.
There ahead of us was an island right in the middle of the river
which our guide told us was called "Monkey Island". There seemed
to be thousands of monkeys in the trees as we approached and soon
pulled up onto the shoreline. The noise made by the monk eys was
almost deafening as we climbed ashore compared to the chattering
just fifteen minutes prior.
Joe told us that these monkeys had been captured by local Indians
for Mike and then turned loose on this island for future recapture
and shipment. The natural food supply on the island could not hope
to adequately sustain such a large number so additiona l food was
being brought in on a regular basis by some of Mike's employees.
We spent an hour or so wandering around in spite of the
difficulty in doing so and soon returned to the boat when the
girls gave up the fight. Soon we were once again cruising
downstream and enjoying the sights.
By late afternoon we had covered quite a considerable distance
from Leticia and asked Joe when he was going to turn the boat
around and head back. He smiled and said that Mike had arranged
for an "overnight" trip for us. Marc and I couldn't quite pictur
e the girls being comfortable spending the night in the jungle but
Joe assured us that they would be fine. At first the girls were
rather taken by surprise with this new development but were soon
smiling about it and eagerly looking forward to a night in the
jungle. Something they could tell their grandkids about!
Ten or fifteen minutes later we rounded a bend in the river and
there right ahead of us was a fairly large house camp on pilings
with a porch complete with rocking chairs and tables. We soon
pulled up to a little makeshift pier and tied the boat to a pil
ing. The girls were first out of the boat while Marc and I helped
Joe to unload some of our supplies from the boat. We were soon
all on the "veranda" sitting comfortably and having a drink and
discussing our day.
We helped Joe with unloading some of his cargo as the girls
wandered around inspecting our not so lavish accomodations for the
night but the soon returned and gave their approval. Not the
Hilton, for sure, but they indicated that they could cope. Joe
told us that this was one of several outposts which Mike had
scattered along the river for the convenience of some of his
employees as well as for his own relative comfort when going up
and down the river.
In less than an hour after we had docked Joe announced that
dinner was ready. It wasn't a gourmet meal but was more than we
expected under the circumstances. We all dug in and were soon
once again sitting on the veranda indulging in an after dinner
drin k which Joe served with his usual flourish. He called it
"agua caliente" which I believe translates to "hot water" in
English. It reminded me of Greek Ouzo. It was simply an anise
based liquer which most countries have under a variety of names.
After a few of these Joe suggested that we all turn in so we
could get an early start in the moring. We didn't need any
additional prompting.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 10
We all were up and ready to go by six or so the following
morning. We had a hasty breakfast of fruit and were soon all once
again in our little motor boat giving a last fond look at our
"Jungle Hilton" as Helen had dubbed it. I don't believe that she
wa s used to such basic accomodations in her travels as an airline
hostess. Lydia, on the other hand, said that while her sister's
home in Australia was quite modern even though far from any
metropolitan area, the vastness of their sheep ranch required
several cabins long distances from the main house and she had
spent time in those on occasion.
After an hour or so Joe headed the boat towards shore. He
advised us that we were now ready to take a little juant into the
surrounding forest. Again I was concerned regarding the girls
ability to trek through what had seemed impenetrable growth from
th e shore. As it turned out once we were on land and away from
the edge of the river it wasn't nearly as dense as I had thought.
It was, however, even more impressive than I imagined! The
beauty of the entire scene was too much for me to describe from
memory and I only wish that I had taken my camera with me instead
of leaving it back at Mike's place. Much to my surprise, Joe be
gan telling us the names of some of the plants and, in some cases,
how they were utilized by the native Indians. He was quite a
botanist in his own way.
The bases of some of the trees were magnificent and it seemed
that they must have been here since the beginning of time. We
must have walked a mile or so before turning back towards our boat
but this time Joe walked us by a different route. Occasionally
the undergrowth was too dense to go through easily but Joe came to
the rescue with his machete and knocked away a fairly clear path
for the girls whenver necessary.
In addition to having left my camera back at Mike's I had also
left my fish nets much to my regret. Some of the small isolated
pools we came across were full of little tropical fish. This is
what I was here for and my excitement was very apparent to th e
others even thought they probably wondered as to my sanity. I was
successful in being able to scoop up a few with my bare hands just
to show the girls what they looked like from a side view but I
don't think that they were overly impressed. Just wish I could
have found some neon tetras or cardinals to show them. They were
more impressed with the orchids than anything else they saw.
We saw lots of birds and a few monkeys but that was about it.
Occasionally we saw a glimpse of animals on the ground but they
disappeared so fast we weren't able to determine what they were.
At one point Joe smiled and told us that we were being watched by
some of the local Indians. I think he said this just to see the
girls reaction. When he saw that the girls didn't seemed
frightened and even asked him why they didn't show themselves he
explained that they didn't have anything to say to us so why
should they bother showing themselves. Needless to say, Lydia and
Helen thought it ra ther exciting to know that our every move was
being watched. They were constantly looking around to see if they
could spot someone.
We made it back to our boat without a single glimpse of any of
the native Indians and I must admit that I was hoping that they
would make contact with us also just to see how they girls would
have reacted. Within minutes we were all aboard and heading back
towards Leticia and civilization. Well, almost civilization.
We docked back at Mike's pier late in the afternoon and
immediately headed for our little sidewalk cafe for a drink or
two. George was there waiting to hear of our adventure and he got
his ears full. I think that the girls were more excited in
telling him of our adventure than when they were experiencing it.
We decided to have a bite to eat before returning to our
respective rooms but it was several hours before we all decided
to call it a day and get some sleep. A wonderful day at that!
Amazon Adventure Chapter 11
Helen being amused by our host's pet bird.
Helen relaxing on the house boat.
Our host with Lydia and Helen seated.
Mark with the jungle in the background.
The following morning we met George for breakfast and another
rehashing of our previous two day trip into the jungle. As we sat
there overlooking the river I asked George about a small houseboat
which we could see docked across the river. Even at that distance
I had noticed occasional dugouts coming and going from upriver and
downriver and docking for short periods of time. I asked him what
it was all about.
"They're some of the local Indians who come to trade with the
owner. The Indians are reluctant to come into Leticia which to
them is too intimidating. They prefer dealing there where there
is minimum contact with others."
"What do they trade for?", I asked.
"Mostly salt, canned peaches and cigarettes. And a few other
things." He replied.
"All the necessities of civilized man." Mark said.
"What's the chances of us going over there and checking it out?"
"I'll see about getting someone to bring us over." George replied
and got up from the table and headed for the river. Shortly he
was back and said that he had arranged for someone to take us all
over.
After breakfast we all headed once again for the river and were
soon motoring over to the house boat. As we approached we could
see that it was simply a wooden barge with a small cabin on one
end and a canopy over the balance of the barge. A wooden railing
extended all around the barge and under the canopy was what can
only be described as a small old time general store. A small
counter with a few shelves behind it stocked with a variety of
items and a few benches along the railing. And a small bar
stocked with a few bottles of liquor. That called for a drink!
The proprietor was a young man in his late twenties who stumbled
over himself in serving us. I think that he was impressed with
seeing two such lovely ladies. So much so that he made himself a
drink and joined us in having a drink. The drinks were th e same
as Joe had served us at the "Jungle Hilton", the anise based "agua
caliente".
"It's the local drink of choice", he explained.
"You're an American?" I asked even though it was obvious.
"Yep!" Came down here on vacation about eight years ago and
decided to stay. I love it here. I was in college back in the
states and studying to be an attorney but the thought of going
back to the states after spending a few weeks here was too
distaste ful to consider. My dad was really upset when he found
out."
"He's an attorney," he continued, "and wanted me to follow in his
footsteps. My only hope of being able to stay was to continue to
have him send me money to live on so I told him that I would only
stay for a few more months during summer vacation and t hen return
to school in the fall."
"When fall arrived I wrote and told him to let me spend an entire
year down here and if he'd consider sending me my law books I
would continue my studies here on my own and would return in a
year. That was eight years ago."
"So does he still send you money?" I asked.
"I don't need that much money down here. And what little I do
need I can earn here on my houseboat. I saw the need for the
local Indians to have a place where they could feel comfortable in
their trading so moved my boat across the river from where it w as
originally docked on the Leticia side of the river. Basically I'm
acting as an agent for some of the traders in Leticia and get my
cut. The traders come over here as required every day or so to
pick up their goods and bring me more supplies. I have everything
I need right here."
"What kind of traders?" Mark asked.
"Fur, animals, birds and fish and even some foods." he replied.
"Tropical fish?" I asked.
"Yeah, lots of them. A fellow named Rokes started me with them
several years ago and it has become a big thing. Rokes is no
longer here but there are several brokers in Leticia that I trade
with."
"Johnson one of them?"
"Yes".
"That's who I'm buying from now so I guess that I'm getting
indirectly from you. As a matter of curiosity what is the going
price for neon tetras. I'm paying Johnson anywhere from a penny
and a half to three cents each. How can he sell them so cheap?"
"I get 'em at the rate of about 3 for a penny," he laughed, "but
get a penny apiece from him. So we're both just about tripling
our cost. But even at those prices the quanties are large enough
to make it profitable. And I'm sure you're making a good pr ofit
back in the states.", he added.
The rest of our little group were getting bored with all this
business talk so I satisfied myself with this information and we
began talking about other things. As the day progressed and the
temperature began to rise we were all soon half dozing and the
conversation became very sparse. We were totally content to just
sit and bask in doing absolutely nothing. I began to see the
wisdom of this young man's decision to give up his law studies for
this life style.
He served us a snack meal about noon. Canned sardines were the
main course along with crackers. Just like back in the states. We
all decided to top it off with a dessert of canned peaches. We
each got our own can and loved it. More of just doing not hing
for several more hours.
Along about two o'clock he went into his cabin and returned with
a law text book and began reading. He looked up at us and said,
"I'm still planning to go back to the states and join my dad's
law firm one of these days. I've continued my studies while down
here and think that I could pass the bar exam tomorrow if
necessary but will probably return to the states in a year or so
and go back to school for whatever time is required to get my
degree. Excuse me while I do a little homework."
We didn't head back to the other side of the river until about
five o'clock. We hadn't done a thing for the entire day but enjoy
ourselves tremendously in our accomplishment of having done
nothing.
