Other Week: Day 9

Original Post: Ledesmo Does Lunch
Date: January 26, 2010 at 10:12 AM 

When I was working in the flooded forests of the Rio Ucayali in the mid-1980's (see Umberto Pacaya and Grias Predated), lunch in the field would usually involve fariña (the coarse, toasted meal of cassava), several (large) spoonfuls of sugar, and enough water from the river to get the mixture to the right consistency. Known in Brazil and Peru as "xibe", this simple, midday carbohydrate fix is eaten throughout lowland Amazonia. You mix the whole thing up in the plastic bowl that you brought to the field specifically for this purpose - or you just use your hardhat - and carve a little spoon out of a piece of wood. Ledesmo, one of the field assistants, demonstrates the proper technique for slurping down xibe in the image above. [NOTE: Bunch of things to notice in this photo: the bags of fariña and sugar in the bottom of the boat, the collecting pole (see Herbarium Specimens), the beautiful paddle carved from remo caspi (Aspidosperma excelsum Benth.). Christine and Miguel helped with the spelling of "xibe" - or maybe "xibê" (thx, guys)].

The Water Was Up to Here

José Tuanama showing how high up the water came last year (1985) in this floodplain forest. The tree he's pointing to, Number 22, is one of the Spondias mombin trees that was measured for fruit production (see Yield Studies). Wonderful to be gliding through the mid-canopy of the forest in a boat when the Rio Ucayali floods. [NOTE: I can remember scooping up handfuls of Spondias mombin fruits out of the water (and eating them) as we paddled by. The sight of thousands of bright orange fruits bobbing up and down in the water was one of the best parts of studying the reproductive biology of this tree].      

Ledesmo Does Lunch

When I was working in the flooded forests of the Rio Ucayali in the mid-1980's (see Umberto Pacaya and Grias Predated), lunch in the field would usually involve fariña (the coarse, toasted meal of cassava), several (large) spoonfuls of sugar, and enough water from the river to get the mixture to the right consistency. Known in Brazil and Peru as "xibe", this simple, midday carbohydrate fix is eaten throughout lowland Amazonia. You mix the whole thing up in the plastic bowl that you brought to the field specifically for this purpose - or you just use your hardhat - and carve a little spoon out of a piece of wood. Ledesmo, one of the field assistants, demonstrates the proper technique for slurping down xibe in the image above. [NOTE: Bunch of things to notice in this photo: the bags of fariña and sugar in the bottom of the boat, the collecting pole (see Herbarium Specimens), the beautiful paddle carved from remo caspi (Aspidosperma excelsum Benth.). Christine and Miguel helped with the spelling of "xibe" - or maybe "xibê" (thx, guys)].

Overnight Boat to Jenaro

The overnight boat from Iquitos to Jenaro Herrera (see Jenaro Herrera) would frequently be extremely crowded. And once all of the places to tie your hammock were taken, people would start laying out their blankets and towels on the floor under the hammocks.  I remember on one particularly crowded trip I had a mother and small baby sleeping directly under me.  I was so worried that my hammock would come untied that I never got to sleep. And crawling through this chaos to get to the bathroom (the little louvered door shown in the background)...

[NOTE: The boat that I usually took, Ferry's, was owned and operated by - you are not going to believe this - Noé, or Noah, Ferry. And Elysa (see Aurelio y Luz and Chota Family) and I were such regular, faithful customers that they gave us a beautiful bouquet of plastic flowers as a wedding present.]

Fisherman

This young man was leaning against the wall of Peña's store (see Jenaro Herrera) with his fish one afternoon when I came back from the field.  Noteworthy, because this is the exact place where I would collapse to catch my breathe every day after returning from the field before walking the five kilometers back to the CIJH field station. Thought it deserved a photo. [NOTE: The fish are piranhas].