Rio Napo, Amazon tributary, Peru
The journey down the Rio Napo takes five days. The ferry services the small communities living along the banks and provides the only reliable connection with the outside world. The river is one of the largest tributaries of the Amazon and the ferry will flow some 400km downstream from the Ecuadorian border to the major market town of Iquitos.
This boat flows in the direction of the market only once or twice a month. Stopping only at the largest villages, goods and passengers are quickly exchanged by a group of young porters. Bananas and plantain make up the bulk of the load but livestock are also hauled over the banks. The villagers from smaller communities must venture out in dugout canoes and reach the ferry before its departure. Failure to reach the boat on time may mean no income this month. The ferry brings with it a promise of development to the isolated villages. Diesel generators are common and allow for the import of electronic goods and lighting. Every child in the village turned up to witness a community's first television being delivered. At most stops somebody would climb aboard tasked with trading the villages produce further downstream and buying supplies to bring back on the next available boat.