More to come....
To be continued ....if you are interested in this true story let me know at
wesdick@charter.net or sign my guest book with a comment.
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
I awoke to the smell of coffee in the morning and was immediately wide awake. Mark was stirring and soon we were all having a breakfast of canned peaches along with another cuppa coffee. Joe said that we would go upriver today and use the larger boat which caused Mark to breathe a sigh of relief. I don't think that he ever got used to the dugout. Included in the plans for the day was to be a trip to a small native village.
We proceded upriver for about ten miles when Joe once again turned into a small tributary which soon became extremely narrow and heavily overhung with branches. I could see lots of "minnows" in the water but didn't get a chance to net any at this time. I guessed that there would be time for that later as I was eager to visit the village. Suddenly Joe stopped the motor and we drifted slowly for a few yards and came to a dead stop. I asked "What's the problem?" and received a forefinger pressed to his lips in answer from Joe.
We sat quietly for another minute or so while he listened intently, for what I had no idea. I again ventured to ask what the problem was and this time received a harsh "Shusshhh!" in response.
We must have sat there quietly for about 15 minutes when all of a sudden two sleek dugout canoes approached us from both directions occupied by two young Indians. They pulled up beside us on either side and began talking to Joe who seemed very apologetic. He then offered them some of the canned goods (mostly peaches and other types of fruit) and a box of salt which caused them to grin. After a few more exchanges the two Indians left us and we were alone once again.
"What was that all about?", I asked.
"Our propeller snagged their gill net which was strung across the stream just below water level and tore it up. I realized that they would probably be nearby so we were obliged to wait for them to show their faces so we could make amends. Had we tried to proceed we would probably have received darts in our backs by now."
He explained that the cans of fruit were highly prized and were one of the staple trading items along with salt and cigarettes. Now I knew why we had what seemed to be a weeks supply for a three day trip.
We proceded to the village with no further problems. We beached the dugout and started walking towards a group of about 5 or 6 thatched grass huts. As we walked towards the village the young braves all approached us while the women went about their business as if we didn't exist. The first to approach me reached towards me and pointed to my pack of cigarettes in my shirt pocket. I smiled, took them out of my pocket and with a snap several cigarettes protuded from the pack but he smiled back and took the entire pack from my hand. Before I could say anything Joe advised that I not protest but rather just let him have the whole pack. The young buck took one and passed the pack on to the others and soon they were all puffing away.
As an older man approached Joe told us that this was the chief coming to welcome us. He walked up to where we were standing and pointed to a tree about 40 feet from where we stood as he took a dart from where it was stuck in his headdress along with about 15 more. He inserted it in the end of his blow gun and took aim at the tree and with a quick blow the dart was sticking in the tree. Another dart was quickly inserted and followed the first and lodged about an inch from the first dart.
"He's showing off his skill", said Joe as a third dart completed a target pattern that could have been covered with a silver dollar. The chief smiled at me and offered his blowgun. "He wants to see how good you are." said Joe. I was on the spot. I figured I had pretty good blowing power since I played dixieland clarinet on Bourbon St. in New Orleans in my younger days, so I lifted the blowgun to my lips and gave a big blast.
A dart flew out of the other end of the blowgun and landed about five feet in front of where I stood. Everybody broke up laughing. Rather embarassed, I asked the chief to show me once more how he did it and this time I saw that he didn't give a hard blow but merely a little "phttt". He graciously handed the blow gun back to me as his fourth dart joined the others in his target pattern.
This time I emulated his "phttt" and was amazed at how easily my dart headed towards the tree and lodged about a foot directly under his darts.
I handed the dart gun back to the chief and told Joe to tell him "I don't want to try again for fear I split one of his darts with my next shot." It must have been a good answer because once again they all laughed and I was accepted by them all. I'm sure it was for my sense of humor rather than my prowess with the dart gun.
The chief invited me over to his thatched hut and I followed him inside. Since the incident of the dark night when the town generators had been turned off I began carrying a small pencil sized flashlight in my pocket for emergency use and now had a chance to use it inside the dark hut. The chief was amazed as I shone the light around the interior so I handed it to him for examination. He was like a kid with a new toy. We went back outside and he started jabbering with Joe who advised me that the chief was offering a pig for the flashlight. He suggested that I not accept the trade but rather say that it was important to my work and I would need it in my travels. "He'll be very disappointed in a few hours of playing with it when the batteries run down", he explained, "and we don't want them following us after we leave." Thank goodness the chief accepted the explanation graciously.
As we wandered around the village in the next hour or so I was taken by the homemade garments they all wore. They were simple grass skirts and a grass "bib" of sorts which hung over their chests from around the neck. I asked Joe as to the possibilty of obtaining one as a souvineer and to my surprise he asked a young buck standing near us. With a perplexed look at me he answered Joe who relayed "About $1.20 American money in trade." "OK", I said, and as soon as Joe relayed my offer the buck began stripping to his birthday suit right there in the middle of the village, handing me his garments. Years later I wore the outfit at a pool party at my home and really shocked everybody when I jumped out of the bushes around the pool and let out a yell. Of course the outfit was rather skimpy on my 6'1" and 210lb frame as opposed to the original owner who was about 5'4" and maybe 110lbs. Maybe that's what frightened my guests.
Shortly thereafter we took our leave as Joe suggested we head back to our camp. Mark and I did so reluctantly as we were fascinated by the various activites both men and women were performing as well as the kids who followed us everywhere. It was almost dark by the time we arrived back at base camp but still early enough to catch a few fish for dinner as we neared the camp. Tonight we were probably all fast asleep by eight o'clock. Unfortunately the brandy was all consumed the night before but Joe fixed us what he called an "agua diente" which was a licorice based liquor and very tasty.
And so ended our second night in the jungle.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 5
The following morning we again were up by daylight and had our
coffee and canned peaches for breakfast. Joe told us that we
would slowly head back towards Leticia today and stop at another
native village along the way. He also said that we would be able
to do a little fish netting even though I was not prepared to
bring anything back with me as I had not brought any containers.
Just looking would be enough for me at this point.
We watched as Joe hid the dugout in the brush along the river
bank and thought that it was probably more ritual than anything
as I'm sure that the local Indians could find it in a flash. I
guess that they just respected the fact that he "hid" it and as
such should be left alone. In so many ways they are civilized as
compared to the rest of the world.
As we slowly motored back down river Joe gave us a little
background on the locals. This was prompted when we passed an
absolutely huge tree which seemed to be partially dead and with
very few remaining leaves. This was a local landmark to the
Indians in this area as it was the spot at which their "father's
father's father" stood with God when the earth was created. It
seems that their great-grandfather was good buddies with God and
they created everything as a joint enterprise. I guess it would
give them a rather close intimacy with God at that.
After an hour or so of motoring Joe steered towards another small
stream which flowed in from the south and we once again found
ourselves in a veritable tunnel of branches and leaves as we
slowly puttered along. We soon came to a place where we could no
longer go upstream so we beached the boat and continued to go
upstream on foot alongside the stream. There were many places
into which I felt that a scoop with the nets I had would reveal
fish and I couldn't wait any longer. I stopped and scooped.
My memory is not what it once was but I believe that the first
species I spotted in my net was a fish that I had never seen "in
person" as I recognized the little Hyphesebrycon eos (dawn tetra)
from pictures in William Innes' book Exotic Tropicals which had
been my bible since the first week I became a hobbyist. Mark was
amazed that I was able to spout out the Latin name of a fish which
I had never seen before but I made him laugh when I told him that
I was good with fish but couldn't tell the difference between a
Ford or a Chevrolet unless I saw the name somewhere on the car.
We all continued to scoop around the little pools which revealed
a regular "community tank" of little tetras and small cichlids as
well as a variety of catfish. Most of the fish in this area were
on the small side. We caught (and released) severums and dwarf
cichlids which I had never even seen pictures of as well as pencil
fish, head and tails, and a few rather drab tetras which were also
not recognized. It was heartbreaking not to have containers into
which to place these fish but I consoled myself by knowing that
they would all be available very cheaply and ready for shipment
back in Leticia. We must have piddled the puddles for close to
two hours before Joe said that we'd better call it quits. Even
Joe had gotten into the excitement of dipping as Mark's and my
enthusiasm got the best of him.
I realized at this point the advance preparations necessary for
those explorers who actually collect specimens either for
scientific or monetary reasons. And the difficulties they must
overcome to get them back alive. Art Jones had told me of some of
the earlier trips during which the natives were first told that
these little fish were wanted in large quantities and were
exchangable for cigarettes, salt, and the old reliable canned
peaches and other fruits. Most of the Indians were initially
skeptical that the little fish were of any value and initially
brought in fish which were more the eating size. Art told me of
one incident where a young Indian from fifty or more miles
downstream from Leticia had been shown some of the varieties and
sizes which were desirable. He returned to his village but was
unable to convince his tribesmen to help him collect. On his
own, he caught a large mess of little tetras and kept them in a
partially sunken dugout, changing water several times a day as he
had been instructed. Eventually, he paddled upstream the fifty
miles back to Leticia hauling the partially sunken dugout full of
fish behind his dugout, and made a good trade for his trouble.
When he returned to his village the rest of the tribe was
convinced that he had been telling the truth and soon they were
all collecting fish and making regular trips back to Leticia
hauling a veritable "train" of partially sunken dugouts behind
them just loaded with fish.
We returned to our boat and proceded back downstream to the river
and were soon once again headed back towards Leticia. We saw
lots of large fish jumping almost constantly and, again my memory
on this is a little dim, but I believe that Joe told us that some
of the "fish" we saw jumping were actually freshwater dolphins.
And then for yet another time we headed up a small tributary and
upon rounding a bend we came upon a rather large village. This
village had several more or less permanent buildings which were
constructed of saplings and thatched roofs as well as raised
floors of slender saplings or a type of bamboo. They were not the
same as the previous village which had consisted mostly of
temporary huts because of the nomadic tendencies of the other
tribe. These villagers had become a part of social commerce in
that they fished and hunted and supplied the residents of Leticia
with much of their food.
