I've just walked into the vast expanse of water that is the Atlantic Ocean to give my last piece to camera of the whole shoot. I collapsed into the water, exhausted and somewhat lost for words. It wasn't deep as the beach went on for ages, so I just lay there in the shallows with the odd ripple of water washing over me, feeling tired but content. I tasted the water and sure enough it tasted completely fresh - hardly a hint of oceanic saltwater at all. So the Amazon is still master of this area. People tell me the fresh water continues for many miles out to sea and up and down the coasts. Quite remarkable really.
We've done it. We've reached the port of Belem, the gateway of the Amazon, where the mighty river finally meets the Atlantic Ocean. There was a great atmosphere on the boat as we pulled into port at sunrise. Everyone's thoughts are naturally turning towards home, and despite the weeks of exhaustion there's a lovely light feeling in the air.
Posted from: Largescale Biosphere and Atmosphere (LBA) Research centre, 2 hrs north of Manaus Rigging the ropes for a 45m climb
Bruce is with two 'arbonaughts' (expert tree climbers James and Ollie) from the UK, trying to get a rope into the tree so he can spend the night up in the canopy.
Bruce travels along the Transamazonica Highway, an unfinished 5000km long roadway with only 175 km of tarmac, initiated in 1970 with the aim of opening up the Amazon to development. Read Sol's blog about travelling the highway.
Posted from: Jacare
The pirarucu is the largest scaled fresh water fish in the world. It is emblematic of the Mamiraua Institute because of the successful management programme they have implemented, which has increased the stocks of this once endangered fish very successfully in the reserve. It has become emblematic of our shoot too because for days we have been trying to catch one.
Posted from: Jacare
Of all the travel shoots I have been on this has been one of the most fun. It could be Matt's calm, patience and gentle direction, or Keith's super agreeable mood and hilarious jokes, or maybe it's Zubin's mischievous streak, or Bruce's capacity to get us all discussing our deepest thoughts on how to reorganise society or Dudu's endless tongue-in-cheek stories about how he always catches the biggest fish or handled cayman with his bare hands (he has all the scars to prove it, but do we believe him?).
Posted from: Jacare
We all loved the second community we visited, but Bruce became attached to one particular member of the community - a small black kitten. This was no ordinary kitten, it was the hardiest and toughest kitten we had ever seen.
Posted from: Jarauara Community - Rio Japura.
The Priest was right. He's a Catholic and entitled to be I suppose. The Catholic faith is massively on the resurgence here. Maybe they all believe his theories on mosquitoes. Not a part of my body is munch-free.
Posted from: Alvaraes - Rio Japura
Can鈥檛 wait to get off this river taxi - and its lesson on one of the dark sides of my favourite place. I wonder what became of those three hopeless horrified men in their chains. Fifteen years in some rank jail ahead. Still musing, I visited the wheelhouse and we promptly crashed into a floating village. The sound of splintering wood and groaning corrugated iron.
Posted from: On the Tabatinga 鈥 Tefe passenger boat
Our film started on a river boat on the 8th of March. This is a passenger boat that takes some 200 people up and down the Amazon River between Tabatinga on the Brazil/Colombia border and Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is a four day journey to Manaus, but for us a two day journey as we were jumping off in Tefe, half way through the trip. The boat had three decks, the first and second quickly filled up with hammocks, the third one was for socialising, not sleeping. It had a bar with very loud Brazilian forro playing all the time and a huge sun deck.
Posted from: Tabatinga
I鈥檝e never blogged before. It won鈥檛 be easy following some of the most wonderful writing you will have read so far. I prefer to be quiet behind my camera and film stuff 鈥 like quiet and shy people do 鈥 and leave the writing to those who are gifted at it.
Posted from: Logging Camp nr Atalaia
Today we joined the loggers for some tree felling. It was a long walk into the jungle again and then once a tree was selected it was all hands on deck to clear an area for it to land. The loggers are so confident in their abilities that they prepare for exactly where it will land every time.
