Discussing the Kayapo cause
- 5 Jun 08, 02:38 PM
Bruce talks with Banhire about the time he travelled outside his group and met other indigenous groups
Life on the shoot
- 27 Mar 08, 11:25 AM
Posted from: Jacare
Of all the travel shoots I have been on this has been one of the most fun. It could be Matt's calm, patience and gentle direction, or Keith's super agreeable mood and hilarious jokes, or maybe it's Zubin's mischievous streak, or Bruce's capacity to get us all discussing our deepest thoughts on how to reorganise society or Dudu's endless tongue-in-cheek stories about how he always catches the biggest fish or handled cayman with his bare hands (he has all the scars to prove it, but do we believe him?).
A Tough Kitten
- 25 Mar 08, 11:28 AM
Posted from: Jacare
We all loved the second community we visited, but Bruce became attached to one particular member of the community - a small black kitten. This was no ordinary kitten, it was the hardiest and toughest kitten we had ever seen.
Padre Volnei
- 17 Mar 08, 11:30 AM
Posted from: S茫o Raimundo do Jarau谩 in the Sustainable Development Reserve, Mamirau谩.
Catholic Padre Volnei announced his arrival at Sao Raimundo de Jaraua by loudly hooting his horn on board his little boat. He was greeted by his many followers in the community and by us too - who were eagerly waiting for him as he had promised to bring us more cigarettes from town. There are no shops here and he became our only hope!
Fish Stock
- 13 Mar 08, 11:31 AM
Posted from: Sao Raimundo do Jaraua in the Sustainable Development Reserve, Mamiraua.
We have been here for three days now. This is a small community of about 20 wooden houses on the banks of a river channel called Jarau谩. The channel comes off the main river Japur谩, and Japur谩 feeds the Amazon river itself about 36 kilometres downriver from here.
Floating through Ages
- 13 Mar 08, 09:47 AM
Posted from: Jarauara Community - Rio Japura.
The Priest was right. He's a Catholic and entitled to be I suppose. The Catholic faith is massively on the resurgence here. Maybe they all believe his theories on mosquitoes. Not a part of my body is munch-free.
The Perfect Shoot?
- 10 Mar 08, 09:36 AM
Posted from: Alvaraes - Rio Japura
Can鈥檛 wait to get off this river taxi - and its lesson on one of the dark sides of my favourite place. I wonder what became of those three hopeless horrified men in their chains. Fifteen years in some rank jail ahead. Still musing, I visited the wheelhouse and we promptly crashed into a floating village. The sound of splintering wood and groaning corrugated iron.
Goodbye to the Amazon
- 4 Mar 08, 02:35 PM
Posted from: Manaus
Am back in Manaus with Laura, Rob and Dudu and it's been quite an adventure. We have left Bruce back in Tabatinga and crossed flights with the other crew in the air so didn't get chance to say 'Hi' and wish them luck.
Night in the logging camp
- 28 Feb 08, 02:09 PM
Posted from: Atalaia
The first night at the logging camp. Around the hut it鈥檚 a mudbath due to heavy rains and now it鈥檚 stopped the mozzies are out in force. Bruce has moved well away from the hut to string up his hammock and the rest of us, about 15 in all, are packed under the shelter.
A Morning with Missionaries
- 22 Feb 08, 12:12 PM
Posted from: Vida Nova
We've just had a very civilised breakfast with a missionary couple in their beautiful home in the village of Vida Nova, a tiny village deep in the heart of Vale do Javari. Paul and Cheryl Rich are an American couple in their sixties who have lived among the Marubo people for almost 30 years. They have created a little patch of heaven in the endless forest, complete with rainwater-harvesting system, solar energy, email via satellite and home-made jam. Sitting in their backyard overlooking their vegetable patch and herb garden you could easily be mistaken in thinking you were somewhere in Midwest America.
Dropping Like Flies
- 21 Feb 08, 01:12 PM
Posted from: Parana
The extreme environment of the Amazon is taking a heavy toll on the crew. Yesterday our highly talented cameraman Matt Norman tested positive for malaria and had to be evacuated to the nearest town for medical help. Luckily we are just an hour鈥檚 boat ride from a remote missionary air strip and we managed to call a plane in very quickly. He is now the fourth person to leave this shoot.
