Tales from the field: Gabi's years in the remote amazon forests
Oxapampa
ah Oxapampa!, yes I think they have a field station, I think i send to
you the
link yesterday, Well Oxapampa, is i think the "largest" town around
that area
and close to Lima, I think 10 hours, it can be less if you go by your
own car
"camioneta" as they usually do (you know Mcclain and Llerena), it is
like 2-3
hours from were I did my undergrad thesis (San Ramon 1998), 2 hours
from the
first site I did fild work (POzuzo in 1993 or '94), and very close to
the the
(base on Robin comments) the best National Park in Peru (his favorite
place)
Yanachaga Chemillen National Park, has lots of watterfalls, huge
mountines (I
have never been deep in that national Park) the bus crosses the park
from one
side when it goes to Pozuzo.
Yes some time ago it was a red zone, well not exactly Oxapamapa, but
some
towns close to it, there were terrorists inOxapamapa, but not
constantly
there, I mean they have killed some people there like a rich logger
9owner of
a logging company, cousin of one profesor I had), also some majors of
the
town, well who knows who else, they painted walls with their terrorist
says,
etc. when I was in Pozuzo in 1993, there were still terrorism there,
this twon
is very small, it has only one main long street, flanked by mountines
in one
side, also houses of course!, and a river inthe other side, anyway,
there were
only to possiblities to enter to this town the end and the begining of
this
long street, so the joung people and old people fromthe town had this
"patrullas" group pf 5 or 6 people with AKM rifles, in the end of the
street
and other grouip in the begining, so if terrorist etry to enter, there
will be
an attack, anyway..we heard al kind of histories there, until one
night! man,
we were slleppein in a house 7 of us, 4 girls 3 guys, and we heard all
night
shuttings, bullets going everywere! but yo know with space in between
the
shutting, anyway we were laying down in the room and very quite, we
didnt know
what was happenning and we didnt want to find out, we just stay there
laying
down and speaking slowly and quitely, thinking maybe they are only
practicing
or something anyway....next day morning, we went outside and we find
out that
someone (maybe the terroristas) had painted the school, well we just
had a
week therem nd we were going to stay two months!, well nothing happend
ther
wasnt any dead person int he street the problem was that someone inthe
town
start saying that maybe we were the ones that painted the school and so
on,
the profesor who took us there to tdo and inventory was born in Pozuzo,
so he
convince everyone that that was not a possibility we were only his
students,
so the calm came back, we were going to have to just go away if there
were
succspicios of us, nayway, like a month after that, we were already
leaving in
a small house a bit further frm the town passing the poit of
vigilance, one
day my frien Rocio and I stayed in the house in the city while the
others were
in the field house, we stay because Rocio wasnt feeling good, stomack
ake or
something like that , and I stay with her, nayway, we slept in the
house and
next day we had to go very early to the field house and start walking
like one
hour in first in a catlle grassland, then get to the forest and keep
doing the
inventory, anyway so we start walking going out from the city,
laguhing,
telling jokest etc, finding bulls in the way trying to go around them
so we
do not get hit by them, etc, and when we got to the house...man all of
them
look at us like if wer were fanthoms or something, like if they were
looi\king
at dead people, man!, they hug us and everything, then they smile and
set "hey
we thought you were dead" and we "what?...." ha ha ha, all night they
heard
bullets again, comming from the city, and also they heard like
explosions, ha
ha ha , the owner of the house "helmut" crazy guy, he grabb his rifle
(?) and
bullets and run to the top of the forest of his property, to hide them
there,
they couldnt see from his position the tawn, or were the bulltes were
comming
from, they just thought this was from the town...gosh!!, sorry Marty, I
wrote
so much!! man!, gosh
Cuzco, Manu
Hi Amartya!,
...here I am again In cuzco!! crazy this si becomming like a second
house, or shall I say my forth or fifth I do not even now!