Posted from: Parana
An amazing sunset disappeared behind the longhouse while inside a night of Marubo line dancing was just kicking off. Philippe informed Rob that Robson the shaman was to later use his shaman powers to treat a young boy who was very ill, so we made ready our equipment for what could be an interesting evening.
Posted from: Parana
While in the Marubo village we have set up our camp inside a portakabin-style hut that they use as a school. We are of great entertainment to the village and there are always a few Marubo who are happy to sit, chill and smile at us. It鈥檚 quite a stinky smelling place, full of hammocks and our eating area. Today Bruce and Philippe will move out and into the longhouse to spend a few nights as guests of a family. Apart from Rob with his asbestos-strength insides, we鈥檝e all been slowly going down with tummy bugs - and the sight of one of us lying on the floor or running for the bushes has not been an uncommon sight. Even Bruce, who never gets ill, is suffering.
Posted from: Parana
Day two of the tickling ceremony and excitement was growing as we followed the group of men down to the riverbank. Bruce was right in among them as they climbed into a canoe. There were already too many people in it but we really wanted this sequence so Pete and I crammed ourselves in and kept filming.
Posted from: Parana
The tucandeira ant ceremony is an ancient ritual designed to test the strength of the young warriors of the tribe. The Marubo believe that enduring the searing pain of the ant sting makes you a stronger person and a better warrior.
Posted from: Parana
The heat was sweltering and an excitement was building around the village as the men and women had separated into two groups and from a distance were making eyes at one another. The groups were about 100 metres apart with the men standing proudly in a line and the women up a slope huddled together and giggling and pointing at the men. Bruce was stood in the middle of the line of men wearing matching white beads and body paint. Pete and I were filming some shots among the women and they were quite flirty and funny.
The team head off to collect ants for a traditional ant ceremony
The Marubo ant ceremony involves the poisonous tucandeira ant. Participants first dig up the ant from the roots of trees and then pierce its thorax with a stick. They then wipe the ant over red dots they have drawn on their body so that it stings them. The ceremony involves singing Marubo songs with the shaman.
Posted from: Parana
It's very humid already today and spent this morning with a group of villagers on the trail in the search of tucandeira ants. These are to be used in a ceremony later today when the men of the village go through a painful ritual. The ants are also nicknamed 鈥榖ullet鈥 ants because of their painful sting. The braver the warrior, the more stings he will endure, in the more sensitive body places. Bruce has been invited to take part so about 20 of us are walking in a line through the jungle on this most unusual of hunts. It鈥檚 a real family event with elders, women and kids joining the group.
Posted from: Aurelio just outside of Tabatinga
Once we left the Matis village we are back onboard our three boats again to travel further up river to the head waters with the goal of visiting the extremely remote Marubo tribe. Things didn't start well when the engine of our boat packed up before we had even left the river bank. The gasket had blown but, not to be beaten, our fantastic driver Mario tipped out his toolbox and announced that we should not worry as he would make one from spare parts. In the meantime we all sat tight and the process of being eaten alive by sand flies began.
Posted from: Benjamin Constant
I was asked recently what I was reading in a photograph, so I thought I'd list some of my reading material for your amusement. It's a bit telling I'm afraid.
I'm going to try and get the rest of the team to do the same.
Posted from: Benjamin Constant
All the crew are feeling very hungover again today after a fourth night of heavy drinking and dancing at carnival. The Brazilians certainly know how to party, and I'm proud to say we鈥檝e been holding our own and keeping up rather well. We鈥檙e in a small logging town called Benjamin Constant, on the border of Brazil, Peru and Columbia where they have a long-standing tradition of cross-dressing for carnival.
Posted from: Benjamin Constant
I should have know what was coming when Rob praised my long black dress with its pattern of colourful flowers. He had a vision and he would not let go of it. Saturday the 5th, the first day of Carnival, Laura and I spent a couple of hours looking for accessories for our boys to wear. We, "the English", and especially Bruce had to impress.
