Rio Roosevelt Centennial Expedition Archives - Page 2 of 3

Locals gave us a hand around dangerous rapids

Last night we fell asleep to the rumble of the Panelas Rapids. In the morning our first job was to figure out a way around the half mile long, dangerous rapids. Roosevelt found a local man to guide his party safely past the rapids and we did the same thing. Several locals led us down a narrow side channel and helped us portage our canoes and equipment around the worst of the rapids. It took us about an hour to carry everything around.

Hercilio holds a small snake that likes to live in the trees.

We paddled on for the rest of the day and only encountered a couple sections of fast water. Our next major rapids is 40 miles downstream.

Jack and Hercilio caught 3 large piranha just before dark in the exact place we were all bathing a few hours before. It makes you think twice about swimming. However, it is really hot, and piranha bites are very rare. I think our chances of getting a fungal infection or a painful rash from poor hygiene are far greater than being bitten by a piranha.

Meet our new fine-feathered team member

We camped at a vacant riverside farm. Lovely place. The Rio Roosevelt wraps arounds an island here with rapids and big rock outcroppings on both sides. Hot day so were in and out of the water, frolicking in the swift current. The same pools produced our dinner — grilled pirahna laced with sliced lemon, compliments of s tree where we pitched our tents.

Over dinner we celebrated Ercilio’s 48th birthday. A fun-loving guy full of good cheer and playful antics, he’s also a fine chef and with his friend Jacinto looks after the camp kitchen. After his birthday dinner he entertained us with his “berimbau,” a long single-stringed instrument that resonates through a gourd. It is played with a stick and a stone, and produces a grand total of two notes. But we managed to share hours of American and Brazilian folk songs to the beat of that odd instrument.
Our paddle today took us through a large braided rapids. Running it proved a challenge for a few of our crew and we got separated amongst the braids. We awaited their arrival at a native farmstead below the rapids. The family offered us a basket of lemons and a rooster so we bought them with plans for a lemon chicken dinner. But when we continued our paddle the rooster perched himself on the stern of a canoe like a cackling stevadore and quickly became a source of team entertainment. He even gained a name: Salvador. You will be pleased to know that he’s now our official expedition mascot and is not destined for the cookpot.

Tonight we’re camped at a tiny native settlement above a mile-long stretch of roaring rapids. Our tents are set in a yard alongside the general store. Villagers come & go through the evening buying supplies or playing snooker on the veranda pool table. The kids are intrigued with our ipads and sat phone equipment. And Salvador is being challenged by the resident rooster. So we’ve found him a perch high above the chickens and guinea pigs scurrying about the grounds. Our team is enjoying a round of cold beers after a day in the scorching equatorial sun. Concerns about how we’ll negotiate this long stretch of rapids will have to wait till morning.

Paddling our first rapids on the Rio Roosevelt

Today we paddled around a bend in the Rio Branco and the Rio Roosevelt came into view. Everyone howled with joy. After over a week of stops and starts and even flying over the Rio Roosevelt we were finally descending the river that President Theodore Roosevelt’s party explored 100 years ago. One of our goals is to see how the river has changed over the last 100 years. Is it still the wild and remote place that Roosevelt encountered?

Yesterday we encountered rubber tappers, just as Roosevelt did in 1914. We have encountered a few farms in the region, but large tracks of land remain wild and undeveloped. In fact, we recently learned that anthropologists discovered an uncontacted tribe living near the Rio Branco several months ago. The Brazilian government is setting up a reserve similar to the Cinta Larga reserve so that the uncontacted tribe will remain undisturbed and can continue to live as they have for centuries. Those people were probably living in this region when Roosevelt traveled through.

Goal Zero solar panels supply all the power we need to charge our electronic devices.

The Rio Roosevelt is a grand river, with rocky islands and numerous rapids. This afternoon we navigated 3 rapids. All of the rapids were small enough that we were able to descend them safely in our canoes and did not have to portage. We are camped at the base of the last rapids. I am listening to the dull rumble of the rapids and watching the sun dip below the horizon as I write this. I can see President Roosevelt sitting in this place writing in his journal.

