The people of Arajuno have a great place to raise all their food. People along the way in the mountains had to carve out enough space for a vegetable garden. the river flood plain is a great gardening area. This picture shows the footbridge across the river.
The river is wide and shallow. I am not sure how much rain it would take to get this thing to flood, but it appears as though it seldom floods judging from the permanent "truck gardens".
the entire family does the gardening. As is the case here, older children often take care of the younger ones and even the babies
The picture below shows a well managed footpath for the beginning of the huge gardening area. The picture above shows how the path narrows and is just dirt as you get a greater distance from the river.
The crops include bananas, and a lot of manioc (tapioca). The locals dig the large tubulars out of the ground and mash them. The leaves are poison and need to be boiled for some time to take the toxins out. Some type of pole bean was also growing in some patches.
The plants are all huge because of the rich flood plain soil and because of the frequent rains. We are not sure if all the food is eaten or if some is used as a cash crop. In any case, all is carried out on the backs of people. The river bank path was a five minute walk for two people not in good shape. It appeared that it was a five minute walk for people carrying full baskets of produce on their backs who were in shape.
2 comments:
Great pictures. It looks like a prosperous area. Do individuals own their own property? Did you see any markets where produce is sold? They must sell or trade to buy the clothes they're wearing.
Marlene
The suspension bridge in that remote area is fascinating. Do they get the heavy rains you do in Puyo? What was the material on the wide path? Interesting pictures. The lady (girl) holding the baby looked too young to have that many children. Do you suppose that was all one family?
Don
Post a Comment