Untitled Document
VISIT TO INDIGENOUS "MARUBO" COMMUNITIES

FRANCINEY "MANEU" PEREIRA TAPUDIMA
(Head of the aktivities & guide coordination)

  • The visit to the "Marubo" community is voluntary.
  • The river transport from the Reserva Natural Palmari to the village of Atalaia do Norte and back to the reserve is granted for free by the Reserva Natural Palmari.
  • All other expenses like the land transportation from Atalaia do Norte to the "Marubo" maloka(s) and back, the entry fee to the "Marubo" maloka, the buying of "Marubo" handicrafts and others have to be paid by the visiting guest.
  • The road linking Atalaia do Norte with the "Marubo" communities is paved. It may turn better or even worse in accordance to the weather conditions.
  • The transportation from the village of Atalaia do Norte to the "Marubo" communities and back is provided by motorcycles, by small trucks, small pick-ups or small busses, all in not very fine mecanical state driven by not highly skilled drivers. Only by walking the distance is the other option to get there.
  • To be very clear! Said land transportation by motorcycles, trucks, pick-ups and busses carries its own risks due to the state of the road, the driving skills of the drivers and the condition of the transport conveyances. The mud, the plain tires with no profile, the curvy and often wrongly inclined road and the driving skills of the relevant drivers makes of this transport an adventurous undertaking by itself.
  • The "Marubo" communities, due to being located between the two villages of Atalaia do Norte and Benjamin Constant have seen themselves confronted to a"white man´s" way of life. Eventhough they have managed to carry on with their traditional ways and culture, they have adopted some conditions of modern life introduced by the "white man".
  • The "Marubo" offer the visitor their culture, their traditional clothing, their cuisine and food, their handicrafts and pottery and certain activities undertaken by them in the context of a "Marubo" indigenous tribe.
  • The "Marubo" indigenous will offer the visitor to try and experiment certain ritual and medicational substances, some of them none-dangerous accelerators (Rapé), others slightly stronger of a relaxing and analitical conversational kind (Mambe), others even stronger of an halucinogenic and laxative kind (Ayahuascá/Yagé) and others are very strong of a laxative and purgative kind (Dart frog poison).
  • It is clearly to be understood that these substances are offered by the "Marubo" in direct relation to their independant and internal "Marubo" community indigenous status and that such consumption or holding of these substances by none-indigenous visitors as to brazilian law is strongly prohibited and may carry fines and legal sanctions.
  • Minors may not try or receive these substances by any reason whatsoever and only if in presence of both their parents and with the explicit permit of both parents they may try them.
  • The visit to these "Marubo" communities from the moment of leaving the Reserva Natural Palmari and until the return to the visitors centre of the Reserva Natural Palmari, may last approximately 6 to 10 hours, if all goes according to routine plan.
  • Reaching the "Marubo" maloca(s) depends on the transport conveyance availability, the weather conditions and the ruling of the head of the "Marubo" community upon arrival of the visitor to the relevant "Marubo" maloca(s).
© Copyright, 2001 Reserva Natural Palmari Ltd.