Description:
When he was a young man back
in the 1950s, Jesús Velásquez
built his daub-and-wattle
home on the banks of the
dark and muddy Apanwao
River, deep in the Gran Sabana. Velásquez chose his
land his pata well. There were forests nearby with
deep, black soils. To the west rose a series of dry
hills, the Waipa and Chini mountains, where deer
were common and easy to hunt. In the river, the
fish were large and plentiful. He built his house on
a grassy plain and when the rainy season began,
the earth was full of swarming maywak, delectable
ants that he could mix in his pepper sauce. He
called his village Maywak to honor the ants that
shared the plains with him and helped him survive
when hunting was difficult, and he knew he had
found his sanctuary.