Demarcation Diaries
7 September 2001
Time: 0700, Friday morning, Manaus time
Jurua River near to mouth of Xerua River
The battle of the bugs has begun. We have all begun wrapping
ourselves in many layers of clothes in the early evenings to protect from
the malaria-carrying mosquitoes in this area. The mornings are not too bad,
it is cooler, so the amount of insects is minimal. Now, however,when the
sun comes out, we are being introduced to the Piun (pronounced Pee-yoon),
a small insect about the size of a flea that leaves its mark with a spot
of blood (mine, of course), and a very itchy small welt that lasts days.
Already most everyone has an area of the body that is covered with little
welts, or small bumps. It is still very hot during the day, so it is
tempting for some to stay in shorts, or without shirts. These people have
paid the price, red dots all over their bodies. It is not a health risk,
it has only made us all have new, odd characteristics, like always
scratching our toes, or our backs, or our fingers. Me, I cover myself as
much as I can, long-sleeve shirt, jeans, socks, shoes, hat, and I spend
the day brushing the bugs off my face and hands. My odd habit is always
rubbing my hands over each other, like an old man, constantly moving my
hands and touching my face. When I stop, I get bites, no doubt about it.
At this moment, I can count 7 on my hands... others are counting
hundreds. Mosquitoes in the morning, piuns during the day, mosquitoes at
night. The true defenders of the Amazon!
Time: 1100
Three of our group left today to start their journey to the Cuniua
River, the third leg of our Deni project. At 10:00, we said goodbye
to Petros from Greece, Samuel from Chile, and Paula from Spain.
Their leg of the project will take them about 45 kilometers away
from the rest of us, they will be working with a group from CIMI,
which is an indigenous missionary group that has helped with other
Ingenious Demarcations. They will be operating from another boat,
not setting up camps like we will be doing. Everyday, they will
check in on their progress, as will we. We miss them all already.
Time:1230
We have finally arrived at the spot where the Commandante Savio
will spend her next 6 weeks or so, across the river from a small
cluster of river houses. We constructed a small tent today, to
practice for our trek in the woods in a few days. Machetes flying,
mud splashing, piuns biting, sun glaring, it was a fun/miserable
day. I took a bath in the river after watching some locals do the
same. I took my soap and a small prayer that there were not
creatures, big or small, swimming near the boat. The water felt
great, cool, and clean. KonTau and I took a short, chopping trip
through the woods near to the boat, just to see how it felt to find
some peaceful quiet, and, I admit it, to try out our Machetes. We
came back with two huge leaves to decorate our new tent with, and
as the sun went down, we all played a quick soccer game so the
Brazilians could show us how things are. And, they did. Injuries
were all kept to the Gringo team, and the high score was left with
the "brasilieros". It was a nice way to finish off the day.
Three times today, our plane, the "pata gorda", which means "fat
duck", flew overhead, carrying in new blood and taking our three
friends deeper into the Deni-land. It was nice to see the plane
again, it got its nickname because we have always tried to load her
down to the max, and quite often, she just appeared a bit too "fat"
to take off out of the water. But, she looked good today, she is
flying with wheels instead of floats because her use is limited in the
water during low season. We waved each time as the place passed, hoping
that someone inside was taking pictures.
Some local kids showed us a watermelon patch growing just about
100 yards from the boat, and they gave us a couple for tomorrow's
lunch. It is nice to see a friendly, safe surprise in the Amazon.
Well, just to keep the counting up, I have increased from seven
piun bites on my hands to about 30 or so, and my neck is full of
bites, about 30 or so, also. I'd say it is time for a bandanna and a pair
of gloves. The small critters are everywhere around here, they love the
sun and the shade. They will be our companions for the rest of the
project. Great.
I have yet to mention the sky. We were looking up tonight, it is a
particularly clear night, tracing out the constellation Scorpio, and we
realized that the Milky Way is easy to spot here. The captain walked up to
me and said "boa vista, sim?",which means "nice view, huh?" loosely
translated, and he was right, it is great tonight. We passed the full moon
stage, but it still rises about 10 each night, and it lights up our world.
I am off to sleep. Now, good night's rest, good food, and plenty of
water is the name of the survival game here. We will finish our
mock camp set-up in the morning, get to know our new arrivals,
and probably do a check up the Xerua River with the small boat
tomorrow. I personally am looking forward to checking the sand
around our tent in the morning, to see what type of visitors we had
in the night. There are lots of alligators around here, as well as big
cats, and snake skins all around the beach. It is time to make some new
friends.
From a sandy, muddy beach on the Jurua River,
-Bryan
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