2007 Tangled Jungles Amazon

COUNTRIES: Brazil, French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela & Trinidad RIVERS: The Amazon, The Suriname, The Essequibo, and The Orinoco.

March 22 to April 5, 2007

Travel Agent: Zegrahm Expeditions

INTRODUCTION

A fabulous experience with riotous growth, thickly entwined vines, branches grasping for sunlight, brilliant flashes of intermittent outrageously vivid color, a background sound of singing & buzzing insects, raucous throaty parrot shrieks, every possible and impossible shade of green, unrelenting blue sky overhead, moisture dripping constantly from every surface, even the hairy backs of sloths, and heat rising from the damp earth and pouring down from the merciless sun combining to create a sauna to melt all creation into one roiling, bubbling broth! Wonder and excitement, beauty and brutality, surprise and satisfaction the “wild coast” of South America, the northern coasts of Brazil, French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, and the overwhelmingly huge rivers pouring from them into the Atlantic and Caribbean: the Amazon, the Suriname, the Essequibo, and the Orinoco. It is not just the thick and tightly enmeshed vegetation that makes for “tangles” either. We learned during this wonderful exploration that there are many subjects here that produce strange twists and turns and impenetrable puzzles. The convoluted jungle growth is a ready metaphor for all the other problems and enigmas we discovered. What a delightful way to uncover and unravel all these braids and knots!

OUR SHIP

Our gallant ship was the Clipper Adventurer, about 400 ft. long and well equipped for ocean-going as well as river runs. It had once been a Russian vessel, as evidenced by the

Cyrillic letters spelling out instructions covering lifeboat stations and drills as well as the proper way to don life jackets. Luckily, we were not expected to read Russian for our safety we received good translations of everything. The crew is not Russian anymore; instead we had German officers and Filipino crewmembers; but English was our common tongue. There were about 80 passengers coming from all over the globe, though the majority were US citizens since the company running the trip is American. Sometimes it seemed we had as many naturalists with us as fellow travelers and they also were from everywhere in the world. A quite cosmopolitan complement for the trip.

BIRDS AND ANIMALS

Amazonian birds are truly astonishing in their variety and their colorations! The “hard core birders” among the passengers were always stupefied after their special explorations with the professional birders. They were constantly showing off their digital photos of the parrots, toucans, hawks, egrets, songbirds, hummingbirds and ducks they had seen. We could hear them chortling among themselves as they compared experiences and checked off birds on their life lists. Kay also enjoys photographing the birds and she also got some

pretty wonderful shots herself a couple of them good enough that the professional bird scientists (Peter & Mark) asked her to send them copies of her shots!

Mammals are much harder to see from zodiacs than are birds. Though the region has many varieties of animals, we knew not to expect too much of this part of the trip. A jaguar sighting would have been a true miracle, as would a look at a margay or ocelot or any other feline. And we did not see them. The closest we came was on Saxacalli when we walked the jungle path and saw a feline paw print probably an ocelot but maybe a jaguar, according to the naturalists with us and the native guides as well. The black and spectacled caimans were seen but only in miniature young and small ones. We never got even a glimpse of the giant river otters and that was a disappointment since we had anticipated seeing at least one. We also never saw any piranha fish but we did learn that their fearsome reputation is almost entirely unearned. Though some shy small snakes were spotted at various times during the explorations, we never saw an anaconda of any size, much less the biggies we had heard about. We were lucky to see the pink dolphins though!

Though we had a plant expert with us as a naturalist, we finally gave up trying to remember the numerous names he gave us to identify the plants around us. We were also hopeless at actually recognizing the species he had already introduced us to. Finally, we just agreed that the jungle vegetation is incredibly dense, amazingly varied in species, wonderfully tangled together, and altogether satisfying to see. We, unlike Adam, did not feel the need to name everything we saw!

COUNTRIES VISITED

Brazil

First discovered by Europeans in 1500, Brazil existed as a Portuguese colony for 300 years and thus its language is Portuguese and most of its institutions are of the Mother Country’s design. It must also be said that the country was inhabited thousands of years before Europeans “found” it, by many tribes of Indians who had migrated over the Bering Land Bridge and left North America via the land bridge of Central America. There are only remnants of those people today and most of them are now mixed in blood with the other newer settlers. Deep in the Amazon Basin, there exist some very small tribes of these Indians living much the way they did hundreds of years ago. But they are part of Brazil’s past with not much influence on its future.

The country became independent in 1822 as a constitutional monarchy called the Empire of Brazil and it evolved into a republic in 1889. As an interesting sidelight, from 1808 to 1821, the King of Portugal actually removed his capital and government to Brazil to avoid further entanglements in the Napoleonic wars. The nation has endured three periods of overt dictatorship in the 20th century (l930-34, l937-45 & l964- 85), but today the government is a federative republic with 26 states and a federal district. There is compulsory voting from age 18.

When the Portuguese first became interested economically in their possession in South America, it was for importation of a tree, called the brazilwood (hence the country’s name), whose heart contained a red dye that was valuable in Europe. When the tree was almost extinct, the Portuguese saw that the land could be used for sugar plantations. They tried at first to enslave the Amerindians but they proved to be most recalcitrant and unsuitable as agricultural labors. They then imported millions of black Africans who were gradually absorbed into the general population after slavery was abolished. Sugar plantations were unworkable without the slave economy, so the next major export for Brazil was coffee. Now the country is industrialized and modernized and it is the 9th largest economy in the

world and the 5th most populous nation. Though Dutch and French pirates and agents of those governments often raided seacoast cities, they never established any kind of foothold in this huge land and there is little or no influence of their cultures in the country today.

French Guiana

French Guiana is an actual overseas department of France, having started out as a French territory during the 17th century. From the French Revolution on until 1946, the Isles d’Salut, which included Devil’s Island, functioned as a penal colony for the convenience of the Mother Country. Undesirables, criminals, and political dissidents could be shipped off to the torrid tropic locale from which most would never return. Its most famous inmates were, of course, the totally innocent Alfred Dreyfuss and the notable criminal Henri (Papillon) Charriere. After World War II, the penal colony was closed though a small regiment of the Foreign Legion still administers the grounds. As its interest in the potential of space exploration developed, France took the colony on as an integral part of the French State and built the enormous and expensive Space Tracking Station there. The citizens do enjoy many but not all the rights of the other natives of France and it is clearly the richest and most economically stable of the three former “guianas.” A border dispute between French Guiana and Brazil was resolved in the 19th century, largely in Brazil’s favor, through arbitration by the Swiss.

In addition to jobs at the space state, the people work at fishing, subsistence farming, mining, and some lumbering. It is amazing that only 54% of the population was actually born in the state. Illegal immigration is a big problem for the French as poor people cross the borders of Brazil and Suriname in order to find work and enjoy the fruits of the French support of its overseas territory. The borders between the three countries are almost impossible to protect because of the jungles and the wide rivers lining them.

Suriname

The European history of Suriname began when Dutch sailors began to trade with the Amerindians already living there when contact was made. The British tried to establish a colony for the production of tobacco in 1630, but it failed due largely to the intransigence of the native peoples against working in agriculture as slaves. They tried again in 1651 and succeeded to a certain extent with about 500 sugar plantations, worked by about 2000 black slaves imported from the Caribbean islands. Then the Dutch invaded the area in 1667 while in a struggle with Britain. The Treaty of Breda ended their dispute by granting Dutch Guiana (present-day Suriname) to the Dutch while they gave up New Amsterdam (presentday New York) to the Brits. The British retook Suriname during the Napoleonic Wars since The Netherlands had been conquered by Napoleon. After his defeat, the British returned the country to Dutch control.

Dutch Guiana gained its independence in 1975 and renamed itself Suriname, but its history before and after independence has been quite turbulent. Part of the volatility is based in the racial tensions between blacks and Asian Indians. After The Netherlands finally abolished slavery in 1863 (the last European country to do so), it invited Chinese and Asian Indians to immigrate to the colony to provide laborers for the agricultural and mining interests. These workers were usually indentured servants rather than true slaves and many elected to stay when their labor contracts were completed. Blacks and Hindus have contended fiercely to gain control of the government and leadership has changed hands frequently. Suriname is currently a constitutional democracy that maintains very close ties with The Netherlands and still obtains a considerable amount of monetary support from its former European Mother Country. Since 1995, the democracy has functioned fairly well and the political fights have morphed into more cooperative stances with much greater progress for the good of all the country.

Guyana

The first European to visit the land that is now Guyana was Amerigo Vespucci, a very intrepid explorer who visited in 1499. Just a few years later, Sir Walter Raleigh visited when he was searching for the fabled City of Gold, El Dorado. Of course, he did not find it and later in the 16th century the area was visited again by the ubiquitous Dutch traders who dealt with the Amerindians in this area too. The British soon followed and saw the potential for agriculture there. They began to set up riverside plantations for coffee, cotton and sugar, worked by black African slaves. Attempts to move further inland from the rivers was a total failure for many reasons, including diseases, extremely hard work to clear the fields, and extremely thin and poor topsoil.

Soon there were intermittent battles between the Dutch and English and the land would exchange hands accordingly. Finally, in 1814, this area became fully British and then became British Guiana in 1831. Slavery was abolished in 1834 and then, as in Dutch Guiana, Chinese and Asian Indians were encouraged to immigrate as indentured workers. Its history first as a Dutch settlement has contributed to its border problems with Suriname.

The country gained its independence from Great Britain in l966 and has struggled with ethnic tensions due to the numbers of former slaves there who resent the Asian Indians imported as workers. Those tensions continue today because, though the Indians are the dominant ethnic group, the blacks have held on to governmental power. This “tangle” was made clear to us when we visited a small Amerindian village called Saxacalli. Whatever its tensions, the Guyanese government is intent on increasing tourism to obtain the hard currency that foreigners bring.

Some of the unhappy citizens, on both sides of the black/Asian Indian divide, have threatened to disrupt this effort through inconvenient uprisings, kidnappings, robberies and the like to demonstrate the instability of the government. This instability would of course threaten tourism and defeat the government’s efforts.

As our Zodiacs landed on the beach at Saxacalli, another boat arrived at the same time loaded with government policemen and women. They spread out all over the village and along the shore to prevent any possible disruption during our visit with the gracious people of this village who may not really have a “dog in the fight” themselves but are definitely an asset to the goal of greater ecotourism. The country is a democracy with universal suffrage at age 18. Though a former British possession, the Guyanese refused membership in the British Commonwealth or any other special association with Great Britain.

Venezuela

The land that is now Venezuela was colonized by the Spanish in 1522 and the first settlement there was the first permanent one in all South America. Gold was the impetus for the colony and the Spanish very quickly began importing black Africans for slave labor in the mines. Later livestock ranching became a viable enterprise for the Spanish landowners. These grandees would hire Amerindians who were more willing to work with livestock even though they were highly resistant to performing agricultural tasks or mining. Blacks also worked these ranches. Such was the beginning of the feudal-like system that obtained in Spanish America right into the 20th century. This system has greatly impeded the growth of a middle class in many South American countries. Gran Columbia included the territories of current Columbia and Venezuela. In 1811, that area declared its independence from Spain and war ensued. The colonies lost a third of their populations as people fled back to Spain. Then arose the national hero of South America, Simon Bolivar, who won independence from Spain in 1830, after several years of war. At that time, Columbia and Venezuela became separate and independent nations.

