Amazon Rainforest Expedition

This story is a bit out there. Hope you like it!

This is a work of fiction. All persons involved in sexual situations are over 18 years of age.

*

"C'mon, do it for your sister. I would help you if the tables were turned."

I'd lost count of the times she'd tried to convince me to go on this trip. Now it was the "I'd do it for you" guilt trip again. I knew April wouldn't stop begging me until I gave in.

"Fine," I said, "but just remember, you owe me big time."

"Thank you so much, Wes!" She said, smiling and hugging me tight. "And don't worry, I know you'll be uncomfortable in a brand new environment but I'll take care of you. I do owe you big time, I won't forget it."

"Oh, I won't let you forget it," I said.

I had just agreed to let Mom take the both of us with her on an expedition to the Amazon rainforest. Mom was an anthropologist working in collaboration with FUNAI in Brazil, and this would be her fourth month-long trip to document an isolated tribe that had no contact with our civilization until her team met them almost a year ago -- part of a controlled initial contact of a tribe still on the Uncontacted list.

Since the trip was in September, April had her heart set on putting off college for a year to go on the trip so she could include the experience in her college applications. She planned to major in sociology at a good university.

Mom wouldn't let April go without me because there would be times when they would have to separate from each other and Mom wanted me there as April's constant companion, for protection. Mom warned us that though the tribe was generally hospitable and open to sharing their traditions and beliefs, they could be dangerous, even brutal, when insulted. Despite this warning, we were told that the trip would be a great experience for both of us, the chance of a lifetime.

I didn't mind taking a semester off. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, even though I was a year older. I was in community college, just racking up credits.

Though I was older, April was ahead of me in life, in just about every way. She was more confident, more emotionally mature and her social intelligence was a lot higher than mine. She also knew what she wanted to major in; she'd found her passion in life. She felt to me like the older one most of the time. She definitely got a lot of those qualities from Mom, who she's real close to. I was shy and not very socially adept or confident. Mom and Dad were divorced and Dad lived in a different state. He sort of went MIA after the divorce, which happened when I was around five years old. Mom never remarried, and if she had boyfriends she never brought them around the house, so I never really had a role model to look up to aside from Mom.

Mom had already taught us some essential phrases and kept drilling us to be sure they were ingrained in our brains -- Yes, no, pee, shit, water, food, etc. -- enough to get our basic needs met without needing her right beside us all the time. But other than that, April and I didn't know the language at all. Mom was fluent in the tribe's language by now, having recorded, analyzed, practiced and tested her proficiency on previous trips, so she would act as our translator.

Everything April and I knew about the tribe came from the video and photographic footage we'd been shown, along with the bits of research notes that we'd read. I'm sure April read a lot more of it than I did. They looked a lot like other photos of tribes I'd seen in documentaries about native tribes in South America. Long, straight black hair tied away from their faces, medium brown skin. Everyone, male and female, were barefoot, topless except for their beaded necklaces, and wore skirts made of shredded palm leaves. They also wore geometrical patterns of black and red paint on their faces and bodies. During rituals some wore headdresses and/or flowers in their hair.

*

Having gotten our vaccinations and passports in order, the time finally came when we arrived in South America, each armed with just enough supplies and summer clothes to rough it like we'd never done before. Well, April and I had never done it before. Mom knew just what to take and to leave behind, so I was confident we were in good shape.

We met the crew that would be accompanying us. João and Cleosa, a married couple from Brazil, were the cameraman and botanist. Paulo was another anthropologist. They had all been on Mom's previous stay with the tribe.

Mom told us that the main purpose for this particular trip was to document their spring rituals -- a time for renewal, crop planting, matchmaking and marriages in this tribe's culture. Then she warned us again about the danger we were to avoid.