Posted from: Benjamin Constant
In the Amazon I feel very English at times. Saturday is the first carnival night. They said 8pm and there we were - fed, cleaned and waiting for carnival to 鈥渉appen鈥 - whatever is to happen, we just want it to happen in time. Ah鈥he pace of the Amazon really tests our nerves. Even I, who has been to this place so often and knows that in Brazil things run to a different rhythm, get irritated.
Posted from: Benjamin Constant
The big shoot tonight will be following Bruce as he enters the Benjamin Constant Carnival Beauty Pageant. Rob and I arrive early evening to film a time-lapse shot of the arena as preparations are underway and the dusky sunset turns to night. I set the camera to record one frame every six seconds so that when the image frames are played back at the normal 25 frames per second (as is the normal frame rate) the transition of dusk into night, with clouds whizzing across the sky, appears 300 times faster. As we wait for the time-lapse to record, the band and compere test the sound PA for what is sure be a night of Brazillian mayhem.
Posted from: Benjamin Constant
We filmed Bruce walking around the corner to the Bloco football match and we were met by quite a sight. A loud cheer went up to greet us from the friendliest bunch of Brazillian men who were halfway through putting on their dresses, wigs and makeup. A beer can was thrust into Bruce's hand and he was instantly embarrassed as the newest member of the football team.
Posted from: Benjamin Constant
We are back on the river today, which feels great. It's just a 20-minute ride to the small riverside town of Benjamin Constant where we will be spending the next four days filming carnival. Brazil is about to go carnival crazy so it should be a fun shoot ahead.
Posted from: Iquitos Airport
Well, we've finished film two and so we're officially a third of the way through the series. It's been bloody tough but also pretty fantastic. We've seen and filmed some amazing things, made some incredible friends and passed through some of the most spectacular landscapes on Earth.
Posted from: Iquitos
My ayahuasca experience last night was one of the more humbling nights of my life. Remarkably, it seems, my ego decided to take on Mother Ayahuasca in some sort of a battle. Horrified, I watched the whole thing from the sidelines, feeling very annoyed with my ego for putting up such a relentless attack.
Bruce takes ayahuasca under the guidance of Percy Garcia Lozano a shaman trained in its use. This clip contains some scenes of a strong nature.
Ayahuasca is used in medicinal rituals in many cultures of the Amazon Basin. Bruce experienced the ceremony first with the Achuar in Wijint and also here near Iquitos, with the healer Percy Garica Lozano. Find out more about ayahuasca
A sudden downpour as Bruce prepares to take ayahuasca
Ayahuasca is used in medicinal rituals in many cultures of the Amazon Basin. Bruce experienced the ceremony first with the Achuar in Wijint and also here near Iquitos, with the healer Percy Garcia Lozano. Find out more about ayahuasca.
Posted from: Ayahuasca Retreat Nr Iquitos
Standing under the dark night, washed in floral water and freshened after the day's walk to the ayahuasca retreat, this is one of those rare moments of reflection on a shoot. The jungle pours in around me with its clutter of insects and flow of the stream, illuminated by the occasional firefly. After three months in Peru, this is the last section of our second film to be shot. The thought of it being over seems implausible.
Posted from: Iquitos
We鈥檙e on the Amazon at last! Even though we鈥檝e travelled well over a thousand miles since we started this epic journey, the river has always been called something else 鈥 Apurimac, Ene, Tambo and so on. Yesterday morning we hit the confluence of two massive rivers 鈥 the Maranon and the Ucayali - and at that point the river became officially known as the Amazon. It felt like quite a big moment for our bedraggled little team. It鈥檚 taken us three months to get to this point and we鈥檙e not even in Brazil yet!
