Moral Dilemma at Boca da Valeria

Jan 3, 2012

Boca Da Valeria – Mouth of the Valeria

Boca Da Valeria is a small, typical Amazon village located (as the name clearly states)  where the Rio Valeria joins the Amazon.  The village is made up of around 75 permanent residents and they live in the raised wooden homes seen all along the river system. You are not likely to be able to locate it on a map. The majority of their living is made through fishing and a bit of handicraft sales and the sale of some fruits and vegetables during the dry season.

Here is the moral dilemma we faced – is it fair for 500 people to descend on a village of 75 and poke around their homes and habits? Much as we ache to learn more about their lives and their families and their knowledge – we couldn’t bring ourselves to play tourist in their homes and pass them small change and pens and whistles and things. It smacks a little too much of trading beads for furs.  The hardest thing for me was that the children of the village have as pets various species of local wildlife including monkeys and sloths. I really wanted to see a sloth up close and personal. I did see one yesterday in the wild curled up in a tree fast asleep but he/she was mostly hidden under a nice leaf blanket and was doing a great impression of how not to be seen in the Amazon. 

Before you (or I) judge the people who went to Boca da Valeria too harshly, be aware that we were assured that the village had come to an agreement with the cruise company to allow this and to demonstrate various things like the processing of manioc and how their homes look on the inside. Still – we couldn’t do it so we watched the comings and goings from the ship. Many of the villagers came out in various and sundry canoes and paddled around the ship – mostly teenagers. I think it is pretty much the equivalent of teens at home cruising in their cars and pick-ups and showing off for each other and the crazy white folk. One family came out with mom, dad and a small boy and his pet sloth which we viewed admiringly from too great a distance. It is very hard to tell with sloths whether this was stressful or just another day hanging out asleep. I would like to believe that the sloth would rather have been napping in a shady tree rather than being passed around a boat rather casually. ( the picture below is of dad and child "passing the sloth")

High points from the day? Well, Boca da Valeria is located in an exquisitely beautiful setting that we enjoyed most of the day. We also had the very real treat of seeing PINK dolphins busy fishing in the river around us. There are only estimated to be around 800 of these in the Amazon Basin so this was a rare treat indeed. And we saw them many times along with their more common grey counterparts.

We also had opportunity to learn more about some of our dining neighbours. There is a table of Brits that sit next to our table at dinner and they are great fun and we have been slowly getting to know each other as the days go by. One of the couples, as it turns out operate a very large farm (>2000ac and 1400 sheep) and they concentrate on growing renewable fuels. Turns out he does speaking engagements around the world. Well, you know what happens when one farmer runs into another… I suspect strongly we will be learning much more from each other before the voyage has run its course.

 We have now weighed anchor and will not stop again until French Guyana on the Atlantic coast. It will take 2 days to get there with much jungle and river between there and here.  We are in an archipelago of islands at the moment and you can clearly hear the sounds of the rainforest from our balcony as we glide by.  It is becoming obvious that the river has started to rise as flooded forests (Igapos) are becoming a more common sight. It amazes me that they survive the annual flooding as it comes nearly to the top of riverside trees and they are in relatively deep water for 6 months of the year.  It is quite the difference from our little patch of desert at home to say the least!

Until tomorrow -