One of the gals attending this cruise with the Women’s Travel Club was invited to contribute to this blog. She comments on the rain, the children, the jungle, the trees, the earth, time, primitive living and the lap of luxury.
Today was the perfect rainy day in the rainforest. Our first time walking on the red earth. Tiny tiny gravel, almost clay. Seeing the rock that is beneath the earth. How shallow the earth covering is for the rainforest to exist. To see how primitively these people live on the land.
We are 1000 miles down the Amazon River and going deeper and deeper into the jungle. Some trees have to live with in 8 meters of water, for up to 7 months of the year. The homes on stilts, abandoned for now, this season. The frames of the houses will be present when the water recedes.
What is it like to be these children? To be displayed and used as merchandising, advertising … To earn money for the family. It is one thing to earn a dollar. It is another to sell your child and or ask them to beg. Who teaches that look of hunger and sweetness in the brown eyes of their children? And like the animals of the jungle, so we pass on our values and behaviour to our young for our survival and theirs. And what of the exploitive nature of this behaviour ? When does it end and where does it lead?
We all feel sad about the film display of the cutting of a tree in the forest, clearing the land for agriculture and farming. Like the movie Avatar we feel deep sadness for the land we are resting on.
Lap of luxury in this floating resort way down the Amazon River. This cruise, the food, the comfy beds and crisp white sheets. He soft fluffy towels and thick plush robes. The delightful afternoon tea every day at 4 pm. The complete lack of awareness of the day of the week, the date of the month. Even the time changes are barely noticed, although I enjoyed the extra hour of sleep last evening. In a few days I will give it back:).
Orbit Trekker: Explore the World