Day 6: Monday, July 27

After breakfast, we were off to explore the Ucayali River. It was Monday, washday on the river ...






We stopped by to visit another fisherman who was pleased to show us his catch - a couple of catfish for supper tonight ... and again, some salt as a gift.










We saw our fist iguana, a big green guy stretched out on a limb ...








And, big excitement, a three-toed sloth perched up high in a cecropia tree. The three-toed sloth is famously slow, travelling at a top speed of 0.15 mph.










We stopped at the village of San Pedro, a settlement of about 40 people who were NOT expecting us but who seemed pleased that we stopped to say hello.






Edgard brought a bag of bread rings - a real treat for folks who don't have stoves, much less ovens!











The village headman invited us to walk up to the village - up the hill and over the bridge.








Here is a good look at a typical house. Notice the wires? The village has a generator and folks have electricity for a couple hours a day – when the generator is working.







Here is the school building, where we all gathered for our visit.










Edgard played master of ceremonies - he had the locals teaching us Spanish, us teaching them English, and everybody singing and laughing.















We had brought bags of school supplies, which we presented to the villagers to lots of smiles and a big round of applause.











One of the local men gave us a gift - a handful of palm grubs, an important source of protein considered a real delicacy in the rainforest. Thankfully, we didn't have to eat them on the spot - we carried them back to the ship, where the chef fried them for dinner. Tastes like chicken.






Edgard invited the whole crowd back to the ship with us - turning the tables on us by telling folks that we would give them a guided tour. Everyone cheered - the adults were more excited than the kids - and off we went in our excursion boat back to the ship.







We showed folks around the ship, from top to bottom. They were particularly amazed by our cabins, complete with private bathrooms! Lots of smiles all around.










After lunch, a small group of us took the little boat over to check out a huge sandbar. We saw lots of birds and even some nests (terns). We could also see that local folks had staked out areas for planting beans, corn and rice.



As we headed up the Ucayali River, we saw more interesting boats - this one is a water taxi, an important form of transportation for distances too long for paddling a dugout canoe.






In the afternoon, we made another shore excursion, once again using steps carved in the river bank just for us.








At the top of the hill, we saw the home of the family that takes care of the trail - the house is surrounded by rice plantings.








The caretaker's kids were waiting for us.












We walked down a muddy trail through a previously flooded forest to a black water oxbow lake about a mile back in the forest. An oxbow lake is a U-shaped body of water formed when a wide meander from the mainstream of the river is cut off to create a lake. This one was crowded with giant Victoria amazonica water lilies, whose enormous leaves can exceed five feet in diameter.




The circular leaves are strong enough to support the weight of a small child.







We had accumulated a gang of kids by the time we reached the lake, but nobody would volunteer to test the strength of the leaves!









Along the way we entertained the kids who loved to see themselves in our digital cameras.











High up in a tree, here's an ant nest - safely above the high water mark - and a pretty bird, a tiger heron.










By the time we returned to the riverbank, all sorts of folks had arrived and the 'bend-down boutiques' were open for business.










Before we left the area, we got to meet a scarlet macaw - a native bird that many people keep as pets.











This evening, we were treated to a colorful Amazon sunset as we headed up the Marañon River, the other major tributary to the Amazon.







We also were treated to music. Tonight's band was billed as the Chunky Monkeys; from left to right: Javier (cabinboy), Edgard (our guide), Marden (ship's steward), and Neil (ship's naturalist, not pictured).







The real musician is Marden - here is playing the 10-string charamba and a double-decker flute.