Diamante

After breakfast we continued down river toward Manu. After about three hours we arrived at Dionysio's village of Diamante. This group of Yine practice some agriculture and they also own the land where the Boca Manu airstrip is located. They benefit somewhat from the departure tax, so they are much better off then some villages. There are two brick buildings in this village, both of which are schools where local children learn Spanish. There is also a generator so the village has lights until about nine each evening. Still, many activities continue to be carried out in the traditional way. When we arrived, it was laundry day at the docks.

The top photo shows a typical hut in Diamante. Bottom, these kids seemed only mildly interested in our presence.

Fabi was desperately hoping that we would get by this group of men without being called over. It was the day after Mother's Day, and apparently these guys were still celebrating. They were drinking bowls of massato and, if offered, it is considered a grave insult not to accept. Fabi said that we should try to explain our position about alcohol, but she would have to imbibe because she was a frequent visitor here, and if she did not, she could never expect any kind of help from any one in the village. We explained that we did not use alcohol so they suggested we just take a small drink. Massato is a drink that is made from manioc root. Traditional Massato gets its fermentation when the root is chewed by village women and then spit into jars. This massato was pink which indicated that it was fermented from the sugars in sweet potato. It tasted none the less foul.

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