I was wrong.

Yeah, I’m letting that linger.

Even if we are rolling along most of the trip, we CAN dive a little deeper if we focus on the people we meet and their culture, despite our short stays.

Meet Alejandro, Alex. Alex is a member of thee Arabella tribe located north of Iquitos along the Napu river in the Amazon. Alex was a young boy in a small village along the amazon river but there was no school in his town. When he was a young boy he and another boy from the village left the village for Iquitos which offered schooling. As they made the journey, they were taken in by a woman in another village who fed and housed them. They stayed with her and became part of the household. She taught them to speak Spanish.

While there, a group of anthropologists came through the village with the goal of documenting the various Amazon tribes. The woman suggested Alex and his friend show the anthropologists their ways of life. For several years the anthropologists documented their habits of eating (foraging, farming, and hunting), sleeping, and using jungle medicinal herbs including Ayahuasca. The project continued to document not only Alex and his friend, but members of 60 other tribes.

This university-funded research grant allowed the project to flourish but as funding dried up the anthropologists began to offer “excursions” to visit the tribes of the Amazon. Ideological differences apparently broke up the team of anthropologists and the project splintered into research vs tourism factions.

As part of that experience, however, Alex learned to speak English.

When the research project funding was discontinued in 2011, Alex and the others had to look for work. He made his way to Iquitos and there began to interview for jobs in tourism. Landing a job was difficult because he had no formal training or schooling. Once given a chance, his friendliness and knowledge of the river’s many creeks and tributaries secured his place on the team. Lucky for us.