Tapir sighting and a warm day

The current began to accelerate and the dull roar of a large rapids was audible 1/4 mile from the falls. We surprised a tapir swimming across the river and got some great photos of it before it scrambled out of the water and disappeared into the thick jungle. We landed on the right side of the river to scout the rapids and found a 10 foot falls that would require a short portage. Paul and I crossed to the left side of the river and found an easy portage. We radioed the rest of the team to tell them about the easy path that we had found, but they decided to stay on the right side of the river and hack a trail through the forest. We quickly unloaded our 4 Sea to Summit 120 liter Hydraulic Dry Bag backpacks and carried them 30 feet across a rock shelf.

After 5 minutes we had our canoe loaded at the base of the thundering rapids. We sat in the shade and watched the rest of the group complete the portage for about 40 minutes and then they were finished we hopped in our canoe and met up with them so that we could continue down river together. Paul found a nice pool to lie in and let the cool water wash over him for several minutes.

The heat is really intense here and from 10 AM to 3 PM the sun really beats down on us. We stopped early on a large sandbar because we don’t expect to find large sand beaches on the Rio Roosevelt. We are very close to the Roosevelt and with any luck we will reach the Roosevelt early tomorrow morning. Paul and I startled a small caiman shortly before reaching our camp, it darted into the water as soon as we noticed it. The animals are amazing. The biodiversity here is hard imagine. Every day we see new things and I look forward to seeing what awaits us tomorrow.

Wedding ring bee sting

Last night there were a lot of bees at our campsite. They were not aggressive and as long as you let them lick you and didn’t try to swat them, they did not sting. Unfortunately Tonico and I both had bees land on our hands. We must have squished them by accident because we were both stung right by our wedding rings. I took mine off because I was worried my finger would swell. Tonico left his ring on and his finger swelled up like a ballon. After 18 hours it was still very swollen so we convinced him we should cut it off. Paul used hacksaw blade to cut the ring. Don’t worry Celine his finger is fine and he still loves you.

Tonico’s newly shaped wedding ring.

Tambaquis, piranhas and electric eels, oh my!

This morning we pushed off from shore and let the current grab our bulging canoes. The swift current helped us travel 25 miles relatively easily. There were many small rapids, but we were able to navigate them with having to portage. A portage is when you have to carry your canoe and all your supplies around a rapid. We saw many animals today, including howler monkeys and lots of macaws. Hercilio caught a large tambaqui, which is a fruit-eating fish. It has large flat teeth that it uses to crush the seeds that it eats. Paul caught his first piranha. We are going to eat the tambaqui and piranha for dinner!

A howler monkey clambers down a branch along the riverbank.

We also paddled past a small Zoro Indian village today. We did not see any people, but we saw a palm thatch hut and a school boat tied to shore. The right side of the river belongs to the Zoro Indians. Eleven percent of Brazil has been set aside as reserves that are controlled by the indigenous people. Most of the indigenous people in the Amazon have regular contact with the outside world and many indigenous people live in towns or cities, have T.V., cars, computers, and other modern conveniences. However, anthropologists estimate that there are about 60 uncontacted tribes still living in the Amazon.

Dave shows off the sun protection provided by his ExOfficio BugsAway Cape Hat.

Brazilian Believe it or not! An electric eel surfaced alongside our canoe today. It is one of the Amazon’s most amazing critters — It packs a punch and can send a 650-volt electric jolt that kills or stuns the fish it preys on. That’s 6 times the voltage that powers your house and, as you know, even a shock from house wiring can be deadly. Fortunately, electric eels don’t generally choose people as prey. However, a participant on a canoe expedition down this same river system about 10 years ago reported getting zapped by an eel while swimming. Apparently, that eel just wanted to say hello because that lucky swimmer noted that the mild zap he got felt “mildly pleasant.”

Paul is super comfortable in his MTI Adventurewear Slipstream PFD and ExOfficio SolCool shirt.

