More wild lands stories
From Theodore Roosevelt's 1914 book "Through the Brazilian
Wilderness"
By these rapids, at the fall, Cherrie found some
strange carvings on a bare mass of rock. They were evidently made by men a long
time ago. As far as is known, the Indians thereabouts make no such figures now.
They were in two groups, one on the surface of the rock facing the land, the
other on that facing the water. The latter were nearly obliterated. The former
were in good preservation, the figures sharply cut into the rock. They consisted,
upon the upper flat part of the rock, of four multiple circles with a dot in
the middle (O), very accurately made and about a foot and a half in diameter,
and below them, on the side of the rock, four multiple m's or inverted w's (M).
What these curious symbols represented, or who made them, we could not, of
course, form the slightest idea. It may be that in a very remote past some
Indian tribes of comparatively advanced culture had penetrated to this lovely
river, just as we had now come to it. Before white men came to South America
there had already existed therein various semi-civilizations, some rude, others
fairly advanced, which rose, flourished, and persisted through immemorial ages,
and then vanished. The vicissitudes in the history of humanity during its stay
on this southern continent have been strange, varied, and inexplicable as
paleontology shows to have been the case, on the same continent, in the history
of the higher forms of animal life during the age of mammals. Colonel Rondon
stated that such figures as these are not found anywhere else in Matto Grosso
where he has been, and therefore it was all the more strange to find them in
this one place on the unknown river, never before visited by white men, which
we were descending.
This area is in Brazil,
and they were exploring a previously unmapped river.
Here's an abbreviated trip report from a fellow searching
for Patiti in the Amazon Rain Forest in Peru.
I just returned
the end of last week, and I am amazed (and a bit perturbed with myself) at how
quickly I get enmeshed in the daily runaround of rushing off to work, rushing
home, rushing off to evening job, etc. and etc.
The expedition had as its final goal, before setting off from Cusco, the following:
-To as quickly as possible reach the Lago de Ángel that we identified for the first time in 1999, then revisited briefly in 2004 (both times having been transported to the Lago de Ángel area by helicopter), and then to leave the pack-animals and go off on our own to push our way to the north-northeast, to eventually meet the valley of the Río Timpía at a point just north of our furthest point reached when we went as far down that valley as possible in two weeks, walking along the course of the river below in order to follow the trajectory of the "Camino de Piedra" that continues along, ever northward, along the left wall of the valley, at a mid-point in the bosque de nubes between the river, below, and the highlands, above. There we would check out the continued route of the Incan Road of Stone, as well as the distinct possibility of an archaeological site nearby.
We were going to meet the mules at Sacramento, a precipitous area of campesino chacras overlooking the Río Yavero, below, an area at least relatively close--as the harpy eagle flies--to Lago de Ángel, at least in its being directly south of the Lgo de Ángel area.
But, as it turned out, we were unable to contract or arrange with an arriero from that area. So we would have to enter from an area, Lacco, much further to the southeast of the Lago area, because that was the area that had an arriero con mulas that we could contact and make tentative arrangements with.
So, from Cusco, we went there by vehicle, after a delay finally were joined by arriero and mulas, and headed on, to the northwest, climbing and climbing and climbing, broken by stepp and muddy and high-grass swampy areas, muy acidentado. After a few days, the territory was too difficult for the mules, as well as for one of the younger fellows hired in Calca to help carry equipment and assist Paulino. The arriero, his mules, and one of our assistants thus left, leaving us with an overabundance of weight to carry ourselves. Paulino, of course, carried the weight that ordinarily would be carried by almost three men, but the rest of us were really weighed down too.
After more days that were, for me, almost as difficult--because of the type of territory--as the Río Taperachi in 2006, we finally, totally wet and chilled from the cold, the altitude, the daily rains and hail, reached the Lago. It had become obvious that, because time was running out and the territory between Lago de Ángel and our meeting with the Río Timpía to the north-northeast would be even more broken and acidentado and slow-going than that through which we had just pushed ourselves, it would not be feasible to go off and reach that goal.
