Scott’s house in Pevas, Peru.
I first visited te Peruvian Amazon in 1992. I was immediately hooked by the rainforest, the culture and the people. In 1993 I moved to the small town of Pevas, Peru, where I put my skills as a Registered Nurse to use operating a small clinic for several years. After the Peruvian Ministry of Health built a new facility in Pevas I closed my clinic and worked to assist the new clinic with getting donations of medicines and supplies as well as encouraging visits by volunteer physicians/nurses and working with the non-profit Project Amazonas. In 2000 I moved to Iquitos to work for a tour operator who owned several river boats. During that time I met Bill Lamar and George Ledvina and in 2006 I went to work for their company, GreenTracks as Iquitos Operations Manager and occasional riverboat expedition tour leader.
It has been an interesting life, to say the least.
- Scott Humfeld - https://www.greentracks.com/
The Commandante
I had only been living in Pevas for about a year when early one morning there was a heavy pounding on the door that woke me up. When I went down and opened the door there stood two soldiers with sidearms.
There is an army base just down river from Pevas that is home to a Jungle Battalion that is basically a bunch of young guys with AK-47's. I had met the Comandante and his wife at friend’s house once. The Comandante of the base was a big guy with a beer belly and crew cut who wears combat boots, camouflage pants, a .45 caliber pistol on his hip and a super tight white t-shirt. His wife goes everywhere with him and it seems her entire wardrobe consists of track suits of varying bright colors. She walks a few steps behind the Comanadante. I’m not usually intimidated by people, but I found the Comadante to be intimidating as he was a stereotypical Third World military guy. His default facial expression was “who should I shoot next.”
One of the soldiers said I was to come with them. I asked what this was about and was only told, “We have orders to take you to the base.” This was unnerving as I was still in country on a tourist visa and because the Comandante made me quite uncomfortable. I again asked what this was all about and received the same answer. I got dressed and put my passport in my pocket and followed the soldiers down to the main port.
We got in their boat and headed to the base, a ten minute ride. On the way I was trying to think if I had done anything that would get me in trouble or maybe I had offended someone. The thought of being placed against a wall and shot came to mind. My anxiety increased as we got closer and closer to the base.
Upon arrival we walked up the hill and past the entry gate where there was a mounted machine gun. All the young soldiers stared at me. My two escorts took me right to the Comandante’s quarters where they knocked on the door and then left me. I could feel sweat rolling down my back and it wasn’t from the tropical heat.
The Comandante’s wife answered the door and said, “I’m so glad you are here. I have this new video camera, but the instruction book is in English and I need someone to teach me how to use the camera.” I searched my meager Spanish for a way to say, “You couldn’t have sent a note?”
I went inside and spent a couple of hours teaching her to use the camera. She then invited me for an early lunch and just as we sat down at the table the Comandante came in. He walked up to me, smiled, shook my hand and thanked me for coming. He ordered his wife to bring us a couple beers.
After lunch my same two escorts took me home and I sat for a while until my adrenaline level got back to normal.
