Day 18 & 19 - Jamaraqua, FLONA/River Tapajos

We have been in Alter do Chão a couple days now and left today on a small boat down the Tapajos River to FLONA, a national park area of the rain forest, where a handful of native families still reside. We are staying the night with one such family in the small village of Jamaraqua.

After a four hour boat trip in a very small boat, we finally arrived at the home of the family we would be staying with. On their land they appeared to be almost entirely self-sufficient, cows, chickens, and a very large and foreboding turkey roaming the property. Despite the large satellite dish (strange, I know) they were quite far removed from life as we know it. We were shown to a small outdoor area that was to be our home for the next 30 hours and given lunch before heading out by canoe to see the flooded forest. It is the wet season in the Amazon so much of the areas that are normally accessible by foot must be instead explored via canoe.

That night, we were taken out a second time in a canoe to hunt for the"jacarè," or caiman (a type of crocodile). We didn't actually hunt them of course, just went in search of them, and found one too, quietly tucked in a dark corner under the water!! A little scary, but mostly fascinating, our guide was quite the crazy man, with a laugh that could make you smile for days. That night we slept safely under the protection of our mosquito nets.

After an early start the next day we went out hiking in the forest. There was so much to see there, trees that bled latex, ants that when smashed could be rubbed on your skin and used as repellent, flora used in natural headache and lung remedies, and of course of giant sumauná trees, with trunks twice as tall as I.

That evening we enjoyed a bath in the river followed by beers and futbol in the small village "center." We left Jamaraqua at night under a full moon, headed back to Alter do Chão and on to our next adventure.

Jamaraqua was definitely an interesting experience. It is quite amazing how knowledgeable about the forest and river the people living there are, they know every name of every bird, animal, tree, plant, etc. I think that very few of us could say the same of the place we call home. The best part was seeing how really happy and content they all seem to be with the life they lead. Putting up tourists is, of course, a way for them to make money, but they seemed to be happy to do so, to share their knowledge and way of life with others. It is something I will never forget.