We started our activities early in the morning to visit Amazon Natural Park. This is a private reserve that is outside the Reserve. The adventure started by boarding three catamarans. We crossed a lagoon by rowing peacefully. After a short ride we disembarked to go for a jungle hike. While walking in the forest we admired very big and famous trees like the rubber and ceiba trees. On the way we spotted a couple blue crowned mannakins, and learned about rain forest ecology. The trail leads to a very long suspension bridge which provided us a completely different perspective of the jungle from above. One of the most exciting findings was to see a pavonine quetzal pair, who our Photo Instructor, Santiago called in with a recording!
Later in the morning after the walk, we had a very interesting visit. We invited Carola, a shaman woman, who taught us a few things about her fascinating knowledge of the rainforest. Carola described several medicinal plants and how to use them, answered several questions about the way she cures certain diseases and how she prepares the plants. The ceremony concluded when Carola started singing a song in her native tongue and gave her blessings to the group.
We sailed back down the Marañon River towards Nautacaño, another tributary which we explored by skiff.
After dinner, we explored the jungle once again. This time, to see what we could find at night. With our flashlights we could see little red eyes glowing back at us. Some were small spiders, some were toads, and some were moths and butterflies of multiple colors and shapes. The sounds of the rain forest are quite special as well. Comparable to Dante´s Purgatory, myriads of frogs and insects inundated the atmosphere with a multiplicity of sounds.
