A13_R220A

The Big Snake
In the Amazon jungle, in the heart of the Anavilhanas archipelago, the ancient legend manifests itself and tells the story of a giant snake, the Mother of Waters. River dwellers have told me several times, each with their own experience, of different encounters, but some details remain constantly disturbing, such as the gigantic body of the reptile, like the two horns on its head, being described as the fangs that grew upwards, like a heavy rain during apparitions, like the deep furrow that suddenly appears on a beach between two lakes.
The Mother of Waters is as old as the jungle itself, a powerful creature feared by all the inhabitants of the forest. Her skin is as dark and smooth as river water, and her eyes are as bright as the stars. She is able to move with frightening speed, and her tail is as strong as a tree trunk.
In indigenous mythology, Yacumama, as she is known in the Quechua language, is the guardian who protects the rivers and the animals that live in them. In its sacred waters, it is known that anyone who tries to fish or hunt without the permission of the Mother of Waters or catch more than he needs is punished with curses and diseases. Of those who claim to have seen the snake up close, none had the courage to approach it or, if they did, were unable to tell what happened.
That day, flying over the Anavilhanas archipelago and hunting my frame in the labyrinth of islands… as you could imagine… the giant serpent appeared emerging from the trees, as if it were a part of the landscape.
For those who appreciate the largest tropical forests on the planet, it is important to point out that, just as scientific research enters into the intricacies of ecosystems to unravel their mechanisms, in the same way, and not least, the legacies of native peoples and their rich cultures open new horizons from another perspective. After all, we now know that the great forest inherited by those peoples is a “cultural forest” or “anthropogenic forest”. That is, it is the knowledge of those peoples who ‘cultivated’ the forest, improving it to their needs. A native enters the forest naked, with nothing else, and he finds in that environment everything he needs. There he has streets, supermarkets and shops, just like in a modern city, without exaggeration, believe me. He builds a shelter to protect himself from the rain, he makes a trap for fishing or hunting, he ingests a combination of plants to stimulate spiritual and telepathic skills. If current science wants to undertake the arduous mission of restoring the forest to its ancestral glory, it will have to decode the myths and symbols of those who ‘cultivated’ it.

A13_R220A – Leonide Principe
Equipment: NIKON D2X with lens 12.0-24.0 mm f/4.0 set at 24 mm – Exposition: ISO: 100 – Aperture: 7.1 – Shutter: 1/200 – Program: Normal – Exp. Comp.: 0.0,
Original digital capture of a real life scene –
Original file size: 2848px x 1971px
Location: Arquipélago Anavilhanas (Novo Airão – Amazonas Brazil)
Date: April 26, 2006 – Time: 4:09:32 PM
Collection: Waterscapes – Persons shown: none
Keywords:
Anavilhanas, Novo Airão, Amazonas, Amazônia, Amazon, Amazonian, Brazil, Brasil, Brazilian, América do Sul, South America, arquipélago de Anavilhanas, Anavilhanas archipelago, archipélagos, águas, waterscapes, vista aérea, aerial view
EN1 Mother of Waters A13_R220A
PT1 Mãe das Águas A13_R220A
© – Leonide Principe, all right reserved
https://leonideprincipe.photos

A13_R220

Great Snake
On all the times I flew over the Anavilhanas archipelago, I never came across the same landscape as that photograph, with that unmistakable profile of the Big Snake, known as Yacumama, the Mother of Waters. The search for this ancient legend will continue, as I know it is hidden right in the middle of the Anavilhanas, among 400 islands, 60 lakes, and an infinite number of paranás and channels. After all, it is the second largest fluvial archipelago on the planet. And yes, there is an archipelago that is even bigger than this one, located just over a hundred kilometers further east, upstream of the Negro River, it is the Mariuá archipelago.

A13_R220 – Leonide Principe
Equipment: NIKON D2X with lens 12.0-24.0 mm f/4.0 set at 24 mm – Exposition: ISO: 100 – Aperture: 7.1 – Shutter: 1/200 – Program: Normal – Exp. Comp.: 0.0,
Original digital capture of a real life scene –
Original file size: 2868px x 4312px
Location: Arquipélago Anavilhanas (Novo Airão – Amazonas Brazil)
Date: April 26, 2006 – Time: 4:09:32 PM
Collection: Waterscapes – Persons shown: none
Keywords:
Anavilhanas, Novo Airão, Amazonas, Amazônia, Amazon, Amazonian, Brazil, Brasil, Brazilian, América do Sul, South America, arquipélago de Anavilhanas, Anavilhanas archipelago, archipélagos, águas, waterscapes, vista aérea, aerial view
EN2 The Big Snake A13_R220
PT2 A Cobra Grande A13_R220
© – Leonide Principe, all right reserved
https://leonideprincipe.photos

A13_R228

Anavilhanas archipelago
Here, in this panoramic view, it is possible to have an idea of the dimension of the Anavilhanas archipelago. The 12-24mm zoom lens, positioned at 16mm captured an approximate angle of 90º, and yet, there is the Mother of Waters, Yacumama, hidden among the islands. It is also possible to see the Negro River in all its width and to see, on both sides, the immense forest.

A13_R228 – Leonide Principe
Equipment: NIKON D2X with lens 12.0-24.0 mm f/4.0 set at 16 mm – Exposition: ISO: 100 – Aperture: 7.6 – Shutter: 1/250 – Program: Normal – Exp. Comp.: 0.0,
Original digital capture of a real life scene –
Original file size: 4312px x 2868px
Location: Arquipélago Anavilhanas (Novo Airão – Amazonas Brazil)
Date: April 26, 2006 – Time: 4:09:57 PM
Collection: Waterscapes – Persons shown: none
Keywords:
Anavilhanas, Novo Airão, Amazonas, Amazônia, Amazon, Amazonian, Brazil, Brasil, Brazilian, América do Sul, South America, arquipélago de Anavilhanas, Anavilhanas archipelago, archipélagos, águas, waterscapes, vista aérea, aerial view
EN3 Anavilhanas Archipelago A13_R228
PT3 Arquipélago Anavilhanas A13_R228
© – Leonide Principe, all right reserved
https://leonideprincipe.photos