Demarcation Diaries
8 September 2001
Position: Mouth of the Xerua River
Time: 3:30 p.m., Manaus Time, East Coast US
Weather: Here comes another storm!
We have welcomed our many new members of our project on board
today. They arrived all together, 3 members of the Deni tribe, two
GPS position experts, a reporter and cameraman from Global
Manaus, the Manaus news TV station, Nilo, our Greenpeace Deni
expert and coordinator, and Janine, the final member of my team
that is going to tackle the Xerua West part of our demarcation. It is
great to have new people on board. About 30 minutes after they all
arrived, our main logistics man, Manuel, left for some responsibilities he
has in Manaus, for three days. This leaves us all looking and feeling out
a bit of a new system, since Manuel has been the lead translator,
coordinator, logistics guy for everything up until now. Our introduction
meeting went well, it is great to see everyone introduce themselves, and
watch everyone else take in all the new faces, names, and origins. We
immediately split ourselves up, two groups heading out to the demarcation
points to begin scouting for pictures, locating land points, getting used
to the route. I've seen the aluminum boats heading back and forth several
times to get more gear, check in, and go back. Kind of like a lone bee
heading back and forth to the hive. Work is happening!
We have gotten used to the storms coming in suddenly here.
Already, three people have announced that a storm is coming.
Most of the time, we need to drop the side tarps to protect all of
our hammocks from the driving rain, and it never rains softly here.
As the storm approaches, the two teams just returned to announce
that the first sign, signifying the initial point of the demarcation, has
been posted. From this central point, our two teams will head off into two
directions, one more to the west, one to the east. It is great to see the
boats full of truly international crews. As I watch them go out and
return, I see Swedes sitting next to Deni sitting next to Brasilians. I
see Dutch sitting next to Amazonians sitting next to Deni. And, they
return having put down the first mark together. In my opinion, there are
no followers here, only leaders, people who want to see something get
done.
A word about the wildlife besides the bugs. The area is full of
butterflies, all different colors, landing on everyone as if to say
welcome. I guess I could say that they do not seem to be shy,
flying near the boats, near Rosa as she washes clothes, colors of
blues, yellows, oranges, blacks, whites. When we mix these
visitors with the frequent pink dolphins jumping near us, it can
sometimes seem like a fairy-tale scene. And, it is that, more often
than not.
As we fall asleep this night, the boat is full. 8 new hammocks on
the lower deck, 8 new hammocks on the 2nd deck, a total of about
30 people on board now. It is a good energy on the ship. We ended
the evening with a group talk about our plans for tomorrow, and our
plans for the next two or three days. We translate everything into
English from Portuguese. The Deni have spent the last years
learning Portuguese, and many speak well now. Some of the men
clear things up to each other in the Deni language. They all are
obviously intense, serious about their work coming up, but easy-
going with all of us. This afternoon, a football game that lasted at least
a couple of hours put everyone together for the first time.
There are many small logistics to work out, the attitudes are really
great, so tomorrow will come early, we get started at 7 a.m. - breakfast.
Radio training as well as demarcation scouting will happen tomorrow.
The stars are bright, and there are eyes in the darkness, watching
us. We all feel safe.
From the land of bright stars and animals in the night,
Tchau,
-Bryan
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