Even after obtaining its freedom, the country suffered continued political instability, dictatorial warlords (caudillos), and revolutionary turbulence. This rich country has functioned as a democratic federal republic more recently, but the present day socialist regime is undermining many of the institutions and traditions of a democratic society. Venezuela is blessed in its natural resources, primarily petroleum but it also has extensive deposits of gold, bauxite, copper and iron ore. It has a cosmopolitan and educated citizenry with a proud history of development and economic growth. Outside observers can only

hope that Chavez’ desire to take the role of Fidel Castro in Latin America does not undo the progress and freedoms already achieved.

Trinidad

Columbus discovered this island on his 3rd voyage in 1498 and reputedly named it for the Holy Trinity because he had promised to call the next new area he discovered by that name. The island was occupied by Amerindians, but it remained a Spanish possession from the time of European discovery until the British takeover in 1797. Strangely enough, it was mostly French people who settled Trinidad under Spanish rule. In 1888 Trinidad was joined with Tobago and became a British Crown Colony. It was granted full independence in 1962 and became a republic in 1976, remaining a member of the British Commonwealth.

Like its brethren on the South American north coast, Trinidad has been plagued with strife between its former black slaves and its indentured Asian Indian workers who were imported after slavery was abolished by Britain. Both groups have been stubborn about sharing power and have often failed to cooperate even for the good of the entire country. Oil was discovered in 1857 and began to be utilized in 1907. New wealth created more division and governments came and fell with some regularity and sometimes with violence. The rise of militant Islam in recent years has provided more unity between the blacks and the Asian Indians and elections tend to be more fair and representative of the population as a whole.

Trinidad is definitely the most prosperous of the Caribbean islands and maintains close ties with the Caribbean and with its close neighbors in South America, particularly the Venezuelans. The country has oil and an oil refining industry as well as a “pitch” lake, which is beginning to be exploited. Tourism has also boomed in Trinidad and accounts for a significant portion of its wealth as well as a huge impetus to keep itself politically stable.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST

Country Size and Population

 Brazil is the largest South American country in both physical size and in its population. Brazil is only slightly smaller than the USA though its population is much smaller than ours at 190,000,000 compared to our 300,000,000.

 French Guiana is slightly smaller than Indiana but its population is only 199,500.

 Guyana is a bit smaller than Idaho and contains 770,000 people.

 Suriname is a little larger than Georgia but only 470,800 people live there.

 Venezuela is twice as big as California and 26,000,000 people live there.

 Trinidad is really a Caribbean country rather than part of Amazonia, but there are strong connections between Trinidad and Venezuela, especially centered on the reason for our visit to this island nation. Trinidad is slightly smaller than Delaware and has a population of more than 1,056,000.

Ethnicities and Life Expectancy

Though the median ages for these countries are relatively young, the cause is not the same as the very low median ages for so many African countries the devastation of HIV/AIDs. These South American countries report very low incidences of the disease.

 Brazil is composed of 54% Caucasian peoples, mostly of Portuguese heritage, 38% mulattos (mixed race black and white), 6% black, and less than 1% other, including Japanese, Arab, and Amerindians. Life expectancy there averages 73 years and the median age is 29.

 French Guineans are 66% black, 12% white, and 12% Amerindians, Chinese and Asian Indians. Their life expectancy averages 77 years and their median age is 29.

 The Guyanese population is 50% Asian Indians, 36% black, Amerindians 7%, white 7% and Chinese 7% with an average life expectancy of 67 and a median age of 28.

 Suriname citizens number 37% Asian Indians, 31% mulattos (black and white), 15% Javanese, Amerindians 2%, Chinese 2% and white, 1% while life expectancy among these people is 73.

 Venezuela declines to list percentages of their population but state that the nation includes people of Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, German and black heritage, combining into a life expectancy of 73 with their median age being 25.

 Trinidad is composed of 40% Asian Indians, 38% blacks, mixed race 21% and 2% other, altogether with a life expectancy of 67 years.

Religious Affiliations Reflect Their Colonial Histories

 Brazil: 74% Roman Catholic and 15% Protestant.

 French Guiana: 86% Roman Catholic and 12% Hindu

 Guyana: Protestant 30.5% (Pentecostal 16.9%, Anglican 6.9%, Seventh- Day Adventist 5%, Methodist 1.7%), Hindu 28.4%, Roman Catholic 8.1%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.1%, Muslim 7.2%, other Christian 17.7%, other 4.3%, none 4.3%

 Suriname: 27% Hindu, 25% Protestant, 23% Roman Catholic and 20% Muslim

 Venezuela: 96% Roman Catholic. An interesting religious sidelight occurred while we were in Venezuela. Though it is true that 96% of the population claims to be Roman Catholic, the country is admittedly becoming increasingly secular. However, when Hugo Chavez decided to abolish the traditional 4-day weekend Easter holiday and celebrations around the country, the population protested much more vehemently to that betrayal than to his constant assault on their other freedoms, such as speech and assembly.

 Trinidadians are 26% Roman Catholic, 22% Hindu, 8% Anglican, and 6% Muslim.

 An interesting sidelight occurs in Suriname because in this small and diverse population different religions do not cause tensions no religious “tangles” exist here. A Muslim mosque stands right next door to the oldest Jewish synagogue and congregation in South America. Just down the street are the Hindu temple, the Roman Catholic oldest wooden cathedral in South America, and the Protestant Moravian Brothers Church.

Literacy Rates

 Brazilians boast an 87% literacy rate,

 French Guiana: 83%,

 Guyana: 92%,

 Venezuela: 93%.,

 Trinidad: 99%., and

 Suriname: a combined literacy rate of 88%. The educational system has bridged any potential religion tangles by offering education to all students in their own neighborhoods in whichever parochial school is there. For instance, we visited the large Hindu temple with its adjacent school and learned that all the children in the neighborhood are educated there in the Hindu school, whatever the student’s own religion. A state sponsored curriculum is used in all the schools whatever the religious affiliation. This program seems to have worked well in a small and poor country as the major cost of education is borne by the various churches rather than the state (recall that 88% literacy rate).

Official Languages

 Brazil: Portuguese

 French Guinea: French

 Guyana: English

 Suriname: Dutch (Official) English widely spoken

 Trinidad: English

Politics

Who would ever have thought that there are still significant border disputes in South America, most of them centered in the very area we were exploring.

Suriname claims a fairly large area of French Guiana. In addition, both Suriname and Venezuela claim huge portions of Guyana (formerly British Guiana), probably the weakest of these countries. Because it spurned British protection when it obtained independence, many folks are just waiting for the “land grab” to happen and wondering how the Guyanese will be able to prevent the inevitable or counter it.

The histories of these countries are closely bound up and there are many appeals for arbitration, judgment, and settlement finality in various international arenas such as the United Nations and the World Court. Jungle tangles indeed much of the disputed areas are pretty much uninhabited but are rich in various mineral deposits (bauxite, gold, copper, iron particularly) and natural resources such as forests and water for hydroelectric power.

Actually, however, other than learning about these possible sources of conflict, we were not troubled by them. The countries do not cause difficulties for travelers wishing to visit them serially (as do some African countries). It is amusing to see maps of the area as drawn by the claimant countries; they usually are pictured as though the disputes have been settled and so Venezuela, as an example, pictures itself as a whole containing the claimed portions of Guyana without any reference to the fact that Guyana has not given up those land bits.

Many of these claims and counterclaims date from earlier political tangles. In the Age of Exploration, the European countries divided up the “new world” by a line of demarcation which was to signify where Portugal had the right to explore and claim and where Spain had similar rights the Treaty of Tordesilla, brokered by Pope Alexander VI on April 22, 1529, between the two most powerful countries at the time, both Catholic.

One might have thought that this Treaty would have prevented disputes that continue to our day, but such was not the case. Other countries began to be interested in this new world; the Dutch and English (non-Catholic countries) and France (Catholic) refused to abide by the Treaty and did some exploring and claiming of their own. Hence, the border disputes arose and continue.

Further complicating the situation is the fact that so much of Amazonia is sparsely populated so it is difficult to assert land claims based on actual possession of the lands.

The three “Guianas” have very small populations and a great deal of relatively unexplored territory within their claimed borders. Only French Guiana seems secure since it is highly unlikely that Suriname would want to challenge seriously France’s claim to its “Guiana”, undoubtedly the richest of the three since the establishment of the European Space Station on the site of the former French penal colony on the mainland.

However, Venezuela is much stronger in every way than little Guyana and it seems to be promoting “leakage” of its citizens over the borders claimed by Guyana so that its people are in actual physical possession of some areas in the disputed territory.

COLUMBUS’ TANGLED HISTORY

One of the speakers for this trip was a historian by profession and he made many of us aware of the several controversies (“tangles”) surrounding “The Admiral of the Ocean Sea” whose epic voyages opened this part of the world to European exploration and exploitation.

The very first unsettled question about Columbus is his birthplace and nationality. Italy claims him as does Spain and there is further mystery regarding his ethnicity: there is considerable support for the assertion of some historians that he was a Spanish Jew whose family became putative Christians (conversos) during the Inquisition. Italy’s assertion that he is a native of Italy is supported by the fact that his father owned a home in Genoa wherein it can be inferred he was born.

Even the year of his birth is a mystery; both 1451 & 1452 are considered possibilities. These strange uncertainties are counterbalanced by the fact that we know absolutely the identities of 87of the 92 mariners who sailed with him on the 1st voyage in 1492! Maybe it’s all explained by fame once Columbus achieved his 15 minutes, only then did facts about his activities begin to accrue and be archived.

Old Chris was evidently a very contradictory character—not a good administrator nor a very good leader of his seamen. On the first voyage, he had to keep two separate logs in order to keep his men convinced that they were never very far from land. Maybe their confidence in his seamanship wasn’t so great or maybe those Spanish sailors were convinced he was really Italian?

He wasn’t very obedient to his benefactors Ferdinand and Isabella either. On the 2nd, 3rd , and 4th voyages he absolutely flouted their directives and did as he pleased, even though some civil servants had been sent along in the crew to spy upon him for the crown.

On voyage 1, he left some 39 crewmembers behind on what is now known as the island of Dominica because the Santa Maria had been wrecked and he had no room for these sailors on the Pinta and Nina. When he returned in 1493 (Voyage 2), he was met by the Carib Indians and learned that his 39 sailors had disappeared.

He then went to what is now the Dominican Republic and left more folks (this time, his 17 ships held 1000 people who were being sent to establish a colony). He left his brother in charge of the colony. By the time he returned in 1498 (Voyage 3), the settlers led by the civil servant spies had revolted against his brother’s leadership and put him in jail. Christopher was clapped in irons and put in jail along with him as soon as he landed. The settlers were not happy even though he had brought 30 women with him this time so that the settlers could marry.

Ferdinand and Isabella were displeased with him because he had left his brother in charge rather than the civil servants they had sent with him.