Posted from: Andoas
All the long days on the river and the ever-changing logistics and rainclouds above seem worth it today. What a perverse claim to make as we look out on the oil-spilt banks of a stream. Black snakes through the muddy water and clings to all it touches. Rain runs down our faces and over the polluted ground towards the Corrientes River. Words are inaudible in the downpour but the scene speaks for itself.
Posted from: Wjint
We are making progress. Bruce is living in a house, not with Saris, but with an inscrutable hunter called Mantu and his family, Saris (Silas Marner) had second thoughts after his daughters told him they were scared of Bruce and didn't want him there. Poor guy, he looked dreadfully embarrassed.
Posted from: Wijint
We got up pretty early to trek to the fishing spot. It was a bit of an epic trek! There was loads to carry: I had a basket full of leaves weighing about 20kg, which I鈥檇 strapped to my head and we had the massive Z1 camera.
Bruce didn鈥檛 experience Ayahuasca visions this time. Find out more about the Ayahuasca vine, which has a ritual use for healing and is used by the Achuar to give visions that provide understanding and power over the self and the external world.
Today is my big day for searching for a vision. I can鈥檛 express how important it is for me to get this right. I鈥檝e done a lot of research on this subject and I鈥檓 facing the day with mixed feelings.
Posted from: Catunga.
We're having to leave the Ashaninka at this village in Catunga because there's a big celebration going on in the village, which means a lot of outsiders are present. These outsiders don't want the Ashaninka showing us areas of land over which there is conflict, and they've said that if they do there'll be trouble, so obviously we have to leave as the last thing we want is to endanger our hosts.
Posted from: Louisiana.
Today we went to a coca base lab, which is where coca leaves are turned into cocaine base. It鈥檚 a highly illegal activity and the Peruvian Military and the American Drugs Enforcement Agency both run armed raids from helicopter and vehicles to find people doing this type of work.
Posted from: Louisiana
7.20 am: We walk 10 minutes up through the woods and come to a small clearing with a wooden house. A very poor-looking mum and dad with six scraggly young children greet us. They look somewhat puzzled by our motives and the driver quickly reassures them so it鈥檚 happy hand shakes all round.
Posted from: San Francisco area.
Almu has gone down with dehydration or a tummy bug and is lying on the floor in the dirt next to the tripod. We are looking a sorry sort of bunch in contrast to the young coca-collecting kids, who carry on in the stifling heat without one complaint.
Posted from: San Francisco area.
We arrived back at the hacienda and I鈥檓 now feeling nauseous and dizzy. I take some re-hydration salts as I鈥檓 probably suffering from dehydration and crash in my tent. I鈥檓 sick most of the night and having not slept I鈥檓 still dressed when we leave at 4am in order to travel and film Bruce waking up with the family back at Antonio鈥檚 hut.
Posted from: Louisiana / San Fransisco
At about 4pm we all meet up and take a 30-minute drive to join up with a family of coca growers. It has been difficult for Luis to find a family who are happy for us to film them, as they are very aware that the growing of coca is controversial and they do not wish to get into trouble with their community.
Posted from: Louisiana.
Our journey down here to Louisiana was interesting because there was a load of strikes going on in the area. One was the cocalero strike, which was a strike held by the coca growers because they feel they are unfairly treated and yesterday there was a trade union strike from all the workers of the area.
Posted from: Abancay.
Today the rapids seemed to get even bigger. After lunch we reached one of the biggest, a grade 5+ called 'Tooth Ache', named after a large rock at the bottom that resembled a tooth. This was by far the most dangerous rapid to be tackled so a good recce was carried out first. Our head guide had the perfect spot for me to film from, on a small ledge of rock right opposite the tooth and straight above a mad torrent of foaming water.
Today was by far the biggest day on the Apurimac! Before today we'd been having fun rafting down grade 3 and 4 rapids - my first experience of rafting and I loved it! The crew were alternately rafting and filming and everyone was just getting the hang of manipulating the boats and enjoying themselves.
