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After breakfast we left
Cock-of-the-Rock and continued our trip by road down to Atalaya. It took
about 4 hours to cover roughly 60 miles. The road actually goes as far
as Shintuya which is where trips normally put into the river, but the road
ahead is apparently in bad shape, and there is a river crossing that even
the 4-wheel drive pickup would not be able to make. The road runs along
the Koshnipata and joins the Rio San Pedro (below). That eventually joins
with the Tono and the Piopine to form the Alto Madre de Dios just below
where we put in. This portion is at an intermediate level below the cloud
forest but above the jungle floor, so the water has some rapids for the
first part of the trip.
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Pilcopata (above) is
the last town of any size before Atalaya, and the last chance for snacks
or soft drinks.
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When we got to Atalaya
our river pilot Dionisio was there waiting for us. Our Cargo included a
large plastic cistern for the native staff quarters at the Manu Wildlife
Center. And a boat motor for a man (red hat) from Dionysio's village. Dionysio's
brother-in-law Ricardo (blue & white shirt) acts as his assistant.
Hunkered down in the floor of the boat behind Karen and next to the motor
is Ricardo's wife and two children who we will be dropping off at their
village. The tour operators provided nice box-lunches of chicken with a
vegetable dish and fruit for us and the staff, but their was nothing aboard
for the woman and children. Luckily the portions were huge, and Fabi is
a vegetarian, so there was more than enough to go around. Ricardo's wife
Catalina was shy, and if she understood Spanish, she made no indication.
Dionysio is Matsiguenka, but he is married to Ricardo's sister who
is Yine. Matsiguenka make up the largest portion of indigenous people that
live within the Manu Reserve. The majority of the river pilots are Matsiguenka.
Dionysio lives at his wifes village. I tried to determine if these were
tribes that practiced matrilocality, but Fabi thinks it is just because
it is closer to work.
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The course of these
rivers change almost daily, and Ricardo has a constant eye out for shallows,
sand bars, and submerged logs. The pole is used to sound for depth.
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NEXT
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