When he returned to Spain, even with the testimony of the spies, Columbus was able to talk his way back into Ferdinand and Isabella’s confidence. He must have been better at “sucking up” to nobility than to inspiring his men.

His 4th voyage (1502) reveals Columbus at his disobedient best. He had been sent back to find the presumed strait that existed between the land of China which Columbus thought he had reached and the new land he had touched on (against orders) in the 3rd voyage (actually Venezuela). He was specifically ordered not to return to the Dominican Republic settlement since he had already caused enough trouble. However, he did precisely that in addition to exploring the areas now called Yucatan, Nicaragua, and Panama. Therefore, in many ways, this 4th Voyage is considered his most successful by most historians even though he failed to identify the sought after strait.

Christopher Columbus is acknowledged to be a superb sailor with amazing courage and independence. However, he never realized the enormity of his own discoveries. He persisted until his dying day in believing that he had found the way to the East and China.

He never believed that he had found a new continent and the New World! Ferdinand and particularly Isabella however were convinced that he had and were very aware of the potential his discoveries represented. Even though he was only in his early 50s when he returned from the 4th Voyage, he felt old and spent, settled in Valladolid, Spain, to enjoy a quiet life until his death on May 20, 1506.

Yet another tangle in the history of Columbus is the puzzle of where he is actually buried. Several places claim to have his bones: the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Spain herself. At present, DNA analysis is ongoing with the relics the different countries have proffered as the last remains of Christopher Columbus. So science may unravel this tangle at long last.

Ferdinand and Isabella rewarded him fairly well monetarily in addition to conferring on him the magnificent title “Admiral of the Ocean Sea.” Most historians today conclude that he was a terrible administrator, but a true visionary who could see beyond the horizon viewed by ordinary dreamers, a completely tactless and inflexible man, one who had achieved great things but never knew what they were. Columbus was like a more modern explorer, Ernest Shackleton: a man you would not trust with your wife or your checkbook, but you would trust him with your life!

THE RIVERS

The practice of using river courses as borders between countries has created many of the political “tangles” and concomitant squabbles between The Guianas and Venezuela. Rivers change their courses often and leave mapmakers scratching their heads in dismay.

Politicians see their lands shrink and swell and their hopes for either recognized borders or expanded claims rise and fall with those changes. Rivers are obviously not the best border demarcation lines between countries!

Despite the troublesome political problems caused by these rivers, they are still wonderful phenomena to behold. They are huge and mighty in water flow and their banks, both when overflowing and in the dry season, harbor the most marvelous flora and fauna.

Gorgeously colorful birds, amusing and amazing monkeys, enormously tall trees buttressed by fanlike structures which support their weight despite very shallow soils and root systems, magically flamboyant flowers, like the aptly named red “hot lips” and the birds of paradise abound in these river basins.

Perfectly camouflaged jaguars and ocelots prowl the damp jungle floors while tapirs, agoutis and capybara practice their own stealth tactics to hide from the hunters. Strangely fascinating insects and spiders live in their own eerie world in the leaf litter and suspended

from the profligate growth abounding everywhere. Just imagine a close encounter with a pink-toed hairy tarantula bigger than the palm of your hand! Serpents of all sizes, from the prodigious anaconda to tiny eyelash boas slither, slide and lurk everywhere, their heatseeking organs working overtime to distinguish prey from enemy amid the constant rain and drips.

The incandescent blue morpho butterfly and all his “wannabe” cousins flit and flicker from one outrageous flower to another adding to the unimaginable color palette that a jungle uses to display all the life within its embrace. Hummingbirds dart and flitter on invisible wings with slender beaks formed to find the nectar at the bottom of trumpet flowers and heliconias. The life is so prolific in Amazonia that it is hard not to believe that this area is still like the first day of creation!

The Amazon

3780 miles long, this is the 2nd longest river in the world (only the Nile is longer) but it is the widest and the most voluminous in water flow. 20% of all the fresh water spilling into the world’s oceans comes from the Amazon. Its outflow is larger than the next 10 most voluminous rivers combined. More amazing is the fact that the Amazon contains more species of fish than the Atlantic Ocean!

Even in the dry season, the Amazon averages between 4 and 6 miles wide! The water from the Amazon can be found 200 miles out to sea where fresh water can be dipped from the ocean because of the strength and volume of the outflow.

The river has thousands of tributaries with 17 of them over 1000 miles long. The Amazon toils to tear down the Andes Mountains where it arises and its success in that work can be seen in the silt-laden, reddish waters from its mouth to its outlet at the sea. It is said that the particle burden of the river is so finely ground that it will never “settle out” if left to stand. In many places the river reaches 7 miles in width so that a boat afloat seems to be on an ocean.

In other places, the river must squeeze itself through much constricted narrows where the width is only 100 ft. wide. During the rainy season, the river swells to engulf many miles of forest and streamside! The Amazon is a prodigious river indeed.

Yet in some ways, its very size made sailing on it disappointing to us, the explorers on board the Clipper Adventurer for this exciting trip. The enormous width of the river precluded animal or bird sightings from our 400 ft. ship which had to keep to the identified channels to avoid running aground on the many sandbars and silt build-ups.

So, until we could get off the ship and into our Zodiacs pushing our way into tiny tributaries of the great river, we really might as well as have been at sea.

The Suriname

This much shorter river (only 288 miles long) is nevertheless just as important to the small country of Suriname as the Amazon is to Brazil. It is the lifeline linking the country to the world. The few products Suriname has to offer (bauxite, aluminum oxide, and aluminum itself) reach the foreign markets via the river. Conversely, all the food, manufactured goods, energy products and everything else the country needs to survive reach it through this very important river. There is a huge reservoir (the Brokopondo) that divides the river into upstream and downstream sections. Only the downstream portion where the river meets the sea is navigable by larger vessels.

The Essequibo in Guyana

Guyana’s longest river at 600 miles is also the longest river in South America between the Amazon and the Orinoco. It has many tributaries and an amazing estuary (delta) filled with islands; there are 365 islands in the river totally. The Essequibo is navigable only 50 miles in from the ocean. Like the Suriname, this river is vital for the export and import of products vital to Guyana’s population. Because it is scantily populated and lined in most places with pristine rainforest jungles, the river is one of the prime assets Guyana possesses in its drive to create a market here for ecotourism.

The Orinoco in Venezuela

Peter Harrison, one of the owners of Zegrahm Expeditions, told us “The Orinoco is the river that people hope and expect the Amazon to be.” By that, he meant that we would see more on this river in a much shorter distance because though the river is enormous, it is more easily explored because it is not so wide and it is filled with smaller tributaries where the jungle is relatively undisturbed by human interventions. The Orinoco is 1497 miles long and it was discovered by our old friend, Christopher Columbus, during his 3rd Voyage. There are over 200 tributaries reaching the Orinoco and amazingly enough there are no dams on the river over its whole length. One of the most unbelievable bits of trivia about the river is the Casequiare, a natural canal that links the Orinoco through the Rio Negro to the Amazon itself.

The

Caroni in Trinidad

Such a short river compared to the others we traveled upon and yet extremely important to the success of our travels! Its 28 miles make it the longest river in Trinidad, reaching from the Northern Range in the middle of the island down to the Gulf of Paria, an arm of the Caribbean Sea. But before the waters get to the Gulf, they form the wonderful Caroni Swamp which is a Trinidadian National Park. The perfect end to our South American explorations occurred there in the swamp’s seaward edge, but I shall not reveal it until the appropriate time in the journal. But this little river, so terribly polluted by industrial waste, is a gem and deserves its place in the title of our trip “The Jungle Rivers of South America.”

THE “WILD COAST”

A map of the North Coast of South America reveals that the Atlantic Ocean lies above Brazil and French Guiana, while the Caribbean Sea is to the north of Suriname, Guyana, & Venezuela. Yet, none of these countries has a real beach on its north, even those bordered by the Caribbean. That is very strange considering that Trinidad, Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire and the other nearby islands all boast beautiful and tourist-attracting seashores. Those beaches have given a fair degree of economic stability to those island countries because of the tourist industry.

The poor Guianas cannot promote tourism in this way and really Venezuela does not have this resource either. Why? At least part of the reason lies with those really big rivers I have been describing. Because they all bring so much silt along with their enormous tidal flows into the sea and because of their huge deltas/estuaries, there are no beaches formed by ocean tides depositing relatively stable sand. The coast is instead marshy, unstable, constantly changing shape, choked with vegetation always in a state of flux itself. Nothing exists there which would make for an appealing golden sand beach for sunbathing and certainly not for swimming! Therefore, the wild coast is not really a tourist asset to the countries of the north coast. Furthermore, even navigation is tricky along that coast because of the shifting deltas and coastal configurations.

ITINERARY

Our “Jungle Rivers” expedition was fascinating, entertaining, educational, awe-inspiring, and just plain fun. However, a day by day approach in this journal would reveal that on most days we did pretty much the same things: hop on board zodiacs for rides in the early mornings down small tributaries, then in the late afternoons back into the zodiacs for another exploration, and at night do it again so we could experience the jungles at night. Interspersed with these zodiac rides were lectures on the plants, animals, peoples, history, and cultures of Amazonia, delicious meals, a few walks in the riverside jungles, even some flights to spots farther away, like two big falls (Kaieteur in Guyana and Angel in Venezuela). We had a couple of days at sea as well while we traveled from one country’s big river to another’s. But do not get the idea that any of this was boring in its sameness: the creatures, the birds, insects, flowers, trees and peoples we saw prevented any kind of ennui from setting in. Occasionally, we visited fairly good-sized cities and towns and we even had an “up close and personal” look at the infamous Devil’s Island prison complex.

With that preparation, I will offer a typical day on the expedition, visits to a couple of interesting towns, a night exploration by zodiac, impressions of the Amazonian peoples, the Falls trips, Devil’s Island, some observations on culture, a couple of digressions on the flora & fauna, an interesting dinner experience, and the final piece de resistance for the whole trip. When you have read all the sections, I am sure you will agree that this was an amazing trip!

A TYPICAL DAY ON THE RIVERS

Because the jungle wakes up early (as light seeps under the blanket of night), we too were up early most mornings usually around 5:45 a.m. so that we could begin loading the zodiacs around 6:30. At the beginning of the trip, the leaders had divided the passengers into 5 groups. We boarded the boats according to the group name called. Of course, the order changed with every trip so that each group had a chance to be first out or last out or somewhere in the middle. The loading procedure was very efficient with little time wasted.

The passengers were very cooperative as well so we did not experience delays caused by dilatory people. The zodiacs held about 10 people with a driver and a naturalist accompanying each boat. Sometimes we would travel with a birding expert, sometimes with a botanist, another time with a historian, yet another time with a mammal pro, then with a rainforest professional, again with an insect scientist or a reptile researcher. This variety of guides proved to be excellent because we would get different prospectives on the area we explored depending on the expert who was with us each time.

