Peru Trip (August 11th- 27th, 2012)

---

Day 5: Wednesday, August 15th, 2012- Peruvian Amazon

Today we spent our time fishing, visiting an Amazonian family and feeding baby caimens.

The river where we went fishing was very low . During the dry season the river water level diminishes significantly, making it more difficult to catch fish. Only one person in our group caught a fish. The fish were very smart and 2 times they were able to chew off the bait from my fishing rod. I definitely, would not pass of as a fisherman ;-). Our guide told us that we were not going to eat the fish. We put the fish back in the water. Apparently, the people in that region, put mercury into the water to look for gold, polluting the water and making the fish poisonous to eat. Good to know :-(.

After fishing, we visited an amazonian family and learned about their way of life. They do a lot of fishing (in the poisonous water), growing of crops and hunting with bows and arrows. They sell their crops in the market. They also drink the water from the river but bleach it before they drink it (That cannot be healthy). They also make jewelery and we ended up buying a beaded necklace and bracelet from the family.

That afternoon, around 3:30pm we headed off to the pond behind the lodge to feed baby caimens fish. Apparently, there was a flood a few years back and a family of caimens got trapped in the pond. This was the first time that I finally got some good pictures of caimens. It would have been nice if the mother and father showed up as well.

So that marked the end our our Amazon adventure. I did not get bitten by many mosquittos, which was awesome. The mosquittos, were worse on the Inca trail. The place that we stayed at was well above my expectations and the staff were very knowledgeable. Overall, it was a great experience and definitely worth it. Tomorrow, we head back to Puerto Maldonado, a 2 hour boat ride against the current and then it is off to Cusco for our Inca Adventure.

---

Photos

Amazonian Family
Teaching us how to use a bow and arrow

Me trying to use a bow and arrow
I am really not good. I definitely will not make a good hunter.

Baby Caimens
Popping their heads up going for their meal

The cabin we stayed at
Our Cabin name was Doncella