Jungle Guide Profile - Juan Maldonado
By Mike Collis
(This incredible drawing of Juan is the work of David Hewson and more of his drawings and paintings can be found on www.davidhewsonart.com)
This month we present Juan Maldonado.
Juan was born in Callao, Lima, the 10th of April, 1946 and is one of the most experienced and well known guides here in Iquitos.
After leaving school Juan became a firefighter and became one of the few firefighters in Peru to belong to an elite unit of firefighters that were parachuted into remote areas of Peru.
Later he left his job and hitch-hiked from Lima to New York where he got a job as a cook. After a while Juan got married and had a daughter Maribel, Maldonado, unfortunately the marriage failed and Juan returned to Peru before she was born. She now lives in Puerto Rico and Juan would dearly love to hear from her.
Juan came to Iquitos in 1973 and has been a jungle guide since then. His knowledge of the jungle, its animals, its plants and legends and his command of the English language make him one of the most popular guides in Iquitos. Now Juan has remarried and has 6 daughters and 3 grandchildren.
Juan can be contacted by e mail at: amazonjuan2000@yahoo.com
Amazon Legends - Iquitos, Peru
The First Iquitos Indians Tribe
By Juan N.Maldonado Romero
Many years ago the native tribe Iquitos, after whom the city is named, lived in the land near the head waters of the rivers Mazan, Momon, Guano, Pintuyacu and Chambira. They used spears of Pijuayo wrapped with threads of Shambira and adorned with bird feathers.
The largest festival was announced to all the chiefs of the communities when a young girl experienced her first menstruation. They celebrated with Mazat, a liquor made of Pijuayo fruits, chewed and spit out, the saliva acting as catalyst to speed the fermentation procces. They placed leaves on the patio in front of her house and scrubbed her teeth with Aji, a hot chile pepper so that they would never rot. When a couple had a baby, the others asked what sex it was, and if they said that was a girl, they asked the parents for a wedding so that they could deliver her husband when she had her first menstruation.
THE STORY OF HOW THE NATIVES ARRIVED HERE IN THIS AREA IQUITOS
Many years ago, the natives lived happily until there appeared a sorcerer who took pleasure in sleeping with married women. He tricked them and convinced them unwittingly with his magic. The men finally discovered who was the offender and surrounded him in the night and killed him with their spears. They placed his remains in a Tinaja, clay pot, and buried it beneath his family's house. One day the family heard sounds below their house and they dug up the Tinaja, took it out and opened it. Instead of the the remains of the sorcerer, there was a baby Jaguar. They took it into their house and began to raise it.
As the Jaguar grew it began to go out at dusk to hunt, returning the next day full of its prey. It began to eat people, men above all, and the people became terrified and decide to escape. One rainy night they all fled downstream in canoes to escape the Jaguar. They had forgotten and left behind an old grandmother and her two grandchildren, a boy of 10 years old and a girl of 12. They had been fishing in the lake and when they returned to the evacuated village, they guessed that everyone had fled in fear of the Jaguar. One of their ancient customs was to go to the bathroom on the shores of the lakes, streams or rivers, never in the forest. So when the grandmother and her grandchildren had to go, they sat on the shore of the lake, the three of them together. The Jaguar appeared, saw them and approached to eat them, but backed away when he caught scent of the odor of human excrement. He told them in his language that he could not eat them, but would wait and eat them one by one when they had finished. Their grandmother, having heard and understood him, covered herself in her own excrement, all over her body, and the jaguar could not approach them.
Afte several years the young boy, then a young man, told his grandmother that his sister was pregnant and that he did not want to cover the baby in excrement as they had to do every day. So they went to the lake and brought back the only canoe an old one in need of repair. They dried it and boiled the sap of the Copal tree to fill the cracks and strengthen the canoe. The Jaguar saw the grandmother boiling the copal sap in a clay pot and asked her what she was doing. She responded that she was preparing an herbal medicine to treat her eyes as she was old and could not see very well. The Jaguar told her that he too was old and could not see as well as he used to, then he order her to give him the medicine first. She said that she would not because he would eat her if she went close enough to give it to him. Then the Jaguar told her to tie him well to a tree with a vine with his claws above his head. So she tied him well, then bathed themselves for the first time in years. The Jaguar tried to free him self but could not. They emptied the pot of boiling resin over his head and killed him, then they pierced him with spears and cut him into pieces.