Scorching Hot Wax
- 18 Feb 08, 01:06 PM
Posted from: Parana
As I'm writing this I've just broken into a secret stash of dry roasted peanuts that have been traveling in a camera box since Peru. Sat joining me for this mini-feast are three little wide-eyed Marubo kids who are loving this treat as much as I am.
The Beating of the Sacred Drum
- 18 Feb 08, 10:48 AM
Posted from: Parana
Day two of the tickling ceremony and excitement was growing as we followed the group of men down to the riverbank. Bruce was right in among them as they climbed into a canoe. There were already too many people in it but we really wanted this sequence so Pete and I crammed ourselves in and kept filming.
The Sting of the Tucandeira Ant
- 16 Feb 08, 07:21 PM
Posted from: Parana
The tucandeira ant ceremony is an ancient ritual designed to test the strength of the young warriors of the tribe. The Marubo believe that enduring the searing pain of the ant sting makes you a stronger person and a better warrior.
Becoming Marubo
- 16 Feb 08, 06:00 PM
Posted from: Parana
The heat was sweltering and an excitement was building around the village as the men and women had separated into two groups and from a distance were making eyes at one another. The groups were about 100 metres apart with the men standing proudly in a line and the women up a slope huddled together and giggling and pointing at the men. Bruce was stood in the middle of the line of men wearing matching white beads and body paint. Pete and I were filming some shots among the women and they were quite flirty and funny.
Ant attacks
- 16 Feb 08, 02:30 PM
Posted from: Parana
It's very humid already today and spent this morning with a group of villagers on the trail in the search of tucandeira ants. These are to be used in a ceremony later today when the men of the village go through a painful ritual. The ants are also nicknamed 鈥榖ullet鈥 ants because of their painful sting. The braver the warrior, the more stings he will endure, in the more sensitive body places. Bruce has been invited to take part so about 20 of us are walking in a line through the jungle on this most unusual of hunts. It鈥檚 a real family event with elders, women and kids joining the group.
The Bug Game
- 16 Feb 08, 11:46 AM
Posted from: Parana
The Marubo village stands high up on a bank overlooking the river and it鈥檚 from there that I鈥檓 shooting a time-lapse shot of a stunning sunset expanding over the bend in the river and the jungle beyond.
Mornings with the Matis
- 13 Feb 08, 10:33 AM
Bruce spends the morning with Tumi's family. Tumi's daughter and grand-daughter, featured in the video, are both ill.
A Time for Tribe
- 10 Feb 08, 10:21 AM
Bruce and the Matis chief Txema plan a viewing of the Tribe programme about the Matis
A Historical Moment from Mid-air...
- 7 Feb 08, 02:13 PM
Posted from: Tabatinga*
Today has been one of the most extraordinary days of my whole life. We took a flight over Vale do Javari, a vast reserve set up to protect the territory of the indigenous tribes of this area. It's one of the world's last remaining true tracts of wilderness, and conjures up everything you imagine when you think of the Amazon: a vast sea of green stretched out beneath us, with occasional tiny settlements dotted throughout the landscape. It's home to the highest concentration of uncontacted groups in the world - with a known population of just under 4,000 people occupying an area the size of Portugal.
A Blessing and a Curse
- 6 Feb 08, 10:08 AM
Posted from: Benjamin Constant
Being one of the two bilingual people on a shoot is hard. You are the one who has to be constantly aware of what's going on, in both camps, and non-stop translating what's necessary to make things work. You have to know a bit of both sides culturally, and even emotionally.
The pace of the Amazon
- 4 Feb 08, 09:59 AM
Posted from: Benjamin Constant
In the Amazon I feel very English at times. Saturday is the first carnival night. They said 8pm and there we were - fed, cleaned and waiting for carnival to 鈥渉appen鈥 - whatever is to happen, we just want it to happen in time. Ah鈥he pace of the Amazon really tests our nerves. Even I, who has been to this place so often and knows that in Brazil things run to a different rhythm, get irritated.
"Brasil does not know Brasil"
- 1 Feb 08, 03:23 PM
Posted from:Tabatinga
Today we are leaving Tabatinga to go to the little town of Benjamin Constant where we will experience a carnival. It will be a new experience for us, perhaps even for myself as a Brazilian; carnival takes many different forms in the different parts of the country. It originates from the same paganism and catholic traditions but manifests itself in various ways: from the samba schools of Rio and Sao Paulo, to the samba reggae of Bahia and Frevo, Maracatu, and Caboclinho of Pernambucao. They鈥檙e all an amalgamation of rhythms and traditions and are also influenced by indigenous Brazilian and African culture.
