Day 4 in Peru Amazon Rainforest

October 3, 2021

Another 6 AM morning with pink dolphins breaching beside our boat

Skiffs early morning ride and again seeing fabulous birds

We saw the different color macaws. So beautiful and brilliant!!

Local villages. Most Amazon villagers have elementary schools in the village. There is a big push to teach Villagers preservation, and ways to protect the rainforest.

These pictures below do not really give the scope of this magical ride up a tributary towards our picnic breakfast. There were hundreds of egrets and heron lining the shores and flying with the skiffs. Beautiful beyond words!

Picnic Breakfast on skiffs of poached eggs, fruit, ham sandwiches

Priscilla

Phil

Jenny

Carolyn

Head chef Alexandra preparing our breakfast

While eating breakfast pink dolphins were all around us breaching. They are so beautiful and graceful but hard to get photos.

Below is a stock photo. We only saw their fins and backs gently breaching. But this is the color. Some are more pink - others have more gray. Color is determined by clarity of water and nutrients in the water - in darker water dolphins are more pink. Males are usually more deep pink than females.

After breakfast a few brave souls swam in the Amazon - I was not one of them after George told us not to pee in water because the warm urine causes certain river animals to lay their eggs inside you !!! Yikes!!!

Carolyn and Carlos

Robert, Carolyn , Carlos and Eva

Bill

Carolyn, Robert, Carlos and Eva

Eva was first one in!!

Carlos , George & Ricky. George was the oldest of 8 children and his father was a “healer”. George told us he and his father would go into the jungle sometimes as long as a few months gathering medicinal plants and food for the family

Local Villagers in their hand made boats

Water taxis

Saw lizards as pictured aboveand the Horned screamers. These birds really screamed!!

We saw all the different color Macaws. The scarlet were so brilliant!!

In the Afternoon we got on skiffs to village and did a jungle walk.

Shoe string tree - the strings are medicinal for fevers and natives used to help COVID patients in Villages

Walking tree

Julio explaining walking tree - the arial roots are a method for tree to “move on” as palm becomes shaded by other trees or as nutrients in soil decline. By producing more aerial roots the walking palm is able to slowly relocate to more area in jungle with better conditions for life

Dead leaf tree frog

Porcupine tree. Villages made these bowls out of this tree that I bought from them. The texture of the wood is beautiful!

Termite nest

Priscilla and Phil jungle walking

Poison yellow tree frog

Poison red tree frog

Black frog - ??? Name??

Cool huge tree that is taken over by wooden vines Julio showing size

Phil, Jenny, Priscilla and Richard ( from FL)

It is an incredible tree taken over by the vines

Big hairy tarantula!

I am not afraid of a big hairy tarantula!!!

Beautiful flowers in the jungle!!!

October 4,2021

Another visit to the jungle to see giant water lilies. The Amazon has 2 seasons - low water and high water. Our trip was during low water season. The giant water lillies are reachable in high water but the village we visited tends and saves these plants.

This Village is ruled by woman The head of the village is always a woman and the women make the rules in the village

Priscilla, Phil and Jenny entering the village Sign above us “welcome”

Village name

These wood vines are used for locals to make oars for their canoes

The water lillies tended by this village. The blooms of these lillies are full of 100s of beetles to help pollinate and when they open the beetles leave the flowers. The flowers open fully at night and last for 3 days

Village chickens

Another local boat

Afternoon tried fishing for Piranhas with rods like locals use - bamboo poles with fishing line and hook - uses raw beef for bate. Piranhas can smell fresh blood 1.3 Km away