After a ride on these water taxis and a quick walk between these massive trees, I was invited to sit in a hut and watch a dance made by the locals.

Just to remind a bit on the context, you have to imagine that thousands of tourists are trying to play the “Indiana Jones” in the rain forest. To reduce this massive invasion a slow down the destruction of this area (at least from them), the local authorities have decided to use some old movie sets and to engage some voluntary workers in paid work in order to share some demos of the local dances.

Each and everyone then exchanges a few words and be the participating audience  of one of the “Reunion” or “Rain” dance.

What strikes my attention was the lack of consideration from us tourists, as we were allowed to take photos of the activities, most of the group did even consider the dancers as a piece of some sort of living museum and it was suddenly okay to just come next to them for a Selfie, without signs of gratitude.
If I had to compare with my hometown, I would appreciate fact that at least asking and thanking would be a minimum. Maybe some could realise this people are artists, this is a job and their costumes have a label (not made in China) with the washing instructions. It is not a zoo.

So, flabbergasted by this general behaviour, I sat on a bench and start observing this derision, in hope to later find the general situation amusing…

The wise man in the band, the one who gave the instructions to the younger dancers, suddenly came to me and spontaneously introduced himself.
In the context this was for me a unique experience because I could understand and answer.
I need to thank Duolingo.com for the bases in Portuguese.
He explained that he was originally coming from a tribe near the columbian border and this paid worked helped a lot as he will share the income and this also helps the younger dancers starting with their lives.

By the time the old man and myself finished our talks, we were surrounded by other people sitting and listening. This really gives this sort of impression to be the selected one. (Strange feeling with a tickle at the back of the neck). So people then start questioning on how and why I would be addressed ….

Anyway, excellent experience, very short unfortunately (like always when you use the official trails) but good compromise in this context. If you wish to do the same I also advise to take an official company.