We approached one of the buildings to find several women in the
process of cleaning a large turtle for the meat. The shell of the
turtle had already been removed and was surrounded by about 8 or
10 small children who were giving it their full attention. About
500 flies were also giving it lots of attention and as we looked
closer we found that the kids were picking at bits of raw turtle
meat which still clung to the inside of the shell and popping the
dainty little morsels into their mouths before the flies got it
all.
We didn't stay here too long as we still had quite a ways to go
to get back to Leticia before dark so we gave our thanks for their
hospitality and said our goodbyes. We were back on the river once
more and this time the next stop would be Mike's dock.
Mark and I had lots of memories and stories to tell of our 3 day
trip. We were both looking forward to a good bath and a change of
clothing.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 6
After our bath and into some clean clothes Mark and I headed for
the little sidewalk cafe only a block or so from Mike's place.
George was sitting at the same table we had occupied just a few
nights before and Lydia was sitting with him. They had been
waiting for us to hear of our jungle jaunt. It was old hat to
George but Lydia was fascinated with the adventure and said that
she was angry at not having been invited. Since Mark and I were
leaving for Iquitos, Peru in the morning but would return in three
days we suggested that if she were still there maybe we could get
Mike to arrange for a one day excursion into the nearby jungle.
She was thrilled at the idea and decided to stay and wait for us
to return.
As we gabbed away a young man approached our table looking like
he had been lost in the jungle for a spell. George recognized
him and introduced us all around. I'm terrible at names so I'll
call him Hans. He was a 27 year old Dutch anthropologist who had
received a grant from his government to study the Amazon Indians
and had been in the jungle for the past ten months without seeing
another white man since he had left Leticia.
He began to tell us of his stay with one of the wandering tribes
during this period. This particular tribe was completely nomadic
and would only occasionaly stay in one spot for more than a day or
so. All during this period he followed them but they would barely
acknowledge his presence. They never were a threat to him but
rather treated him as a nuisance to be tolerated. Over the months
they ignored his presence and it was just a few weeks prior to his
sudden appearance at our table that he was finally "accepted".
He described how one evening the tribe had settled down for the
night and were eating their supper when a young brave sitting
across from him suddenly looked at him straight in the eyes,
reached into his mouth to remove his partially chewed food, and
offered it to Hans. Hans took the offering and put it into his
mouth, elated to have been finally accepted as one of the tribe.
Hans added that he was so happy about this acceptance that he
decided to come back to Leticia for a quick R&R as well as to
send in his papers thus far to his government. "I just HAD to
tell somebody", he said.
After his story we all exchanged personal background as well as
having excellent conversation in general. As mentioned earlier,
Mark was a linguist extraordinaire with his command of 14+
languages. Lydia and Hans both spoke five languages and George
spoke three which left me to say, "Three here, too. Just a
smattering of Spanish but I'm somewhat proficient in Profanity".
Mark suggested that the conversation be held in English in
deference to my limited abilities but during the next hour or so I
would sit fascinated and totally lost on occasion when the
conversations would flow from one language to another in
mid-sentence, or so it seemed to me. However, someone would
usually catch it and return it to English.
I eventually got around to asking Lydia what had brought her to
the Amazon. She began her story by telling us that her father, an
Italian nobleman, had left Italy during the late 1930's in order
to get his family away from the impending war. He moved the
family to Argentina which was where Lydia grew up and eventually
met a young Argentine actor named Fernando Lamas. They married
and moved to Hollywood where the marriage sort of fell apart. She
ended up going back to Argentina and then to Australia where she
now resided with her sister and sister's husband, an English
nobleman of some sort, who had a large sheep ranch in the outback.
She had just finished a return visit to family in Argentina and
decided to take a side trip to Leticia to see what the Amazon was
all about.
We had dinner without having to leave our "drinking" table and
soon we were all the best of friends. One of the waiters came by
our table and advised us that if any of us were interested the
cock fights would be starting in about a half hour at a place
several blocks away. When I said that I had never been to a cock
fight Lydia volunteered that she would bring me as her guest. The
others declined to go so we left them there and walked to the
"arena". It was a small building consisting of just a roof and a
small "pit" in the center and surrounded by about 5 rows of
bleachers for the on-lookers. We grabbed a seat on the top row
and settled in pending the start of the cock fights.
All of a sudden a fist fight erupted about ten feet from where we
sat and a fellow sitting next to me said, "Jump and run, senor".
I said "Why?" and he retorted, "There might be bullets!"
I quickly jumped off the back of the top row which was only about
shoulder height and helped Lydia down while all around us others
were jumping and running. I couldn't resist looking back and
seeing that several others had quickly broken up the fist fight
between the two by dragging them apart. One left in a huff while
the other returned to his seat and was soon followed by the entire
crowd of maybe 40 or so people. So once again we all sat waiting
for the first "bout".
Two roosters were brought out and their trainers taunted them by
repeatedly thrusting them towards each other until the roosters
were in a fierce frenzy. They suddenly released them and the
fight was on!
For about 5 seconds, that is, until the fist fighter who had left
in a huff a few minutes earlier came back waving a pistol and
firing at random. This time I didn't wait for the fellow next to
me to give any advise, but did a back flip off the bench landing
on my feet and yanked Lydia down backwards faster than I can
describe it. I quickly led her towards the back of the lot where
we were blocked by a bamboo fence. By this time things had once
again quieted down back in the arena as we returned to find that
several people had been wounded but no one was killed. Those
closest to the crazy gunman had no chance to run but alternately
had dived onto him and overpowered him before he could reload.
Once again the army showed up and hauled him off. The cock fights
were cancelled.
As the crowd dispersed Lydia and I found ourselves laughing at
the entire escape, probably in relief that neither of us had been
harmed. As we walked we approached a thatched building of good
size which sported a bright neon sign above the doorway. Live
music was coming from inside the building so we assumed it to be
the local version of a disco. I smiled gallantly and asked,
"Would you like to dance?" to which she replied "Yes." As we
smiled towards the door we once again heard the unmistakable
sound of gunshots and before our eyes the front double doors
opened wide and frantic people streamed out of the building.
At this we decided to call it a night and headed back towards our
little sidewalk cafe and safety(?).
Amazon Adventure Chapter 7
Mark in Iquitos.
I had neglected to mention that when I left San Juan I only had
about $100 cash on me as expenses for the APPMA show had been
higher than anticipated so I had phoned my office in Lacombe and
had a money wire sent to the Hotel San Juan. Unfortunately, the
hotel clerk advised me that he couldn't cash it but that I could
probably get it cashed in the casino.
My brother and I proceded to the casino where I was promptly
given ten $50 chips in exchange for my $500 money order. Hesden
still laughs as he recalls my country bumpkin reaction of staring
at the ten chips in my hand while I slowly rotated in a daze. He
suggested we stroll around for a while and then go back to "cash
in". We did so and I was promptly handed back my money order.
On my first meeting with Mike I explained my dilema and he said
that he could cash the check but it would take several days for
him to get up the cash and since I would be in the jungle it would
give him the time he needed. He gave me $200 at that time and
said that he would have the balance on my return. He was able to
come up with another $100 this morning and said that he would have
the balance on my return from Iquitos. I rightly figured that I
would be covered for my air fare as well as hotel and meals in
Iquitos. We left for the airport.
Mark and I took the early morning flight to Iquitos, Peru, and it
was even more "folksy" than the flight from Bogota to Leticia. We
arrived and went through customs with no problems and took a taxi
to a downtown hotel which Mike had recommended. I had to laugh
when Mark commented that we were back in civilization because the
town of Iquitos was not a metropolitan mecca but considerably
larger than Leticia.
We met a nice young man in the lobby of the hotel and he offered
us his services for our stay in Iquitos. He was an independent
cab driver and "tour guide". Naturally he and Mark hit it off
right away and he was duly impressed when Mark showed him his
International Tour Guide ID card. They were "brothers".
We had lunch at the hotel and sat next to a table of about 12 or
more German oil workers. They were extremly noisy and caused
quite a distraction to the others in the cafe. Our new guide
commented, "The Germans are as rude as Americans." I didn't
respond out of embarassment at having seen the actions of so many
American tourists towards the peoples of the countries they visit.
Our guide spoke some English but for the most part he and Mark
talked in Spanish. My questions were all in English and at one
point the guide said to Mark, "He speaks good English for a
Belgian." Since Mark was Belgian he had assumed that I was also
and used English since I didn't speak enough Spanish. I'm sure
that he wouldn't have made the derogatory remark about Americans
had he known my nationality so I didn't set him straight so as not
to embarass him. I felt somewhat like Peter denying Christ in not
admitting to my true nationality but figured that discretion
would be my best bet at this point since he obviously didn't like
Americans that much.
After lunch we proceded to one of the establishment of one of the
people from whom I had been buying fish. The owner greeted us
warmly and we began a tour of his facility. The entire operation
was basically out of doors in a large lot which was completely
fenced in except for the side which fronted on a small stream.
Shade was provided by a thached roof but all sides of the
"buildings" were wide open. Fifty-five gallon drums had been cut
in two lengthwise with a cutting torch making two 25 gallon
containers from each drum. He must have had several hundred
lined up in neat rows on wooden racks and airlines were bubbling
in all tanks. He explained that each tank contained a "box" of
fish ready for shipment and the quantities varied from just a few
fish of certain larger specimens to as many as 500 of smaller
species.
All the while we were there some of his workers were constantly
hauling buckets of water from the river to give water changes to
the more crowded tanks. This was being done several times daily
or more as required. Dead were removed every morning and the
losses made up from backup tanks so that the count would be
accurate when bagging and boxing were performed pending a flight
out. There would be no time for counting then as our normal
shipments consisted of from 400 to 600 boxes or approximately
half the carrying capacity of a DC3. Things would get hectic
then as the fish would be put into plastic bags in cardboard boxes
and shuttled to the airport as quickly as possible.
The balance of the shipment would consist of live animals and
reptiles bound for either Art's place in Slidell or Tarpon Zoo in
Florida. I believe that Mike was either a partner or former
partner in Tarpon Zoo but liked being in the jungle rather than in
the states and spent his entire time either collecting and/or
buying from natives who collected.
When we left this establishment I had several other addresses
that I wished to check out. I had received letters and price
lists from these other people and wanted to see if they could
offer better quality or price than my present supplier in Iquitos.