August 9: I went to the aiport at 6 am supossedly to take off to Boca
mAnu at
7 am but sat there until 4 pm, waiting for my small airpalin to take
off!!
there was a really bad weather in cuzco that day and in Boca mAnu as
well, one
could see siiting in fron tthe window in the ariport the very low and
gray
clouds, sometimes rainig , 3 flight cuzco lima cancelled! imagine, The
"
empresa" that has flights to boca manu telling me wait wait more time
we
could still fly, anyway I was the only passenger to Boca Manu that day
(a 8
people small airplain), they had to pick upp 8 desperde tourist in boca
waitng
to come to Cuzco, and then the pilot at 4 decided to go because there
was a
new that in Boca Manu the weather was better, clouds 300 meter above
the tree
tops, so here is me running to take the palin at 4, ah!! the latest
that a
plina can take off from cuzco to the lowlands is 4 15: because
airplains that
size cannot fly over the Andes to the lowlands after 5 pm because
something
about the preassure and the winds and so on. NAyway WE took off and
when we
got over the lowlands a big storm started!! tons of water felling on
the
front window of the plain, and the pilot screaming to the co pilot
things I
could understand like (put uo the train of LAnding (?) the wheels of
the
palin, , and other things I could not understand ..man that was
scary!!1, and
suddenly he screaming to both of us (I and Copilot) " you both look for
the
airstrip!, and then he " we are flying 30 meters above the tree
top....shet!,
fuck! and all kind of things and, we fly for 5 minuts looking for the
samll
airstrip, and only could see trees and river, rivetr and trees and
nothing
else, man...one largets tree and it could have been the last!! tree !!,
suddenly the Pilot (AVelard) turn back and set to me " Gabreila sorry
we gave
to go back to Cuzco We cannot wait more" and I put mt thumb up and had
the
biggest smile in my face!!, for two seconds I start saying insede my
head "
Ilove you mom and dad and ciro and lIvia and then ...I had to look for
the
airstrip", man!!!!!,
Came back to Cuzco, had pizza and wine at night went to sleep, and then
I am
back at the airport at 6 am, I did fly at 9 :30 and seeting up
exclousers at
11 am, had beens and rice and coffe, with other 5 people working wit me
and so
on day by day passed until last friday when I finished!
August 16: I supossed to take a flight from Boca TO Cuzco but because
there is
only one airpalin, they gave priority to the pinches gringos turistas,a
nd
cancelld my sit in that plain and give me one for the 17th,....well
tourist
came and go came and go, and the fucking people in Cuzco willonly tell
me
sorry we cannot take you out ..and adviced me to take a b oat and bus
to come
to cuzco, like it was easy to do that, luckly the owner of the tourist
lodge
there in boca told me he was going to to come by boat which he also
drives and
come by his Land ROver to Cuzco, with this crazy French guy wich is a
Airpalin pilot in USA, and works guiding tourist to the Joungle during
this
high tourist season in Cuzco, gush..well we were going to take the boat
today
in the morning when bad news came. There was an accident in Boca MAnu,
a
native working in his far cutting a tree had the acccident, a brach
fell in
his head and broke his head and arm, man....they had to request a
ariplain
from Cuzco to take him to a hospital, The owner of thhis lodge also is
kind of
in charge of the aristrip and has a deal witht his community of
natives, if
osmething like that happens he will pay have the price to pay the
airplain and
the community the other half, so he had to arrange the flyght, can you
believe that no one tourist group will stand up and say ! I give my
sit so
this man can go faster! no fuccking gringo or german or french or
spanish
gropu would say it, so the man had to wait until all tourist groups
left so
the airplain could make the last flight ..again at 4 oPm to kake the
amn to
cuzco, I also came on that one since there was space and there will be
less to
pay for them. Anyway, my both flyghts where kind of weard eh..
I hope that man is okay now, he had a bad cut in the back of his head,
I could
no see his fornt part it iwas coverd, he was awake but very
nervouse..poor
man.
Here I am now, sitting again, because there are no flights!!!!!!!!!!!!!
to
Puerto Maldonado until next thursday, but hopping to get one on
wednesday, man
I wish I had more time, this is going to be crazy, damn me that decided
to do
this fucking project in so many places and the jungle', weather and
people not
cooperating (some times) as one would like to.
well patince and good mood " paciencia y buen humor"
I am staying in a Hostal for mochileros now, it is very funny I really
like
that hostal very much, close to the main square, and has lots of plants
and
books of the jungle, an aquarium, "tarantula" , a kitchen where one can
cook,
and all sorts of weard stuff, it is runed by a crazy german and his
cuzquena
girlfriend, this is the "Hostal Frankenstein" ja ja ja can you imagine
the
look of the hostal just by the name, and of course it has A huge
drowing of
Frankentein in the front door.. ja ja ja