Outpost Trinidad Part I
Rio Mamore, Bolivia Beni, Bolivia Recently I read a book by Charles C. Mann called 1491. In it, the author spends a significant amount of time discussing the land that comprises the North Eastern side of Bolivia known as the Beni. To the naked eye it seems to be an endless grassland punctuated by trees that spends large segments of the year under water. Rivers wind their way through the land like snakes toward an eventual confluence with the mighty Amazon river itself. At the time when I was flying over it as a younger man I remember trying to make sense of it all. From my perch in the machine gunners position on a Vietnam era Huey UH-1 Helicopter I looked out and watched parrots fly in pairs over the trees. While the noise made it impossible to communicate there was something transfixing about sitting in front of an open door watching the ground pass below me. I remember seeing patterns in the countryside but I had no idea what they meant. It is a strangely vacant lan