Our driver had no difficulty in finding them but both were a
disappointment. The first place was a private home with about 50
half drums in the back yard and the second was about half that
size. I doubt seriously if either had ever made their first
shipment out of the country but had visions of a great business
they would have some day. Mana¤a, perhaps, but not today.
We returned to our hotel and strolled around the market place for
an hour or so before dinner. We also wandered down towards the
river where hundreds of river shanties and boats were crowded
together and he commented that it looked like a South American
version of Hong Kong. As we wandered through some of the narrow
passageways between buildings we on several occasions had to avoid
being drenched by people throwing waste water and possibly worse
out of their windows. We were later told that these were no
accidents but were deliberate attempts to agitate us. Luckily, we
returned to the hotel without incident and relaxed with dinner
and a couple of drinks before retiring for the night.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 8
Sample board of George's idea on mass marketing orchids in the states.
We spent the morning exploring the market place. It was a
beehive of activity and initially very confusing to us as we
could not make sense of some of the activity. However since they
seemed to know what they were doing we just fell right in to the
scene and before long Mark was haggling with some of the merchants
even though he wasn't planning to buy anything. The locals seemed
amused at his style of bargaining and before he knew it Mark ended
up with a pelt of animal fur of some type. He smiled and said that
he would put it in front of his fireplace when he returned to his
home in Belgium.
The fish market area was fascinating to me because of the size of
some of the species being displayed as food. Some of them looked
familiar but so many were totally strange to me. I guess Innes
never got around to cataloging most of these. Neither of us could
take it for very long however because of the stench in the air so
we returned to our hotel to pack for our trip back to Leticia. I
had seen the tropical fish exporters facilities and was satisfied
with the one we were doing business with at this time.
An afternoon flight was available back to Leticia this afternoon
and by this time Mark had firmly decided against going on to
Quito, Equador and was going to return with me to Leticia and then
back to Bogota. We found our local tour guide in the lobby
waiting for us and we were soon on our way back to the airport.
After about a two hour wait because of a problem with the
airplane we were finally airborne. We were definitely
apprehensive about the quality of aircraft repair available at
this particular airport but didn't have much choice insofar as
selecting another mode of transportation. The 400 mile trip down
the river would have been enjoyable but out of the question
because of the time factor. And there were no roads or trains
available so our choice was basically made for us. The flight was
without incident and we were back in Leticia within several hours.
It was like coming back home.
We headed straight for our little sidewalk cafe, luggage and all,
to find our friends all sitting at "our" table and surprised to
see us return a day early. Besides George, Lydia and Hans we were
introduced to a fellow named Johnson, first name escaping me at
this time. Johnson was my fish supplier here in Leticia and this
was my first opportunity to meet with him personally. George lived
with Johnson and his wife and between the two of them were the
suppliers of practically all of the shipments that Art and I
received about once a month, the Iquitos shipments being made
also once a month so that we received a shipment in the states
about every two weeks. Johnson was an independent dealer and
George was actually an employee of Art's.
Another new face, and a pretty one at that, was Helen. She was a
Canadian airline stewardess who was looking for an adventuresome
vacation in the jungle and had obviously picked her location well.
She and Mark hit it off well when she stated that she was planning
to move to Paris within the year and go to school to learn fashion
design. He offered to be her personal guide to Paris as well as
the rest of Europe. I asked if I could also avail myself of his
services if ever I were to travel Europe and he graciously offered
the use of one of his father's limousines and free stay in his
hotel while in Brussels. Mark said that his father considered him
the black sheep of his children because he didn't want to be a
part of his hotel staff but preferred the life of a tour guide.
The hotel life was too confining and boring for Mark.
It was late afternoon and I had time to visit Johnson's facility
which was only several blocks away so I took my leave of the
group and George, Johnson and I headed for his house. The others
said they would await our return for dinner.
Once again I found that 55 gallon drums were the industry
standard for holding fish pending shipment. Johnson had about
500 or so of these covering several lots next to his home with a
thatched roof covering for shade and a bamboo fence surrounding
the entire facility. I learned that he had basically "inherited"
the facility from an Englishman who had originally set it up.
Seems that the bloke had been extradited back to England for some
crime or other and had no choice in leaving.
After touring the grounds and learning that everything in stock
was scheduled for my company on the next flight I was grinning
from ear to ear. He knew that I was coming and had really busted
butt to make sure that I would see good quality fish ready for
shipment. We were invited into his home by his wife for
refreshments and a review of the packing slips and invoice which
she had been preparing. As we sat and talked all of a sudden
Johnson broke out into a sweat and the shakes and made his way to
a couch to lie down. His wife attended to him as George
explained that he was having a bout with Malaria and that it
happened frequently. As we sat and waited to see if it was going
to pass quickly
George showed me some photographs of an idea of
his and suggested that possibly we could work out some mutually
advantageous business deal. His idea was to mass market orchids
in the states thru the chain stores on a display rack in the
garden departments. His prototype display consisted of a piece of
plywood painted nicely with a jungle scene and pegs from which
hung a variety of wild orchids displayed in clear plastic bags. He
knew that most of our business was with the chains and thought
that I might convice the buyers to take on his line. I thought
the idea had great potential and agreed to take the pictures and
some samples back with me and approach some of the buyers.
Unfortunately it never got off the ground because within months
after my return to the states and before anything could be
finalized with George he left Leticia for Cartagena and I lost all
future contact with him.
Back to the momement, it seems that Johnson was down for the
night so George and I returned to the cafe and joined our friends
for dinner and conversation. Hans had since left and only Mark,
Lydia and Helen remained at the table.
Mark and I learned that Lydia had already approached Mike
regarding a one day trek into the jungle and that it had been
originally scheduled for two days hence but upon our early return
she quickly had him reschedule it for tomorrow. Helen had also
been included in the plans so we all returned to our rooms for a
good nights sleep.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 9
We were all down at the dock at daylight and found Joe already
there preparing the motor boat for our day in the jungle. This
trip would be downriver instead of up. Mike made one of his rare
appearances out of his office while we were loading up the boat
for our one day jaunt into the jungles along with the girls. I
was wondering why he had such a silly smile on his face as we
helped Joe with his chores. I was to find out later. We all
helped Joe finish his preparations and were soon were on board the
boat and cruising downstream. We waved to Mike as we headed for
new adventure this beautiful day.
The girls were enthralled as we cruised down river and kept
pointing out various things along the shore line to each other and
to Marc and me. Of course Mark and I were "old jungle salts" by
this time and attempted to look as blaze about their excitement as
we could although we were enjoying these new sights also. There
were many beautiful birds to be seen in trees along the banks of
the river as we continued on our journey for several hours. The
sounds were subdued compared to the nighttime sounds we had heard
on our previous trip but shortly we began to hear a chattering
which increased in intensity as we rounded a point. We asked Joe
what it was but he said that we would soon find out.
There ahead of us was an island right in the middle of the river
which our guide told us was called "Monkey Island". There seemed
to be thousands of monkeys in the trees as we approached and soon
pulled up onto the shoreline. The noise made by the monk eys was
almost deafening as we climbed ashore compared to the chattering
just fifteen minutes prior.
Joe told us that these monkeys had been captured by local Indians
for Mike and then turned loose on this island for future recapture
and shipment. The natural food supply on the island could not hope
to adequately sustain such a large number so additiona l food was
being brought in on a regular basis by some of Mike's employees.
We spent an hour or so wandering around in spite of the
difficulty in doing so and soon returned to the boat when the
girls gave up the fight. Soon we were once again cruising
downstream and enjoying the sights.
By late afternoon we had covered quite a considerable distance
from Leticia and asked Joe when he was going to turn the boat
around and head back. He smiled and said that Mike had arranged
for an "overnight" trip for us. Marc and I couldn't quite pictur
e the girls being comfortable spending the night in the jungle but
Joe assured us that they would be fine. At first the girls were
rather taken by surprise with this new development but were soon
smiling about it and eagerly looking forward to a night in the
jungle. Something they could tell their grandkids about!
Ten or fifteen minutes later we rounded a bend in the river and
there right ahead of us was a fairly large house camp on pilings
with a porch complete with rocking chairs and tables. We soon
pulled up to a little makeshift pier and tied the boat to a pil
ing. The girls were first out of the boat while Marc and I helped
Joe to unload some of our supplies from the boat. We were soon
all on the "veranda" sitting comfortably and having a drink and
discussing our day.
We helped Joe with unloading some of his cargo as the girls
wandered around inspecting our not so lavish accomodations for the
night but the soon returned and gave their approval. Not the
Hilton, for sure, but they indicated that they could cope. Joe
told us that this was one of several outposts which Mike had
scattered along the river for the convenience of some of his
employees as well as for his own relative comfort when going up
and down the river.
In less than an hour after we had docked Joe announced that
dinner was ready. It wasn't a gourmet meal but was more than we
expected under the circumstances. We all dug in and were soon
once again sitting on the veranda indulging in an after dinner
drin k which Joe served with his usual flourish. He called it
"agua caliente" which I believe translates to "hot water" in
English. It reminded me of Greek Ouzo. It was simply an anise
based liquer which most countries have under a variety of names.
After a few of these Joe suggested that we all turn in so we
could get an early start in the moring. We didn't need any
additional prompting.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 10
We all were up and ready to go by six or so the following
morning. We had a hasty breakfast of fruit and were soon all once
again in our little motor boat giving a last fond look at our
"Jungle Hilton" as Helen had dubbed it. I don't believe that she
wa s used to such basic accomodations in her travels as an airline
hostess. Lydia, on the other hand, said that while her sister's
home in Australia was quite modern even though far from any
metropolitan area, the vastness of their sheep ranch required
several cabins long distances from the main house and she had
spent time in those on occasion.
After an hour or so Joe headed the boat towards shore. He
advised us that we were now ready to take a little juant into the
surrounding forest. Again I was concerned regarding the girls
ability to trek through what had seemed impenetrable growth from
th e shore. As it turned out once we were on land and away from
the edge of the river it wasn't nearly as dense as I had thought.
It was, however, even more impressive than I imagined! The
beauty of the entire scene was too much for me to describe from
memory and I only wish that I had taken my camera with me instead
of leaving it back at Mike's place. Much to my surprise, Joe be
gan telling us the names of some of the plants and, in some cases,
how they were utilized by the native Indians. He was quite a
botanist in his own way.
