Friday afternoon quickly turned into Friday evening. It was starting to get dark, and we needed a place to camp for the night. We stopped by a small house on the edge of the Huallaga River and asked if there was a dry place to camp. The family of farmers graciously offered up their house for us to spend the night. We hung our hammocks and mosquito netting in the open-air house and settled in for the evening.

Farming in the flooded forest is much different than farming in the United States. The first major difference is that there is very little dry land in the flooded forest. Without dry land, crops can be very hard to grow, and livestock needs to be kept safe from falling into the river or deep pools of rainwater.

These farmers keep many chickens and ducks for eggs and meat. They also have three cows, named Daisy, Jose, and Bebita. There were also a few pigs and piglets running around the farm.

This family took very good care of their animals. Each animal had a name and was treated with affection from all of the members of the family. As the sun went down, the cows were herded into a corral. Tarps were put down on the mud, so the cows would have a more comfortable place to sleep.

Rainforest cows need to be kept in corrals at night to keep them safe from vampire bats. Vampire bats feed on the blood of cows and can transmit rabies, which can ultimately kill the cow. The loss of a cow to disease could mean serious economic trouble for the family farm.

In addition to livestock, the family also grew a number of crops. Staple rainforest crops such as corn, bananas, plantains, and yucca are important parts of the people’s diet. The animals also need corn, yucca, and plantains as a part of their diet. The people also fish in the river to add to their diet.

Corn and bananas are things we eat in the United States. But, plantains and yucca might not be so familiar. Yucca (YOU-ka) is a tuber, or root vegetable, similar to a potato. It’s an ancient vegetable that fed the Incan empire. Today, people in parts of Peru boil, fry, and mash yucca and eat it with just about every meal. There are even yucca chips, which are just like potato chips.

Plantains (plan-TANE) look like un-ripe bananas. They have a hard, green outside peel, with a soft fruit inside. Plantains come in a number of sizes, colors, and textures. They aren’t sweet like bananas, but more like a starchy potato. They need to be fried or boiled before eating them, otherwise they aren’t very good.

Just like in the United States, farming is hard work. There are no days off, and the hours are very long. Farmers are also very dependent on the weather and seasonal changes. What conditions might make farming in the flooded forest difficult? How do these compare to difficult farming conditions in the United States?



Spanish Dictionary of Farm Animals in Peru:

Chicken - pollo POI-yo

Hen – gaellna – GUY-eh-nah

Chick – pollitio – POI-ee-toe

Duck - pato - PA-toe

Cow - vacca - BA-ka

Pig - chancho - CHAN-cho

Horse - caballo - ca-BAI-yo

Goat - cabra - CA-bra

Turkey - pavo - PA-vo

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