Demarcation Diaries
27 September 2001
Camp 3, at Waypoint PO2
Today was a good day. We moved to a new camp with the
helicopter (Tweety, a Bell 500) carrying all the heavy gear instead of
us. We moved from a carapana-infested site with
increasingly vile charred pig remains always on the grill, to a
delightful mosquito free site on a hill top in terra firma. I donīt quite
understand why there are no mosquitoes - theyīll probably appear given
half a chance. It takes about half an hour to kill all the mosquitoes
in your net so that you can sleep. We had some permethrin to soak the
nets in - itīs a biodegradable, non-bioccumulative insecticide derived
from chrysanthemums. You soak the net once and it kills mosquitoes for six
months. We lost our supply in Manaus somehow. The mosquito, or rather the
malaria it carries, has killed more people than all the wars in history.
We were worked hard with the heli gear transfer. Jan and Agnaldo
walked the hilly two hour track from camp 2 to our new camp in just over an hour
to unload the heli nets. They had to make a smoky fire to guide the
heli here and then move the whole teamīs equipment, on their own, from the
landing clearing to our spacious new shelter. We had some fresh food
sent in from the Commandte Savio, including delicacies like biscuits
and bananas. (Not been doing too badly for Vitamin C as Podge the tiny 20
year old Deni can shimmy up trees to pull down sprigs of a deliciously
sweet red berry they call the grape of the forest).
The rest of the team (Steve, Karen and I) helped Aaron, the Dutch heli
mechanic, load the net (it can carry what 4 people can lift) under
the violent down blast of the hovering Tweety, a hurricane of leaves and
noise whipping around us. We left nothing at camp 2 but the maggoty pig
remains for the 4 large squawking vultures perched high over the camp.
The Deni are terrified of vultures, if a vulture dropping hits someone
they believe it will lead to his death.
Weīre all quite familiar with the HF radio now so coordinating the heli
drops was straightforward.
We managed the track in three hours because we had a film crew from RTL
here and they wanted
a lot of footage. Theyīve been in the Amazon for four days and havenīt had a
chance to adjust to the climate and werenīt looking too well by the end. We were hit
by a proper chuva (sudden heavy rainfall) which eased things a little.
There are plenty of small streams for water, we put iodine or chlorine in
our water bottles. It tastes clean though looks a bit like Guinness beer. Karen is an
agricultural engineer and as we walked along trying to ensure the RTL guys
didnīt dehydrate, she told me about the plants and bugs. Suddenly
I seem to notice much more- the three part mouth of a horse fly
becomes an interesting discussion topic for a break - this must be what
happens when you take television, alcohol, advertisements and traffic out of life.
Everything here seems very intense, itīs like an above water scuba dive.
At the new camp we watched a grillo, allegedly a insect but closer in
size to a lobster and horrid as sockful of cockroaches, move itīs
creaky jointed legs across the shelter floor. A shape
like a stick insect with a weight problem, the color of brown
Kiwi boot polish, it crept up on my backpack with the intent of eating it
or mating with it perhaps. I pried itīs clawed feet off the nylon and it
raised both front legs in aggression, almost a boxerīs stance. I shook my
hammock out carefully tonight. Also I checked that my toothbrush
definitely was my toothbrush, and not moving.
When the helicopter returned to take the journalists from RTL back to the Savio (they were
strangely reluctant to spend a night out here), there was fresh bread
and even a birthday cake for me from the cooks on the
ship, a chocolate and pineapple paradise. We can probably make it last 3
or 4 days in the ant proof aluminum radio box. We had some today
after a tasty fish stew made with manioc flour and rice cooked by Zer the
chainsaw guy. I crossed the heli clearing with Jan to fetch the laptop
to write this from the silver dome tent where we keep the communication gear. We
took machetes in case of jaguars, though it feels safe here. The Deni
say if you walk alone in the forest at night you can be changed into a
jaguar.
Five hours hike to Waypoint 3 tomorrow through the most beautiful forest
so far. Thereīs moonlight streaming through the tree tops in shafts of
light in a way Iīve only ever seen sunlight do elsewhere. Everyone
is asleep, a row of hammocks under an open walled shelter, hundreds of
miles of rainforest around in every direction. The insect noise is
divine.
Ian
(Team B)
Find out about the different
volunteers on the demarcation project.
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