A sign of the times…..

We took the dinghy and went exploring. All along the shore line of the islands around the anchorage were beautiful water lilies. I suppose we shouldn’t have been surprised as it is fresh water, but it is the first time we have sailed in fresh water and it takes a bit of getting used to.

Beaujolais is enjoying her frequent deck washes, normally she doesn’t get one unless we are in a squall, but as we are in fresh water we can do it as often as the mood takes us.

As we went along we passed local people in the dugouts, either fishing or laying crab pots. Some of the children paddling the canoes could only have been 4 or 5 years old.

Noticing a small creek, we went to investigate. It was eerily beautiful, cool and shady.

In parts there were no sounds at all. In others you could hear only the insects and in others the birds. We cut the engine and paddled part way to enjoy the jungle sounds.

Huge trees towered above us. Growing on them were various vines, lichen and bromieliads.

We were told today that some of the Johnny Wiesmuller Tarzan films were filmed in the Rio Dulce, you could see the ‘Tarzan’ vines hanging down everywhere.

Surprisingly, we saw very few birds (though you could hear there were plenty around) and even fewer animals.

I had read about the Bioscope and Mantee reserve which also had jungle trails and natural history exhibits, so we went further afield to find it.

When we got there it looked suspiciously deserted. We tied up and walked up to the buildings….still no one around, but there were a couple of leaflets on the ground that didn’t look that old.

Upon reaching the building we saw it was indeed deserted, but worse than that it had also been vandalised.

We followed one of the jungle trails and saw the huge beautiful mahogany trees, then came to a camping area which lead down to the creek we had just been exploring. 

All the time we were there I had an uneasy feeling, like something bad had happened. At first we thought that the research project had run out of funds and simply been abandoned and left to the vandals.

But then, when we found the office with all the furniture there and all the paperwork strewn about the place it became very clear that the funding hadn’t run out. Even when projects end, people always take the paperwork with them and invariably sell the furniture and equipment etc. No this was something different.

It was a sad sign of the times as a lot of work had gone into the project and it had been done very well, so it had obviously had a lot of money pumped into it as well. I still felt uneasy, so we left.

I have to say the weather is beautiful, but very hot and humid so on the way back to the boat we stopped by a little restaurant for a drink. A beautiful little girl came and took the painter, she can only have been about 4 or 5 and looks like she could have been the inspiration for Dora the Explorer, she certainly had the same attitude.

Roger wasn’t too impressed when he found out all they served was Mineral water or Lemonade!!!!!!!

Today we stopped by the restaurant at Texan Bay and found out what had happened to the Bioscope. Recently there has been a lot of civil unrest in the Rio Dulce area.

Apparently, the government had taken some land from the some people promising that when the government changed they would give it back to the local people. Correct me if I have got it wrong but this was part of the electioneering campaign. Well of course they never gave it back and now the people are rising up to take it back.

The leader of these ‘rebels’ was put in prison recently and a couple of months ago the police in Livingstone were attacked by locals as a result. Norman, (remember the guide that ripped us off in Livingstone?) told me it was the first time he had ever heard of the police running away from rioters!!!

When that was unsuccessful, they then kidnapped 2 Belgian tourists in order to secure the release of their imprisoned leader. The government refused to deal and thankfully the hostages were released unharmed. It transpires that the Bioscope is another victim of the unrest.

On a brighter note, it is extremely hot here and we still have our little birds, who, despite us trashing their nest, continue to stay on board trying to establish ownership of the boat.

 In addition to our resident ‘stowaways’ we have also been appointed the local fishing lookout for the Herons/egrets (notice our 2 stowaways in attendance)!!!