The People of Peru

There are very few roads in the Amazon region of Peru. Therefore the primary means of transportation in this region is the river.

Families do not have cars they have canoes made by carving out a tree. It is common to see a family of 7 going up the river in a small hand-carved canoe powered by a small outboard motor.

Being a Naval Architect it concerned me that these overloaded boats have a free-board of between 4 and 6 inches. However, I never saw a single crew member of any of these boats express the any concern.

For long-range travel the commercial riverboat is preferred option, an actually the only option, for Amazon travel. These flat-bottomed boat range in size from 100 to 200 feet in length. They can carry several hundred passengers and the cost of passage is very low.

As one would expect the amenities are almost non-existent. For over-night passengers there are some hammocks available but the supply is limited and passengers are encouraged to bring there own hammock. Food service aboard the boats is non-existent. The length of the trips can range from 8 hours to a couple of days.

The lack of food service has product a cottage industry for villages along the river -- high speed, low cost riverboat food and drink serve with a smile. It is amazing to watch.

Every 4 hours or so the riverboats will made a landing on the mud next to a small village. Clearly, the villagers has been alerted to a riverboat is going to stop because 5 minutes prior to seeing the riverboat there are 50 to 100 food vendors standing at rivers edge with food boxes on the heads.

The riverboat drives it bow into the mud bank and the race is on. The villagers place their ladders on the side of the riverboat and the food vendors begin climbing the ladders with food boxes of their heads. A second wave begins handing up additional food baskets to the food vendors already on the deck. Within a minute the food vendors are covering all the decks of the boat selling to the eagerly awaiting passengers.

Approximately 5 minutes later the riverboat sounds its horn and the food vendor start running for the ladders, tossing their mostly empty food boxes to people on the ground, and scampering down the ladders.

Approximately 90 seconds later, without warming, the riverboat engines a put in reverse and the boat powers it way into open water and resume its trip. Simultaneously, the food vendors exit the beach.

This is fast-food service at its best.

Photography: Ron Munden

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