A Microbial Anthropologist in the Jungle

Finally, we approach the port after days sitting on the narrow bench of the canoe, watching walls of vegetation bending over the rivers that zigzag the jungle, guarded by taller trees behind, with their skirt of shade. The scene is similarly beautifully dynamic under the changing light of the day, in the jungles of Venezuela or Peru. We recognize the canoe port, and the trail leading up to the village. It’s the end of this leg of the journey and the beginning of the work we have come to do. The first kids come down naked, running toward us, alerted by our motor.