brazil
Dortmund , Bogotá Millonarios all feature — the men lift their tops above their protruding bellies to help relieve the jungle heat . They offer us a semi-cold bottle of beer , and a spot on the floor close to the decadeold World Cup rerun on TV . We stay long enough to have a drink and to make our introductions , but my mind is on the meal that ’ s taking shape in the next room .
We all sit down together as steaming piles of meaty grilled fish , freshly fluffed rice and mounds of soft yuca arrive . Pulling the bones hurriedly from hunks of the Amazon river monster , the group wastes no time in indulging in one of the jungle ’ s best dishes .
On a bough beside our table , chomping on a juicy cocona fruit , a black howler monkey perches unperturbed . He watches occasionally , his charcoal eyes largely uninterested . We lock eyes over the milky guanabana juice — he stretches out his gangling limbs and drops the pit to the forest floor , eyes now darting around the table for his next treat . We finish and leave him , and the lodge , behind , and head on foot into the forest ’ s interior .
It isn ’ t dark inside the Amazon , it isn ’ t muddy . You don ’ t have to fight your way through thickets or clamber between trees like a Latin Tarzan . We have space to move around in the isolated world of the forest floor , approaching colossal trees and eclectic plants that build up from the earth to the viridescent ceiling . As Juan leads the way , he hacks at many of the trees we pass . Struck with the ease of a lifetime of experience , each machete cut yields useful saps , some yellow , some white , one tinged pastel pink . Juan accompanies every hit with a quick lesson in local medicine — he uses the shapumvilla to control bleeding ; the leaves of the cordoncillo to numb wounds and serve as an antiseptic . He shows me saps for infertility , for curing cancer , for stemming addiction .
Juan confidently tells me that they have no need for modern medicine here . images : awl images ; getty
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