Rio Galvez, Peru, JULY 11, 2017
The chorus of insects and whistling rain forest birds never sounded so good and provided another relaxing wake up call. I was routinely waking now at 5am and ready to find a new adventure and capture great images as the days were racing by. We were already past the halfway mark of the expedition.
Hernan making a shelter
After more fish and instant coffee (with powdered milk) for breakfast, we packed away the tents and my camera equipment and departed the picturesque camp for Buen Peru Village once more, where we were to restock supplies and exchange our aluminum boat for smaller dugout canoes as the next week of the expedition would see us travel narrower and shallower river systems upstream and deeper into the remotest parts of the jungle, .
Below are some pics of a few of the incredible insects I photographed these past 4 days, including butterflies, moths and beetles. Hopefully they can one day be identified.
The long boat ride back to the small village again provided a good opportunity to film river landscapes and animals and we were again treated to great weather. It had not rained since our first day on the river and we were entertained by large families of jungle otter, pink dolphins surfacing, thousands of butterflies, macaw and many other small species of Amazonian birds. This ecosystem is the most healthy I have ever seen anywhere and I am one of few people in history who have been here to film it let alone with high definition cameras and drones.!
Charging gear with the Sherpa 100 Solar unit
Typical view from the boat
Kingfisher leading us down the river
The afternoon was free so I interviewed Sergio and Dennis on camera and talked to them about their culture, way of life and importance of sustainability. I asked them about the need to teach their children the values and traditions of the Amazonian Indian Tribes. Sergio spoke passionately of the need to educate the world about maintaining a healthy rain forest and Dennis; learning how to hunt and survive from his father Armando. Dennis also told me that he now loves to take photographs of his favourite animals (Anaconda and Jaguar); he only has one memory card (in his small digital camera he acquired from the city) so he has to delete his photos when it’s full. No computers and hard drives in this part of the Amazon. I enjoyed giving him the occasional photography lesson particularly in shooting long exposures of the night sky.
What do the children of the Amazon do to keep themselves entertained? Like we did as kids, they swim in the river and climb trees. They play with and practice the bow and arrow, cut things with their machetes and they like to make things with wood and get dirty – very simple games that keep them happy. They also love to lie around in hammocks for hours, which make them very relaxed people.
Bow and arrow competition
After a week in the jungle I finally had a wash– yes I know I must have been smelly, but I didn't actually feel as dirty as i do in the city! I stripped off by the banks of the river with a piece of soap and a bucket and it was the best feeling in the world at that moment. Thankfully, I have no photos of me bathing Amazon style!
Day 9 of the shoot ended with a sunset river time lapse and some more fish and tapir for dinner. A local family had hunted the beast and slaughtered it in their canoes; the Amazon butchery. It was interesting to see a woman carrying a whole leg up the bank to their home, with a small Caiman (alligator) over her shoulder. They kindly shared the heart and liver with the visitors, which is a gesture befitting jungle royalty. I respectfully declined their offer of Tapir heart but enjoyed some liver and the ribs that were seasoned and smoked beautifully, tasting like beef. We had finally been accepted into the Matses tribe and I started to feel very much at home.
