TripTracker.net - 2009 Trans-Amazon Expedition, Chipaota

Preparation, Preparation, Preparation The Final Countdown El Mercado Mira Flores La Selva Chipaota The First Leg: Chasuta to Yurimaguas Pacaya Samiria Reserve The way to Iquitos to Leticia The Slow Boat to Manaus Difficult Questions

RainforestPartnership

2009 Trans-Amazon Expedition

Chipaota

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Sep 27 2009, 08:19 PM

13 photos

2 comments

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Traveler

RainforestPa-
rtnership
Austin, Texas, United States

Journal

Location

Yurimaguas, Peru

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Chipaota is a collection of cane huts with thatch roofs and dirt floors centered around a mud path that leads to the Huallaga River nestled into the buffer zone of one of Peru´s national forests. During the day the children go to school; the men, clad in rubber boots and armed with machetes go to tend their fields; and the women stay at home to cook, clean and wash clothes on the banks of the Huallaga. They have no electricty, no running water, and one refrigerator that runs on a gas generator to keep the beer cold. This is the meager lifestyle they wake up to in the morning, and they´re the most generous and caring people we´ve met so far.
We set our hammocks up on the second floor under the tin roof of an unfinished house open on all four sides. Around five every morning we were awoken by the sounds of crowing roosters, barking dogs and children shouting ¨hola Gringo¨ while passing by. The second day we were there a neighboring community came over for a festival, the highlight of which was the futbol game between the men from each community. I presented them with a gift, a new soccer ball and pump we had brought from the States and the game began. After that many people would come up to me to tell me what an important thing that soccer ball was to them. After the game everyone gathered an enormous pot of a white, frothy drink called Masato. Masato is made from yucca that is chewed and spit out by the women of the village and allowed to ferment and tastes something like milk mixed with club soda and a hint of sour yogurt. They dip large mixing bowls into the pot and pass them around, dumping anything remaining back into the pot. We were a little reluctant to drink it for fear of getting sick, but were more reluctant to refuse for fear of offending the community. The next day I went fishing with some of the village kids and they taught me how throw the nets they used. We didn´t catch much, but it was a great opportunity to learn from these people. In the afternoon we had a swim race across the tributary to the Huallaga that flanks the village. We wagered cigarrettes and I came in second. For the remainder of our time in Chipaota I woke up early and learned how to cook the common ingredients of the region and spent the day working with the men who were building a casita in the village. We returned to Chasuta to see how the boat we commissioned was coming along and made some last minute modifications to the design.
Now we´re back in Tarapoto again for the skype conference and to buy some last minute supplies. We´ve spent two day in Tarapoto. I love this place but I´m ready to go. I´m tired of waiting; I want to be on the river.

Photos

09/27/2009
08:19 PM

09/27/2009
08:25 PM

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Comments

She's everywhere!

Written by lizgold 29 months ago

This comment was modified by lizgold 29 months ago

Joseph,

The people in Chipaota are beautiful but noticed that the little girl is playing

with a Barbie...little girls are the same all over the world, I guess.

Sounds like you're enjoying getting to know the villagers and learning

to live like a native. Hope your boat is finished soon. We love reading your

journal, keep the messages coming. Love, Beth and Robert journal

YOOO

Written by patrickmer10s 29 months ago

What else is a fridge good for other than keeping brews cold anyways? Diggin the journals man hope you're having a great time, sorry i missed the skype session. Next Blues Mafia newsletter we send out is gonna have a big "Donate to Joe's Trans-Amazon Expedition" link on it. Keep it real man. -Pat

	11. Difficult Questions Jan 26 2010, 03:26 PMSanta Fe, United States, New Mexico10 photos When people from home ask me about people from the river, I always tell them about the teacher's wife. We had been staying in Chipaota for the better half of a week, living and working with the men and women of the community and trying as best we could to assimilate ourselves...

	10. The Slow Boat to Manaus Nov 29 2009, 09:39 PMManaus, Brazil14 photos We had made it to Leticia, the end of our paddling leg, but we still had a long way to go to get to Manaus. Leticia is a Columbian town situated on the tri-border of Peru, Columbia and Brazil. As soon as we set foot on the banks of Leticia and climbed the wooden steps that led to the central...

	9. to Leticia Nov 17 2009, 09:21 PMLeticia, Colombia37 photos Paddling the final few meters into Porta Masusa in Iquitos was like stepping into another world. We rounded a bend in the river out of the ether a mass of lights and urban sprawl lay ahead of us. We spent four days surrounded by the concrete and grime of this lost city dropped in the middle of the...

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