In this documentary we enter the jungle of the Amazon where we will discover the most isolated tribes that live surrounded by wildlife and nature.
The Amazon basin extends over an area of over 7 million km2, which is 25% of the total surface area of South America. It is an immense plain almost uninterrupted by hills and almost totally covered by different types of tropical forest.
The jungle is so dense that in some regions it covers the rivers completely. Inside, less than 5% of the sunlight manages to pierce the dense layer of vegetation and get down to ground level.
The trees on the riverbanks are covered by thousands of birds of different species. There are abundant supplies of both food and water and there are only minor differences between the different seasons. The average temperature is around 25º throughout the year and there is no real dry season. In these conditions there is no need for the birds to emigrate and many stay here permanently.
A great diversity of fauna inhabit the mass of leaves. Insects, worms and arthropods actively work together to break down the plant matter. They, in turn, make up a part of the diet of the reptiles and small mammals that inhabit this layer.
There is no shortage of food at ground level and the coati uses its fine sense of smell to find it under the blanket of leaves.
This small mammal, in turn, falls prey to the greatest predators of the Amazon: the felines.
40 metres below this paradise lives Man.
The inland tribes are still fighting to conserve their lands and their traditional way of life.
Their villages are scattered about the Amazon basin. They are made up of a few huts in a small clearing that they have opened in the jungle. The chinchorros or Indian hammocks are hung up around the centre of each hut. They sleep in them and escape from the heat during the hottest part of the day.
Each tribe uses its own methods for hunting and fishing. The huaorani, a tribe from the Equatorial region of the Amazon, are specialists in hunting with blowpipes.
Today has been a great day for hunting and the men return to their village full of pride. As is the case in other tribes, the meat is shared out between all the members of the community, irrespective of whether or not they have participated in the hunt.
It is the women’s job to prepare this succulent banquet on the fire inside the hut.
The villages are normally situated near water courses, so they do not normally have to go far to fish or to find water to drink. There are also different fishing techniques. Some of the most sophisticated have been developed by the Yanomani Indians.
The first Spaniards to ply the waters of the great river had left Quito in search of El Dorado. Today, more than 400 years later, men are still looking for gold and wealth in these lands. They do not seem to realise that the great treasure, the real El Dorado of the Amazon lies in its biological diversity, its value as a genetic reserve for the planet and its power to make the oxygen which sustains life. Oxygen which is also needed by the human species.