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PERU March 2007 |
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I put together a few pages of photos from our trip to Amazonian Peru to share with everyone as I know some of you were anxious to see where & what we did!! Our group included Kelly & myself, Marty & Jill Capron, Jeff Delp and Jon Hege. Our fearless leaders were Devon Graham & Dick Bartlett of Margarita Tours. We also had a few other adventurers join the tour for a few days, including Dick’s wife Patti, Corinne, a wildlife enthusiast from Switzerland, & Bill Cope, herpetologist from FL, & Young & Matt Cage, herpetophiles from AZ & CO. We also shared the research station with a group of biology students from one of the universities in Iquitos, which kept things interesting. The crew were incredibly friendly, efficient & worked hard to keep us fat & happy! The food was delicious, the facilities very clean & comfortable, and the weather quite tolerable. Of course, I could have done without the bugs & we all pretty much lived with a Benadryl pen handy at all times, which helped to make it more tolerable. Other than a few non-venomous snake bites and one wasp sting, our group came out largely unscathed! We saw 106 species of amphibians & reptiles, many of which were brought in by local villagers who happily accepted T-shirts, caps, toys & granola bars in trade. It was such a wonderful experience, it is hard to describe, so I’ll let some photos do most of the talking... Enjoy!!
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Kelly, Cesar (our guide), Jill, Marty, Jeff & Jon on the riverfront in Iquitos.
The riverfront area came alive at night, much like a carnival. There were clowns, painted girls dancing with snakes, musicians & of course street vendors. |
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Kelly & I - on the Itaya riverfront in Iquitos, anxiously awaiting our boat departure!!
P.S. To see maps of all the areas we visited, see: |
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There are many floating villages along the river in Iquitos. The largest was Belen, which also has a huge marketplace. |
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The first herp of the trip - an iguana sunning below the riverwalk. |
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A soccer game, also below the riverwalk. This is just the leading edge of Belen, it extends as far as you can see! |
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Finally, we get to board the Tucunare (‘peacock bass’), our home for the next week or so! |
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Jon just couldn’t help himself. This young lady was just the first of many forced to fend off his dance moves. |
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We spent the last few hours in Iquitos enjoying the riverfront view at this bar. The guys were entertained by the dancing girls who were rehearsing all afternoon. I think most of us could have performed the routine with them if they needed a stand-in. |
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Several locals in dugouts were gillnetting in the waters below us. |
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Just the first of many incredible ‘cloudscapes’ we saw on the river. |
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A typical homesite along the river. |
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We stopped at the confluence of two rivers, where dolphins can often be seen feeding. Sure enough, after a few minutes we saw the first of many fleeting glimpses of pink river dolphins!! We also saw several of the second species that occurs here, the gray river dolphin - however, they are smaller & faster & much harder to photograph! |
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Another typical sight on the rivers, a fully loaded ‘peca-peca’ - named appropriately for the sound the motor makes. |
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On one of our first stops for supplies downriver at a floating ‘bodega’, we adopted a yellow-footed tortoise (who was likely destined for the dinner table) exchanged for two T-shirts, quite a bargain.
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Over the course of the trip, ‘Mateo’ was given a number of nicknames & ate very well before being released at Madre Selva. |
