Iquitos part dos

On Friday we woke up at 5 am to go on a canoe float and bird watch. We saw a lot of birds and even a pack of monkeys swinging around in the trees! After watching the sunrise on the river, we went back to the lodge and napped in hammocks until breakfast at 8. You know you're having fun when you have to take a nap before breakfast...

Sunrise

Moon still full

After breakfast we went on a boat ride to another little spot in the rainforest. On the way I spotted an Iguana just hanging out on a branch. It was so pretty! Then Leon scooped up a snail we saw floating in the water.

Iguana

Snail

We got out and started our long hike about medicinal plants in the rainforest. First we saw a huge tree with big buttress roots - these are some of my favorite things in the forest. They are sooo big and old and make you feel less significant.

Me, David, and Keeley in front of the monster tree (and threatening David with machetes)

Tarzan-ing on a vine

The tree is so tall! And said to be about 250 years old

Had to do the classic bug in my hair shot.

Fruit

David and Leon's hands on a termite home - if you rub them around on your hands it's one of the best natural mosquito repellents. 

Leaf-cutter Ants: A bunch of them chew parts off of a leaf and carry it to their home in a cute little marching line

a video:

Getting some natural face paint from Leon

Source of the tribal face paint

Keeley and David's markings mean they're widowed, mine means I have an enamorado (boyfriend)

Bright fungus

I love this flower

After walking for a while we walked through a little pueblo back to the river. Keeley and Leon saw a poor baby anaconda stuck in somebody's fishing net and tried really hard to get it out but it was too tangled. The owner of the fishing net granted permission to cut the net so we got the Anaconda out and set it free in the water!

All tangled up :(

Finally free!

On the boat back to the lodge

We took a boat back to the lodge and had capybara for lunch - it's like this mini pig looking thing that's the biggest rodent in the world. It was pretty tasty! Afterwards we went on the canoe to where the Amazon River meets the Yanayaku River - and you can see exactly where they meet because of the change in water color. We saw grey river dolphins on the Amazon and then docked the canoe near the intersection to look for pink river dolphins and lay in the sun for a while. It was very relaxing!

Yanayaku on the left, Amazon on the right

After our float I took a shower - cold but refreshing. There was no electricity at the lodge besides a generator that ran for like a half an hour a day just to charge batteries and electronics. The water for the shower/sink was from the river. I felt clean for a whole 10 minutes until I had to load on the mosquito repellent again! We had lomo saltado for dinner (my favorite Peruvian meal) then drank some homemade sugar cane rum that smelled really bad but didn't taste horrible and wasn't very strong. We sat around the dinner table with lanterns and shared stories and listened to the symphony of insects and animals singing in the rainforest around us. Then went to bed by 11!