When
we went to the Amazon, we spent time in two indigenous communities. Both
communities were right off the river. There are no roads to them; we just rode
in a boat to get to them.
The
first community we visited was called Comunidad Remanso. There are 200 people, 40
of them are kids (0-10). We spent three nights there. The first night we were
the only guests (and we ate fish). The second night 16 more people joined and
it was the community’s record for visitors. That day, a shipment came in on canoes, that
the mayor bought, of mattresses, water buckets, kayaks, big pots, and rice. There
was a huge community meeting in the soccer field. Everyone in the community came
to get stuff for tourism and some was for them.
The
soccer field was in the middle of the community. Every evening people would
play a game of soccer, and a lot of people in the community watched. Even the
dogs knew how to play soccer!
The
people in Remanso were friendly, but a little shy. They were all really short
and we thought the kids were a lot younger than they were. The women washed
their dishes and clothes in the river. I don’t like thinking that we ate of out
those. Speaking of food, every night, every dinner, and lunch we had FISH. FISH
for four days. It got a little tiring.
The
second community we visited was called Sarrapia. It took 4 hours to get there. This
is where we spent New Years. It is a larger community than the other one, but
we were the only travelers at this place. Like Remanso, in Sarrapia we ate FISH,
even for breakfast. It was good, but TOO MUCH. They have different languages
that they speak with their community but they learn Spanish in school. The
school in this community taught kids how to use computers. It is a bigger
community so kids from other communities that don’t have schools come and sleep
there and go to school for the week and then go back home for the weekend.
The
people from Sarrapia were excited to show us around their community and tell about
nature.
Both
communities we visited had electricity, but not all the time. The electricity
goes off at night. I liked it. It was a cool experience.
Getting on a tiny plane to go to Puerto Inridia. It is a small airport and the flights don't come every day.
Since Puerto Inirida isn't connected to other towns by roads, almost all of the land vehicles are tuk tuks.
We need two tuk tuks this year.
We went on a long boat ride to the first community. We all fell asleep on the boat.
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Fish for every meal
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| Clothes and Dishes being washed in the river |
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Remanso
 | Inside the church in Remanso
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 | | Bathrooms and Showers in Remanso |
 | | Community Meeting |
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Some
people would travel in canoes made out of hollowed out logs. |
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| Soccer Court in Remanso |
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| More fish. |
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The school at Sarrapia
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| Our hosts in Sarrapia |
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| Our dining room in Sarrapia. I liked eating under the trees. |
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| Our lodging in Sarrapia |
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| This is what our rooms looked like in both communities. Dirt floors and bug nets. |
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| Showers and toilets in Sarrapia |
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| Our sink |
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| Beautiful sunset in Sarrapia |
Thank you for sharing and teaching us about life in other communities with pictures and your writing. I love the soccer games each night and how people gather together and even dogs play soccer. The school must have been interesting. I love how the electricity goes out in the evenings. That must be peaceful. I hope you have less fish.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing so much detail about your experiences. It is fascinating to learn about the ways of life of people in other countries, and also makes me very grateful for what we have in the USA.
ReplyDeleteHi, Maria - Another great entry. I think I would like fish at every meal. Maybe not EVERY meal.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward tobyour next entry.
Hugs!
Love your entries, Maria, and hope you have something besides fish! Love all the interesting pictures. What a fantastic experience you are having.
ReplyDeleteLove you!
Amazing, Maria! You've produced yet another fascinating entry! What an incredible experience to sleep, shower, eat, and travel in such different ways from what you're used to! I have a feeling that when you get back to the states it's going to seem very noisy and busy. ❤️, Mrs.A.
ReplyDeleteI really like your description of your adventures and the pictures that go with them. Fish and more fish. I could do that, but I would like to be the one to catch them all, not eat them all the time. Keep those pictures coming.
ReplyDeleteVery cool! Thanks for sharing. The class has so many questions for you when you come back :)
ReplyDeleteGrandpa and I are so enjoying your blogs, Maria! (Yours, too, Seth!) Your vivid descriptions help make us to better imagine what it might be like to be there with you! Such a great experience for you and your siblings to see how different people groups/cultures live from day-to-day, giving you a glimpse of their struggles, joys, activities, occupations, traditions, food choices (and limitations at times, like just fish :-)), and many other aspects of life in the villages, towns, and cities you are visiting. Thank you sooo much for sharing some of this with us!!! With love, Grandpa and Nana-Carol
ReplyDeleteP.S. We are LOVING all of the pictures you have been posting throughout your blogs as well! Yours, too, Seth! :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat writing Maria. Very vivid, feels like I'm there too :) thanks again for sharing :)
ReplyDelete