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Barry Chernoff, Antonio Machado and Philip Willink
seine off a small, sandy island in the Kakada.
Photo Credit: Jensen Montambault |
I looked like a drowned rat for the four hours we traveled south up the río Erebato to the río Kakada through a driving rain. How does an unwieldy dugout canoe navigate five sets of rapids? The answer is simple – expertly.
With an extra gas tank, hand carved paddles, and a lot of skill (and eight inch wide slats for seats!), we skimmed in and around the rocks, each covered with water lettuce and a few twisted trees that looked like bonsai.
I wiped the sunscreen out of my eyes and the AquaRAP team spread out to sample a sandy island, rapids and a creek – Caño Suajiditu.
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Jensen Montambault reviews the day's pictues as an
audience accumulates behind!
Photo Credit: Barry Chernoff |
PEOPLE: Meet co-team leader, Barry Chernoff.
TOOLS: See the D-net in action.
SPECIES: And you thought piranhas had sharp teeth.
In seven hours of river travel, we passed only one boat and the small settlement of Cushime. This region is truly remote.
Returning to camp, I joined the other women to bathe in a small sandy cove near where the curiares are tied. Finally, I set up my computer on a cooler full of acids and other water quality chemicals, and sitting cross-legged on the cement floor and started to identify the day's digital photos.
"Is it movie time?" Mariapia asked me. Only then did I realize that all of the Ye'kwana had formed a semi-circle around me to watch the day's activities in photos.
— Reported by Jensen Montambault
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