Travelling to Mavaca, Amazonas State, and living with the Yanomami Indians

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It was sometime between 1982 / 1983 when I was working on the Production of Diego Risquez film Orinoco Nuevo Mundo, when I was in charge of delivering two of the actors to this remote, distant location deep in the Amazon Jungle, called Mavaca. Here is a map of the location:

Mavaca is located on the banks of the Orinoco River, one of the longest rivers in South America, ( 2,140Km) second only to the Amazon River. It is thriving with all kinds of wildlife, both large and small.. There are piranhas, electric eels, pink river dolphins, and most especially manta rays, lurking on the banks of the river, ready to give you a sharp current or a tab in the foot if you are not careful. It gives sustenance to entire populations of Indians, mercenaries etc.. and is the equivalent in the jungle to the Autobahn traversing Germany.

We first needed to get to Puerto Ayacucho, the capital of Amazonas, by way of a small comercial airplane. After arriving, we found our way to the Hotel Amazonas, where we should spend on night before heading out to the encampment in Maraca. Hotel is an overstatement if ever there were one!!! When traveling to the interior of the country, particularly in those days, the farther one got from the Capital of Caracas, the more rustic and dilapidated your environment became. You really needed a sense of adventure to delve into places like this, and I was happy to be traveling with two men, granted, not very macho men, but males all the same. It is a macho country after all, and no matter how courageous a woman is, she is always at a disadvantage when surrounded by “macho men”. Specially when they look like me.. ( not wanting, but yes, tooting my own horn)

The rooms were minimalist and painted intense colors of green and blue . I’m guessing they wanted to convey the jungle feeling?.
One lonely light bulb dangled from the middle of the ceiling, giving off a strange hue and making all our skin look slightly greenish in tone. The climate in this part of the country is densely humid and very hot. Along with that one dangling light bulb, there was a free standing fan to thwart off mosquitoes and perhaps give one the illusion that it would cool you off.. Which of course it didn’t. This only accentuated the stickiness even more. We took to alcohol as our recompense for having made the arduous journey here, after all!! Spirit of choice? Why Rum, of course! Rum is cheap and abundant, and as producer ( ha!) I needed to be cautious with our funds..
The hangover was daunting and debilitating ever the more so because of the intense heat and humidity.. Shame on me!! But I always get the job done!

I needed to purchase a number of supplies to take with us deep in the jungle. Simple things, like batteries for flashlights, ham and cheese, mosquito netting for the hammocks, raincoats, repellant and other items which my memory fails to recall after 35 years! And I also needed to find a private pilot with small plane to deliver us to the location.. I was carrying a good amount of cash because in those days, there were neither cell phones or ATM machines, period.. My director and I had spoken days prior when he was in this same town, agreeing upon when I would be collecting our “actors” and taking them to Mavaca.. So, he had an approximate idea of when to expect me.. Other than smoke signals, no really, there was no other way to communicate with him anything! Well, actually there was an emergency CB radio located with the Priests that also inhabited this small isolated spot of the planet. Kudos to them!! They served as spiritual advisers ( ok, they were mercenaries spreading the word of their God) but also they were teachers, health advisors and sometimes even midwives.. I had by the end of my two weeks there, nothing but the utmost respect for these men!

Here are pictures of the children of the village.
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My experience for the two weeks I spent with these beautiful people, far removed from the dangers and contamination of the modern world ( I have not returned therefore i do not know how the village is today 35 years later) well, It enriched me and changed my perspective on so many things that to this day, I feel rewarded in the knowledge that I was fortunate to live this incredible journey. It was an experience like nothing else I had until then known. They were for the most part pure joy. The men basically hung out in their hammocks all day, took care of the little ones,

and the women worked by farming the basic food supply which is plantains and river fish

I cannot close this article without posting a picture of Rafael. A young man, who chose to follow me around most days. I know what he was alluring at.. he was after all at that age… But, even though the temptation was great, my better sense overcame.. I hope you see what an incredible beauty this young man was as I saw it:

And last but not least, this threesome, the two actors and I after a couple of days on scene:

I hope this has been at the very least a pleasant visual trip..