It looked like miles and miles of broccoli, after six days of travelling deep into the Venezuelan Amazonas, I was enjoying my first bird’s eye view. The journey so far had consisted of six days travelling on a 12 meter bongo, of course, with no bed, no shower, and no toilet, but this was exactly the way that I wished to experience this part of the world. Travelling exactly in the way that some of the great explorers did when they first entered these lands. As I sat during a blissful sunset on San Antonio’s high point, I was for the first time, beginning to comprehend, just how immense the Amazonas was, and it was the most beautiful view I had ever seen.

The journey began in the capital of the Venezuelan Amazonas, in a small city called Puerto Ayacucho. Myself and another traveller were going to be taking an expedition to San Carlos de Rio Negro with an eco-tourism company called Selvadentro, run by Natalia Bird Jové, a lady originally from Puerto Rico, and her husband Lucho Cherry Navarro, who was raised and has lived in the area all of his life, and we also had the company of their two young sons, who were clearly more than happy living their lives in a natural and wild environment.

From the start to the finish of this journey, we were required to register, and to present our permits to the National Guard (NG) at a many number of check points, they seemed to be monitoring this area very tightly, and the reasons for such control stem from a number of different things. They asked many questions, since tourism here is not strong; Lucho informed us that we were the only tourists in the area, as it is considered by most to be a dangerous place, mostly due to the strong presence of the FARC. It seemed, no more than twenty tourists would visit the area in one year, and in fact, we were pretty lucky to obtain our permits for the expedition.

On the fourth day of our trip we arrived into the middle of what seemed like a movie set, but the scene playing out in front of our eyes was very real, and the sense of danger made the situation feel pretty exciting. We arrived to a very small town, on the border with Colombia, called San Fernando. There was a strong temptation to photograph the scene, but there is no question that the camera would have been confiscated, so this image will simply have to remain in my mind. There was a lot of activity clearly taking place in this town, and as easy as it is for the imagination to get carried away, it was more than obvious what sort of place this was.

This part of the Amazonas basin is rich with mineral, in particular, with gold. And much illegal mining was taking place in the nearby National Park of Cerro Yapacana, we were told that there were roughly four thousand illegal miners living and working in the National Park. Such mining is detrimental to the Amazonas, as large areas are cleared and after nothing is found, they will be left abandoned, leaving great big holes in the landscape. Furthermore, the miners use very outdated methods, including the use of mercury:

“The Mercury enters the environment during two ways. First, the sediments are taken from river bottoms and land mining sites and forced through a number of sieves. The sieves are coated with mercury, which bonds with the gold in the sediment separating it from the rest of the material. Obviously, considerable amounts of mercury are left in the gold depleted soil and enter the environment when this material is discarded.“

"Second, the gold-mercury amalgam is heated to purify the gold by vaporizing the mercury. If the heating is done in an unsealed container, it enters the environment in gaseous form. This is particularly dangerous to the miner or smelter purifying the gold, as the person invariably inhales the mercury through breathing.” (www.american.edu/TED/bragold.htm )

Such exposure then destroys the life in the rivers, getting into the plant life, then the fish, and then into the humans who consume the fish, causing severe poisoning, disease, and even attacking the central nervous system. Exposure to the mercury is a real danger, and much more needs to be done to control the situation.

However, just as we had arrived the NG, had arrested a group of miners, and had seized their boat, along with all their food supplies, which included four cows. The miners were lined up against the wall, and many NG surrounded them, guns in hand, we all stared at one another, they, intrigued by the presence of tourists, and us by the tense scene. But it was good to see that such arrests do take place.

In addition, As everyone knows, a lot of cocaine is produced in this area, and since the trouble with the FARC in Ecuador in January 2008, it seems the Colombian army have exited this area around San Fernando, and the FARC have once again returned, bringing with them, their main source of income, the trafficking of cocaine. The NG were in very strong numbers, and rumours suggest that it is they who are assisting the FARC, though I must stipulate, this is not a proven fact.

However, we had not come to this area to see the miners and the FARC, we had come for something much more wonderful, nevertheless, it seemed that we were never going to be able to avoid their strong presence. And this became even more apparent when we visited the house of one family, who were now living in fear that their children would be taken by the FARC. Something apparently very common, but the head of the family, said he was more than prepared to fight anyone who tried to hurt his family. Sitting in the small hut, listening to this account, made me feel very sad for what was happening to the people and tribes who wanted to live their lives in a simple way, they did not want this trouble, and they did not want these people on their lands.

