Madre de Dios: the people

After our descent down the mountain road, we prepared to board a boat at Atalaya on the Madre de Dios River, a major tributary of the Amazon.

Peter, supplies and our boat

Our boat was well equipped with life-jackets and an extra  motor.  Supplies were were loaded for our four day expedition. Besides hiking in the jungle, this was to be our principle means of travel for this portion of our journey.

Among other things, a sign at the dock warned travelers not to point cameras at uncontacted tribes that live in this area: they might be considered to be weapons.

Vigner, our guide, said that we would not likely encounter them as they live deeper in the jungle than we will be going but a park ranger had received an arrow in the back a couple of years ago!

The villagers we met along the river, including our boat drivers, were from local tribes that had adapted to modern life.

Below are a few portraits of these kind people we met along the way.