Once in the tributary, sometimes we were alone the only boat that explored that particular area at that time. Other times, we would be going along with several boats to explore the same area. However, rarely did we congregate with other boats unless something especially wonderful was sighted and then all the boats were alerted through walkie-talkies so that every passenger had a chance to see it. Most of the time, however,

the folks in different boats saw different things. When all the passengers reunited for a meal after the cruise, we all had different experiences to share. Of course, this made for lively conversations among us.

As the sunlight fingered its way into the thick vegetation, a magnificent electric blue morpho butterfly might flitter in front of the boat. Or a pair of blue and gold macaws would

fly over us with golden feathers flashing in the sunshine and raucous parrot conversations continuing overhead.

Or we might see a mighty jungle tree standing high above the other trees basking in the life-giving light. Often that heavily foliaged tree was supported by buttress roots that fanned out from the trunk in 4 directions to insure stability in the very thin topsoil and thick clay beneath it. These buttress roots often reached 4-5 feet up the tree trunk. Another tree might be standing in the embrace of a strangler fig that was using its bulk as a ladder to reach the sunlight. We learned from the botanists and foresters that these strangler figs do not usually kill their host.

Soon the smaller birds would begin darting in and out of the riverside foliage tantalizing us with their flashes of color and their busy activities. There is an amazing variety of birdlife in Amazonia and much of it is quite fascinating. Mammals we spotted only very rarely; they are very well hidden in the jungle. We did see some monkeys, beautiful russet brown howlers and engaging little squirrel monkeys. Once we saw a three-toed sloth, but it was not a happy sighting because he was tied to pole and was destined for the pot of the family who had captured him.

On these morning cruises we occasionally passed streamside villages and found that regardless of the political boundaries that determined the country these people were living in, their manner of living was essentially the same. The houses consisted of four poles supporting a thatched roof as a porch with an enclosed room behind usually with a window on each wall. Rarely was there furniture in the houses, though hammocks were suspended from the roof poles.

The surprise was that these primitive shelters often contained color TV sets! Generators and village dishes made this phenomenon possible. Besides individual dwelling places, there was usually a church (sometimes Roman Catholic and just as often some Protestant denomination) and a school in among the homes.

All the buildings were connected by wooden boardwalks supported by the same kind of pilings that kept the houses out of the water when the rivers were at flood levels during the rainy season. The rivers supplied the drinking water, the baths, the fishing grounds, and the “sewage treatment” center for the villages. It is hard to understand how the people remained healthy under these circumstances but perhaps they develop resistance to their own bacteria from an early age.

The villagers were invariably friendly with both adults and children waving gaily to us and calling out greetings that we always answered with either Spanish or Portuguese words we learned as we traveled. Our first encounter with a streamside village was probably our most memorable.

A young woman was standing out on the “boardwalk” as we approached and waved shyly in answer to our enthusiastic “Holas”: totally incorrect since that is “Hello” in Spanish and we were then in Brazil. Anyway, as the photographers among us were busily snapping pictures of her, she turned quickly and ran into her house. We were afraid we had offended her since we had been warned that some of the Amerindian folks do not like to have their pictures taken. Shortly, she emerged and stood at the end of the boardwalk again taking our picture with her cellphone!

One of our best morning trips had elements of wonder, fright, a strangely delicious pleasure, and a revelation! Who could ask for more? We were alerted before most outings about what kinds of weather we might encounter, whether we needed bug spray, sunscreen, and whether our feet would most likely remain dry so that we knew what kind of shoes to wear. We had brought all the recommended clothing, gear, and supplies so we were ready for whatever the announcement portended. Early on in the trip, our morning ride was prefaced by the suggestion that we wear raingear so we dutifully put on our GoreTex and brought our rain hats.

The weather was torrid, sultry, and the skies overcast. We soon began to steam inside our rain suits, but it was not possible to remove the pants without creating too much motion in the boat. We were so interested in what we were seeing that we soon forgot about our discomfort.

Besides seeing an incredible array of birds, we came upon the most magical sight thousands of the most gorgeous butterflies clustered around a vibrant garden of butterywhite blossoms. The iridescent green and white butterflies fluttered, dipped and sipped before our wondering eyes.

As if that were not treat enough, we continued on our way and found a large flock of hoatzins a huge turkey-like bird who flies so clumsily and heavily that he thrashes and crashes around in the foliage as though he were drunk. He has a most amusingly “mussed up” headdress of feathers that stick out in every direction. He is a rich russet brown in color predominantly with prominent white stripes outlining his wings and breast. He has two very particular features that make him pretty special in the avian kingdom. When he is a young bird, his huge wings feature an extra claw at the point they bend (like an elbow) and this claw allows him to climb around on the palm trees where his parents have placed the nest in which he hatched.

He uses the claw to haul himself up the drooping fronds to return to his home. His other special trait is much more amusing. The hoatzin has a compartmentalized stomach, like a cow or buffalo, which allows him to digest the coarse vegetation he prefers.

That anatomy means that he is one of only five birds in the world that experience burps and farts. So you can imagine that it is not difficult to locate a hoatzin flock because the air is quite smelly around them and the bodily sounds are quite loud and distinct.

Next we saw the amazing wild cacao plant, source of life’s most basic food group: chocolate. The cacao fruit grows directly out of the tree’s trunk, not along its branches. Our botanist also told us that it is quite a complex process to produce chocolate from this fruit, since it is bitter at certain times of the year and it can be poison if harvested at the wrong time. It requires drying, roasting, and other treatments to metamorphose itself into the delicious sweet we so enjoy. Needless to say, we paid special homage to this most wonderful creation of nature!

We began to hear thunder in the distance and the naturalist and driver looked a bit uncomfortable at the sound. Then the rain began to pelt down in the biggest drops we had ever felt. These drops were warm and actually felt weighty when they struck. They pounded the rubber sides of the zodiac and we were all soon soaked, despite the raingear.

But the rain felt delicious on our steamy arms, faces, and necks! Just as we were relaxing and realizing that we would never worry about wearing raingear on this trip again, lightning began to play across the sky, reaching down with jagged spears. Alarmed, we looked to the driver and naturalist for reassurance, but there was none forthcoming. Both said they were most unused to seeing lightning on the Amazon. We Floridians felt very vulnerable because where we live, one does not want to be in an open boat flirting with lightning. Both the guides uncertainly added that they had never “heard” of anyone being struck on the Amazon or its tributaries. We were really greatly relieved when the lightning finally subsided, but the experience of that huge rainfall was marvelous!

Breakfasts & Lunches

After a couple of hours cruising in the zodiacs, we would return to the ship and eat breakfast. We had a choice between going to the dining room to have a formal meal and going into the lounge to eat a buffet style breakfast.

The menus were similar, except that the dining room would include something special, like French toast or an omelet. There was always fresh fruit and juices in both places as well as all kinds of breads, rolls, pastries, and scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage. No one needed to go hungry on the Clipper Adventurer. That was the problem there was too much to enjoy. However, we did so much running up and down the staircases from our room at the bottom of the ship to reach the lounge, the library, the meeting room, dining room, and to load onto the zodiacs, that we were surprised to learn at voyage’s end that we had gained no weight, despite the delicious food offered.

After breakfast, we usually had an hour or so before some sort of educational lecture would be presented in the Main Lounge. Most of these were very interesting and educational so we did not miss any of them.

Then, there would just about

be time for freshening up before lunch was served. Again, we could choose between a formal meal in the dining room and a buffet in the Lounge. For lunch, there was always a delicious soup, sandwich spreads for make- your-own with choices of breads, meats, lettuces, tomatoes, and cheese. Salad greens were always available and a delicious dessert of some sort. We usually had the soup and a salad and either skipped the dessert or shared one unless it was some wickedly delectable chocolate something.

After lunch, we would waddle down to our cabin for an hour or so to read, wash out clothes, take showers, nap, check out the morning’s digital photos, or make entries in the daily journal. Some afternoons, there would be short zodiac ride or a couple of lectures, depending on where we were in the different rivers and on whether or not there was to be a night cruise on the zodiacs. Obviously, we had lectures on those days rather than a late afternoon cruise.

Afternoon Tea

It is not possible to fully describe the delights of traveling on the Clipper ships without a salute to their fabulous chocolate chip cookies! Every afternoon about 4 p.m., the ship would be filled with the irresistible aroma of those cookies as they made their way from the galley to the Main Lounge. Sometimes other kinds of cookies would be available too along with the drinks from the bar, tea and coffee.

But if you didn’t get to the Main Lounge pretty much right behind that aroma, you would miss the very best of nature’s food groups. Those cookies are inarguably the best of their species in the entire world. I am sure the Clipper Bakery Chefs are sworn to keep the recipe secret no matter where they go in the world. But served warm as they are, these cookies are just delectable, tongue tingling and instantly addictive! Everyone waited for 4 p.m. like junkies waiting for their connection on the street corner, eyes wide, drool threatening to spill over, and jumpy legs jittering in anticipation. Pathetic, but marvelous!

Night Cruises

Nightfall determined when we explored the jungle in the dark and it also decided the time of dinner hour on “night cruise” days. The zodiacs were equipped with powerful spotlights, the better to search for “eyeshine.” Some nights the moon was so silvery white that the drivers could navigate without any direction from the naturalist at the front of the boat using the “spot.” On a couple of the nights, the Milky Way was so dazzling that it provided enough guidance for the cruises. Most nights, the naturalists could use the spots to find the critters.

However, on our very first night foray, we wondered what would happen if we ended up crashing into the river bank, full speed ahead. Since there are some creatures we really didn’t want to meet face to face, we didn’t relish the idea of being forced into an introduction. On that particular night, we actually had two naturalists with us rather than a Filipino driver. Such a mistake! Piotr, the bug man (he was the insect biologist), took the spotlight and Clive, a very eager ornithologist, was to handle the tiller. Overhead, there was

very little natural light, just a weak bit of starshine. Piotr was intent on looking for the magical little creatures he so loves katydids, cicadas, spiders, mantis, ants, scorpions and he kept strafing the shore foliage with stabs of frantically pointed light. Clive meanwhile was pushing the zodiac pretty hard to move us away fast enough from the other boats so we were not all bunched up.

This little stream was quite twisty but Piotr forgot all about giving Clive guidance about when to gee and when to haw. The poor outboard motor was revved and then stopped and the zodiac jerked and jumped as Clive tried to prevent disaster. Occasionally, we would hear a strangled cry from Clive while a triumphant “Eureka” issued from the prow of the boat as Piotr caught sight of that pink-toed tarantula he was seeking, totally oblivious of the fact the Clive had just wrenched the boat out of harms way by a mere spider web’s breadth! Talk about tangled communication Piotr never did catch on to the fact that his first priority should be to provide light for Clive’s navigation before he started scanning the streamside!

On most night cruises, however, we were not so much engaged in worrying about the safety of the boat or our own degree of danger. Usually we would hear different calls from the day cries: the greater potoo (an owl-like bird of the jungle) instead of parrots, singing insects instead of howler monkeys, the whisk of bat wings buzzing right over our heads instead of the gobble-gobble sounds of the strangely prehistoric hoatzin bird! We would see the red eyeshine of the spectacled caiman (a close cousin of our alligator), many of them small enough that the naturalists would pluck them from the water so we could touch them and examine them closely.