"Remember this above all else," said Mom, "They can be dangerous if you insult them or their beliefs and customs. So no breaking rules, even if it seems trivial to you. And go along with everything they want you to do, especially when I'm not around. When I'm around, you can ask me if you want to opt out of participating because I may be able to politely negotiate around things I'd rather not do, knowing the language. But you don't know the language so you need to go along with everything, no questions. Okay? I don't care what they want you to eat or do, you do it without question when I'm not around.

"I don't want to see any tragedy happen. This should be educational and the experience of a lifetime as long as you're respectful. Remember, this is their society, not ours. Their laws, not ours. Not only are you no longer in the U.S., you're really no longer n Brazil. Got it?"

"Yes, okay, we promise, go along with everything," we said. It wasn't the first or even the second time we'd heard this.

The first two days were tiring. The days were hot at around 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and humid. I hated it but I didn't complain; I knew I was committed at this point and just had to get used to it. We had a lot of trekking to do after the hired vehicles went as far as they could go.

We had to camp out the first night and it was a bit scary. April and I lay huddled together in our shared sleeping bag for emotional and physical comfort, with Mom and Paolo, as well as João and Cleosa, doing the same. Each couple had their own personal tent. (April and I were considered a couple, as were Mom and Paolo, from a purely logistical point of view.) It got down to 68 degrees, which seemed colder than it was due to the extreme heat in the daytime, but inside the tent and sleeping bag we seemed fine -- until all of a sudden we were sweating. April and I opened the sleeping bag up and removed our clothes, sleeping in our underwear. Being this close to naked right beside April was a new thing and I might have taken greater interest in it if we weren't in a situation I found so stressful. I did enjoy waking up to the sight of her cute freckles.

I was relieved to make it to the tribe and the end of our trek, though I was nervous and tired. April and I, being new, got the most attention from onlookers for the first half hour or so while the others spoke with the elders to arrange things for our stay. I felt like I was on exhibit. They'd only seen a handful of people who didn't look a lot like them.

The only thing about João, Cleosa and Paolo that would've seemed strange to the tribe was their clothes and the gear. Mom, April and I were a different story. Mom was English and Irish, had straight brown hair, brown eyes and fair skin that tanned easily. April and I both had light brown hair. Hers was long and straight; mine was a bit long for a guy I suppose, and wavy. April had hazel eyes, while mine were light brown. I had skin like Mom's. April's skin was slightly lighter and she tanned a bit redder than me and Mom. Her cute little nose was the only one sprinkled with freckles. We were both sort of skinny.

I did a little nervous smiling and waving, taking April's lead, until Mom returned and led us inside one of their circular huts -- structures with walls of vertical branches placed into the ground side by side, and a roof of thatched palm leaves. Our whole party was to stay and sleep in here, out of politeness -- we could use our sleeping bags, but no more tents. There was no need for any windows in the hut because we could see right through the gaps between the branches that the walls were made of.

Having set our packs down, April and I went outside and followed Mom around as she greeted and spoke with different people, watching dinner being prepared. I tried not to pay much attention to the food preparation -- I thought I'd be better off not knowing just what I'd be eating, just in case it was something revolting. I wouldn't have the option of not eating it.

The food was surprisingly delicious. No meat, at least not tonight, but I didn't miss it. The food wasn't wholly unfamiliar; there were spices my tongue seemed to recognize, though I couldn't quite place them. We watched a few of the elders do some sort of ceremonial thing with the crew, April and I included. I imagined they were just welcoming the crew back. It was short and sweet. Just a speech and a bit of paint dabbed on our faces.

We slept surprisingly well. April and I both stripped to our underwear and got in our sleeping bag. Seeing her in her underwear was still new to me. Before the other day, I'd seen her in bikinis but not underwear, not since before puberty. April lay huddled up to me again. I wasn't used to being this close to her. I decided I liked it. And seeing those cute freckles in the morning was something to look forward to.

*

I woke up in the morning with an erection -- nothing unusual there -- but it was poking into April, who lay with her back to me, so I turned over, hoping she didn't notice. I guess she was awake because she immediately turned over and spooned me, putting her arm around me. That was embarrassing, but at least my back was to her now so she couldn't see my face. We waited for Mom to get up before getting up ourselves.

