Wild File Photo

The Wildest Place on Earth

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:28 -0600

The Peruvian Amazon is a trackless wilderness whose only roads are the rivers that slip quietly through its vast tropical forest. I spent nearly two weeks surveying the region by dugout canoe and small plane in late June and July, researching the illicit trade of mahogany and effects of road construction, gold mining and petroleum exploration and extraction on un-contacted indigenous tribes and biodiversity. I also spent time in the headwaters of the Amazon around Cuzco and Machu Picchu. Read about it here in the New York Times.

Safety First

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:28 -0600

Small-plane bush pilots in the Amazon wear crash helmets and say a prayer before every flight. We flew for well over an hour before seeing our first sign of civilization: a landing strip cleared by machete in Dulce Gloria, along the Yurúa River near the Peru/Brazil border in the Amazon Basin.

Edge of the Unknown

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:28 -0600

The indigenous village of Dulce Gloria lies on the very edge of the Murunahua Reserve for Voluntarily Isolated Peoples. Often referred to as the "un-contacted," these are indigenous hunter/gatherers who have never had any contact with modern civilization. No one knows how many live in the Peruvian Amazon, but many estimate their population to be in the thousands. We arrived amidst peak dry season, when freshwater turtles come ashore to lay their eggs in exposed sandbars. The "un-contacted" feast on these eggs, and their footprints, and sometimes fire rings, are seen in the sand this time of year. We followed the river that veers left from town and borders the reserve, four hours by dugout canoe to the next village upstream.

Curious Eyes

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:28 -0600

The local indigenous tribe, the Asheninka, rarely see visitors. Contacted little more than 50 years ago, they exhibit varying degrees of assimilation into modern "civilization." Some in the village of Dulce Gloria now wear futbol jerseys and listen to Latin pop, others, like this man, still paint their faces and dress in traditional woven-cotten robes dyed with the bark of mahogany. Further upriver, in a more remote village, we would find fewer and fewer signs of so-called "civlization."

Bow and Arrow

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:28 -0600

The Asheninka still hunt with hand-made bow and arrow and spear, taking only what they need for subsistence. As such, wildlife still abounds along the Yurúa River valley.

A Hunter's Gaze

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:28 -0600

Children begin to hunt with bow and arrow from an early age - practicing on small birds in the village, then venturing out into the surrounding forest.

Wild Things

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:28 -0600

The Asheninka of Dulce Gloria are still hunter/gatherers, deriving their medicine and food from the forest. Wildilfe and pets are interchangeable here - everything but mahogany is still abundant as it ever was.

Desperate and Poor?

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:28 -0600

The indigenous of remote Amazonian villages are considered to be among Peru's fifty percent poor. But the label is confusing - and the source of on-going debate. The people here have food in abundance, derive their medicines from the forest and by and large live free of violence. They live as they always have, but because they lack modern Western education and health care - they are "poor." Here, friend and Upper Amazon Conservancy country director Francisco Estremadoyro shares a photograph with children from the village.

Snapshot

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:28 -0600

Some say poverty is best defined by the number of televisions in a village. The more televisions, the poorer the people see themselves. Children watch television, see what they're "missing" and suddenly "pastillas" or pills, are the only cure for sicknesses, traditional medicine goes by the wayside, and processed foods from Lima and Brazil take the place of agriculture and subsistence hunting. Television has yet to reach Dulce Gloria, or this child.

Amazonian Express

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:28 -0600

The preferred - and only - mode of travel in the Yurúa River valley is by hand-carved dugout canoe. Roads are hundreds of miles distant.