Choruses of frogs accompanied us all along the way, creating a kind of singing contest between themselves and the cicadas. One particularly plump frog stared at us just as the spotlight passed over him and thus revealed his presence. He was huge as we could see when he was hauled into the boat. The naturalist held him pretty firmly because he was slippery with the mucous that protects him. He was quite a handsome fellow in his way, with rosy red patches on his front legs and the top of his head, grayish green back, and the most fetching frog croak it sounded just like a cat meowing with outrage. Handsome as he was, none of the ladies on our boat was quite willing to give him a kiss

to see if he would turn into a prince. Sometimes the probing strobe of light would reveal a well-camouflaged tree boa coiled in the foliage in wait. Most of the snakes in Amazonia are not venomous; they are constrictors, often of beautiful colors, and widely varying sizes from the tiny eyelash viper (about 10 inches long) to the 25-foot anaconda. No, we never saw an anaconda of any size; we were told they prefer very sluggish water and are rarely seen in regularly navigated waters.

Because the Amazon Basin straddles the equator, the heat and humidity are fairly constant throughout the day and night, but with the sun asleep, the ambient air did feel much cooler so the night cruises were a delight for that reason too! And there was even another reason the night cruises were so wonderful we knew that a delicious, impeccably served meal was awaiting us after such a stimulating evening!

The Evening Meal

Most of the time Kay and I choose to eat at tables for two because by the time the day is over, we are tired of “getting to know you” conversations which have been ongoing every time there is a break in the action. We have also learned that on these expedition ships, the dinner hour can drag on for much longer than we want to stay in the dining room. At tables for 4, 6, or 8, the service tempo depends on the slowest person dining. Because we are really speed eaters, we get pretty antsy when the meals drag on. So much for rationales for our unsociability at dinner.

Meals were excellent with three entrée choices always: beef or pork, fish or chicken or vegetarian dish. Appetizers included things like shrimp cocktail, baked Brie, or the chef’s really superb soups. There were usually two choices of salads, either with greens and cheese, or with fruit and lettuce. Vegetables were typically linked with the entrée selection, but were always tasty. For dessert, we could choose between a cake or pie slice, fruit & cheese, or ice cream. The style of cooking was really a mixture between American and a quasi-continental cuisine, but it was always tasty and the best part was that you could choose a half-portion of any course of the meal! We really appreciated that option.

Another much appreciated portion of the dinner meal was the Coke that the hotel manager, Robert Holland, always made sure we were served! We had gotten to know him very soon into the cruise and he quickly understood that we were Cokaholics!

In addition to this generosity, Robert was very interesting to talk with since he has lived a very interesting life in several different countries. He was eager to tell us about his retirement plans, which, though he is only in his 40s, will become reality soon. He plans to open an upscale restaurant in Manila to cater to the middle class Filipinos.

His amenities will include a bar, dance floor, karaoke machines, and a fusion cuisine of Filipino and South American derivations. He has a backer in Manila and has already scouted out that all-important “location, location, location” factor. He had an excellent sense of humor and we enjoyed bantering with him. Besides the “every night Coke”, he also told us many behind the scenes things going on with the crew and officers.

If only he could have actually sat down with us, we probably would have enjoyed him even more, but he was our favorite crewmember for sure and we wish him well in his next venture!

However, I cannot fail to share a most interesting and surprising dinner meal we shared with two of our fellow passengers. During the course of a day or two, we had realized that one lady was not feeling up to par, probably due to seasickness during the ocean passages. We had inquired about her a couple of times and had actually shared two zodiac rides with her and her husband when she had improved.

One evening, we were plowing through waves of passengers to reach our special table for two, really eager for that Coke we knew would be waiting for us, when the couple asked us to join them for dinner. Well, there’s no way to politely decline such a gracious invitation, so of course we agreed even though we knew that Robert Holland would not find us to bring that magical beverage. Anyway, there were compensations for that loss, believe me!

The couple were in their 80s and had lived an interesting life of important careers, traveling and raising children. We began with comparisons of trips we had enjoyed, places that had excited us and why we had chosen to come on this trip.

The conversation moved on to more personal topics like education, their children and grandchildren, favorite pursuits besides travel and lastly to occupations. The Mrs. stated straight off that after college she had been a wife, mother and hostess for her husband as he rose in the ranks of corporate life. The Mr. had started off as an attorney and then become interested in finance and economics. He seemed reluctant to say much more and the conversation moved on to charitable interests and we learned that the couple is very supportive of one of our favorite conservation organizations, The Nature Conservancy.

With his proud wife gently nudging him, he finally admitted that he is at the top tier of that organization’s management! He also is the head of the Ocean Conservancy. Finally, his wife pushed him into admitting that he had been the President of Grumman Aeronautics for 17 years and then became Chairman of the Board and saved the company from bankruptcy and a hostile takeover! Not only did he accomplish those things, he did it with the interests of the employees of Grumman uppermost in his thoughts. He persuaded them to buy 51% of the company’s stock so that they could never be mistreated again his interest & sympathy extended from his engineers to the floor sweepers!

This captain of industry was no robber baron who rode the backs of the employees to riches and then abandoned them to their fates, a la the Enron folks! It became clear that he knows everybody in government and industry and keeps those contacts close to further champion his current interests in conservation of the earth!

And here we sat, little knowing that this grandfatherly looking gentleman with a bandage on his forehead (skin cancer removal before the trip) was a Fortune 500 business leader, an important figure in defense circles, and one of the top ambassadors and backers of our favorite charity! He and his wife are gracious but not condescending, witty and warm, and delightful dinner companions!

OTHER “TANGLES”

The Little Lost Storm Petrel

Birds getting lost during migration due to overcast skies, turbulent wind conditions, or loss of familiar landmarks is well known to birding folks. While we were in the Atlantic Ocean, going from the Amazon to Devil’s Island, we had fairly unstable weather brief rainstorms, very bumpy seas, lots of hide and seek with the sun. We couldn’t do much star gazing at night because of the cloudy skies. One morning, the birding naturalists invited us to a bird release! During the night a little storm petrel, dark gray feather with the typical “bump” on his beak that seabirds have to remove salt from their systems, about the size of a blue jay, had become disoriented by the night skies and the lights on our ship and had landed there to rest the night.

At about 5 a.m., Claudia (a naturalist) found him huddled on deck under a deck chair. She picked him up easily since he was still pretty tired and took him to Clive, one of the birders. Clive warmed him up and offered him something to eat and let him rest until 11:00 a.m. in a white paper bag where he was perfectly content.

At the appointed hour, we went up on the back deck and watched the little bird resume his peregrinations. After Clive showed off the lovely feathers and the tubenose feature, he held the bird aloft in his open hand. It took the little fellow a few minutes to realize that he was free and then he flew straight off that palmar platform and did a couple of loops around the ship, as if to say “thanks and adios.”

Then he took off towards the horizon and was lost to view.

Of course, the naturalists had to end our mushy thinking and tell us that the bird was actually getting his bearings when he made the several passes over our upturned faces.

He was probably more likely to have pooped on us than acted out his “thanks.” The little bird’s “tangled” directional sense gave us a good show indeed.

“That Tree, That Tree!”

Another funny and yet frustrating tangle we were surprised to discover how difficult it is to point out to others a bird or monkey you have spotted in a tree or shrub as you glide along. Invariably, the good spotter would begin to yell at everyone in the zodiac to look at what he had found. He would point excitedly in some direction, shouting, “He’s right there, at 10 o’clock. “ Of course, that did little good to the rest of us, because his 12 o’clock basic orientation spot was not the same as each of ours. So we would began to question him

more closely trying to get a bead on the bird. He would gesture wildly in the direction of his sighting and scream again, “It’s in that tree where the two big branches intersect!” That also was no help at all since the entire waterway was lined with nothing but trees, vines, shrubs, and other vegetation. So we all answered in chorus, “What tree, which tree?” By now everyone was frustrated and afraid he/she was going to be the only one aboard not to see the “find.” Even the naturalists themselves were so excited that they too could only dumbly reiterate “that tree, that tree.” Talk about a failure to communicate!

Though we all tried to agree on a method of letting everyone know how to see what someone had spotted using the clock idea (large green parrot at 3 o’clock position), land marking (tallest tree on the horizon), looking over the spotter’s shoulder (so you followed his line of sight) nothing really overcame the tendency of the keyed up spotter to just repeat “That tree, that tree!”

Retrieving Clive’s Glasses

During one of our night zodiac rides, Clive caught a young spectacled caiman and brought him into the boat so we could all touch him and examine him closely. In a handoff to one of the other naturalists, Clive somehow let the temple of his glasses get a little close to the caiman’s mouth and teeth and that little fellow latched on to those glasses with a death grip. Though it is easy to keep a crocodilian’s mouth closed because his jawopening muscles are relatively weak. We Floridians are familiar with this factoid after watching Seminole Indians wrestle alligators and amaze the tourists by holding that huge mouth closed with just their pointer finger and thumb. However, it is quite the opposite to try to pry that mouth open once it has closed on something! Their bite

pressure per square inch is something for the record books. A comparison of bite pressures based on research from the University of Florida alligator research specialists lists these known bite pressures: American alligators 2125 lbs, African lion 940 lbs., dusky shark 300 lbs., human being 170 lbs., and a Labrador retriever 125 lb. Even though our glasses “chomper” was a small spectacled caiman (only about 1 ft. long), he had a terrific bite of his own and he wasn’t going to let go of that temple piece.

Maybe the spectacled caiman just needed some spectacles, you think? Anyway, Clive and Piotr had quite a tussle with the little fellow and he just kept biting down. We don’t know what kind of deal they finally made with him, but he finally relaxed his jaws enough so that Clive could whisk the temple piece right out. Then they returned the determined little biter to his black water habitat.

OTHER PLACES

Devil’s Island – French Guiana

Oddly enough, the three small islands that are infamous in world penal history are actually called the Iles du Salut (the healthful islands) because they were relatively free of yellow fever and malaria mosquitoes. The salubrious aspect of the islands, however, is not the reason the French chose them for their overseas penal colony. In fact, the bigger half of the prison was on the French Guiana mainland; but it is true that fewer prisoners on the islands died of those diseases than the people incarcerated on the mainland. The seas between the islands and the mainland were shark infested and noted for their treacherous tides and currents. Escape was virtually impossible whereas prisoners who escaped on the mainland at least had a chance to slip through the jungles into Brazil or Dutch Guiana, though that was admittedly a very slim chance.

Started by Emperor Napoleon III, the prison operated from 1852 to l946 and its horrific reputation is rivaled only by the British prisons in Tasmania. Like Great Britain, France needed a place to put its political dissidents, its incorrigibles, and its criminals considered not worth rehabilitation. When people were condemned to Devil’s Island, it was neither

expected nor desired that they would ever return. Very few survived and those who did generally did not wish to return to France.

Our visit to the small archipelago was conditioned by the landing conditions since we had to approach the islands in our zodiacs. The seas cooperated and we soon found ourselves on St. Joseph’s Island which was the site of the solitary confinement cells as well as the blocks where the most irredeemable prisoners were housed. Across a very narrow strait was the tiny island on which lived Alfred Dreyfuss in solitary confinement in a tiny hut that still can be seen through the palm trees and understory growth.

