We had more travel to do before reaching the Amazon: flight and bus ride
We boarded our boat in Nauta. I laughed to myself after typing boat. It brought back a memory of my Dad. He was in the Navy and I asked him what was the difference between a boat and a ship. He said a ship is a big boat. I will never forget that.
- Amazon River Facts
- It’s the largest river in the world by volume
- It is the second longest river in the world at 4,000 miles, the Nile is 4,132 miles
- There are 142 dams with 160 more proposed
- It crosses through 4 countries: Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.
- It starts in the Andean mountains of Peru.
- Martin Strel swam the length of the river in 2007.
- It is estimated that the Amazon supports 3,000 species of fish, more are still being discovered.
Our playground for the week:
- PACAYA SAMIRA FACTS
- Reserve covers 8,000 square miles (size of Kansas)
- 102 species of animals, 13 are primates
- 58 species of amphibians
- 256 species of fish
- 1,204 species of plants
- Dry season: May to September
- Wet season: October to April, 80% of the reserve will be flooded
OUR HOME ON THE AMAZAON: AMATISTA
The Amatista was built in 1994 and remodeled in 2012. It is the only wood boat carrying guests on the Amazon. It has a crew of 15 and room for 28 guests. It was 50% of capacity for our trip so we had plenty of room.
Dining room for the trip. The food was really good.
Top deck.
Out Titanic moment
Meeting room where we would learn about local geography and traditions.
We had live music for two of the nights. These are all crew members. Guy on the left played 2 instruments at the same time, guy in the middle beat the hell out of the box, guy on the right had an amazing voice. Shocker: I danced, at least my version of dancing. The pretty tour manager dragged me onto the floor. How could I say no?
JUNGLE WALK
It was good to get off the boat and stretch our legs. The vegetation was thick, I would not want to get lost here
Red Tailed Boa, they can be up to 10 feet long and weigh 60 pounds
Fig Tree
Giant water lilies, they can be up to 9 feet in diameter.
Poisonous caterpillars
Shopping! At villages we visited the locals would lay out their handmade items to sell. Leann bought a few. There were some beautiful pieces.
Typical steps leading from the Amazon to a village.
In this village they were raising butterflies for people to release in celebration of marriages, birthdays, etc. I did not like the concept.
Blue Morph
We returned to Nauta (pronounced Mauta) to visit the local markets. Our first Tuk-Tuk ride, most of them were Honda’s. We are such tourists.
We were amazed that chicken and fish were laid on the tables with zero refrigeration. The locals stomachs are stronger than ours.
This is a high school student from a local village that was moving to the city to attend a technical college. He was dressed and danced as a giant ant eater to raise funds.
NIGHT RIDE ON THE SKIFF
Our guides released a Black Caiman (crocodile endemic to South America) that was caught in a fishermen’s net. They can grow to 20 feet.
Capybera: it is the largest rodent on the planet (AKA bush meat) .
Fish were jumping as we rode down the river. One hit me in the back, another one hit Leann in the arm and ended up in the boat. There were hundreds of them, crazy. We also saw fish eating bats.
The next morning, back on the skiff
Three toed sloth, sorry for the crappy picture. We saw many animals but did not have the camera equipment to document them.
Pic from the web so you can see what they look like:
We parked on the banks of the Amazon for breakfast.
Breakfast, they even had coffee. There was too much food so we wondered what they would do with the extra.
After breakfast, we visited a local village that was protecting the indigenous turtles. We assisted them in burying turtle eggs that would hatch in a protected area and then be released back to the wild.
Leann laying eggs, sorry could not help myself.
There are 20,000 eggs in this plot.
What the guides did with the extra food, the kids seem excited about a change to their diet.
In the next village we participated in tree plantings. The village was working to restore the local vegetation.
My Charlie Brown tree that I planted. Maybe I should go back in 20 years and see what it became.
Jungle Night Hike…..Say what?
Common name: Red ginger lily or torch lily. The canes grow to 17 feet tall
We started in daylight but it was really dark when we finished. The guide said many times: bring flashlights. Four of the group didn’t listen. I wonder what happened to them?
Not bad with light, how about no light?
Termites
Rubber Tree
As the sun was setting we did a canopy hike. This does not look very stable but reality was worse. Nothing like taking a step and hearing a large crack.
What could possibly go wrong….
It was really dark but our guide found an orchid: Cattleya violacea
We survived the night hike and back on the skiff the next morning to visit another village
Shamaness
She was not mystical but more into treatment of medical issues using local plants. She had to live in the jungle for 8 years and live off the land as part of her training.
The next Shamaness?
Next village, we are making natural dies for use in local crafts. They asked for volunteers to assist. Leann and I were the only people that said OK. I had to grind Turmeric and then mix it with the plants. My fingers were orange for 3 days
The finished product
I liked the roof structure.
At the next village they served us lunch. The dish on the far right is bush meat. AKA: large rodent. I had to try it, not bad. It was marinated and grilled. Leann passed.
Let’s swim in the Amazon!
I debated swimming and decided not too. Glad I did since they made you wear a life vest. I was good with wading.
These are the most uncomfortable life vests. They were super stiff and the collar would try to choke you whenever you sat down.
This is the river level in the dry season. In wet season, the river crests the banks and allows you to cover a lot more ground in the boat. Unfortunately, there is limited walking and a lot more bugs in the wet season
Let’s go fishing!
Leann was not as excited as I was. This was a flashback to my childhood fishing in the local pond. I was not supposed to go to the pond by myself but of course I did. One day I was there and having fun when I happened to look over my shoulder. My mom and half the neighborhood were storming down the hill. I thought for a second and took off. Not my brightest decision, I paid my bill later.
I was losing my patience. The fish were small and kept stealing my bait. Several times I saw a fish swimming away with my bait in it’s mouth. I stuck with it and finally got one in the boat. This is a Silver Piranha, we threw it back.
The guide said to let them take out the hook, no problem.
Back to the boat, we did not do much from 2-4 every day. 90 degrees and 90% humidity is a pretty good reason. I read 4 books on this trip.
Back into the jungle for another walk. This is a Monkey Tree Frog. Probably the coolest looking frog I have seen.
This is a 10 foot immature Anaconda, they can grow to 30 feet and weigh up to 550 pounds.
Goliath bird eating spider, it is the largest spider in the world. The body measures up to 4.75 inches and the leg span is up to 11 inches.
Last night on the river, let’s have Mimosa’s
Cheers.
Our last sunset on the river
We got a certificate during dinner our last night on the boat:
We saw the following animals but could not get good pictures: grey & pink dolphin, spider monkey, fish eating bat, tamarin monkey.
Back to Nauta, and then Iquitos to catch our flight to Lima.
Before heading to the airport we stopped by CREA which is a rehab facility for local wildlife. Their goal is to release the animals back into the wild.
Yellow Caiman
Manatee, these are smaller than the Florida species
I liked this sculpture, so cute.
The Amazon is an amazing river, and we were fortunate to experience it. We had to pinch ourselves when we got on the boat. G Adventures did another great job, and we are already looking at future options….Mongolia?
HAPPY TRAILS, STEVE