Peru and the Amazon
I received a phone call one day, of the type which I had grown to expect, from my friend Dr Pete Obregon. It was not, as one might expect, an invitation to play golf or tennis or even to go to dinner. The request fell off his lips as simply as an invitation to each of the fore mentioned, however, he asked if I would join him on a project operating out of a houseboat on the Amazon and its tributaries in Peru. There was no ambivalence. The conversation lasted 1 minute, I was in.
After many flight delays and missed connections I landed in Lima at 5:00AM and raced to catch a 6:00AM connecting flight to the mountain village of Cusco. With no time to spare I was on my way to the heart of the Andes and the ruins of Machu Pichu.
Joining the team of 10 which had arrived the day before me, I could se that the change in elevation from sea level to over 12,000 feet in such a short time had taken a toll on them already. It was just a matter of time before symptoms of altitude sickness would hit me.
The ancient Inca ruins were fascinating, however, by that evening I had contracted a devastating headache which received no abatement from the cocoa tea we had taken to ward of the effects of the altitude.
Recovering in time to make the journey to Machu Pichu, I was able to witness one of the most fascinating ruins of antiquity I had ever seen. Tucked deep in the Andes, this sprawling place of worship remained hidden in the rugged terrain along the Inca Trail, unknown to the rest of the civilized world or centuries.
After this short (pre-project) cultural excursion we were of to Lima and then to Iquitos in the depths of the Peruvian jungle and the beginning of the Amazon river. We boarded a house boat and headed up the Nanay River which is one of the emote tributaries feeding into the Amazon. Though a bit cramped, we were comfortable and sailed off into a setting sun.
By the following morning we were edging toward the shore to tie up to a cluster of trees before debarking with our supplies. We were to hike into the jungle for about an hour and locate a clearing which would have a series of small huts that we would use as our clinic. The sodden trail was difficult to traverse due to the heavy tropical rains that produced the soggy trail. Our guides had cut walking sticks for the team as we set out over the swampy terrain.
A welcoming committee that was spirited on by the beating of jungle drums greeted us in the first village. Here, as in all five of the villages we eventually visited, the locals were generous.
with their hospitality, sharing all the traditions and simple skills that generate their culture. From simple presses that express the juice from the sugar cane to the fabrication of a primitive handmade gun which would fire when tripped when by a wild animal, they delighted inteaching us how they endure.
Each day we would repeat the process of anchoring by the shore, unloading, and hiking inland. A watchful eye was kept for snakes, especially for the Shashoppie, a large fat snake that had deadly venom. The villagers showed us one they had captured.
When we first arrived for the project, our resident host asked if there were a dentist on the team. She cautioned that the dental needs were overwhelming so to be prepared to shoulder a disproportionate amount of work. To help with that volume, a Peruvian dentist joined the team and worked from a space on the shore near the docked boat which gave him access to the ships generator. My work was confined to the interior where, without electricity, light and water, I could only do extractions, as is usually the case.
At the end of the day we had to scurry back to the ship before it got too dark to follow the trail out of the jungle, but just as importantly thunderclouds would form in the late afternoon and deliver a driving rain at just about sunset.
As we worked our way further and further upstream each day, The Nanay got shallower and shallower until we could no longer get to our destination by house boat. The strategy then was to dock the boat as far upstream as we could and then transfer all our material to small outboards that drew less water and shuttle the team a few more miles upstream. All went smoothly until we broke camp that evening and tried to shuttle the team back to the larger boat. A flash storm hit before our final group boarded the open skiff. Trying to protect ourselves from the wind and pelting rain with any cover we could devise, we finally made it back safely but soaked.
The following day we finished early enough to return to the ship by mid afternoon while the temperature soared up near 100 degrees. As we peered over the rail of our little house boat, we pondered, do we dare take a swim? The river is known for its crocodiles, piranhas and anaconda so it seemed very fool hearty to considerate it. Spotting two kids on the banks of the river some distance from us who were jumping in and out of the water bolstered our courage. So myself, one of the nurses and one women physician dove in and made a mad dash to a protruding log and an even madder dash back to shore. We rolled on the muddy shore laughing at how fool hearty we had acted followed by the confirmation that we were insane. The jungle does that to you, I’m told!
On our last night on The Chosen Vessel we debriefed, and in order to have our project provide a lasting impact, we arranged for water well to be installed in each village we had visited.