En route to the Amazon rainforest, in the town of Atalaya, we transferred from a van to a small boat that took us down the Madre de Dios river into the jungle. The area is home to indigenous tribes who remain mostly isolated from the outside world. They are skilled bow-and-arrow hunters and attacks on foreigners have been reported. A sign posted in the town warns against making contact:

“Careful! Transit zone for indigenous people in isolation. Avoid conflicts. Do not try to contact. Do not give them clothing, food, tools….Do not photograph (they could interpret the camera as a weapon).”

You can be sure I kept my camera and ginormous 600mm lens carefully tucked out of sight!