Finally we arrived to the village that had been the sole purpose of this journey. It was a Yanomami village, one of the oldest and last tribes still living in a primitive way. The Yanomami can be found in the Southern part of the Venezuelan Amazon, and the Northern part of the Brazilian Amazon. Until the beginning of the last century, they had remained completely cut off from the outside world, but since their discovery, many studies have been carried out on them, some even extremely unethical. There is such a strong interest in this tribe, since their blood is believed to be so pure, as they have never mixed with other tribes, an attribute which has made them a curiosity to pharmaceutical companies, and for many anthropologists, it is their social way of living that is of interest.

As our bongo arrived at their village, it seemed every person of that village came out to greet us, armed with spears, the many faces staring back at us caused much emotion to stir. Later we learned that they had not, in fact, come to greet us, they had been waiting for the arrival of three bongos from another Yanomami village, which were supposedly on route to fight with them. The story relayed to us, was that the men of this Yanomami village, had gone to another and kidnapped three girls, one of whom was already married. The reason for such extreme behavior is that there are not enough girls for the men in the village, because each man can have up to four or five wives, so the practice of kidnapping is quite common among the tribes. However, in retaliation, it had been rumored that the men from the other village were coming to fight, and I had no doubt that this is what would happen, for these people have lived for thousands of years as warriors, and this is something that has not left their blood.

During our time in the village, we were given a fantastic tour of the huts, the school, and even the gardens that were a half hour walk deep into the rainforest. The young boys of the village guided us to the garden, even stopping to paint our faces with the red seeds, and it was such an incredible privilege to be welcomed into their village. At night we visited some of the huts, and at that point it became apparent that these people were surviving on very little food. It seemed the hunters had failed to hunt on that day, as when they headed to their own lands, they were ordered by the FARC to leave, so for tonight, they were to eat very little. Soon the time came to leave the village, but the last thing we heard was that the men were going to return to their hunting lands and order the FARC to leave. This was one dispute not likely to be resolved too easily, as the Yanomami are reputed for their violent behavior, acting as warriors, and it is sure that they will not allow the FARC to simply take over their lands, but as most already know, the FARC also have a strong reputation for their willingness to fight. Since that time, I did not hear, nor do I expect to hear, who has taken ownership of the lands, and it is certain never to reach the media.

Every night spent sleeping in the hammock on our bongo was exceptional, each night we would stay either on a remote beach or we would try to hide the bongo from the main passageway of the river. But in each one of these evenings we would find our heads fixed on the sky, staring at the milkyway and millions of stars not otherwise visible in the developed parts of the world. But here, deep in the Amazonas, far from pollution, it is possible to pick out many a constellation. And as we stared, we would also hear the many river dolphins coming to the surface to catch their breath. Knowing that we were sharing these waters with so many dolphins was so special, and we were impressed by just how many dolphins were present in the Amazonian waters, because for the indigenous people, this creature is considered sacred, and so its life is respected.

Finally, after visiting a few more tribes, we reached our final destination, San Carlos de Rio Negro, and in some ways I was so sad to be bidding farewell, but in other ways, I was covered in mosquito bites, I had been attacked by ants, whose stung felt like the prick of a needle, I had slept everyday in a hammock, and my knees had really had enough, I had not used a toilet for twelve days, nor taken a shower, so, the prospect of returning to some level of comfort did appeal.

But the final two hours were to be an absolutely mind blowing way to finish the trip. We flew by a small aircraft back over the basin, covering the same distance we had gone by boat. And the views were sensational, not only that but we were fortunate to be flying with one of the most experienced pilots in the area, and he gave as an adrenaline fueled flight that we would never forget, flying at high speeds, ducking and diving around the waterfalls and Cerro Autana, a spiritual mountain, believed by the indigenous people, to be the tree of all life.

I stepped off that plane with my jaw wide open, this expedition had given far more than expected, an ancient environment, living with the threat of mans modern disregard for their world, let’s hope the miners, the FARC, and all the other threats do not succeed in destroying this immense rainforest and the wonderful tribes that have inhabited the lands for thousands of years, but unless the governments of this area take action, then I do fear the worst.

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