Tim Paine:  Photos

There are many groups of native peoples in Manu National Park. Some, like the Machiguenga, or Matsigenka, are in large part westernized, wearing t-shirts and speaking Spanish. Others dwell far from far from rivers, the highways of the rainforest, and have no contact with the outside world. In April and May, 2005, a group of these un-contacted native people approached the area of Cocha Cashu Biological Station. After spending several weeks near the station, the natives walked away to the northwest. Several months later, I visited a site where they had camped on a sandy stream bank. The campsite consisted of many small shelters, which were made of palm fronds stabbed into the sand. There were many small fire pits. I believe that these were primarily for nighttime warmth, rather than cooking. I found the remains of a tapir, two land tortoises and several peccaries. The natives had brough food and supplies with them, including brazil nuts, which grow only in high, unflooded forests
That the campsite had been abandoned for some time was evident from the number of tracks, including those of ocelots, that passed through the campsite.