New Village

It is now getting very exciting as the village is going to be built in a new location beside a lake, and will be centred on a large cocamera like the one shown here.

The point of this village is to teach visitors, like myself above, the traditional skills that are in danger of being lost.  The first group of volunteers will build this large communal cocamera and subsequent groups will expand the village.

This is inside another cocamera and here I am wearing the traditional dress of the Bora tribe rather than the Yagua in the first two photos.  This garment is made from tree bark, whereas the Yagua champa is made from palm fibre.

Traditional culture naturally includes dancing.  This is the life that was interrupted by the termites.

Esteban, the guide with whom we are working,  says the purpose of the traditional village is to preserve his tribe's culture, especially the grass skirt and the traditional life style and the use of natural remedies.  He made me a little hut to live in while I was at Amazon Curaca Camp. It had a round roof and two doors, which when shut made the hut completely black inside. I slept  on a ledge and for sheets I  used tree bark and rose at dawn and went to bed when it got dark, as there is no electricity. The toilet was natural and I washed in the  stream, the same as I would in the shower at home. I  used natural  soap and shampoo and had a wardrobe of grass skirts. It was intended that I would have a canoe, which I would use for checking the fishing nets every morning.  This will now be possible for the lake.

This is the inside of the cocamera.  The ledge for sleeping is on the left behind the little boy and below the blue mosquito net.

The grass skirt is the most comfortable thing I have ever worn.   Visitors to our new village will be able to learn how to make the clothing from scratch, how to use a blowpipe and all the traditional culture.  Esteban is particularly interested in teaching and developing the natural remedies that his tribe has been using for centuries. 

So people will have the opportunity of living the way I lived. Esteban will develop  new jungle walks that can be done with bare feet, and we shall build more traditional houses. My little hut (a cocamera) would be built off the main trail leading from the lodge complex, thus giving it complete authenticity. Esteban also said that groups would go to other places for a few nights, thus giving more people the opportunity to stay at the lodge. For example, there would be treks, visits to the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve and special courses to learn about shamanism and ayahuasca.