This morning we visited the community of San Francisco. We were privileged to experience a number of presentations: one on plants and the dyes procured from them for use in local crafts, one on a hand press method of sugar extraction from cane, and another on rice winnowing and palm frond thatch-weaving.
There was also a presentation from community leaders about a program known as Minga Peru. This program emphasizes the education of community leaders, mainly women although not exclusively, focusing on projects and programs that promote health awareness, long term projects for income generation, and education programs against domestic abuse, to name a few. Both men and women spoke to us in reference to the program and how it has enhanced their communities and their lives.
Upon leaving San Francisco, we found ourselves at the confluence of the Marañon and Ucayali Rivers. Where these two great rivers meet, the maps call this waterway, the Amazon. We turned up the Ucayali and later in the afternoon took a quick dip in one of the oxbow lakes.
Our afternoon skiff ride was plentiful of mammals, including a sighting of the smallest primate, the pygmy marmoset. The water is getting low in this area and the local community was already starting to plant some of the areas of forest that were flooded only two weeks ago. The seasons change, the water levels change, and so life along the river changes as well.
