The volunteers who will assist the Deni Indians demarcating their land in September and October have are on jurua river on route to the remote reaches of the Amazon rainforest. Read the updates from the crew as they travel up river and into the jungle.

31 August 2001

Last night we were entertained by a spectacular light show courtesy of mother nature. As the day came to an end, a thunderstorm closed in on us. Without a drop of rain falling, we found ourselves emerged in a barrage of lightning, though few of them ever touched the ground. The sheer frequency was breathtaking, I counted more than two lightning bolts a second for almost an hour. Every day, every night there is a new drama being played out before us.

Crew meeting on the deck of the Comte Savio

We are more or less done organising our gear and our days are now used for training on the small aluminium boat, how to use the GPS, how to prevent injury and disease and even how to cook.

After the creepy creepers medical session, we concluded that the easiest way to prevent being bitten is to be harshly prejudicial and apply the sweeping generalisation "if it moves don't touch it" at all times. With such a multitude of stinging, biting and poisonous creatures around, it make sense to be respectful. Don't pat the animals.

As I write this the thermometer next to me shows 37.5 degrees Celsius in the shade. At night it drops to a comfortable 26 and this morning I woke up feeling a bit frozen for the first time since I arrived in the country. We have access to Commandante Savio's small cabins but everybody chooses to sleep in hammocks on the open middle deck.

The river is getting narrower and the jungle is getting thicker. The odd houses of the river people are also changing character, from simple wooden cabins to Indian-style open huts. We are moving further into the wild, away from the domesticated and the tame.

2 September 2001

I woke up at five in the morning because nature called and since I am up I might as well start on today's update.

Yesterday, I took a shower in the rain since the Amazon version of rain is the equivalent of having a bucket of water emptied over your head. Last night Ribamar caught a small crocodile with his bare hands. I am convinced that all my travel mates will write about that so I won't go into details.

The animal population density seems to increase as the human population decreases. We see more dolphins and Jacares now. I spotted an interesting bird today, I can't remember its name but it has a long lower beak and it fishes by flying just over the water surface, dipping the open beak into the water. Sooner or later it gets a fish.

It feels slightly unreal to be surrounded by animals I only know from the nature-networks on TV. Makes me wish I had been crazy enough to take my 'big glass' lenses into the jungle. Anyone who wants to send me a 600mm Nikon and a tripod should feel free to do so. Speaking of cameras, I use a silica gel to dry them out at night and I am using it up at an alarming rate. Today I convinced one of the cooks to dry some of it for me. She must have wondered about the insane gringo who wanted her to cook blue gravel in the oven for an hour. Worked like a charm though.

We have moved on to the next phase, from training to preparation. With only three days to go, everybody is getting their gear in order.

Team B preparing for the jungle

We were divided us into teams yesterday and it is interesting to see how the mind works. Humans are pack animals.

Slap a label on somebody or a patch on their shoulder and instantly they identify with the appointed group, be it a soccer team or a demarcation team. We bond with team-mates and distance from the others, we can't help it, it is hardwired into us. Friendly but semi-serious competition takes place. Everybody tries to convince themselves they have the toughest route. 'We have the tough stretch, you guys will be on a boat half the time', 'Yeah but we have all the piuns'. It's an interesting psychological phenomena.

Me, I am not just a Greenpeacer anymore, I am Team Bravo now, and WE have the toughest route.

Steve

Steve is also known as Polecat on the Greenpeace Cyberactivist community at http://act.greenpeace.org. He is now making his way to the remote reaches of the Amazon because he responded to a call for volunteers which was posted at the site.

You can help Greenpeace win campaigns by joining the Cyberactivist community, taking the actions posted there, and watching for your own opportunities to volunteer.

Read more updates from the volunteers:
Bryan from the United States
Ian from the United Kingdom
Kontau from China
Márcio from Brazil
Manuel, the logistics coordinator from Portugal

TAKE ACTION: Add your voice in support for indigenous land rights by writing to the President of Brazil supporting the demarcation of all indigenous territory.

Read the statement from the Deni to the Brazilian government

Read more about the Deni and their struggle to protect their lands from logging. Send a Deni ecard to a friend.

Download the pdf version of the Deni letter in Portuguese.