They cut off his paws, made four necklaces, and placed them around the necks of four blue headed parrots. These they told to fly off in search of the other Iquitos people to tell them that the Jaguar had died and they could return to their land. When the parrots came back they told them that the Iquitos Natives were in the highlands of the NINA RUMI area, and were very content there. Some returned but others stayed.
Ayahuasca Ceremony
Here in all the Amazon Rain Forest, we have a jungle way to cure sickness, the PALEROS, who cure using tree barks, SOGUEROS, who cure using vines, and the CURANDEROS, who cure using roots, leaf and flowers.We also have the AYAHUASQUEROS, who, in the tourism business, they call SHAMANS. This word coming from SIBERIA, RUSSIAN, is not from the Amazon. The Ayahuasca is a bridge to cure, also it is a good medicine to cure the sickness PARKINSONS, and to cure DRUGS AND ALCOHOL addiction.
The mystic tradition of the Ceremony
The Maestro Ayahuasquero gets from the jungle the Ayahuasca vine, (The Cielo Ayahuasca) cut like 3 meters, and cut in small pieces, and get CHACRUNA (The Wambiza Chacruna also is the best), then they put in a black clay pot, using the Capirona wood for fire, and they boil it for about 18 hours. In the middle of the night the patients sit around him, and start to smoke Mapacho or Siricaipi, a pure jungle tabacco, and give the patients about 2 ounces. After about 30 minutes he will start to weesel and sing (chantar) the Icaros (songs), the patient might vomit or get diahrrea, it means that the ayahuasca is cleansing the body, and will start to hallucinate. Then the Ayahuasquero's spirit gets into the body of the patient to see what type of sickness the patient has. He will then see the spirit of the plant that will cure him. Then the next day he will go to the jungle to get it and start the treament and cure. This Ceremony takes about 3 hours.
Of Course to drink the cure the patient must prepare his body by eating vegetarian meals.
The Master of the Ayahuasca (Maestro Ayahuasquero), learn for generation, means he learned from his father or his mother who learned from their parents.
I recommend to drink next morning lemmonade or glass of water with garlic nuts.
Each Ayahuasquero will add diferent types of Hallucinogenic plants in their preparation of the Ayahuasca.
Any questions please write me for a clear explaination or to recommend an Ayahuasquero.
Cordially
Juan Nicolas Maldonado Romero
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Juan N. Maldonado Romero is a licensed Tour Guide, in "La Casa Del Guia"
Juan can be contacted by e mail at: amazonjuan2000@yahoo.com
By Mike Collis
(This incredible drawing of Juan is the work of David Hewson and more of his drawings and paintings can be found on www.davidhewsonart.com)
This month we present Juan Maldonado.
Juan was born in Callao, Lima, the 10th of April, 1946 and is one of the most experienced and well known guides here in Iquitos.
After leaving school Juan became a firefighter and became one of the few firefighters in Peru to belong to an elite unit of firefighters that were parachuted into remote areas of Peru.
Later he left his job and hitch-hiked from Lima to New York where he got a job as a cook. After a while Juan got married and had a daughter Maribel, Maldonado, unfortunately the marriage failed and Juan returned to Peru before she was born. She now lives in Puerto Rico and Juan would dearly love to hear from her.
Juan came to Iquitos in 1973 and has been a jungle guide since then. His knowledge of the jungle, its animals, its plants and legends and his command of the English language make him one of the most popular guides in Iquitos. Now Juan has remarried and has 6 daughters and 3 grandchildren.
Juan can be contacted by e mail at: amazonjuan2000@yahoo.com
By Juan N.Maldonado Romero
Many years ago the native tribe Iquitos, after whom the city is named, lived in the land near the head waters of the rivers Mazan, Momon, Guano, Pintuyacu and Chambira. They used spears of Pijuayo wrapped with threads of Shambira and adorned with bird feathers.