The first thing the both of us did was to ask where we could go to the bathroom. Mom took us outside and showed us where this was done, and how the natives cleaned up after themselves. Then she showed us how she cleaned her own ass, which was a bit more conventional, but still not so clean. I wasn't happy, but I'd have to get used to it. This really was roughing it. But I'll say no more about that.

The next logical question was, where do we bathe? Mom showed us where that was done, and told us not to drink the water here, they kept and drank rainwater. I stripped naked and so did April, except she kept her bra on.

Looking at April completely naked from the torso down, I thought about how lucky women were in that their pubic hair acted a lot like underwear. We had been told not to trim any body hair below our necks months ago -- we were told we would need it because of the humidity. Though her pubes had obviously grown out a bit, I could tell she normally kept herself trimmed. Of course she did. She took care of herself down there just as well as she took care of the rest of herself, apparently. I wasn't used to seeing her cute little white butt either. I almost laughed, her white butt looked so cute.

April didn't look at me so I just turned around, took my bar of soap and washed my ass properly, along with everything else. "Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all," I thought. I was a little surprised to notice her glance down at my penis for the quickest moment as we dried off. I looked down at myself to see what she saw, and found it slightly more engorged than it normally was. I had no idea I was a bit turned on until I saw the evidence myself.

Things seemed pretty normal after around a week of acclimation. I actually loved the food -- starchy dishes with fruits, vegetables and spices, plenty of fish and occasionally birds. I started paying more attention to what the tribespeople did, and so did April.

Though we tagged around with Mom most of the time, April and I both started keeping diaries and spent some quiet time together writing and watching the people. Sometimes we would let Mom go elsewhere while we learned how to do some of the chores the children did. April seemed to like that.

*

One day we watched a marriage take place. Talk about different.

April asked Mom where Paolo was, and Mom explained. "He's with the kids. The kids -- anyone younger than marriageable age -- aren't allowed to attend weddings, so a few of the elders' wives take them all into some huts and they teach them about marriage and what their roles will be, that kind of thing. Once they're adults they'll be allowed to attend wedding ceremonies, before and after their own marriage. Anyway, Paolo is observing that and taking notes.

"This couple that's marrying today, they're brother and sister."

April voiced our shock before I could. "What? Why would they do that?"

"They view sibling marriages as especially auspicious," said Mom. "Everyone here gets married within a year or two of becoming an adult. All marriages are arranged by the elders. The bride and groom almost always have to be near the same age. That's their marriage ideal. But sibling marriages don't really happen that often. Having kids close in age with the same parents doesn't happen near as often here as it does back in civilization. This couple, the man's been married before but his wife and child died in an accident. The man is twenty four and his sister is eighteen. This is unusual for them because of the age difference, but it's a new lease on life for the man -- he gets to have a wife and a family still. And the auspiciousness of their being siblings makes up for their unfortunate age difference, at least in the eyes of the tribe."

"Why would they think that's auspicious?" said April. "Don't they know about the genetic risks?"

"No, they don't," said Mom. "And even if you were capable of speaking their language, you wouldn't want to mention that, or any other of your own ideas, to them. They believe a brother and sister complement each other the best because they've already had to acclimate to each other their entire lives. They think their happiness is more of a sure thing."

"Strange," said April, echoing my own thoughts.

"Is it? Remember, we're strange, not them," said Mom. "This is their world. We're the intruders."

"Yeah, I get it," said April.

We watched the couple sit together as the tribe chanted and danced to music produced by drums and woodwind instruments (I guess that's what you'd call them), dressed in their flowers and headdresses. The music suddenly stopped. Everyone fell silent all at once and watched the couple intently.

The couple stood up facing each other, silhouetted by the setting sun. They removed their skirts and the girl reached between the guy's legs. What the fuck? After a moment I could see the guy's erection in her hand. She walked to her hut holding him there, literally leading him by the cock to her hut. Everyone looked on with glad approval.