The bases of some of the trees were magnificent and it seemed
that they must have been here since the beginning of time. We
must have walked a mile or so before turning back towards our boat
but this time Joe walked us by a different route. Occasionally
the undergrowth was too dense to go through easily but Joe came to
the rescue with his machete and knocked away a fairly clear path
for the girls whenver necessary.
In addition to having left my camera back at Mike's I had also
left my fish nets much to my regret. Some of the small isolated
pools we came across were full of little tropical fish. This is
what I was here for and my excitement was very apparent to th e
others even thought they probably wondered as to my sanity. I was
successful in being able to scoop up a few with my bare hands just
to show the girls what they looked like from a side view but I
don't think that they were overly impressed. Just wish I could
have found some neon tetras or cardinals to show them. They were
more impressed with the orchids than anything else they saw.
We saw lots of birds and a few monkeys but that was about it.
Occasionally we saw a glimpse of animals on the ground but they
disappeared so fast we weren't able to determine what they were.
At one point Joe smiled and told us that we were being watched by
some of the local Indians. I think he said this just to see the
girls reaction. When he saw that the girls didn't seemed
frightened and even asked him why they didn't show themselves he
explained that they didn't have anything to say to us so why
should they bother showing themselves. Needless to say, Lydia and
Helen thought it ra ther exciting to know that our every move was
being watched. They were constantly looking around to see if they
could spot someone.
We made it back to our boat without a single glimpse of any of
the native Indians and I must admit that I was hoping that they
would make contact with us also just to see how they girls would
have reacted. Within minutes we were all aboard and heading back
towards Leticia and civilization. Well, almost civilization.
We docked back at Mike's pier late in the afternoon and
immediately headed for our little sidewalk cafe for a drink or
two. George was there waiting to hear of our adventure and he got
his ears full. I think that the girls were more excited in
telling him of our adventure than when they were experiencing it.
We decided to have a bite to eat before returning to our
respective rooms but it was several hours before we all decided
to call it a day and get some sleep. A wonderful day at that!
Amazon Adventure Chapter 11
Helen being amused by our host's pet bird.
Helen relaxing on the house boat.
Our host with Lydia and Helen seated.
Mark with the jungle in the background.
The following morning we met George for breakfast and another
rehashing of our previous two day trip into the jungle. As we sat
there overlooking the river I asked George about a small houseboat
which we could see docked across the river. Even at that distance
I had noticed occasional dugouts coming and going from upriver and
downriver and docking for short periods of time. I asked him what
it was all about.
"They're some of the local Indians who come to trade with the
owner. The Indians are reluctant to come into Leticia which to
them is too intimidating. They prefer dealing there where there
is minimum contact with others."
"What do they trade for?", I asked.
"Mostly salt, canned peaches and cigarettes. And a few other
things." He replied.
"All the necessities of civilized man." Mark said.
"What's the chances of us going over there and checking it out?"
"I'll see about getting someone to bring us over." George replied
and got up from the table and headed for the river. Shortly he
was back and said that he had arranged for someone to take us all
over.
After breakfast we all headed once again for the river and were
soon motoring over to the house boat. As we approached we could
see that it was simply a wooden barge with a small cabin on one
end and a canopy over the balance of the barge. A wooden railing
extended all around the barge and under the canopy was what can
only be described as a small old time general store. A small
counter with a few shelves behind it stocked with a variety of
items and a few benches along the railing. And a small bar
stocked with a few bottles of liquor. That called for a drink!
The proprietor was a young man in his late twenties who stumbled
over himself in serving us. I think that he was impressed with
seeing two such lovely ladies. So much so that he made himself a
drink and joined us in having a drink. The drinks were th e same
as Joe had served us at the "Jungle Hilton", the anise based "agua
caliente".
"It's the local drink of choice", he explained.
"You're an American?" I asked even though it was obvious.
"Yep!" Came down here on vacation about eight years ago and
decided to stay. I love it here. I was in college back in the
states and studying to be an attorney but the thought of going
back to the states after spending a few weeks here was too
distaste ful to consider. My dad was really upset when he found
out."
"He's an attorney," he continued, "and wanted me to follow in his
footsteps. My only hope of being able to stay was to continue to
have him send me money to live on so I told him that I would only
stay for a few more months during summer vacation and t hen return
to school in the fall."
"When fall arrived I wrote and told him to let me spend an entire
year down here and if he'd consider sending me my law books I
would continue my studies here on my own and would return in a
year. That was eight years ago."
"So does he still send you money?" I asked.
"I don't need that much money down here. And what little I do
need I can earn here on my houseboat. I saw the need for the
local Indians to have a place where they could feel comfortable in
their trading so moved my boat across the river from where it w as
originally docked on the Leticia side of the river. Basically I'm
acting as an agent for some of the traders in Leticia and get my
cut. The traders come over here as required every day or so to
pick up their goods and bring me more supplies. I have everything
I need right here."
"What kind of traders?" Mark asked.
"Fur, animals, birds and fish and even some foods." he replied.
"Tropical fish?" I asked.
"Yeah, lots of them. A fellow named Rokes started me with them
several years ago and it has become a big thing. Rokes is no
longer here but there are several brokers in Leticia that I trade
with."
"Johnson one of them?"
"Yes".
"That's who I'm buying from now so I guess that I'm getting
indirectly from you. As a matter of curiosity what is the going
price for neon tetras. I'm paying Johnson anywhere from a penny
and a half to three cents each. How can he sell them so cheap?"
"I get 'em at the rate of about 3 for a penny," he laughed, "but
get a penny apiece from him. So we're both just about tripling
our cost. But even at those prices the quanties are large enough
to make it profitable. And I'm sure you're making a good pr ofit
back in the states.", he added.
The rest of our little group were getting bored with all this
business talk so I satisfied myself with this information and we
began talking about other things. As the day progressed and the
temperature began to rise we were all soon half dozing and the
conversation became very sparse. We were totally content to just
sit and bask in doing absolutely nothing. I began to see the
wisdom of this young man's decision to give up his law studies for
this life style.
He served us a snack meal about noon. Canned sardines were the
main course along with crackers. Just like back in the states. We
all decided to top it off with a dessert of canned peaches. We
each got our own can and loved it. More of just doing not hing
for several more hours.
Along about two o'clock he went into his cabin and returned with
a law text book and began reading. He looked up at us and said,
"I'm still planning to go back to the states and join my dad's
law firm one of these days. I've continued my studies while down
here and think that I could pass the bar exam tomorrow if
necessary but will probably return to the states in a year or so
and go back to school for whatever time is required to get my
degree. Excuse me while I do a little homework."
We didn't head back to the other side of the river until about
five o'clock. We hadn't done a thing for the entire day but enjoy
ourselves tremendously in our accomplishment of having done
nothing.
More to come....
To be continued ....if you are interested in this true story let me know at
wesdick@charter.net or sign my guest book with a comment.
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
After our bath and into some clean clothes Mark and I headed for the little sidewalk cafe only a block or so from Mike's place. George was sitting at the same table we had occupied just a few nights before and Lydia was sitting with him. They had been waiting for us to hear of our jungle jaunt. It was old hat to George but Lydia was fascinated with the adventure and said that she was angry at not having been invited. Since Mark and I were leaving for Iquitos, Peru in the morning but would return in three days we suggested that if she were still there maybe we could get Mike to arrange for a one day excursion into the nearby jungle. She was thrilled at the idea and decided to stay and wait for us to return.
As we gabbed away a young man approached our table looking like he had been lost in the jungle for a spell. George recognized him and introduced us all around. I'm terrible at names so I'll call him Hans. He was a 27 year old Dutch anthropologist who had received a grant from his government to study the Amazon Indians and had been in the jungle for the past ten months without seeing another white man since he had left Leticia.
He began to tell us of his stay with one of the wandering tribes during this period. This particular tribe was completely nomadic and would only occasionaly stay in one spot for more than a day or so. All during this period he followed them but they would barely acknowledge his presence. They never were a threat to him but rather treated him as a nuisance to be tolerated. Over the months they ignored his presence and it was just a few weeks prior to his sudden appearance at our table that he was finally "accepted".
He described how one evening the tribe had settled down for the night and were eating their supper when a young brave sitting across from him suddenly looked at him straight in the eyes, reached into his mouth to remove his partially chewed food, and offered it to Hans. Hans took the offering and put it into his mouth, elated to have been finally accepted as one of the tribe.
Hans added that he was so happy about this acceptance that he decided to come back to Leticia for a quick R&R as well as to send in his papers thus far to his government. "I just HAD to tell somebody", he said.
After his story we all exchanged personal background as well as having excellent conversation in general. As mentioned earlier, Mark was a linguist extraordinaire with his command of 14+ languages. Lydia and Hans both spoke five languages and George spoke three which left me to say, "Three here, too. Just a smattering of Spanish but I'm somewhat proficient in Profanity".
Mark suggested that the conversation be held in English in deference to my limited abilities but during the next hour or so I would sit fascinated and totally lost on occasion when the conversations would flow from one language to another in mid-sentence, or so it seemed to me. However, someone would usually catch it and return it to English.
I eventually got around to asking Lydia what had brought her to the Amazon. She began her story by telling us that her father, an Italian nobleman, had left Italy during the late 1930's in order to get his family away from the impending war. He moved the family to Argentina which was where Lydia grew up and eventually met a young Argentine actor named Fernando Lamas. They married and moved to Hollywood where the marriage sort of fell apart. She ended up going back to Argentina and then to Australia where she now resided with her sister and sister's husband, an English nobleman of some sort, who had a large sheep ranch in the outback. She had just finished a return visit to family in Argentina and decided to take a side trip to Leticia to see what the Amazon was all about.
We had dinner without having to leave our "drinking" table and soon we were all the best of friends. One of the waiters came by our table and advised us that if any of us were interested the cock fights would be starting in about a half hour at a place several blocks away. When I said that I had never been to a cock fight Lydia volunteered that she would bring me as her guest. The others declined to go so we left them there and walked to the "arena". It was a small building consisting of just a roof and a small "pit" in the center and surrounded by about 5 rows of bleachers for the on-lookers. We grabbed a seat on the top row and settled in pending the start of the cock fights.
