Thursday, May 27
Our plan was to wake up early, and go trekking on a remote island to look for wildlife. Unfortunately, however, it was raining. We had an amazing breakfast of buffalo cheese, eggs, toast, fried yucca, starfruit juice, and these really great pancakes. The pancakes had vanilla in them among other things, and they were the best pancakes we've ever had.
After breakfast, we decided to brave the rain and wander around near the lodge. We trekked through the rainforest near the lodge a little bit, then came to a field. As we were walking, the rain finally cleared up. We followed the field to the Oran cemetery, where Randy said some of his family was buried. After that, we walked past Randy's house and were able to eat guava straight off the tree!
We went back to the lodge and prepared for another boat ride. On the way to our destination, we came across some pink dolphins.
Pink Dolphin
Oran, Peru
Pink Dolphins
Oran, Peru
We visited San Gregorio, a local Yagua village, and purchased some hand crafts from the villagers. We were invited into the hut of one of the villagers while our guides enjoyed a bowl of masato, a fermented yucca drink. (We were advised to politely decline, as the drink is made by chewing the yucca root, and mixing it with untreated river water)
Yagua Village
San Gregorio, Peru
Back in the boat, we saw many birds, sloths, monkeys, and followed a few dolphins. We stopped to trek a little ways down the river from the Yagua village. Randy and Edison had a surprise for us up their sleeves. They showed us a tree that was several hundred years old. This tree was easily the largest we've ever seen, making the giant sequoias in California look small in comparison.
Juvenile Black Collared Hawk
Oran, Peru
Juvenile Black Collared Hawk
Oran, Peru
Squirrel Monkey
Oran, Peru
Termite Nest
Oran, Peru
Rainforest Canopy
Oran, Peru
Trekking in The Rainforest
Oran, Peru
Mark, Randy, Ceiba Tree
Oran, Peru
Jenny, Mark, Ceiba Tree
Oran, Peru
We went back to the lodge for a lunch of beef stew, rice, yucca, fresh veggies and.... jello! After our afternoon siesta in the hammock room, we headed out looking for giant water lilies and to do some fishing. Unfortunately, we didn't find any water lilies. The piranha fishing went slightly better, with Jenny bringing one in. It's entirely beside the point that it was a vegetarian piranha and it was subsequently used as bait.
Amazonian Tributary
Oran, Peru
Water Plants & Flowers
Oran, Peru
Piranha
Oran, Peru
On the way back, we got caught in a small rainstorm that passed quickly. A treat for us was seeing a complete rainbow.
After the rainstorm, we caught the best sunset of our trip.
Amazonian Sunset
Oran, Peru
Amazonian Sunset
Oran, Peru
Dinner was schnitzeled chicken, rice, yucca, and veggies. After dinner Mark, Edison, and Kalie (the dog) went out to take a look for nocturnal wildlife. This time we found a tarantula and an owl.
Pink Toed Tarantula
Oran, Peru
Screech Owl
Oran, Peru