Paul eats piranha for the first time

By the time the sun began to burn through the blanket of fog coating the Rio Branco Farm, our team had the cars packed. A 5 minute drive brought us to the Rio Branco. We quickly unloaded all of our supplies. Tonico, Eurico, and Baca headed back down the primitive road to drop off the three cars in Cacoal. If everything goes as planned, they will hire a car to drive them back to our campsite this evening. The rest of our team is waiting at the campsite. I can’t imagine driving that road three times – we will have to do something special for the drivers.

Hercilio caught and cooked the first Piranha this morning and we marched into the rainforest and harvested a heart of palm to eat for dinner.

The water’s edge is laced with Tapir tracks, and hundreds of butterflies dot our campsite. It feels so good to be in the rainforest, surrounded by towering tees. We’re all looking forward to launching our canoes and heading deeper into the forest.

An odd twist of fate

We awoke in the remote Brazilian town of Pimento Bueno this morning to an odd twist of fate. We anticipated that our entry point to the fabled Rio Roosevelt would be determined at a meeting in a tribal Cinta Larga village a few dozen miles away. But instead it was determined by tragic events in the nation’s capitol, Brazilia, a few thousands miles away.

Yesterday, hundreds of Amazonian Indians had gathered there to protest the government’s lavish spending on Brazil’s hosting of the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament, rather than on health & education services for native peoples. Ugly confrontations erupted — involving teargas, guns and even bows & arrows. Sadly, casualties resulted.

Overnight the tension rippled to our village. Among the protestors were Cinta Larga chiefs, including our key contacts. This morning federal police here in Pimento Bueno advised us not to enter their lands, even if they granted us a meeting. And so “Plan B” was put into play.

We continued down the highway towards a Rio Roosevelt entry point beyond the Cinta Larga reserve. A country road took us deep into rural Brazil. We passed expansive ranchlands cut from the jungle, sleepy farm towns, horse carts & friendly folks keen to point us in the right direction. But hours into our odyssey the road steadily deteriorated as long stretches of steamy jungle became more frequent and we finally got all 3 vehicles mired in a deep muddy quagmire.

Fortunately, a lorry piled high with farm workers on their way back to the “fazenda” happened along. In the dark, they helped extract us from our dilemma and alerted us to a nearby farmstead where an alternate river access might be available.

That quagmire brought another odd twist of fate because tonight we hit the jackpot at the “Rio Branco Fazenda.” Farm hands at this 30,000-acre ranch greeted us — 8 mud-caked surprise guests — with a warm welcome, a hot meal, warm showers, and a bunkhouse. They also alerted us that easy access is available through their farm fields to the Rio Branco, a jungle river that will take us to the Roosevelt. So with a little luck sometime tomorrow we will reach water’s edge.

Seeing the Rio Roosevelt for the first time

We are still waiting to meet with the Cinta Larga and get permission to paddle through their reserve. We have been communicating with them for several months, but have had trouble setting up a formal meeting with the chiefs to gain permission. We are hopeful that tomorrow will bring positive news and our waiting game will end.

Today we rented a small airplane for an hour and flew over the Rio Roosevelt. It was spectacular, wild, and as beautiful and challenging as I imagined. We got some good video footage. Here is a 1 minute video clip that Paul took with his iphone. I look forward to sharing more polished videos when we get off the river.

I also just wrote a blog post for the Wilderness Classroom, which includes some photos from our flight. Tomorrow is a big day, I hope we get permission to pass through the Cinta Larga’s land.

Paddles Up!

Dave

Traveling to the Rio Roosevelt Headwaters

We are doing well and have about 400 miles left to drive to get to the Rio Roosevelt.

While driving, our group got separated and we are staying in hotels about 50 miles apart. My computer and communication supplies are in the other vehicle and so I can’t upload our usual Notes from the Trail. I’ll provide a more detailed update later today or Tuesday.

We are already seeing a bunch of animals, especially birds. We saw a flock of 10 to 15 Blue and Gold Macaws today.