Spirit of Maqroll
28 July 2005 (Thursday) – To Manaus, Brazil
Today is the second month anniversary of my travel! And I am ‘celebrating’ it, I supposed, by gazing at the Amazon River. As it was the first day, many people still seemed rather enthusiastic about it. So, after breakfast, everyone came right out to gaze as well. I found myself right in front of the boat-driver in the restricted area. But since no one came to shoo me away, I stayed right up there alone.
Wow… finally, the famous BROWN Amazon River. So, this is it!!! Of course, as I stared at all that was around me, I wondered why am I doing this? To take this riverboat ride that most other Brazilians whom I had talked to had turned green at; had baulked at; had blinked twice, three times at… The brochure had read – Share a tiny toilet, dining and sleeping area with perhaps, more than 300 passengers, including screaming babies and temperamental toddlers… Eat shitty food cooked by unimaginative chefs with limited resources… Have such close contact as to get contaminated by one another’s flu viruses… Smell one another’s smelly feet, etc… Sounds fascinating. That’s why I signed up for the trip!
Seriously, I don’t know why. Perhaps, I just like to confirm all of the above experiences, haha… But from last night to now, my thoughts kept going to Maqroll el Gaviero (Maqroll the Lookout), a character created by Colombian writer Alvaro Mutis – the ubiquitous wanderer and adventurer, a latter-day ‘Don Quixote’ who seemingly always finds himself in various unfortunate encounters as he meanders from the Amazon jungles to the Andean peaks and to other parts of the wide wide world. Even when he finds himself in some horrible situations with absolutely no way to escape, he gets a lucky turn SOMEHOW and comes out alive. I know he is JUST a character in several novels but I had really enjoyed reading them and I think I feel the spirit of Maqroll in me now, as I face the Amazon River. Somehow. May his spirit keep me in good humour throughout the ride.
When the riverboat travelled down a narrower stretch of river, we saw many small wooden boats up ahead. Some were rowed by Indian women, others by children. Some were even rowed by very small children, like 5 or 6 years-old. A few just had 1 little child. They probably learnt how to row before they knew how to walk. Others, had up to 8 children, including infants who had just learnt how to sit up straight. Many of them were letting out high-pitched Indian cries and were waving at us with one or two hands. Their waves were also rather curious. It looks more like a beckon to me, when you put your palm out and move your wrist in a up-and-down direction.
So, curiously, as the riverboat progressed, these wooden boats kept coming up to meet us. A few people tossed plastic bags at them into the river. Gifts?? How odd? Who had prepared them? Some of the little boats even used hooks to latch onto our riverboat. Thereafter, the children or teenagers would secure their boats and climb onboard. Some came to sell things, others to beg.
I spent my day reading, watching the river and lying in the hammock… I think this would pretty much be my routine over the next 5 days.
Later after dinner, I returned to the front to watch the sunset. Yes, the sun was setting later and later as we were heading west. Now, the river in front of me was really WIDE. I had a huge huge smile on my face. How can one try and capture the beauty of this, the expanse of the brown water rippling quietly all around you, the horizons of greenery on either side, beyond which are unimaginable ageless jungles and the MEANING of this trip? It seemed almost a joke to try and take a picture with a camera, to try and use that to articulate your feelings here and now! You really can’t take the Amazon away to your friends and family home. You just can’t. Either they come to witness it, experience it, feel it, be intoxicated by it. Or they will never feel how you are feeling now.
Tags: 04) A River Runs Through It, Amazon River
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