As with any place where humans have greatly mistreated their fellow man, there lingers here a “stench of evil” because so much of the punishment was unnecessarily cruel. For instance, here on this island of solitary confinement cells, the prisoners were nonetheless shackled to the walls of the tiny rooms. Why was that necessary since there was no escape anyway?

Furthermore, the roofs of the cells were removed after a prisoner protest and replaced with iron grates so that the monsoon rains and the broiling sun shone into the cells

without any respite. Why was that misery inflicted on men and women already in great torment?

The cellblocks are actually still in fairly good repair and it is both hideous and pitiful to see the efforts the prisoner-builders put into the construction of these places, even to adding decorative touches like quoins and seals and carved archways.

The jungle is gradually taking reclaiming the site that is being left to Mother Nature’s mercies. There is neither money nor will in France to dedicate treasure or time to the prison’s preservation. The tangled tendrils of vines climbing over the tawny stucco walls, encircling the doorways, and reaching through the windows echo the tangled French justice system and penal philosophy that ever allowed this horrible place to exist.

It is very difficult to walk among these ghostly buildings without imagining all the individual horrors that were endured within them. It was actually a relief to walk back down off the hill down through the barracks and command block where the French Foreign Legion lives and administers the “park” today. One can only wonder what these few Legionnaires have done to deserve posting to this terrible place.

We also learned from our local guide that the mainland schools bring students on field trips all through the year. What do these young people bring away from their experiences on the islands? One can only hope that the terrible lesson on “man’s inhumanity to man” is brought home to them.

After we left St. Joseph’s, we were taken by zodiac to Ile Royale where the governor of the prison and the officers lived. Care has been taken to preserve this lovely spot where the horrors were authorized if not experienced. So contradictory: a school for the children of the officers, a lovely chapel with murals painted by the prisoners, a huge reservoir for water collection, a graceful mansion at the highest point of the island so the governor could be sure to enjoy the trade winds which brought relief from the unremitting heat.

We next visited the island’s cemetery; the resting place of 220 guards, doctors and nuns who worked at the prison in the 19th century.

We walked the broad causeway, built of individual stones by the prisoners, that served to carry the governor in his horse-drawn carriage up the hill to his personal “castle” in the clouds. All this comfort and ease and beauty are so incongruous with Ile St. Joseph and its suffering prisoners.

In contrast to all this memory of misery, we had some lighter moments as well. The catalyst for the happiness was the chance to see Capuchin and Squirrel monkeys at their antics very close to where we stood on the ring road around the island. So close in fact that many of the monkeys would leap onto heads and shoulders of people brave enough to offer these wild creatures a bite to eat.

The Capuchins have very serious faces; they looked troubled and grave, sometimes even wicked. But the Squirrel monkeys have sweet faces that look innocent and childlike. Both were very playful and tolerant of each other though they were occupying the same bushes and trees. There was much leaping about the branches, harassing of younger brothers and sisters, cuffing by adults finally annoyed by the playful youngsters. However, both species seemed to feel that the agoutis on the ground beneath were fair game for teasing.

The small, reddish brown, slightly hunch-backed critters with receding chins seem to have been destined to be the butt of primate humor. Agoutis are in the rodent family and their closest kin is the guinea pig. The animals are strict vegetarians so they are no threat to the monkeys or their young. However, the youngsters seem to enjoy throwing fruits at the harmless agoutis, jumping at them from the trees, pulling at their fur if they can get close enough.

Paramaribo - Suriname

Paramaribo is the capital city of Suriname and a recently designated UNESCO World Heritage Site as well. The mixture of architectural styles in the old city is the reason for that designation. The city looks like a strange amalgam of Northern European combined with tropical America.

The wooden residences curiously recall Charleston style homes, but they are painted in a traditional Dutch style white with very dark green trim (so dark it’s almost black). Freakily, some of the structures look like transplants from the American Federal Period with fronts supported by slender white columns. Typical Dutch residences from earlier periods are wooden but always built on brick foundations that reach up about 3 feet before the

wood construction begins. The few official buildings look rather like heavy Dutch earthsquatting edifices.

There is an impressive brick fort in the middle of the city on the riverfront: Fort Zealandia, dating from the 1600s. It is now a museum and sits next to the national art school. It was never a useful fort because the Suriname River is so wide where it sits that the cannons were not effective. Now the museum and art school work together so the old place has a new function. We saw several art students sitting with their pencils and paints, sketching the fort and supporting buildings. The young ladies we spoke to were hoping for careers in commercial art. We wonder how realistic that dream is for them in Suriname.

On a greensward between the old fort and the river stands a large statue of Netherlands Queen Wilhelmina. She is clearly not much admired in her former colony, however; the English word “shit” has been painted on the statue’s base and no one has taken the trouble to clean it off. Clearly emphasizing the dislike, there is no graffiti anywhere else that we saw in the city!

There is an attractive Palm Garden near Independence Square where sit the Presidential Palace and the government administrative buildings. We were assured that though the garden was fairly empty as we toured that it is a very lively place on weekends when it

sprouts kiosks selling snacks and little toys for children, competing bands, lights, dancing couples, happy families.

One interesting sidelight we encountered in Paramaribo was the side- by-side Muslim Mosque and Jewish Synagogue.

Apparently, there is no animosity between the two religious groups here; a tolerance that could only be wished on the rest of the world. The Synagogue was particularly interesting in that it had a sand floor throughout to commemorate the flight from Egypt. The Mosque was different in that when Muslims moved to South America they had no idea how to orient themselves towards Mecca, so they just used the direction they had learned in their birth countries whether or not it was appropriate in Paramaribo. Therefore, folks position their prayer rugs according to their countries of origin, even in the Mosque itself. Perhaps our guide was quite correct in her pronouncement, “Suriname’s population is a mixture of many cultures, races and religions and our democracy reflects that in our many political parties which must work together to form governments since none of them can gain a majority. We are a happy people who like it this way!”

Other houses of worship speak to the validity of our guide’s declarations.

HINDU TEMPLE

DUTCH REFORMED PROTESTANT CHURCH

ST. PETER AND PAUL BASILICA

Curiapo - Venezuela

This “stilt city” is a very different town from Paramaribo and in a different country as well Venezuela. Curiapo is much smaller and appears much more “temporary.” It has no colonial history and no substantial buildings at all. The population is Amerindian almost completely rather than the rich mélange of peoples in Suriname. Built entirely on pilings to accommodate the huge river tides, the rudimentary houses were connected by concrete or wooden boardwalk type “streets” also supported by pilings. A very curious place is Curiapo. The river was very bouncy as we approached the city and even with the very shallow draw of zodiacs we had to follow the channel marked with wands of bamboo to avoid running aground. Sultry, stifling, sweltering, scorching, sizzling: all very apt words to describe the climate we were entering onshore.

The town’s front streets project out over the river waters and the back streets have been gouged out of the jungle lining the river. There is no shade in the town other than that beneath the thatched or tin roofs of the dwellings. Some of these are very basic and others show the attention of their builders to more detail with painted wood and designs added to the walls. There is most definitely a high rent and a low rent district too. The “richer”

folks used more subdued colors or the natural look of a handsome wood type. The “poorer” citizens went for very loud colors vivid pinks, bright yellow, lime green, sky blue, and combinations of colors like orange and purple. The more prosperous looking houses were much more substantially constructed while the poorer neighborhood was filled with dilapidated structures with missing wood, broken slats, precarious slants. All these houses had walls with windows.

The people live very much on top of each other with closely spaced homes, so there are usually curtains of some type at the windows and doors: sometimes made of lace, sometimes of cotton cloth, sometimes of woven bark, sometimes of feed sacking, sometimes even of wood.

As seems to be usual in Amazonia, the houses contain very little furnishings, except for hammocks. However, we did see color TVs in many houses and there were two Direct TV dishes in the town. How on earth is money collected from those who connect to the service? Generators also ran radios that seemed to be playing loudly from every home where anyone was at home—there must be several stations these folks can pick up because no two houses seemed to be playing the same station.

As we strolled the hot streets, we found the women and children to be very shy and unwilling to make much contact. The men were reserved but not hostile. They didn’t seem to resent our being there, but they did not try to communicate at all, not even pointing out their wares for sale. Occasionally, we would see a vacant “lot” and had to wonder what had happened to that house. Dogs freely roamed the elevated streets as well and would leap from them onto to the few spots of solid ground contained in the town limits. Clothing was western style and modest but as brief as possible.

We were dismayed to see that the outhouses obviously emptied into the river below and we could see that the people were fishing there, bathing there, and fetching their water from these waters. Perhaps the big tides were enough to clean out the wastes regularly so that the people were not constantly sick.

NATIONAL PARKS

Big rivers in mountainous areas often have wonderful falls that are awe-inspiring, jaw dropping, and always beautiful! Guyana’s Kaieteur Falls and Venezuela’s Angel Falls certainly qualify on all grounds. Both are protected in a national park setting but Kaieteur can be reached after a short plane ride lands you on the plateau where there are walks to the falls. Most folks see Angel Falls only in a flyby flight because the land around the canyon is wild and treacherous and there are no easy hikes into the area. It would take a full-scale hiking expedition to reach them. Weather permitting, trips to Kaieteur are almost successful since if the plane can get you there, the walks are not difficult at all. Angel Falls depends on the local weather conditions at the falls and its canyon and it is always up to the pilot of the small plane to determine if he thinks that flying down into the Canyon is safe. That means “you pays your money and you takes your chances” when booking an excursion to Angel Falls. However, because of the proximity of Canaima National Park, it’s worth the gamble!

Kaieteur Falls & Kaieteur National Park

While Guyana was still a British colony, the park was established in 1929 and has remained protected ever since, even though its acreage has shrunk (to accommodate mining) and then re-expanded to its original 72,000+ square hectares in the 1990s. The area is part of the ongoing “tangly tussle” between Venezuela and Guyana as each claims the land.

The park and its surrounding environs sit atop the Guiana Shield, some of earth’s oldest exposed sandstone. Besides the wonderful Kaieteur Falls, one of the highest single drop waterfalls in the world (741 ft.), the park also protects many hectares of the strange tabletop mountains (called Tepuis) that make this land inhospitable for exploration, farming, development, mining or most other human activities.

The Potaro River, 400 ft. wide at its drop-off, creates the falls as it rushes to join the much large Essequibo River. The Falls are 5 times higher than the much more familiar Niagara Falls! The water is a rusty red and quite tumultuous as it approaches the drop-off. There are several different walks at varying levels so that the visitor can view the cascade from

below and then from the plateau right next to the drop zone. The frothy plunge pool is wild and beautiful. A very satisfying view indeed!

The Park also harbors much-endangered flora and fauna, most notable among them the tiny golden frog and the huge 12 ft. high tank bromeliads, as well as ocelots, tapir, poison dart frogs and birds. We were lucky to see the tiny golden frog that lives its entire life in the pools formed by the leaves of the tank bromeliad. However, our own plane load of folks did not see the much sought after “life-list bird” the Cock of the Rock, a vivid orange fellow who performs a special courting dance while he displays his impressive feathers to likely mates. A couple of the groups did see this bird but he was not displaying at that time.