I couldn't look at my sister or anyone else, this was too embarrassing.

A bunch of people gathered around the newlyweds' hut and peaked in through the gaps in the branches that made up the walls. I noticed Mom taking notes. A while later they turned around, cheering, and in response everyone else started cheering and the music started up. Everyone started dancing around informally. You'd think the clock struck twelve on New Year's Eve.

Paolo reemerged, as did the kids. We were all given cups of something or other to celebrate with. It tasted strange, possibly fermented. Mom spoke with one of the elders' wives for a bit, then came back to us. "They were looking into the hut to be sure the marriage was consummated," she said. "I suspected that's what it was, but I just had it confirmed. The couple will make love and spend the night in the hut now, and the end of the ritual will happen tomorrow morning."

I felt a bit awkward sleeping with April that night. I kept thinking about that newlywed couple and how they were brother and sister. They did look like a good match, physically. So strange. I tried imagining myself in their place. What if I was born into a tribe like this? I would wind up married to April. What would it be like to have sex with her? To kiss her lips? To regard her as my wife? We slept the entire night facing away from each other, our backs pressed together. I never felt her arm on me, which was unusual.

*

The next morning came and we gathered around for the end of the marriage ceremony. This started a lot like yesterday's ceremony, with music and chanting around the sitting couple. The children were gone again, as was Paolo. Two older women served the wedding couple breakfast, which they ate while everyone chanted around them. When they had finished eating, the music suddenly stopped and all was silent, just like yesterday. The drumming started up again but the rhythm had changed drastically. It was low and thumping, like a heartbeat.

The couple stood up facing each other. The morning sun shone directly on them, making our view of them clear. They removed their skirts and the girl knelt down and took him into her mouth, getting him hard. She stroked him, licking at the tip of his cock until he ejaculated on her smiling face. The girl made sure it covered her face all over before she stood up and faced the crowd, proud, happy and smiling. The drums stopped and they walked hand in hand back into their tent.

Face flushed, I snuck a glance at April. Her face showed the same shock and embarrassment I felt. I looked back at the crowd around us, determined to avoid looking at April.

The children appeared again, along with Paolo, and everyone gathered around for breakfast. I heard Mom speaking to João. "Did you get all of that?"

"Yes I did, all of it, just like yesterday," said the cameraman.

"Well done," said Mom.

Mom came over to talk to us. "I guess that was a bit of a surprise," she said.

"You think?" said April. I was definitely going to let her do the talking.

"I know your sensibilities are shocked, but look at it clinically, academically. This is an entirely different culture, completely foreign to our own, having no ties to it, ever. You may think the world is full of different cultures, but it's not, not in this sense.

What we think of as the civilized world is in fact one large monoculture, with its subcultures having more commonalities than differences. That's because, for the most part, all of the peoples of the world have had contact with each other for thousands of years, and have shared their ideas ever since the dawn of large scale agriculture and the birth of cities.

This culture is entirely apart from that. This is the way things used to be with all humans before we invented agriculture and cities. Our race started with tribes like this one. Every tribe does things differently. Their traditions, everything they think and do, works for them, and they've done it for many thousands of years, and humans had been living in tribes like this for the majority of our period of existence. We think we know better, but they're not destroying the planet like we are, they don't have to worry about crime, homelessness or social security like we do. Who's to say their way isn't better? I'm not saying their specific way, with incestuous marriages and sex rituals, but in general. That's part of why we study them, and why we should really just let them be who they are, and respect their right to live this way.

"Yes Mom, okay, I get it. I respect their right to their own way of life. I was just surprised. I won't judge them for it."

"Good girl. How 'bout you, Wes?"

"I won't judge 'em for it either, I get it," I said.

I turned in a bit early that evening. I needed sleep in order to process the events of the day. After only a little while, April came into the hut. She saw me already lying down and I watched her strip, noticing how good her skin looked as she joined me in the sleeping bag.