All of a sudden a fist fight erupted about ten feet from where we sat and a fellow sitting next to me said, "Jump and run, senor". I said "Why?" and he retorted, "There might be bullets!"
I quickly jumped off the back of the top row which was only about shoulder height and helped Lydia down while all around us others were jumping and running. I couldn't resist looking back and seeing that several others had quickly broken up the fist fight between the two by dragging them apart. One left in a huff while the other returned to his seat and was soon followed by the entire crowd of maybe 40 or so people. So once again we all sat waiting for the first "bout".
Two roosters were brought out and their trainers taunted them by repeatedly thrusting them towards each other until the roosters were in a fierce frenzy. They suddenly released them and the fight was on!
For about 5 seconds, that is, until the fist fighter who had left in a huff a few minutes earlier came back waving a pistol and firing at random. This time I didn't wait for the fellow next to me to give any advise, but did a back flip off the bench landing on my feet and yanked Lydia down backwards faster than I can describe it. I quickly led her towards the back of the lot where we were blocked by a bamboo fence. By this time things had once again quieted down back in the arena as we returned to find that several people had been wounded but no one was killed. Those closest to the crazy gunman had no chance to run but alternately had dived onto him and overpowered him before he could reload. Once again the army showed up and hauled him off. The cock fights were cancelled.
As the crowd dispersed Lydia and I found ourselves laughing at the entire escape, probably in relief that neither of us had been harmed. As we walked we approached a thatched building of good size which sported a bright neon sign above the doorway. Live music was coming from inside the building so we assumed it to be the local version of a disco. I smiled gallantly and asked, "Would you like to dance?" to which she replied "Yes." As we smiled towards the door we once again heard the unmistakable sound of gunshots and before our eyes the front double doors opened wide and frantic people streamed out of the building.
At this we decided to call it a night and headed back towards our little sidewalk cafe and safety(?).
Amazon Adventure Chapter 7
Mark in Iquitos.
Chapter 7
Mark in Iquitos.
I had neglected to mention that when I left San Juan I only had about $100 cash on me as expenses for the APPMA show had been higher than anticipated so I had phoned my office in Lacombe and had a money wire sent to the Hotel San Juan. Unfortunately, the hotel clerk advised me that he couldn't cash it but that I could probably get it cashed in the casino.
My brother and I proceded to the casino where I was promptly given ten $50 chips in exchange for my $500 money order. Hesden still laughs as he recalls my country bumpkin reaction of staring at the ten chips in my hand while I slowly rotated in a daze. He suggested we stroll around for a while and then go back to "cash in". We did so and I was promptly handed back my money order.
On my first meeting with Mike I explained my dilema and he said that he could cash the check but it would take several days for him to get up the cash and since I would be in the jungle it would give him the time he needed. He gave me $200 at that time and said that he would have the balance on my return. He was able to come up with another $100 this morning and said that he would have the balance on my return from Iquitos. I rightly figured that I would be covered for my air fare as well as hotel and meals in Iquitos. We left for the airport.
Mark and I took the early morning flight to Iquitos, Peru, and it was even more "folksy" than the flight from Bogota to Leticia. We arrived and went through customs with no problems and took a taxi to a downtown hotel which Mike had recommended. I had to laugh when Mark commented that we were back in civilization because the town of Iquitos was not a metropolitan mecca but considerably larger than Leticia.
We met a nice young man in the lobby of the hotel and he offered us his services for our stay in Iquitos. He was an independent cab driver and "tour guide". Naturally he and Mark hit it off right away and he was duly impressed when Mark showed him his International Tour Guide ID card. They were "brothers".
We had lunch at the hotel and sat next to a table of about 12 or more German oil workers. They were extremly noisy and caused quite a distraction to the others in the cafe. Our new guide commented, "The Germans are as rude as Americans." I didn't respond out of embarassment at having seen the actions of so many American tourists towards the peoples of the countries they visit.
Our guide spoke some English but for the most part he and Mark talked in Spanish. My questions were all in English and at one point the guide said to Mark, "He speaks good English for a Belgian." Since Mark was Belgian he had assumed that I was also and used English since I didn't speak enough Spanish. I'm sure that he wouldn't have made the derogatory remark about Americans had he known my nationality so I didn't set him straight so as not to embarass him. I felt somewhat like Peter denying Christ in not admitting to my true nationality but figured that discretion would be my best bet at this point since he obviously didn't like Americans that much.
After lunch we proceded to one of the establishment of one of the people from whom I had been buying fish. The owner greeted us warmly and we began a tour of his facility. The entire operation was basically out of doors in a large lot which was completely fenced in except for the side which fronted on a small stream. Shade was provided by a thached roof but all sides of the "buildings" were wide open. Fifty-five gallon drums had been cut in two lengthwise with a cutting torch making two 25 gallon containers from each drum. He must have had several hundred lined up in neat rows on wooden racks and airlines were bubbling in all tanks. He explained that each tank contained a "box" of fish ready for shipment and the quantities varied from just a few fish of certain larger specimens to as many as 500 of smaller species.
All the while we were there some of his workers were constantly hauling buckets of water from the river to give water changes to the more crowded tanks. This was being done several times daily or more as required. Dead were removed every morning and the losses made up from backup tanks so that the count would be accurate when bagging and boxing were performed pending a flight out. There would be no time for counting then as our normal shipments consisted of from 400 to 600 boxes or approximately half the carrying capacity of a DC3. Things would get hectic then as the fish would be put into plastic bags in cardboard boxes and shuttled to the airport as quickly as possible.
The balance of the shipment would consist of live animals and reptiles bound for either Art's place in Slidell or Tarpon Zoo in Florida. I believe that Mike was either a partner or former partner in Tarpon Zoo but liked being in the jungle rather than in the states and spent his entire time either collecting and/or buying from natives who collected.
When we left this establishment I had several other addresses that I wished to check out. I had received letters and price lists from these other people and wanted to see if they could offer better quality or price than my present supplier in Iquitos. Our driver had no difficulty in finding them but both were a disappointment. The first place was a private home with about 50 half drums in the back yard and the second was about half that size. I doubt seriously if either had ever made their first shipment out of the country but had visions of a great business they would have some day. Mana¤a, perhaps, but not today.
We returned to our hotel and strolled around the market place for an hour or so before dinner. We also wandered down towards the river where hundreds of river shanties and boats were crowded together and he commented that it looked like a South American version of Hong Kong. As we wandered through some of the narrow passageways between buildings we on several occasions had to avoid being drenched by people throwing waste water and possibly worse out of their windows. We were later told that these were no accidents but were deliberate attempts to agitate us. Luckily, we returned to the hotel without incident and relaxed with dinner and a couple of drinks before retiring for the night.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 8
Sample board of George's idea on mass marketing orchids in the states.
Chapter 8
Sample board of George's idea on mass marketing orchids in the states.
We spent the morning exploring the market place. It was a beehive of activity and initially very confusing to us as we could not make sense of some of the activity. However since they seemed to know what they were doing we just fell right in to the scene and before long Mark was haggling with some of the merchants even though he wasn't planning to buy anything. The locals seemed amused at his style of bargaining and before he knew it Mark ended up with a pelt of animal fur of some type. He smiled and said that he would put it in front of his fireplace when he returned to his home in Belgium.
The fish market area was fascinating to me because of the size of some of the species being displayed as food. Some of them looked familiar but so many were totally strange to me. I guess Innes never got around to cataloging most of these. Neither of us could take it for very long however because of the stench in the air so we returned to our hotel to pack for our trip back to Leticia. I had seen the tropical fish exporters facilities and was satisfied with the one we were doing business with at this time.
An afternoon flight was available back to Leticia this afternoon and by this time Mark had firmly decided against going on to Quito, Equador and was going to return with me to Leticia and then back to Bogota. We found our local tour guide in the lobby waiting for us and we were soon on our way back to the airport.
After about a two hour wait because of a problem with the airplane we were finally airborne. We were definitely apprehensive about the quality of aircraft repair available at this particular airport but didn't have much choice insofar as selecting another mode of transportation. The 400 mile trip down the river would have been enjoyable but out of the question because of the time factor. And there were no roads or trains available so our choice was basically made for us. The flight was without incident and we were back in Leticia within several hours. It was like coming back home.
We headed straight for our little sidewalk cafe, luggage and all, to find our friends all sitting at "our" table and surprised to see us return a day early. Besides George, Lydia and Hans we were introduced to a fellow named Johnson, first name escaping me at this time. Johnson was my fish supplier here in Leticia and this was my first opportunity to meet with him personally. George lived with Johnson and his wife and between the two of them were the suppliers of practically all of the shipments that Art and I received about once a month, the Iquitos shipments being made also once a month so that we received a shipment in the states about every two weeks. Johnson was an independent dealer and George was actually an employee of Art's.
Another new face, and a pretty one at that, was Helen. She was a Canadian airline stewardess who was looking for an adventuresome vacation in the jungle and had obviously picked her location well. She and Mark hit it off well when she stated that she was planning to move to Paris within the year and go to school to learn fashion design. He offered to be her personal guide to Paris as well as the rest of Europe. I asked if I could also avail myself of his services if ever I were to travel Europe and he graciously offered the use of one of his father's limousines and free stay in his hotel while in Brussels. Mark said that his father considered him the black sheep of his children because he didn't want to be a part of his hotel staff but preferred the life of a tour guide. The hotel life was too confining and boring for Mark.
It was late afternoon and I had time to visit Johnson's facility which was only several blocks away so I took my leave of the group and George, Johnson and I headed for his house. The others said they would await our return for dinner.
Once again I found that 55 gallon drums were the industry standard for holding fish pending shipment. Johnson had about 500 or so of these covering several lots next to his home with a thatched roof covering for shade and a bamboo fence surrounding the entire facility. I learned that he had basically "inherited" the facility from an Englishman who had originally set it up. Seems that the bloke had been extradited back to England for some crime or other and had no choice in leaving.
