18 -- "Ayoreo" Gran Chaco - Bolivia

Ayoreo Indian male will run a lance through your back when he returns from his hunting trip I was told if I stepped out of line. In South America I would search if there where any American missionaries living in town. I would go and visit them and ask them if they knew of other missionaries that had contact with indians in the jungle. I heard of Jaime Dunn and his Indians from missionaries when I first arrived into La Paz and as I traveled from town to town I was told of Jaime . Tracking down missionaries that had contact with indians was'nt alway's that easy. You could end up on a wild goose chase that could cost you time, money and aggravation that you could do with out . When seeking information from missionaries on indian tribe's I alway's visited them at their home at about 12:30 pm just about when they were serving lunch because that would save me time chasing him around. The chances are also that I would get invited for lunch and most of all to be in a more ciivilized setting for a couple of hours.(Lunch is the main meal of the day in South America) Most all the missionaries I've come across whether it was in Africa or South America are very kind and they will alway's help you as much as they can. If there is no decent hotel / pension for you to stay at or if you are stranded they will put you up for a night or two. On visiting the Ayoreos and when approaching the camp in the truck Jaime was greeted by the indians about a mile before the camp. The indians started howling and whistling in the bush and Jaime stopped the truck and most of them jumped on board howling away and most of them were naked or just about. I didn't know what was happening but Jaime took it in his stride.Some of them pinched me as soon as they got on the back of the truck probably to see if I was real and they loved the ride on the back of truck while others ran along side until we got to the camp. When we pulled into the camp every indian went crazy with excitement. They loved Don Jaime. On the windows on the main adobe house there was a chicken mesh wire on the inside and outside covering each window. This was for to prevent any vampire bats from getting in. There were lots of bats in the tree's around the camp. This area is not really dense jungle. They were blood-drinking bat's and it was the first time I have come across them in my travels. Vampire bats feed exclusively on the blood of living animals. They are small about 3in, round-bodied bats with large pointed ears. Unlike most bats, vampire bats can walk on all fours with the body lifted of the ground. It is in this manner that they can approach there sleeping prey and make a neat incision usually without waking the victim. They are more dangerous to livestock and humans because they can transmit serious diseases. They mostly live in caves,tree hollows and houses. In this case they just hung from the tree's above the camp. The Indian children played by throwing sticks and what ever else they could find to throw at them and if one hit his mark he was cheered on by the other's. It turned out it was a Indian girl that had the most success. For the first couple of night's I slept on the dining table, it was more of a picnic table then anything else. Since there were so many of us all the bed's were taken. After two day's Jaime returned to Camiri with Ron the English guy that I was traveling with, American visitor from Texas and a two Bolivians from Camiri who had been staying with the Indians. When they were gone I ended up getting a bed in one of the small room's. The bed was a military collapsible cot which was comfortable enough. This left Norman Johnson (Canadian)who was in his seventies at least and the two Guarani girl's who do the cooking and myself. Jaime left us three rifle's that had to be put at the window's in case of any problems that may happen. These were the rules that Jaime gave me before he left. Once sundown come's get in the adobe and lock the door's. Be careful of the young male Ayoreos and keep your distance from the women even if they come to you to be friendly or else a Indian male will get jealous and will run a lance through your back. It's the female who choose their mate so I had to be very careful during my stay with them and because of that this one girl who kept following me around made me nervous. It was three week's before Jaime returned back to camp and I began to wonder if he ever was going to return. The Ayoreos have one unusual custom and that is live burial.