day 8 – past Peves

day 8-

A cloudy day. yay. We make good distance and pass Peves where there is a military checkpoint. A story often told to us in Iquitos was of two or four Japanese people who floated downriver on a raft some years ago. At Peves they were detained and killed, possibly decapitated, by the military. Some say its because they didn’t have a permit, (there were many opinions on whether or not you need a permit to navigate the river if your boat doesn’t have a motor. Turns out there is no permit.) others say its because they were carrying $2000 dollars and the soldiers, who were just rowdy brutish boys in uniforms, wanted the money. Pass the military base half expecting a volley of shots to strike us down out of nowhere.

Stop past Peves. The whole community helps bring our gear into a nearby house. It’s occupied by a man and some boys. People tell us the man’s wife is in Peves. Man tells us he has no wife, only a dog and wants us to pair off with him and his little brother. He hangs in his hammock, his eyes lingering over us, and touches himself as he talks to Nina. Perve man. But apart from that he invited us to eat fish he’d brought from his net and it was delicious, succulent and flavorful. When the river provides the peasant fisherman of the Amazon eat like they’re fine dining in a gourmet restaurant.

Me rowing and fish out to dry in front

washing clothes on the canoe because basically we live on it

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