After touring the grounds and learning that everything in stock was scheduled for my company on the next flight I was grinning from ear to ear. He knew that I was coming and had really busted butt to make sure that I would see good quality fish ready for shipment. We were invited into his home by his wife for refreshments and a review of the packing slips and invoice which she had been preparing. As we sat and talked all of a sudden Johnson broke out into a sweat and the shakes and made his way to a couch to lie down. His wife attended to him as George explained that he was having a bout with Malaria and that it happened frequently. As we sat and waited to see if it was going to pass quickly
George showed me some photographs of an idea of his and suggested that possibly we could work out some mutually advantageous business deal. His idea was to mass market orchids in the states thru the chain stores on a display rack in the garden departments. His prototype display consisted of a piece of plywood painted nicely with a jungle scene and pegs from which hung a variety of wild orchids displayed in clear plastic bags. He knew that most of our business was with the chains and thought that I might convice the buyers to take on his line. I thought the idea had great potential and agreed to take the pictures and some samples back with me and approach some of the buyers. Unfortunately it never got off the ground because within months after my return to the states and before anything could be finalized with George he left Leticia for Cartagena and I lost all future contact with him.
Back to the momement, it seems that Johnson was down for the night so George and I returned to the cafe and joined our friends for dinner and conversation. Hans had since left and only Mark, Lydia and Helen remained at the table.
Mark and I learned that Lydia had already approached Mike regarding a one day trek into the jungle and that it had been originally scheduled for two days hence but upon our early return she quickly had him reschedule it for tomorrow. Helen had also been included in the plans so we all returned to our rooms for a good nights sleep.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 9
We were all down at the dock at daylight and found Joe already
there preparing the motor boat for our day in the jungle. This
trip would be downriver instead of up. Mike made one of his rare
appearances out of his office while we were loading up the boat
for our one day jaunt into the jungles along with the girls. I
was wondering why he had such a silly smile on his face as we
helped Joe with his chores. I was to find out later. We all
helped Joe finish his preparations and were soon were on board the
boat and cruising downstream. We waved to Mike as we headed for
new adventure this beautiful day.
The girls were enthralled as we cruised down river and kept
pointing out various things along the shore line to each other and
to Marc and me. Of course Mark and I were "old jungle salts" by
this time and attempted to look as blaze about their excitement as
we could although we were enjoying these new sights also. There
were many beautiful birds to be seen in trees along the banks of
the river as we continued on our journey for several hours. The
sounds were subdued compared to the nighttime sounds we had heard
on our previous trip but shortly we began to hear a chattering
which increased in intensity as we rounded a point. We asked Joe
what it was but he said that we would soon find out.
There ahead of us was an island right in the middle of the river
which our guide told us was called "Monkey Island". There seemed
to be thousands of monkeys in the trees as we approached and soon
pulled up onto the shoreline. The noise made by the monk eys was
almost deafening as we climbed ashore compared to the chattering
just fifteen minutes prior.
Joe told us that these monkeys had been captured by local Indians
for Mike and then turned loose on this island for future recapture
and shipment. The natural food supply on the island could not hope
to adequately sustain such a large number so additiona l food was
being brought in on a regular basis by some of Mike's employees.
We spent an hour or so wandering around in spite of the
difficulty in doing so and soon returned to the boat when the
girls gave up the fight. Soon we were once again cruising
downstream and enjoying the sights.
By late afternoon we had covered quite a considerable distance
from Leticia and asked Joe when he was going to turn the boat
around and head back. He smiled and said that Mike had arranged
for an "overnight" trip for us. Marc and I couldn't quite pictur
e the girls being comfortable spending the night in the jungle but
Joe assured us that they would be fine. At first the girls were
rather taken by surprise with this new development but were soon
smiling about it and eagerly looking forward to a night in the
jungle. Something they could tell their grandkids about!
Ten or fifteen minutes later we rounded a bend in the river and
there right ahead of us was a fairly large house camp on pilings
with a porch complete with rocking chairs and tables. We soon
pulled up to a little makeshift pier and tied the boat to a pil
ing. The girls were first out of the boat while Marc and I helped
Joe to unload some of our supplies from the boat. We were soon
all on the "veranda" sitting comfortably and having a drink and
discussing our day.
We helped Joe with unloading some of his cargo as the girls
wandered around inspecting our not so lavish accomodations for the
night but the soon returned and gave their approval. Not the
Hilton, for sure, but they indicated that they could cope. Joe
told us that this was one of several outposts which Mike had
scattered along the river for the convenience of some of his
employees as well as for his own relative comfort when going up
and down the river.
In less than an hour after we had docked Joe announced that
dinner was ready. It wasn't a gourmet meal but was more than we
expected under the circumstances. We all dug in and were soon
once again sitting on the veranda indulging in an after dinner
drin k which Joe served with his usual flourish. He called it
"agua caliente" which I believe translates to "hot water" in
English. It reminded me of Greek Ouzo. It was simply an anise
based liquer which most countries have under a variety of names.
After a few of these Joe suggested that we all turn in so we
could get an early start in the moring. We didn't need any
additional prompting.
Amazon Adventure Chapter 10
We all were up and ready to go by six or so the following
morning. We had a hasty breakfast of fruit and were soon all once
again in our little motor boat giving a last fond look at our
"Jungle Hilton" as Helen had dubbed it. I don't believe that she
wa s used to such basic accomodations in her travels as an airline
hostess. Lydia, on the other hand, said that while her sister's
home in Australia was quite modern even though far from any
metropolitan area, the vastness of their sheep ranch required
several cabins long distances from the main house and she had
spent time in those on occasion.
After an hour or so Joe headed the boat towards shore. He
advised us that we were now ready to take a little juant into the
surrounding forest. Again I was concerned regarding the girls
ability to trek through what had seemed impenetrable growth from
th e shore. As it turned out once we were on land and away from
the edge of the river it wasn't nearly as dense as I had thought.
It was, however, even more impressive than I imagined! The
beauty of the entire scene was too much for me to describe from
memory and I only wish that I had taken my camera with me instead
of leaving it back at Mike's place. Much to my surprise, Joe be
gan telling us the names of some of the plants and, in some cases,
how they were utilized by the native Indians. He was quite a
botanist in his own way.
The bases of some of the trees were magnificent and it seemed
that they must have been here since the beginning of time. We
must have walked a mile or so before turning back towards our boat
but this time Joe walked us by a different route. Occasionally
the undergrowth was too dense to go through easily but Joe came to
the rescue with his machete and knocked away a fairly clear path
for the girls whenver necessary.
In addition to having left my camera back at Mike's I had also
left my fish nets much to my regret. Some of the small isolated
pools we came across were full of little tropical fish. This is
what I was here for and my excitement was very apparent to th e
others even thought they probably wondered as to my sanity. I was
successful in being able to scoop up a few with my bare hands just
to show the girls what they looked like from a side view but I
don't think that they were overly impressed. Just wish I could
have found some neon tetras or cardinals to show them. They were
more impressed with the orchids than anything else they saw.
We saw lots of birds and a few monkeys but that was about it.
Occasionally we saw a glimpse of animals on the ground but they
disappeared so fast we weren't able to determine what they were.
At one point Joe smiled and told us that we were being watched by
some of the local Indians. I think he said this just to see the
girls reaction. When he saw that the girls didn't seemed
frightened and even asked him why they didn't show themselves he
explained that they didn't have anything to say to us so why
should they bother showing themselves. Needless to say, Lydia and
Helen thought it ra ther exciting to know that our every move was
being watched. They were constantly looking around to see if they
could spot someone.
We made it back to our boat without a single glimpse of any of
the native Indians and I must admit that I was hoping that they
would make contact with us also just to see how they girls would
have reacted. Within minutes we were all aboard and heading back
towards Leticia and civilization. Well, almost civilization.
We docked back at Mike's pier late in the afternoon and
immediately headed for our little sidewalk cafe for a drink or
two. George was there waiting to hear of our adventure and he got
his ears full. I think that the girls were more excited in
telling him of our adventure than when they were experiencing it.
We decided to have a bite to eat before returning to our
respective rooms but it was several hours before we all decided
to call it a day and get some sleep. A wonderful day at that!
Amazon Adventure Chapter 11
Helen being amused by our host's pet bird.
Helen relaxing on the house boat.
Our host with Lydia and Helen seated.
Mark with the jungle in the background.
The following morning we met George for breakfast and another
rehashing of our previous two day trip into the jungle. As we sat
there overlooking the river I asked George about a small houseboat
which we could see docked across the river. Even at that distance
I had noticed occasional dugouts coming and going from upriver and
downriver and docking for short periods of time. I asked him what
it was all about.
"They're some of the local Indians who come to trade with the
owner. The Indians are reluctant to come into Leticia which to
them is too intimidating. They prefer dealing there where there
is minimum contact with others."
"What do they trade for?", I asked.
"Mostly salt, canned peaches and cigarettes. And a few other
things." He replied.
"All the necessities of civilized man." Mark said.
"What's the chances of us going over there and checking it out?"
"I'll see about getting someone to bring us over." George replied
and got up from the table and headed for the river. Shortly he
was back and said that he had arranged for someone to take us all
over.
After breakfast we all headed once again for the river and were
soon motoring over to the house boat. As we approached we could
see that it was simply a wooden barge with a small cabin on one
end and a canopy over the balance of the barge. A wooden railing
extended all around the barge and under the canopy was what can
only be described as a small old time general store. A small
counter with a few shelves behind it stocked with a variety of
items and a few benches along the railing. And a small bar
stocked with a few bottles of liquor. That called for a drink!
The proprietor was a young man in his late twenties who stumbled
over himself in serving us. I think that he was impressed with
seeing two such lovely ladies. So much so that he made himself a
drink and joined us in having a drink. The drinks were th e same
as Joe had served us at the "Jungle Hilton", the anise based "agua
caliente".
"It's the local drink of choice", he explained.
"You're an American?" I asked even though it was obvious.
"Yep!" Came down here on vacation about eight years ago and
decided to stay. I love it here. I was in college back in the
states and studying to be an attorney but the thought of going
back to the states after spending a few weeks here was too
distaste ful to consider. My dad was really upset when he found
out."
"He's an attorney," he continued, "and wanted me to follow in his
footsteps. My only hope of being able to stay was to continue to
have him send me money to live on so I told him that I would only
stay for a few more months during summer vacation and t hen return
to school in the fall."
"When fall arrived I wrote and told him to let me spend an entire
year down here and if he'd consider sending me my law books I
would continue my studies here on my own and would return in a
year. That was eight years ago."
