Pure Jungle II is how we titled this last post dedicated to the journey through the Amazon by Pablo Rodríguez, here he describes his final experience, unfortunately an unknown bacterium did not let him finish his adventure, then he describes us as it has been.
The filmmaker Werner Herzog wrote that the jungle is “a nature that annihilates the plaintiffs and the strong with equal ferocity” I say that this is true. He also wrote that “here the birds do not sing, they scream in pain in an unfinished landscape abandoned by God in a fit of rage”. And that is true again. We went to the jungle to cross it whole. Navigating through three different countries, in several tributary rivers, visiting small communities and several types of vessels. Many hours surfing, talking, reading, writing and contemplating nature. We were here for the largest river in the world. In the tropics. A very crazy place. A myth.
Navigation is always exciting. The boats sail precariously on a fluvial bottom that changes depth, the pilots know the river even in the morning fog, with the constant danger of storms and under the protection of the banks in the darkest nights. But the real danger is not the wild animals, the floods of the river or the feared pirates. Here people live surrounded by malaria, dengue, dysentery and a catalog of punk tropical diseases and a heat that tires the soul of the Amazon.
For me, talking about the Amazon is now a bit difficult because we did not have much luck at the end of the trip. We could not reach the Atlantic Ocean and bathe in its waters. It would have been magical. Nor could we navigate the section that goes from Santarem do Pará to Belem do Pará. It is true that we did not have anything planned and that we resolved everything day by day. And that in the Amazon there is no time and you can do only what the river lets you do. You get used to living without destiny, without health and smile every time the pink dolphin jumps. The river is an illusory paradise.
Text and images by Pablo Rodríguez.
