Lee and his team that included his sidekick, “Big Daddy” Tom Wilson, and four locals were waiting for Harry and his expedition team at sunrise. There were two flat bottom boats about twenty feet in length with canvas covers for shelter from the sun and fifty horsepower outboard engines. All of their supplies were already loaded.
Harry really liked Big Daddy as soon as they were introduced. He was a mountain of a man, six foot six, almost three hundred pounds, and Harry suspected this gentle giant was very protective of his friends. That was probably how he got his nickname.
One of the locals joining the team, Roberto, was the man who last saw the green snake with his friend. He was going to help guide the team in their search for the green snake. The other locals, Eduardo, Cafu and Dida would be caring for all of the supplies and managing the boats.
As they left the dock that morning, the weather was in the mid-70s, but it felt like it was already 85 degrees because of the high humidity in the Amazon rain forest. It was going to be very hot today.
*****
About two hours into their day, the boats turned off the main river onto the Witoto River, a smaller river that fed into the Amazon. When they left Manaus, the river was almost 1,000 yards wide, but the Witoto was much narrower. Along the Amazon, there had been many villages on the river’s bank. On the Witoto, there were none.
The boats traveled side-by-side up the river for several hours, traveling slowly to keep from disturbing the inhabitants of this river. The outboard motors were quiet enough that everyone could talk to each other, even between the two boats. Sheila, Sherry, George, Roberto, and Eduardo were in one boat. Harry, Lee, Big Daddy, Cafu and Dida were in the other boat.
Harry asked Lee why there weren’t any villages along the banks of the Witoto. Lee replied, “The Indian tribes that inhabit this area of the Amazon rain forest do not like to be seen. Their villages are deep in the Amazon jungle, and visitors are not welcome.”
“This river is named after one of those tribes,” added Big Daddy. “The Witoto tribe is one of the more aggressive tribes of this region. They have been known to eat the meat of the people they kill. They even use their bones to make weapons and tools.”
“You mean they are cannibals? And they still live in this jungle?” Harry asked.
“Yes,” replied Big Daddy. “They still live and hunt in the Amazon rain forest, but they have not been seen for a number of years.”
“Wow,” added George. “That’s just what I need – to meet up with a tribe of cannibals. Harry, you didn’t tell me about this.”
“That’s why we have weapons,” said Harry. “For the unexpected…on the land and in the water.”
“What else can you tell us about the Witoto tribe,” Harry asked.”
This time it was Lee that answered. “They are very smart and use a lot of plants for medicine. They live in large communal houses around a central area of their village, and they actually use hollow log signal drums to communicate over long distances. They are very skilled hunters, and hunt for their survival.”
“Let’s hope we don’t meet any Witoto warriors on this trip,” said Harry. “We certainly don’t want to be invited to dinner.”
Everyone had a good laugh about that, but you could tell that some in the boats were a little worried about what was going to happen over the next couple of days.
The trees of the Amazon rain forest that lined both banks of this part of the Witoto River were so thick you couldn’t see more than a few feet into the jungle. The river was about 40 to 50 feet wide here and some of the trees on both sides of the river had limbs that joined over the middle of the river, like a roof or a bridge over the river. It was almost like traveling through a tunnel.
No comments:
Post a Comment