So, we had to come to terms with making the most of where we were, and where we would be able, this time, to reach. So we more fully explored the very mysterious and unique Lago de Ángel area. This lake is a rarity in the highlands, in that it is more like a Scottish loch than an Andean lake--it is steep-sided and angular, with wine-dark waters that seem to be very deep, with a shore line that appears in places as if it were carved in order to be so straight. And the highland cloud-forest overlooking it is replete with a tumble of caves. In 1999 we had found what seemed to be a triangular stone monolith in one of the caves; in 2004 we had tried to find it again, but couldn´t. But now, we did find the cave, but upon more close examination found that the triangulat stone was in fact not attached to the cave wall, and more likely was a natural slab that had fallen into its strange position from the ceiling oif the cave above. We documented and photographed other of the definitely man-made stone platforms that were at the entrances to some of the caves. The entire area appeared to have functioned as a ceremonial area, as everything found there appeared to be for ceremony rather than for pragmatic use.
Then we headed off to the northwest, to the area of the large ceremonial area of "Último Punto" that we came to and documented in 2004. The intervening years with the encroaching vegetation, and an apparent attempt by, perhaps, some wandering cowboys to "huaquear" (to sack, to dig up treasure from) the site, had all conspired to make what had been a very impressive plataforma into yet another nearly indistinguishable pile of stone rubble. We also climbed the nearby peak, where there had been a low star-shaped platform in 2004; it as well was harder to distinguish, covered in much vegetation, but was at least still intact.
From here we would begin our return, having decided to in fact go directly south from here, to return by way of what would have been our initial staging point if we had been successful in locating and contacting an arriero from there, Sacramento. From there we would zip to the east along the course of the Río Mapacho/Yavero, to find ourselves again in Lacco, to meet with the vehicle from Cusco with which we had arranged a pick-up at the very place the driver had left us off weeks before.
That return trip south certainly seemed just as difficult as the journey northwest had been, and we found the area so waterlogged that it was like traveling in high, cold, precipitous highland swamp, with it very difficult to find a suitable campsite each night. But somehow, because of Paulino´s unfailing judgement and discernment, it did always somehow fall together at the last possible minute just before darkness fell.
Finally we reached sacramento, after the most acidentado descent ever, during which both the Italian with us, as well as myself, injured our knees (not so much from one particular fall, but rather from the cumulative effect of many falls, many wrenchings, many multi-hour constant steep descents...
In Sacramento we found the chacra of Mario, one of our arrieros from 2004. He just happened to arrive there that day from a journey down the valley, and next day we headed on, staying at this and that isolated campesino settlement, until we finally reached Lacco and eventually were joined by our hired vehicle and driver from Cusco, and back to Cusco, by way of Quebrada and Lares, we went.
(I gave my camera to Paulino, for him to use throughout the year, so I have no photos to transfer to computer at the present moment.)
The expedition had as its final goal, before setting off from Cusco, the following:
-To as quickly as possible reach the Lago de Ángel that we identified for the first time in 1999, then revisited briefly in 2004 (both times having been transported to the Lago de Ángel area by helicopter), and then to leave the pack-animals and go off on our own to push our way to the north-northeast, to eventually meet the valley of the Río Timpía at a point just north of our furthest point reached when we went as far down that valley as possible in two weeks, walking along the course of the river below in order to follow the trajectory of the "Camino de Piedra" that continues along, ever northward, along the left wall of the valley, at a mid-point in the bosque de nubes between the river, below, and the highlands, above. There we would check out the continued route of the Incan Road of Stone, as well as the distinct possibility of an archaeological site nearby.
We were going to meet the mules at Sacramento, a precipitous area of campesino chacras overlooking the Río Yavero, below, an area at least relatively close--as the harpy eagle flies--to Lago de Ángel, at least in its being directly south of the Lgo de Ángel area.
