Le chantier Izzinda

Our second stop on PMI by boat was the Chantier Izzinda, which is a former chantier forestier. I'm not sure exactly when the lumber business closed up shop, but now only a few families remain. It's a fascinating spot - the tracks on which they rolled the giant tree trunks into the river are still there, overgrown with grass and jungle greenery. It's far enough from Belle Vue that it warrants a separate stop for PMI, but there are so few residents that we frequently just have the children climb into the boat for vaccinations!

When we arrived this week, the only kiddos who still live there were already "en ville" for a recent funeral, so we climbed off the boat to say a quick hello. We chatted for a few minutes while one of the village elders (yes, grandfather-aged) clambered up into a grapefruit tree and started tossing them down to another man who put them in bags for us to buy. Yum!