"So does he still send you money?" I asked.
"I don't need that much money down here. And what little I do
need I can earn here on my houseboat. I saw the need for the
local Indians to have a place where they could feel comfortable in
their trading so moved my boat across the river from where it w as
originally docked on the Leticia side of the river. Basically I'm
acting as an agent for some of the traders in Leticia and get my
cut. The traders come over here as required every day or so to
pick up their goods and bring me more supplies. I have everything
I need right here."
"What kind of traders?" Mark asked.
"Fur, animals, birds and fish and even some foods." he replied.
"Tropical fish?" I asked.
"Yeah, lots of them. A fellow named Rokes started me with them
several years ago and it has become a big thing. Rokes is no
longer here but there are several brokers in Leticia that I trade
with."
"Johnson one of them?"
"Yes".
"That's who I'm buying from now so I guess that I'm getting
indirectly from you. As a matter of curiosity what is the going
price for neon tetras. I'm paying Johnson anywhere from a penny
and a half to three cents each. How can he sell them so cheap?"
"I get 'em at the rate of about 3 for a penny," he laughed, "but
get a penny apiece from him. So we're both just about tripling
our cost. But even at those prices the quanties are large enough
to make it profitable. And I'm sure you're making a good pr ofit
back in the states.", he added.
The rest of our little group were getting bored with all this
business talk so I satisfied myself with this information and we
began talking about other things. As the day progressed and the
temperature began to rise we were all soon half dozing and the
conversation became very sparse. We were totally content to just
sit and bask in doing absolutely nothing. I began to see the
wisdom of this young man's decision to give up his law studies for
this life style.
He served us a snack meal about noon. Canned sardines were the
main course along with crackers. Just like back in the states. We
all decided to top it off with a dessert of canned peaches. We
each got our own can and loved it. More of just doing not hing
for several more hours.
Along about two o'clock he went into his cabin and returned with
a law text book and began reading. He looked up at us and said,
"I'm still planning to go back to the states and join my dad's
law firm one of these days. I've continued my studies while down
here and think that I could pass the bar exam tomorrow if
necessary but will probably return to the states in a year or so
and go back to school for whatever time is required to get my
degree. Excuse me while I do a little homework."
We didn't head back to the other side of the river until about
five o'clock. We hadn't done a thing for the entire day but enjoy
ourselves tremendously in our accomplishment of having done
nothing.
More to come....
To be continued ....if you are interested in this true story let me know at
wesdick@charter.net or sign my guest book with a comment.
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
We all were up and ready to go by six or so the following morning. We had a hasty breakfast of fruit and were soon all once again in our little motor boat giving a last fond look at our "Jungle Hilton" as Helen had dubbed it. I don't believe that she wa s used to such basic accomodations in her travels as an airline hostess. Lydia, on the other hand, said that while her sister's home in Australia was quite modern even though far from any metropolitan area, the vastness of their sheep ranch required several cabins long distances from the main house and she had spent time in those on occasion.
After an hour or so Joe headed the boat towards shore. He advised us that we were now ready to take a little juant into the surrounding forest. Again I was concerned regarding the girls ability to trek through what had seemed impenetrable growth from th e shore. As it turned out once we were on land and away from the edge of the river it wasn't nearly as dense as I had thought.
It was, however, even more impressive than I imagined! The beauty of the entire scene was too much for me to describe from memory and I only wish that I had taken my camera with me instead of leaving it back at Mike's place. Much to my surprise, Joe be gan telling us the names of some of the plants and, in some cases, how they were utilized by the native Indians. He was quite a botanist in his own way.
The bases of some of the trees were magnificent and it seemed that they must have been here since the beginning of time. We must have walked a mile or so before turning back towards our boat but this time Joe walked us by a different route. Occasionally the undergrowth was too dense to go through easily but Joe came to the rescue with his machete and knocked away a fairly clear path for the girls whenver necessary.
In addition to having left my camera back at Mike's I had also left my fish nets much to my regret. Some of the small isolated pools we came across were full of little tropical fish. This is what I was here for and my excitement was very apparent to th e others even thought they probably wondered as to my sanity. I was successful in being able to scoop up a few with my bare hands just to show the girls what they looked like from a side view but I don't think that they were overly impressed. Just wish I could have found some neon tetras or cardinals to show them. They were more impressed with the orchids than anything else they saw.
We saw lots of birds and a few monkeys but that was about it. Occasionally we saw a glimpse of animals on the ground but they disappeared so fast we weren't able to determine what they were. At one point Joe smiled and told us that we were being watched by some of the local Indians. I think he said this just to see the girls reaction. When he saw that the girls didn't seemed frightened and even asked him why they didn't show themselves he explained that they didn't have anything to say to us so why should they bother showing themselves. Needless to say, Lydia and Helen thought it ra ther exciting to know that our every move was being watched. They were constantly looking around to see if they could spot someone.
We made it back to our boat without a single glimpse of any of the native Indians and I must admit that I was hoping that they would make contact with us also just to see how they girls would have reacted. Within minutes we were all aboard and heading back towards Leticia and civilization. Well, almost civilization.
We docked back at Mike's pier late in the afternoon and immediately headed for our little sidewalk cafe for a drink or two. George was there waiting to hear of our adventure and he got his ears full. I think that the girls were more excited in telling him of our adventure than when they were experiencing it. We decided to have a bite to eat before returning to our respective rooms but it was several hours before we all decided to call it a day and get some sleep. A wonderful day at that!
Amazon Adventure Chapter 11
Helen being amused by our host's pet bird.
Helen relaxing on the house boat.
Our host with Lydia and Helen seated.
Mark with the jungle in the background.
The following morning we met George for breakfast and another
rehashing of our previous two day trip into the jungle. As we sat
there overlooking the river I asked George about a small houseboat
which we could see docked across the river. Even at that distance
I had noticed occasional dugouts coming and going from upriver and
downriver and docking for short periods of time. I asked him what
it was all about.
"They're some of the local Indians who come to trade with the
owner. The Indians are reluctant to come into Leticia which to
them is too intimidating. They prefer dealing there where there
is minimum contact with others."
"What do they trade for?", I asked.
"Mostly salt, canned peaches and cigarettes. And a few other
things." He replied.
"All the necessities of civilized man." Mark said.
"What's the chances of us going over there and checking it out?"
"I'll see about getting someone to bring us over." George replied
and got up from the table and headed for the river. Shortly he
was back and said that he had arranged for someone to take us all
over.
After breakfast we all headed once again for the river and were
soon motoring over to the house boat. As we approached we could
see that it was simply a wooden barge with a small cabin on one
end and a canopy over the balance of the barge. A wooden railing
extended all around the barge and under the canopy was what can
only be described as a small old time general store. A small
counter with a few shelves behind it stocked with a variety of
items and a few benches along the railing. And a small bar
stocked with a few bottles of liquor. That called for a drink!
The proprietor was a young man in his late twenties who stumbled
over himself in serving us. I think that he was impressed with
seeing two such lovely ladies. So much so that he made himself a
drink and joined us in having a drink. The drinks were th e same
as Joe had served us at the "Jungle Hilton", the anise based "agua
caliente".
"It's the local drink of choice", he explained.
"You're an American?" I asked even though it was obvious.
"Yep!" Came down here on vacation about eight years ago and
decided to stay. I love it here. I was in college back in the
states and studying to be an attorney but the thought of going
back to the states after spending a few weeks here was too
distaste ful to consider. My dad was really upset when he found
out."
"He's an attorney," he continued, "and wanted me to follow in his
footsteps. My only hope of being able to stay was to continue to
have him send me money to live on so I told him that I would only
stay for a few more months during summer vacation and t hen return
to school in the fall."
"When fall arrived I wrote and told him to let me spend an entire
year down here and if he'd consider sending me my law books I
would continue my studies here on my own and would return in a
year. That was eight years ago."
"So does he still send you money?" I asked.
"I don't need that much money down here. And what little I do
need I can earn here on my houseboat. I saw the need for the
local Indians to have a place where they could feel comfortable in
their trading so moved my boat across the river from where it w as
originally docked on the Leticia side of the river. Basically I'm
acting as an agent for some of the traders in Leticia and get my
cut. The traders come over here as required every day or so to
pick up their goods and bring me more supplies. I have everything
I need right here."
"What kind of traders?" Mark asked.
"Fur, animals, birds and fish and even some foods." he replied.
"Tropical fish?" I asked.
"Yeah, lots of them. A fellow named Rokes started me with them
several years ago and it has become a big thing. Rokes is no
longer here but there are several brokers in Leticia that I trade
with."
"Johnson one of them?"
"Yes".
"That's who I'm buying from now so I guess that I'm getting
indirectly from you. As a matter of curiosity what is the going
price for neon tetras. I'm paying Johnson anywhere from a penny
and a half to three cents each. How can he sell them so cheap?"
"I get 'em at the rate of about 3 for a penny," he laughed, "but
get a penny apiece from him. So we're both just about tripling
our cost. But even at those prices the quanties are large enough
to make it profitable. And I'm sure you're making a good pr ofit
back in the states.", he added.
The rest of our little group were getting bored with all this
business talk so I satisfied myself with this information and we
began talking about other things. As the day progressed and the
temperature began to rise we were all soon half dozing and the
conversation became very sparse. We were totally content to just
sit and bask in doing absolutely nothing. I began to see the
wisdom of this young man's decision to give up his law studies for
this life style.
He served us a snack meal about noon. Canned sardines were the
main course along with crackers. Just like back in the states. We
all decided to top it off with a dessert of canned peaches. We
each got our own can and loved it. More of just doing not hing
for several more hours.
Along about two o'clock he went into his cabin and returned with
a law text book and began reading. He looked up at us and said,
"I'm still planning to go back to the states and join my dad's
law firm one of these days. I've continued my studies while down
here and think that I could pass the bar exam tomorrow if
necessary but will probably return to the states in a year or so
and go back to school for whatever time is required to get my
degree. Excuse me while I do a little homework."
We didn't head back to the other side of the river until about
five o'clock. We hadn't done a thing for the entire day but enjoy
ourselves tremendously in our accomplishment of having done
nothing.
More to come....
To be continued ....if you are interested in this true story let me know at
wesdick@charter.net or sign my guest book with a comment.
Chapter 11