Posted from:Tocador.
After an early start and long drive we met up with our white water rafting guides and set out to explore one of the high Peruvian tributaries of the Amazon. This leg is going to be particularly difficult when working with the camera equipment as we need to capture great shots of white water rafting yet not destroy our cameras at the same time.
Posted from:Machu Puente
Today Bruce hit the water for the first time. He was joined by Eric - a local Olympic canoeist for the Peruvian team. He guided Bruce by canoe through the spectacular Tres Canyones while we shot some wide shots as they paddled past Inca ruins. The light out here has a lovely golden warmth so is a gift to shoot in.
Posted from:Machu Puente
Today started rather inauspiciously as I jumped into my canoe at the place where I left it last night and capsized after about half a minute on the water! I hadn't put my back-rest in properly, which was a little embarrassing, particularly because my confidence in the water had been so high yesterday, but I guess it's important to get a reminder that I'm not unsinkable!
Posted from:: Journey to Angostura
The last couple of days we've been staying with Rodolfo and his family in their ridge-top estancia near the source of the Amazon. Rodolfo is a strong, paternal figure and for me he epitomises the mixture of pride, kindness and toughness that is characteristic of the Quechua. His daughter is away at university, which takes a huge chunk of the family income, but the whole village is proud of her.
Posted from: On the way to Angostura.
We have just started the trek from the source to Angostura with the llamas. It's a two-day walk, we have 10 llamas and a donkey, and it's been raining - a lot. Right now it's snowing, and it's miserable but the filming has gone really well because it's so beautiful here, and the footage will show this incredible place. We filmed the opening at the source rather than the glacier. It's just a trickle of water on the rock face and I still can't believe how this becomes such a huge sea of water.
Posted from:On the journey to Angostura
We first met our family of llama herders in the dark. Three nights ago we approached a tiny encampment and there, standing in the gloomy light, were the shadows of the family of llama herders that we've spent the last few days with. They greeted us warmly, gave Bruce presents and invited us into their very cosy stone house.
Posted from:Base camp Mismi
David - our guide and translator for this section - took the opportunity to make an emotional offering to the mountain at the source and invited us all to join in. All of us found it equally moving and we each took three coca leaves and prayed to the Apus before making a request and then placing the leaves into the first waters of the Amazon.
Posted from:Mismi
After a couple of days walking and acclimatizing we got to the source yesterday. After reaching 5,200 metres we filmed our first shots of Bruce walking through the dramatic high Andes landscape and describing the start of his journey.
Posted from: The Source
We have started! Yesterday we had our first filming day at the source, which is incredibly beautiful. The mountains seem like cardboard cut-outs against a brilliant blue sky and we've been taking some lovely shots. It's been a real reminder to me of how brilliant this team is. Matt Norman, the cameraman, has an extraordinary eye for a good picture and I'm loving my first trip with Zubin, who has a contagious sense of fun.
Posted from:The Source
Last time I blogged Almu and I were on our way to an Alpaca Shaving competition. The competition was in the beautiful and very rundown town of Ran Ran. Many people were dressed in traditional Andean outfits, and there were obviously a lot of alpacas around. The shaving competition was saved until the end of the day, and despite chewing lots of coca to combat the altitude we both felt less than good. Almu was soon dressed in traditional clothes and, not wanting me to be left out, someone soon found a spare poncho and hat for me to put on.
Posted from:Cusco
Here we are! The team and I have been out in Peru for about five days and I'm now sitting in blazing sunshine in Colca lodge in the High Andes. Ever since I've arrived I've been overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of Peru, from the temples in Cusco to the incredible mountain scenery of yesterday's fifteen-hour drive.
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About Amazon
Bruce Parry, presenter of the 麻豆官网首页入口's Tribe, travelled the length of the Amazon to film a major new series for 麻豆官网首页入口 Two, shown in autumn 2008. You can relive his journey online through exclusive blogs, video and much more.