HELLO, LOIS

Angel Falls & Canaima National Park

This spectacular waterfall was “discovered” by the American pilot, Jimmie Angel, in 1935 when he was forced to crash land his light plane on top of a nearby tepuis. Of course, the falls was already well known to the Amerindians who lived here for centuries. However, the world now knows the fall by its eponymous English language name. It is the highest falls in the world at 2,421 ft. of magnificent free fall from the tepuis over which it spills. That drop makes it 15 times higher than Niagara! Most of us on the Clipper Adventurer opted to pay the extra money for the flight to Canaima National Park and the flyby of Angel Falls. Six small planes were required to ferry all of us from Porto Ordaz to Canaima. We had been told that if conditions were favorable we would fly to Devil’s Canyon on the way to the Park but if they weren’t at that time, we would get another chance on the flight back to Porto Ordaz.

The planes landed at Canaima’s airstrip one after another and it was clear that none of them had chanced a flyby. The beautiful lodge in the park was very enjoyable however and we all remained optimistic. There were resident military and blue and gold macaws on the property and they were amusing and entertaining in their squabbling with one another and begging food from us. Monkeys were also present in the park and other kinds of birds. Kay & I decided to take a strenuous nature walk with one of the local guides and enjoyed it immensely since we saw some amazing savanna terrain with palm trees dotted all around the landscape and walked atop some of that really old sandstone exposed as part of the Guiana Shield. The best part of the nature walk, however, was the chance to walk behind two different waterfalls. Of course, these were much shorter than Angel Falls or Kaieteur, but they were in full spate and were so beautiful! It was especially terrific to be behind the falling water curtain looking out over the lake into which the water fell. Really exciting and quite cooling after a hot hike too.

Angel “Tangles” ensued shortly after we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the lodge and then headed for the planes for the return trip to the ship! Our plane, holding about 22 people, was the 2nd to take off and we were still very optimistic. We flew along in a cloudless sky for quite a while until it began to dawn on us that we were approaching the airport. No announcement had been made to us about conditions at Angel Falls, no regretful

apologies, nothing at all. We thought that it would have been much better had the pilot explained he wasn’t going to be able to go into the Canyon due to “whatever.” So we grumbled a bit, but were fairly accepting of the fact that we were just not lucky enough that day to see the falls.

However, as soon as other planes began to arrive at the airport, we heard that all the other planes (except ours and the one which had taken off first) had gotten the flyby and their digital cameras revealed that conditions at the Canyon had been perfect and their pictures were dazzling! Now we were hopping mad and so were all the passengers on our plane and the other unlucky one. We grumbled and fumed and listened to the mounting anger all around us, until suddenly the whole thing became humorous to us as we wondered how the folks in charge were going to handle a full-scale riot when we all reboarded the ship. Some folks were getting “over the top” in their disappointment and lack of understanding about the situation. We wondered what was going to have to happen to “defuse” these ticking time bombs. Talk about a tangle of misunderstanding! This might have been the knottiest tangle we had personally faced on the entire trip.

We returned to the ship about 4:30 p.m., still hearing some muttering by fellow passengers as they went to their cabins to get ready for cocktail hour. We figured the fireworks would begin then, but something intervened. A Venezuelan band was aboard and entertained during cocktail hour with typical folk music of the area, songs and instrumentals. Then the nightly “briefing” about tomorrow’s plans came next and we were sure the bottled anger would begin to boil over, but something else happened to damp down the fires. Our Assistant Expedition Leader (wife of Ignacio, the EL himself) announced that she was leaving the trip early because a German ship in Belem had lost its EL at the last minute and asked Claudia if she would come back and take the position. It was an emotional (surprisingly so) goodbye she gave us and no one could stem that tide of good but sad feelings. So then it was dinnertime and everyone stampeded to the dining room. Big heads of steam had built up, legitimate complaints were filed in folks’ catalogue of grievances, festering disappointment continued to roil and yet nothing at all had been said aloud by anyone! How anticlimactic!

The management lesson we took away from this experience was probably not a particularly helpful one. Most of the time, when there is a problem that affects morale and performance, it is best to confront the situation and deal directly with the people’s discontents. In this case, it had just been ignored. At the next night’s “Briefing” and following our fascinating visit to the “city on stilts,” the sore subject was broached by one of the owners of Zegrahm Expeditions, Peter Harrison.

He acknowledged the bitter disappointment the passengers on planes 1 and 2 were still experiencing after having failed to see Angel Falls. As it happened, he was aboard the first plane himself. He tried to make us understand that conditions at Devil’s Canyon change moment by moment and that the decision to fly in is a split second one that only the pilot of each airplane can make.

He stressed, of course, that safety is always is the first consideration and that all of us must put our trust in the experience and training of our individual pilots! Just by recognizing our frustration, Peter began the pacification process. By never stating directly that part of our unhappiness was also probably “envy” because others had gotten the coveted view, he eased us into resignation and soon had us laughing with him about the foibles of travel.

Maybe he had been right after all; let the folks stew a little and cool down a bit before the topic is raised for open discussion. As it happened, no one said any of the ugly things they had been planning: no one demanded any of the considerations they had been voicing as their due, like a partial refund or some such; no one actually said anything at all. Instead, there were just rueful smiles all around and everyone went on with the rest of trip in good spirits. A good lesson in management?

Porto Ordaz & Caroni Falls

The Caroni River runs through the port city of Porto Ordaz and creates a marvelous sight on its passage through tumbling rocks, high benches, rock shelves, stone walls, and wonderful rapids.

A beautiful city park fronts on the falls and is well used by the citizens.

Though not tall, the falls are immensely wide—at least a city block long at the site of the city park there. The water is black with tannins from plants all along its course and that color contrasts brightly with the foamy rapids and standing waves as the river thrashes its way along towards the Orinoco.

These falls did not possess any of the superlatives of the two more famous ones we expected to see, but they were actually more fun to view than the other two. The water was so close to you, there were birds feeding near the plunge pools, the stretch of the falls was so impressive, and the laughing, gurgling, crashing waters were so loud they blocked out the people chattering and the music blaring. These falls were quite photogenic as well and made up quite a bit for our letdown at not seeing Angel Falls.

PEOPLE OF AMAZONIA

All along the rivers we sailed, we looked at the people living on the riversides. Most were Amerindians and lived very similarly to one another regardless of which political borders obtained there. It didn’t matter if the villagers were in Guyana or Venezuela, Brazil or Suriname. Some people we interacted with stand out, though, and deserve special mention. The boardwalks that connected the houses have been described, as well as the rather basic structures the people used for sheltering homes. However, the little touches that make a place different or special have not been pointed out yet. So this is the time for that aspect of our observations to be described.

Amerindians

At the first riverside village we visited (where the lady took our picture with her cellphone), we saw a pretty little garden built in an old canoe upraised along the boardwalk. The gardener was growing green onions, cilantro, and some other herbs in the hollow of the broken boat. It was thriving and would definitely add to some of the meals she would be preparing in the future. Later we would see that this is a common practice with the ladies of the rivers. Most homes had either flower or veggie gardens in old canoes an Amazonian style of “raised garden.”

At another village, there was a working sawmill under a shelter right next to a couple of houses. We were asked ashore to see the working sawmill but we shuddered the whole time we were there because the huge blade was completely unguarded and young boys were helping an older man feed the logs through. One young fellow had obviously lost his left arm to the mill and all of the kids seemed too young to be working around such hazardous equipment. But the broomsticks the family produces from these logs were clearly their livelihood. We walked through the deep sawdust covering the muddy ground and then over to the family home, invited to do so by the lady of the house.

Her whole “yard” was the sawdust and she had planted many shrubs and flowering trees there to beautify her home. She was rightly very proud of her efforts and was so pleased that we had gotten out of the zodiacs and come for a visit.

A couple of other ladies were there as well and we all tried to communicate with one another about the loveliness of her home. Smiles and gestures evidently conveyed our pleasure because her face was aglow as we strolled through her property. This family and their neighbors were Amerindians too.

On a Sunday morning, we passed on our zodiacs between two villages on opposites of the stream. Both villages were full of Amerindian people dressed in proper churchgoing clothes, heading to Protestant churches for services. The men had on white shirts and ties and the ladies were dressed in colorful western skirts and white blouses. The little boys and girls were also in their Sunday best.

The people in the village on the left hand side were getting into small boats to get to their church. Some folks must have been running a bit late, since we saw one mother hastily bathing a baby in the river even though she was dressed for church.

Maybe baby had a last minute “accident” and needed to be cleaned up, because father was impatiently looking at mother from the boat. Baby, however, was thoroughly enjoying the bath experience; he was laughing and splashing and it was pretty clear that mother was going to have to dry out in the boat on the way to church.

In the other village, the folks were a little more formally dressed the men had suit jackets on as well and the ladies were wearing hats. The little girls were in white fluffy dresses and shoes and socks and the little boys imitated their dads.

The men carried Bibles and guitars as they all paraded along the boardwalk to attend their church. The villagers smiled and waved at us and were clearly happy on this fine Sunday.

A Misplaced English Girl

Our guide at Devil’s Island deserves special mention as well. She was a fair, frecklecheeked, redhead with a very slight build. Quite different looking from the other folks assembled on the dock to meet our zodiacs. Most of the other people were black French speakers. She spoke excellent English, as of course she should have since she was English by nationality. She teaches school on the French Guiana mainland and has done so for about 10 years. Her French was also fluent and she said she was married to a Frenchman currently working at the Space Station.

She reported that her problems teaching kids 12 & 13 are just like the ones our teachers complain about. Too much interest in popular music (hip hop), too little attention to studies, very little self-discipline, parents too busy or too stressed to care.

She and her husband are applying for work in France and hoping to leave French Guiana before the next school term. She is the one who told us about the “field trips” she led to Devil’s Island several times per year. She said the children enjoyed the outings and were not particularly disturbed by the history around them. They just loved being out of school for the day with a picnic in the offing on one of the beaches.

A Little Dutch Girl

Our guide in Suriname was also interesting; she was one of the 1% white people in the country, a Dutch immigrant to the former colony. Hermina had lived in Suriname for 15 years, was single, quite content in her present home, and never planning to return to The Netherlands to live.

She speaks Portuguese, French, Dutch, English, and Spanish fluently. She runs a little home company of her own, translating legal documents, government papers, forms, and anything else someone needs translations for. Because of her linguistic skills, she is often the official interpreter for her country’s president and other government officials. She looked to be in her 30s, though her black hair did show a few gray strands. Unlike the English girl who was ready to leave a “Guiana” behind, Hermina was very positive about Suriname’s progress and direction.

She was our guide to the most amusing of our encounters with the local peoples. When we had completed our tour of Paramaribo, we were to visit an Amerindian village about 20 miles from the capital city. We boarded our buses with Hermina and started out on a fairly good road towards the village.

