I was watching a program by Bruce Parry (on BBC 0ne) who begins an epic adventure in the Amazon following its downstream journey from High Andes. He travels over 6,000 kms down the length of the Amazon river. Parry meets and lives with local tribes, coca growers, loggers and illegal miners during the six part series. In this first part of the series he is in the Amazon part of Peru. This journey takes him from High Andes (with caravans of Llamas and donkeys following an ancient trial) to the Apuramic Valley and Ashaninka tribe, down the amazon river, the path used since the Incan times. The first tribe live about 4000 metres above sea level on snowy mountains....Its a tough place to live and an irresistible challenge...
'Apuramic' is a Quechuan word...the language of Incas ...'apu' means God and 'rimac' meaning speak or to talk. The river ('head waters') changes its name many times (the Ene, the Tambo, the Urubamba, the Ucayali) before it gets the name AMAZON.....one of the greatest (if not the greatest) river system on earth.
It seems over 100 tonnes of cocaine are made here every year. Amazing...how they clear the forests to make bases (bossas) to process Coca leaves. This is illegal of course. They add kerosene, sulphuric acid, ammonia and all sorts of chemicals and put in 4 days of hard work that earns them $80-$100 per harvest (almost the same price of 1 gram of cocaine in the streets of London). This is the start of the multi-billion dollar drug industry. Colombia is the largest producer of Cocaine and Peru is second. It seems Peru is catching up fast. Everywhere the forests are burned to make new coca fields.
This is also the stronghold of redzone (river Ene) which is the last refuge of the most brutal terrorist organisation in this part of the world...Shining Zone (Maoist revolutionaries who fought a bloody war in the 70's and 80's)
'Ashaninka' (literally means 'a brother to all') is one of the oldest and original indigenous tribes in South America...mainly seen in Peru and some in bordering Brazilian forests. Saw how Masato (the local beer) is made. It seems that the women chew 'Yuca' (Cassava or the 'kappa' as called in Kerala) and spit back into a container!The saliva ferments it!!
Should try to watch the rest of the programme in the coming weeks.
About Me
- PCV
- London, Leicester and Kerala
- I am a Medical Doctor, born and brought up in Kerala, settled in England for last 27 years. Interested in almost any and every field under the sun. I believe in 'Simple living and simple thinking'and try to follow this principle in life...This is a snapshot of what I wish to write; but many of the things I want to write are still under the iceberg! Lokah Samastha Sukhino Bhavanthu
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