The largest festival was announced to all the chiefs of the communities when a young girl experienced her first menstruation. They celebrated with Mazat, a liquor made of Pijuayo fruits, chewed and spit out, the saliva acting as catalyst to speed the fermentation procces. They placed leaves on the patio in front of her house and scrubbed her teeth with Aji, a hot chile pepper so that they would never rot. When a couple had a baby, the others asked what sex it was, and if they said that was a girl, they asked the parents for a wedding so that they could deliver her husband when she had her first menstruation.
Many years ago, the natives lived happily until there appeared a sorcerer who took pleasure in sleeping with married women. He tricked them and convinced them unwittingly with his magic. The men finally discovered who was the offender and surrounded him in the night and killed him with their spears. They placed his remains in a Tinaja, clay pot, and buried it beneath his family's house. One day the family heard sounds below their house and they dug up the Tinaja, took it out and opened it. Instead of the the remains of the sorcerer, there was a baby Jaguar. They took it into their house and began to raise it.
As the Jaguar grew it began to go out at dusk to hunt, returning the next day full of its prey. It began to eat people, men above all, and the people became terrified and decide to escape. One rainy night they all fled downstream in canoes to escape the Jaguar. They had forgotten and left behind an old grandmother and her two grandchildren, a boy of 10 years old and a girl of 12. They had been fishing in the lake and when they returned to the evacuated village, they guessed that everyone had fled in fear of the Jaguar. One of their ancient customs was to go to the bathroom on the shores of the lakes, streams or rivers, never in the forest. So when the grandmother and her grandchildren had to go, they sat on the shore of the lake, the three of them together. The Jaguar appeared, saw them and approached to eat them, but backed away when he caught scent of the odor of human excrement. He told them in his language that he could not eat them, but would wait and eat them one by one when they had finished. Their grandmother, having heard and understood him, covered herself in her own excrement, all over her body, and the jaguar could not approach them.
Afte several years the young boy, then a young man, told his grandmother that his sister was pregnant and that he did not want to cover the baby in excrement as they had to do every day. So they went to the lake and brought back the only canoe an old one in need of repair. They dried it and boiled the sap of the Copal tree to fill the cracks and strengthen the canoe. The Jaguar saw the grandmother boiling the copal sap in a clay pot and asked her what she was doing. She responded that she was preparing an herbal medicine to treat her eyes as she was old and could not see very well. The Jaguar told her that he too was old and could not see as well as he used to, then he order her to give him the medicine first. She said that she would not because he would eat her if she went close enough to give it to him. Then the Jaguar told her to tie him well to a tree with a vine with his claws above his head. So she tied him well, then bathed themselves for the first time in years. The Jaguar tried to free him self but could not. They emptied the pot of boiling resin over his head and killed him, then they pierced him with spears and cut him into pieces.
They cut off his paws, made four necklaces, and placed them around the necks of four blue headed parrots. These they told to fly off in search of the other Iquitos people to tell them that the Jaguar had died and they could return to their land. When the parrots came back they told them that the Iquitos Natives were in the highlands of the NINA RUMI area, and were very content there. Some returned but others stayed.
Here in all the Amazon Rain Forest, we have a jungle way to cure sickness, the PALEROS, who cure using tree barks, SOGUEROS, who cure using vines, and the CURANDEROS, who cure using roots, leaf and flowers.We also have the AYAHUASQUEROS, who, in the tourism business, they call SHAMANS. This word coming from SIBERIA, RUSSIAN, is not from the Amazon. The Ayahuasca is a bridge to cure, also it is a good medicine to cure the sickness PARKINSONS, and to cure DRUGS AND ALCOHOL addiction.
I recommend to drink next morning lemmonade or glass of water with garlic nuts.
Each Ayahuasquero will add diferent types of Hallucinogenic plants in their preparation of the Ayahuasca.
Any questions please write me for a clear explaination or to recommend an Ayahuasquero.
Cordially
Juan Nicolas Maldonado Romero
Juan N. Maldonado Romero is a licensed Tour Guide, in "La Casa Del Guia"
Juan can be contacted by e mail at: amazonjuan2000@yahoo.com
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