Hermina told us that the roads into the interior are pretty good because the trucks must get the bauxite ore from the mining areas to the port at Paramaribo. Once the bauxite mines are passed, the roads deteriorate rapidly so travel beyond the mining district is pretty difficult. She assured us that we would be on good roads until a turnoff that would take us into the village but that dirt road would be fine since we were not in the rainy season. We traveled past some fairly prosperous looking homes (belonging to Hindus as evidenced by the ever-present prayer flags) with neat and healthy farmlands around them. There was some livestock in evidence too though not beef cattle, of course.

The Surinamese “Amerindians”

During the ride out, Hermina told us a little about the Amerindian village we would be visiting. These people live a fairly traditional life, much like their ancestors. This particular tribe preferred living on the savanna rather than in the jungles because many of their beliefs and superstitions involved fear of snakes and other creatures. It was important to them that only sand surrounds their houses because they wanted no grass or shrubs to provide hiding places for snakes. Therefore, their concrete blockhouses with corrugated tin roofs were widely separated from one another by stretches of white sand. Occasionally, we would see a fruit or flowering tree in the yard but not often.

Their crafts consisted of an unusual pottery type that was not baked in a kiln but cooked in an open fire pit. Because of this method, the pottery is very fragile but quite interesting according to Hermina. She assured us that we would enjoy seeing how the pottery is made as well as viewing a little native musical and dance performance the folks would provide.

We had no trouble reaching the little village and it appeared just as Hermina had described. Some bigger trees on the outskirts harbored many birds and we knew we would enjoy a little bird watching there as an added feature. We first visited the pottery barn where the clay is molded into the various shapes desired and then saw the open fire pits where the pieces are placed for their cooking. It all looked very primitive and the men describing the process were obviously pretty bored with it all.

A sudden downpour that quickly soaked us and turned the crumbly white sand “yards” into mudflats distracted us from our confusion.

There was a large open-sided, tin-roofed pavilion where some of the finished pottery samples were on display so everyone scurried to get under the shelter to check out the goods. Kay and I didn’t want to get into the hot and damp crush of people, so we sheltered on the front porch of a house across the way where some plastic chairs looked inviting.

Just about the time we were beginning to wonder why we were here, the sounds of a band wound towards us. And here they came: the Saints were marching in all right.

Those Amerindians were playing the saxophone, a tuba, a trumpet and a drum set and the music sounded straight out of New Orleans. They played quite a few familiar pieces and then we were told that the cultural program would now begin.

Along came 5 ladies of varying ages from probably about 18 to 60. They were dressed in bright cloth headdresses and big wide colorful skirts with matching blouses. They strutted along like black ladies in Africa who can balance heavy loads on their heads and yet appear as graceful as gazelles! To the insistent beat of the drums and the brass, these ladies performed what we were told was an Amerindian change of clothing ritual for a young woman about to be married Well, the music was black jazz, the dancers were black ladies, black men played the music, and the clothing looked like it was straight out of Africa! Honest and truly, there was nothing Amerindian about the entire experience.

So, was that another “tangle” in the trip? We didn’t really think so because all the other visits we made to people seemed real and meaningful and, more importantly, “as advertised.” Besides that, we got to see and appreciate a most beautiful young woman there. The young “bride” in the dance sequence was drop dead gorgeous! We certainly didn’t blame our tour company (Zegrahm) for the “hoax” since we supposed that the local tourist bureau had set the visit up for us. Anyway, we laughed a lot and it was really okay.

More Authentic Amerindians

Besides, when we contrasted that visit with our later chance to call on other Amerindian villages, they were definitely not bogus. The proud elder and the little school children who welcomed us to Saxacalli in Guyana couldn’t have been more charming, more pleased to see us, or more authentically of “Indian” stock. They were built like the Indian peoples we have seen in Mexico, Peru, Costa Rica and even Brazil: short legs, broad shoulders, thick torsos, black straight hair, almond shaped eyes, flat cheekbones, and reddish brown skin tones. The citizens of the “stilt” village looked like that too.

None of this means that we wouldn’t have wanted to visit a village where folks of African descent live as well. None of the foregoing means that the folks at that Suriname village weren’t glad to see us even though their greeting wasn’t as touching. It was much more laid back and even a little bored. Of course, it didn’t involve the schoolchildren from ages 5 to 12 with their signs proclaiming “Welcome”, letter by letter.

It was obvious that these children had been preparing for our visit for weeks since they also sang folks songs and their national anthem for us as well.

Then there was the heartfelt talk by the village elder telling us of the villagers’ belief that ecotourism could mean so much to their own development and well-being! And when we were taken on the nature walk behind their village (which sat on a wide beach) hacked out of the tangled and dense jungle by the men and boys of the village, we were humbled and impressed by their efforts. They had not only cut a pathway in really hot conditions, they had built ramps and bridges to keep the tourists from walking in low places where water collected and where the mud lies year-round. It was an amazing effort and we were all blown away by their optimism and willingness to work really hard.

The ladies had been making handicrafts for us to buy and no one could resist purchasing something. We bought a fan woven of palm fronds, a map of their village and its nature walk, and some postcards.

This was a visit we all enjoyed and everyone on our ship shared the hoped that poor little Guyana can succeed in making the country an ecotourism destination country. It certainly has enough wonderful flora and fauna to satisfy any nature lovers.

Young Calvin Jones

This young Amerindian boy took a liking to me for some reason almost as soon as we alit from our zodiac onto the beach at Saxacalli. He was slender and shy but eager to be with Kay and me. He sat with me through the presentations by the village elder, the songs of the elementary school children and the little talk by the schoolteacher. I asked him why he was not with the other children and he gave me a condescending look while informing me that he was 14 years old and attended a boarding school across the river in an actual city!

He had been at that school for 3 years already. Well, folks, he looked pretty young to me anyway. That faux pas on my part did not make Calvin desert me however. He led Kay and I around the little village and took us to the school building, the church, and the cricket pitch. Most of the “guiding” was done rather wordlessly though because Calvin was pretty reserved. When I asked him what he wanted to do when he finished at his present school (I didn’t dare say “when you grow up”), he said he planned to go to “Chef School” in Guyana’s capital, Georgetown. He has a sister who lives in the city and so he can live with her while he attends classes. That choice is probably one with excellent promise for Calvin since Guyana is trying so hard to improve facilities for tourism. We certainly wish him well in his ambitions. Calvin didn’t abandon our sides until a cricket game started between the village boys and some of the Englishmen on our trip. Then he dashed to the pitch to take up his place behind the batsman wicket keeper, I suppose? He gave us a shy smile and a wave as he ran.

TRINIDAD’S PORT OF SPAIN

The last full day of the expedition was spent in Trinidad’s capital city, Port of Spain. We endured a long, rocky night at sea while crossing over from the Orinoco River via the Caribbean Sea to Paria Bay on which sits the city. The plan was to see a little of the island, a very little as it turned out, and then proceed to the Caroni Swamp Sanctuary for the evening.

It was really unrelentingly hot when we arrived at the Park and boarded large, flatbottomed boats to sit 6 across in about 15 rows. In such a crowded space, the weak breeze that occasionally tantalized us could scarcely penetrate to the central sitters. All of us were pretty much stupefied with the heat and dazzling sunshine, but we tried to pay attention to our guide as we motored agonizingly slowly down the canal that would bring us to the mangrove swamp that was our destination. How we wished the driver would hit that throttle and create some breeze for us; however, he just continued unhurriedly down the mangrove-lined canal where there was simply no shade at all. But we did see some

fairly interesting things as we “puddled into butter” in our seats. The guide pointed out a good-sized Spectacled Caiman about 5 feet long; he gave us an open-mouthed smile that showed all his formidable teeth. We saw numerous Little Blue Herons, many Cattle Egrets, a Spotted Sandpiper, Little Green Herons, some wonderful Amazon Kingfishers with their bright white neckband and iridescent navy blue color, and even some Green-Throated Mangrove Hummingbirds.

Best of all during this portion of the trip was seeing a Silky Anteater curled up in the crotch of a tree close to the bank. He scarcely awoke from his deep slumbers even when the park ranger jumped out of the boat and shook the slender tree in which he rested. He was a soft brown color with a short snout and two enlarged claws on his front feet. He is a small creature, about the size of a squirrel, and eats from 100 to 8000 ants per day to maintain his size. We all enjoyed seeing him very much and apologized for disturbing his slumbers.

While we continued to nearly expire from the heat, it became necessary to put on insect repellant just to insure all the suntan oil mixed with Deet would prevent any evaporation to cool us down. We were all beginning to wonder if we would make it to the end of the canal before fainting dead away.

However, about then we saw fire breaking out in the swamp vegetation just a few feet from the canal! It flashed quickly through the close-set trees igniting the scene brilliantly but quite startlingly well. The blaze continued to spread and we all gasped in wonder. In just a few moments, we all became aware that the spreading conflagration was actually the arrival of the first of the resplendent scarlet ibises! Our entire boatload of onlookers was struck dumb as we watched that vivid red orange color so alive, so brilliant, against the green swamp foliage and the gray trunks of the saplings.

As we continued to stare in utter delight, we realized that the sun was going down behind the mangrove island we were approaching and a slight breeze was beginning to stir. We rounded that island and came upon some snowy egrets and some sea hawks and even a peregrine falcon. All the boats traveling with us (about 6) began to position themselves in line in front of the island we had reached. We faced back the way we had come and waited patiently. We were told that the regulations were strictly enforced and no boat could move ahead of any other boat and no one could approach the island we faced.

Now we were in the shadow of the mangrove island behind us and a gentle breeze had finally begun to cool us off. Without warning, squadrons of the scarlet ibis began to fly from behind us towards the opposite island. They were returning home from their feeding grounds in Venezuela to their rookery here in the Caroni Swamp. Literally thousands of birds flew over our heads, some flying high to go to the nesting area beyond our sight (in protected waters) and others zooming in low to find roosting spots on the “green screen” before us.

The birds are the most luminous red imaginable on their entire bodies except for the tips of their wings which are black in flight. As the birds tilted their wings to land, the sun would illuminate that color and the birds seemed to burst into flame with more brilliance than the eye could bear. What was even more unimaginable was the length of the fiery “outbreak.” Those flames danced above our heads and in front of us for at least two hours! Thousands of birds festooned the green mangrove island until we beheld a fantastic Christmas tree adorned with flaming decorations. What a show! What an experience!

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Though the South American jungles are tangled and really pretty impenetrable, we saw enough of them to understand the difficulty in exploring the area, the interconnections between the land and the rivers, the rich biodiversity in the plant and animal worlds, the outward appearance of the lives of the Amazonian peoples, the heat and humidity that always prevail in the equatorial regions we explored, and the amazing heavy and blinding rainstorms that keep the area so green and fecund!

The related “tangles” we learned about or experienced just increased the physical adventure of being in such an exotic part of the world or added to our enjoyment by enriching the whole expedition. After all, when we return from our travels to faraway places, we find most folks are more interested in the “problems” (or tangles) we encountered than the straightforward parts of the trip that went off without a hitch!

So we can truly say that we had great fun on this trip, learned many factoids (which we will undoubtedly soon forget), but we absorbed some larger trends and history that will enlarge our views of the world and its amazing places.