Mother Ayahuasca versus Bruce Parry
- 22 Jan 08, 02:48 PM
Posted from: Iquitos
My ayahuasca experience last night was one of the more humbling nights of my life. Remarkably, it seems, my ego decided to take on Mother Ayahuasca in some sort of a battle. Horrified, I watched the whole thing from the sidelines, feeling very annoyed with my ego for putting up such a relentless attack.
Things Get Better
- 13 Dec 07, 03:09 PM
Posted from: Wjint
We are making progress. Bruce is living in a house, not with Saris, but with an inscrutable hunter called Mantu and his family, Saris (Silas Marner) had second thoughts after his daughters told him they were scared of Bruce and didn't want him there. Poor guy, he looked dreadfully embarrassed.
To catch a fish
- 11 Dec 07, 02:11 PM
Watch Bruce preparing for a fishing trip with the Achuar people and attempting to spear a fish for his dinner.
Contact Impossible
- 11 Dec 07, 10:29 AM
Posted from: Wijint
We are here in Wijint and contacting the office is really difficult so we'll have to send all our website content when we're back in San Lorenzo...it seems impossible to send things with the transmission kit here - it takes 45 minutes for one file, which is just impossible when we're running it from a generator.
A Welcome from Warriors
- 9 Dec 07, 02:35 PM
Posted from: Wijint
Well, we got here at last, but haven't had the smoothest of rides so far. The Achuar seem pretty underwhelmed to see us and so far we're having some trouble working out how to make this film.
Film one nearly done
- 28 Nov 07, 03:24 PM
Posted from: Ashaninka Village near Catunga.
Thank God. It feels like we've arrived somewhere safe at last. We're in a tiny Ashaninka village four hours downriver and it is quite beautiful.
Party Problems
- 27 Nov 07, 03:23 PM
Posted from: Catunga.
We're having to leave the Ashaninka at this village in Catunga because there's a big celebration going on in the village, which means a lot of outsiders are present. These outsiders don't want the Ashaninka showing us areas of land over which there is conflict, and they've said that if they do there'll be trouble, so obviously we have to leave as the last thing we want is to endanger our hosts.
Amazon United F.C.
- 27 Nov 07, 03:12 PM
Posted from: Catunga.
Catunga is a weird place. Two years ago a local logger built a road through the forest and roads change things quickly around here. In return for the right to log the forest around Catunga, he built them wooden houses, probably made out of their own wood.
An Unannounced Arrival
- 26 Nov 07, 03:02 PM
Posted from: Catunga.
This is one of the most dangerous places we鈥檒l visit on this journey, a place entirely beyond the rule of law but if we are to follow the course of the Amazon River, from source to sea, then we have to come this way. We stood on the beach with our pile of boxes and giggled nervously.
The Ashaninka in the Red Zone
- 25 Nov 07, 02:58 PM
Posted from: Catunga.
We鈥檝e had a very strange day, even by our very high standards. We鈥檙e in a small settlement called Catungo, in the Apurimac Valley in Peru. We鈥檙e in what is known as the RED ZONE, a place deemed so dangerous and difficult that the local law enforcement agencies have given up on it.
Blowing up the Bossa
- 23 Nov 07, 02:10 PM
Posted from: Palma Pampa.
We had a great day today, out with the drug police blowing up coca labs. We should have got a really exciting sequence for the film.
Coca debates
- 10 Nov 07, 04:45 PM
Bruce has a tricky time harvesting coca leaves with Antonio鈥檚 family.
Mealtime and a Machete
- 10 Nov 07, 04:18 PM
Posted from: San Francisco area.
Almu has gone down with dehydration or a tummy bug and is lying on the floor in the dirt next to the tripod. We are looking a sorry sort of bunch in contrast to the young coca-collecting kids, who carry on in the stifling heat without one complaint.
Coca Harvest
- 10 Nov 07, 04:16 PM
Posted from: San Francisco area.
