Today in the morning we visited a colorful and lively Amazon human settlement, San Francisco community. This visit allowed us to witness and experience the way that people live nowadays in most of the Amazon, and we enjoyed the opportunity to observe the houses and the day-to-day lives of their inhabitants. Some villagers were building roofs, some were extracting sugar cane juice, while others were preparing vegetable fibers to be used in the manufacturing of handicrafts. Some children were seen around playing with their pets—one girl was holding a small spectacled caiman, and a man was holding a little capuchin monkey. A curious heliconia butterfly was seen licking some minerals and water from a guest’ sweaty shirt—all of these sightings provided great photographic opportunities! In a nutshell, we were privileged to be part of a normal morning in the community.
We listened carefully to some local representatives speaking proudly about “Minga Peru” as well, which is a local nonprofit organization founded in 1998 whose mission is to promote social justice and human dignity, primarily for women and families in rural communities of the Peruvian Amazon. Leadership training, radio programming, natural resources management are some of their main projects in the area.
The highlight of this cultural visit for many was to listen to a local traditional band playing a couple of regional songs. The four men band was dressed their ancestral rainforest’ attires, and three beautiful young women danced to the tunes. Before returning to the ship, we admired and bought some of the beautiful handcrafts made in this community.
Back onboard at around 11:15 in the morning, we had a very special celebration. The ship was located in the famous confluence of the Marañon and Ucayali Rivers, which is the geographical place where the Amazon River takes its name. With a regional cocktail in hand, we gave a toast to commemorate this special event.
In the early afternoon, we had a photography talk with our photo instructor, Mike Nolan. Mike spoke about various topics, from camera tips to how to take better photographs with smartphones.
After the talk, we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Clavero Lake. Some guests went swimming, taking the opportunity to experience the warm and placid waters of this remote oxbow lake. Later on, we explored the area either by skiff or by kayak. Our guests observed many bird species and a couple of squirrel monkey troops. Many commented later that the most spectacular sightings were in fact the astonishing green and thick landscapes.
Once everyone was back onboard, refreshed with a shower and with drinks in hand, we shared our impressions of the day at recap time, and had a short talk about medicinal plants. After dinner, we watched a nature documentary entitled “Amazon, River of the Sun” that gave us a broader idea of the drastic changes between the dry and wet seasons in the Amazon Basin, and also showed us interesting details about the Amazon ictiofauna, including the humongous “paiche” also known as “pirarucu” (Arapaima gigas) and some other famous Amazon fish species like the “tamabaqui” and the “arawana”.
Today, the magic of the Amazon, with its combination of exotic wildlife, fascinating people, colors and sounds touched all of us deep in our hearts and minds forever. You have to live it to believe it, and the Amazon was as its best today.
