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Published: November 6th 2005
River Ucayali
The entrance to the villageWe´re back in Pucallpa for a few days after our first week in the jungle. The community we stayed in is set in the middle of nowhere about 100 km up the river Ucayali from Pucallpa. Around 400 people live in wooden huts/houses with virtually no contact with the external world. Most of them have only seen a few "white people" in their whole life so we’re getting plenty of attention, especially from the kids. The only source of water is the river, which is far from clean, so we´ll probably be coming back often for water supplies. There is a generator that can provide a small amount of electricity when needed (if there’s any fuel to burn) but that’s about the only luxury they’ve got. Most of the "houses" are simply wooden floors elevated off the ground, with a roof made out of leaves. So far we haven´t headed too far into the jungle for safety reasons, but the outskirts give an insight of what´s to come. Pineapples, mangos, bananas, coconuts and lots of unknown varieties of fruit can be found everywhere, as well as loads of strange plants and trees. We haven´t seen much animal life form so far
Boat trip
The boat trip down the Ucayali as they only come out at night. Yesterday we got a glimpse of a tarantula before it hid under the house we´re staying in..... whereas deadly snakes are said to patrol the village after dark. The funny (and at the same time petrifying) thing is that the toilets (=a hole) are at the end of a 20m trail that heads into the jungle and therefore using them at night is simply put “life-threatening”..... Our main purpose here is to try and improve the standard of living of the inhabitants. The community obviously can´t afford to hire professional engineers so they looked for volunteer students as an alternative. We´re gonna try and do as much as possible with the few resources we have, but it looks like the main benefit we´ll be bringing them will be English lessons. For the moment Pierre and I are both giving a 2 hour lesson every day. Pierre teaches to the kids, while I teach to the mothers on one day and the fathers on the other. Most of them speak Spanish but the older ones only speak the local dialect (shipibo, which is the main language there), and considering that my own Spanish is
Boat trip 2
Nice and cosy far from perfect, the lessons have been quite an experience. The best moment of the day is at 4pm when the 3 or 4 main families (yes they are very, very big families) of the community gather in the middle of the village. The younger men play football, while the wives watch and chat and the children play music and dance. It’s quite simply unforgettable. After that, everybody heads to the river and take a dip before the mosquitoes arrive. There's so much to tell and not much time to spend on internet, so please forgive me for not going into much detail. I should publish some more news in a week’s time...
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Ravee
non-member comment
Graeme, you perv! Taking a picture of 2 ladies' behinds and saying nice and cosy! I would never have expected that from you! Peru looks like Msia!! The plants, climate and even the huts (well, not in the city, obviously)! Don't you have walls for your hut? You and your football! Bet the kids whoop ur ass all the time. Why don't you teach them some kumite?