Medicine
EXT. BENI RIVER, AMAZON JUNGLE, BOLOVIA - MORNING - November 1st, 2024
EXT. BENI RIVER, AMAZON JUNGLE, BOLOVIA - MORNING - November 1st, 2024
An old wooden long boat wobbles in the water as the BOAT DRIVER (60, Bolivian) sleeps in a fold-up chair toward the back, old faded cap over his face, belly popping out from his holed polo shirt.
JUAN (50 but looks 40, Bolivian, 5’5”, his grand smile exposing the V shape his front teeth make) leads three tourists on land toward the docked boat.
The tourists are Shane, ANNA (25,German, her clean white athleisure and white sneakers about to be taught a lesson) and FLORIAN (27, German, Anna's boyfriend with matching white athleisure and equally prim aesthetic).
They all climb on the boat, all in their mandatory long shirts and long pants despite the 95 degree jungle heat, waking the BOAT DRIVER as they step aboard.
LATER:
The boat cruises up the wide rushing brown river. Mountains and cliffs loom around them, their eyes fixed on the banks of the shore looking for animals.
EXT. VILLA ALCIRA COMMUNITY, AMAZON JUNGLE, BOLOVIA - DAY
The boat pulls up to the river bank and they all climb out of the boat and follow Juan through the dense jungle.
As they walk, the tourists’ heads are on a swivel, constantly observing the endless variety of trees and fauna around them.
Something rustles quickly in the bushes beside them and Shane jumps, his heart stopping and quickly backs away from the source of the noise.
Juan laughs at him.
JUAN: What's wrong?
SHANE (laughing at himself): I don't know man! If something moving towards me in the jungle, it feels like the smart move is to back away.
JUAN: Jaguar!
Shane smirks and gives him a glare.
JUAN: No. Lizard.
They continue to walk through the jungle toward the community. Along the way Juan tells them about the plants they see.
JUAN: The jungle gives us everything. For example, in this grove right here, we have many, many fruits. Can you see the different fruits?
He points to each tree.
JUAN: Coconut. Mango. Papaya. Banana. Plantain. Lychee. Carambola. How do you call this?
SHANE: Star fruit.
JUAN: Yes this one. Carambola. Here.
He drops his machete and uses both hands to pull the tree toward him, and removes fresh Star fruit off of the tree, handing one to each tourist. Juan and Shane bite into the sweet, tart fruit, slurping the dripping juice immediately as it falls around their lips.
Florian and Anna pause, giving each other and their fruit a concerned look. Juan notices.
JUAN: In the jungle, we no have such thing as organic or No-organic. In the jungle there is no chemical. So all the food is fresh. Safe. From Pacha Mama.
They hesitantly take tiny nibbles out of the fruit.
LATER:
JUAN: Do you know what this fruit is?
He pulls a foot long black pod off of a tree and shows it to the group
JUAN: This is Guama. Very good.
He snaps open the pod revealing a row of inch long furry white pulps.
JUAN: Take.
Shane pulls a pulp out of the pod. Florian slowly takes one. Anna sets her finger and thumb in a pinch formation. She gets close to the fruit then pulls her hand away nervously.
JUAN: It is fruit.
He assures her. As in “it won't bite”.
She nervously attempts again, this time pulling out a pulp.
JUAN: Do not bite. You do not eat the seed.
The four of them roll the slimy, gentle fruit around in their mouths, stripping the fruit off the seed. They each spit the bare, shiny black seeds out of their mouths into their hands.
JUAN: Mas!
Shane and Juan take another. The others smile politely. All good.
LATER:
They operate a sugar cane mill. Juan and Shane push a giant wooden rod, walking it around in circles, while Florian feeds sugar canes between the spinning barrels, juicing the liquid out of the cane. The sugar can juice funnels into a bucket with a net over it, filtering any matter.
LATER:
The group sit around a table drinking sugar cane juice out of coconut shells.
SHANE: You know what's sad. In the United States, barely any foods are organic or completely natural. Even the ones sold as organic. Even if you decide to grow a garden at your home and only eat the food from that garden, the soil already has micro-palstics in it. And if you want to buy organic you have to hope there aren't chemicals in that, too. But there is plastic in all of it.
JUAN: Not good.
SHANE: No. Not for us. And not for Pacha Mama.
EXT. MADIDI NATIONAL PARK, AMAZON JUNGLE, BOLOVIA - DAY
Juan leads the group through the compact rainforest, using his machete against the vines and leaves as needed to make space for their bodies to move through.
He stops to observe a hanging plant.
JUAN: This plant. This plant is medicine. You boil to tea. Very good for stomach. If you have bad stomach. You drink this tea. You are better.
They continue and stop at a dangling vine.
JUAN: This vine, this vine is medicine. If you have a bad back, you use this vine. You boil the vine and drink the tea. It fixes your back.
And later…
JUAN: This tree is medicine. See.
He stabs the tip of his machete into the tree and removes the blade. A second later a white liquid starts to leak out of the tree.
JUAN: This liquid kills parasites. A very dangerous medicine. You drink one spoon full of this medicine in the morning. Then you can not eat anything else. If you do the stomach can…
He puts his hands over his stomach and mimicks the stomach growing outward then exploding.
JUAN: If a child has a parasite, we give this medicine, then the whole village looks after the child all day to make sure they eat nothing else. The next day, it is okay to eat. Strong medicine.
Juan turns to the tourists.
JUAN: The jungle is our medicine. Pacha Mama gave us all we need. Here in the jungle we no need pharmacy. The jungle is our pharmacy.
LATER:
They come to a narrow tree.
JUAN: You said your stomach hurts?
SHANE: Yeah. Travel tummy.
Juan uses his machete and trims the bark of the trees getting to the inner wood. He shaves two things slivers of the wood and hands them to Shane.
JUAN: Later we make tea.
SHANE: Gracias Juan. Gracias Pacha Mama.
Juan smiles and nods.
LATER:
They come to a tree with a large brown lump on it.
JUAN: You know what this is?
SHANE: Fungus?
Juan pokes the top of his finger into the lump, breaking it open. A swarm of tiny termites crawl out, some onto Juan's finger.
SHANE: Termites?
JUAN: Si.
Florian and Anna take a step backwards.
JUAN: If you are lost in the jungle, this will save your life. Good protein.
He sticks his finger into his mouth and sucks the termites down.
LATER:
Juan picks up a dried nut from the ground. Like a golf ball sized coconut. He uses his machete to break it open, revealing several white larva inside. He pops them into the palm of his hand. They curl in and out.
JUAN: Larva. Very good for you. Medicine. Protein.
He hold out his palm offering to the tourists. Florian and Anna shake their heads in a feverish NO!
Shane looks at the moving larva, then at Juan.
SHANE: Yeah?
JUAN: Si!
SHANE: Fuck it.
He and Juan each take one and pop them into their mouths.
Shane pushes through the initial shock then shrugs, chewing and swallowing the larva.
SHANE: Actually not bad. Tastes like coconut.
LATER:
The group take a rest. Their shirts and foreheads drenched in jungle sweat and humidity. They are tired and in awe of the beauty that surrounds them. The loud jungle noises of cicades and birds and falling fruit and blowing leaves and buzzing insects and howling monkeys is a cacophony of sound.
Catching their breaths, a gust of cool breeze moves through the forest and against their warm, damp faces.
Juan closes his eyes, face to sky, accepting the wind against his body.
JUAN: Gracias Pacha Mama.