But, as it turned out, we were unable to contract or arrange with an arriero from that area. So we would have to enter from an area, Lacco, much further to the southeast of the Lago area, because that was the area that had an arriero con mulas that we could contact and make tentative arrangements with.
So, from Cusco, we went there by vehicle, after a delay finally were joined by arriero and mulas, and headed on, to the northwest, climbing and climbing and climbing, broken by stepp and muddy and high-grass swampy areas, muy acidentado. After a few days, the territory was too difficult for the mules, as well as for one of the younger fellows hired in Calca to help carry equipment and assist Paulino. The arriero, his mules, and one of our assistants thus left, leaving us with an overabundance of weight to carry ourselves. Paulino, of course, carried the weight that ordinarily would be carried by almost three men, but the rest of us were really weighed down too.
After more days that were, for me, almost as difficult--because of the type of territory--as the Río Taperachi in 2006, we finally, totally wet and chilled from the cold, the altitude, the daily rains and hail, reached the Lago. It had become obvious that, because time was running out and the territory between Lago de Ángel and our meeting with the Río Timpía to the north-northeast would be even more broken and acidentado and slow-going than that through which we had just pushed ourselves, it would not be feasible to go off and reach that goal.
So, we had to come to terms with making the most of where we were, and where we would be able, this time, to reach. So we more fully explored the very mysterious and unique Lago de Ángel area. This lake is a rarity in the highlands, in that it is more like a Scottish loch than an Andean lake--it is steep-sided and angular, with wine-dark waters that seem to be very deep, with a shore line that appears in places as if it were carved in order to be so straight. And the highland cloud-forest overlooking it is replete with a tumble of caves. In 1999 we had found what seemed to be a triangular stone monolith in one of the caves; in 2004 we had tried to find it again, but couldn´t. But now, we did find the cave, but upon more close examination found that the triangulat stone was in fact not attached to the cave wall, and more likely was a natural slab that had fallen into its strange position from the ceiling oif the cave above. We documented and photographed other of the definitely man-made stone platforms that were at the entrances to some of the caves. The entire area appeared to have functioned as a ceremonial area, as everything found there appeared to be for ceremony rather than for pragmatic use.
Then we headed off to the northwest, to the area of the large ceremonial area of "Último Punto" that we came to and documented in 2004. The intervening years with the encroaching vegetation, and an apparent attempt by, perhaps, some wandering cowboys to "huaquear" (to sack, to dig up treasure from) the site, had all conspired to make what had been a very impressive plataforma into yet another nearly indistinguishable pile of stone rubble. We also climbed the nearby peak, where there had been a low star-shaped platform in 2004; it as well was harder to distinguish, covered in much vegetation, but was at least still intact.
From here we would begin our return, having decided to in fact go directly south from here, to return by way of what would have been our initial staging point if we had been successful in locating and contacting an arriero from there, Sacramento. From there we would zip to the east along the course of the Río Mapacho/Yavero, to find ourselves again in Lacco, to meet with the vehicle from Cusco with which we had arranged a pick-up at the very place the driver had left us off weeks before.
That return trip south certainly seemed just as difficult as the journey northwest had been, and we found the area so waterlogged that it was like traveling in high, cold, precipitous highland swamp, with it very difficult to find a suitable campsite each night. But somehow, because of Paulino´s unfailing judgement and discernment, it did always somehow fall together at the last possible minute just before darkness fell.
Finally we reached sacramento, after the most acidentado descent ever, during which both the Italian with us, as well as myself, injured our knees (not so much from one particular fall, but rather from the cumulative effect of many falls, many wrenchings, many multi-hour constant steep descents...
In Sacramento we found the chacra of Mario, one of our arrieros from 2004. He just happened to arrive there that day from a journey down the valley, and next day we headed on, staying at this and that isolated campesino settlement, until we finally reached Lacco and eventually were joined by our hired vehicle and driver from Cusco, and back to Cusco, by way of Quebrada and Lares, we went.
(I gave my camera to Paulino, for him to use throughout the year, so I have no photos to transfer to computer at the present moment.)
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