We arrived back at the hacienda and I鈥檓 now feeling nauseous and dizzy. I take some re-hydration salts as I鈥檓 probably suffering from dehydration and crash in my tent. I鈥檓 sick most of the night and having not slept I鈥檓 still dressed when we leave at 4am in order to travel and film Bruce waking up with the family back at Antonio鈥檚 hut.
The Shining Path
- 9 Nov 07, 02:28 PM
Posted from: Louisiana.
Our journey down here to Louisiana was interesting because there was a load of strikes going on in the area. One was the cocalero strike, which was a strike held by the coca growers because they feel they are unfairly treated and yesterday there was a trade union strike from all the workers of the area.
U Can鈥檛 Touch This
- 8 Nov 07, 02:20 PM
Posted from: Louisiana
Luis, our multitalented fixer-translator-local producer, has pre-warned us that we should do our utmost to arrive at our destination before dark. This is because the region we are heading for is the primary cocaine producing area of Peru and is pretty much lawless.
Journey to the other San Francisco
- 8 Nov 07, 02:18 PM
Posted from: En route to San Francisco
We leave early to hopefully avoid the roadblocks of the strike in a strict three-car convoy and within minutes each vehicle has been separated from the others. Today will be another long day with a 14-hour drive ahead of us. With no sign of barricades we escape the city for another day of careering around hairpin bends with epic drops.
Man Overboard!
- 2 Nov 07, 10:48 AM
Posted from:Machu Puente
Today started rather inauspiciously as I jumped into my canoe at the place where I left it last night and capsized after about half a minute on the water! I hadn't put my back-rest in properly, which was a little embarrassing, particularly because my confidence in the water had been so high yesterday, but I guess it's important to get a reminder that I'm not unsinkable!
A technical perspective
- 30 Oct 07, 12:10 PM
Posted from:Angostura
The altitude has been a shock but the source of the Amazon was amazing - water just spewing out of this wall. The mountains are covered with snow and the landscape here is totally epic. It's been really, really tough and it's very cold, so technical things like keeping batteries charged is a problem.
Sacrifice and blessing
- 29 Oct 07, 03:24 PM
Posted from:: Journey to Angostura
The last couple of days we've been staying with Rodolfo and his family in their ridge-top estancia near the source of the Amazon. Rodolfo is a strong, paternal figure and for me he epitomises the mixture of pride, kindness and toughness that is characteristic of the Quechua. His daughter is away at university, which takes a huge chunk of the family income, but the whole village is proud of her.
Ten llamas and a Donkey
- 29 Oct 07, 03:05 PM
Posted from: On the way to Angostura.
We have just started the trek from the source to Angostura with the llamas. It's a two-day walk, we have 10 llamas and a donkey, and it's been raining - a lot. Right now it's snowing, and it's miserable but the filming has gone really well because it's so beautiful here, and the footage will show this incredible place. We filmed the opening at the source rather than the glacier. It's just a trickle of water on the rock face and I still can't believe how this becomes such a huge sea of water.
Llama herders and Real Madrid
- 29 Oct 07, 02:54 PM
Posted from:On the journey to Angostura
We first met our family of llama herders in the dark. Three nights ago we approached a tiny encampment and there, standing in the gloomy light, were the shadows of the family of llama herders that we've spent the last few days with. They greeted us warmly, gave Bruce presents and invited us into their very cosy stone house.
Mutiny on the Mismi
- 28 Oct 07, 12:06 PM
Posted from:Base camp Mismi
David - our guide and translator for this section - took the opportunity to make an emotional offering to the mountain at the source and invited us all to join in. All of us found it equally moving and we each took three coca leaves and prayed to the Apus before making a request and then placing the leaves into the first waters of the Amazon.
The Big Opening
- 26 Oct 07, 12:02 PM
Posted from:The Source
Last time I blogged Almu and I were on our way to an Alpaca Shaving competition. The competition was in the beautiful and very rundown town of Ran Ran. Many people were dressed in traditional Andean outfits, and there were obviously a lot of alpacas around. The shaving competition was saved until the end of the day, and despite chewing lots of coca to combat the altitude we both felt less than good. Almu was soon dressed in traditional clothes and, not wanting me to be left out, someone soon found a spare poncho and hat for me to put on.
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About Amazon
Bruce Parry, presenter of the 大象传媒's Tribe, travelled the length of the Amazon to film a major new series for 大象传媒 Two, shown in autumn 2008. You can relive his journey online through exclusive blogs, video and much more.
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