Wiithin the rain forest canopy

This was Canopy Day! I'd waited a long time for it, though I feared I'd be unable to go because of heat stroke. Fortunately Mary Anne diagnosed it correctly and treated me with Reiki and electrolytes. That plus an air-conditioned room restored me! Thank you Mary Anne! Yay!

I tthink there won't be much text with these photographs, first because they're self-explanatory, and second, because my fingers are so sticky that typing is inaccurate. Here goes--

We were on the river before the sun was fully up!

The trail was muddy from the rain last night, some places VERY  muddy.

We walked from platform to platform on these suspension bridges.

leaf cutter ants carrying their booty to the nest

looking down from a platform

Aiiiiieeee! there I am, right in the middle of it! 

Here is the forest floor.

Yesterday we saw this magnificen tceiba tree for whom the lodge is named. Here are three photos stacked up:

not a very successful re-creation, but it is gigantic!

That's moi, and I bid you adieu for now!

Last Day at Explorama Lodge, next to Ceiba Tops with a/c!!!

This is my room, definitely not upscale, but everything that I needed, The shower wqs not heated, but it felt very good today after our excursion.

Here are a couple trees I found interesting:

See how tightly the vines are wrapped around the trunk.

These vines hang, and there are many, many that do!

We walked to a different nearby village

crrossing this 'bridge!'

And just outside this village is the clinic, sponsored by Rotary:

Down  the cliff to the river is probably forty feet! Steps are carved into the cliff; I don't know how they withstand the rain.

By the way, there was rain in the night, strong and short lived! 

Visiting a school in the village, we met these charming children:

A sugar refinery--very primitive and small-scale--was next. I wwas suffering from the heat, so I went to the house. The woman was lovely, wetting my hair, neck and wrists--a relief! Here is their house:

Perhaps more later after we proceed to the next lodge.

No rain in the rain forest yet--knock on wood!

The bluest sky since home:

A fishing excursion was the morning activity--

Ten fisher folk, ten piranhas:

but, sadly, none were mine. Three of us were shut out, so I'm not alone in my failure!

 Hammock time followed--

And for lunch, we ate the piranhas! They are bony but tasty.

Afternoon was a walk to the almost adjacent Yagua village. They performed some dances

and included us, that was fun. Then we tried the blow gun,

and I actually hit the target--that was funner!

Shopping followed

Though we saw some squirrel monkeys near the village, the whole troupe of them wandered to the lodge and dared each other to come and get bananas tossed on the ground for their eating pleasure:

That's my day! So good evening, my friends, tomorrow we will transfer to the other lodge, which has more amenities than this one--two nights here instead of three! 

One minor difficulty: I seem to be allergic to the rain forest! It is a bother but doesn't inhibit my participation, though I rest more in between than some people. I am enjoying this place, and with a pisco sour before bed, I will sleep well.

Made it to the rain forest!

Finally made it here, and you know what? It's all right, in fact it's lovely! Barbara Milchak, you were right all along, you knew I'd love it! For some reason I thouight it would be dark, covering up the sky, but there is plenty of sky!  O frabjus day!

I took one more picture after I wrote last evening, though I'd included it but apparently not. If, by chance I did, you can't be reminded too much--

The perfect way to end a day--pisco sour and a great book!

Noww for today: Up at 6:00, bags out, breakfast, bus at 7:15, drive to airport, check in (that was looong), wait, wait and wait (flight was late), then flight to Iquitos! We were met by Roberto in a 16 passenger bus and driven through the edge of the city, which is quite old. There are tens of thousands of these moto-taxis, front a motorcycle, rear for passengers. Here you can see for yourselves:

They are somewhat larger than the tuk-tuks we saw the other day.

The markets open every day but close around 2:00 when we were passing through. Still there were plenty:

A few buildings have Portuguese tiles from long ago:

Looking down the streets toward the river, remember this is the edge of the old city:

Then off in our speedboat-goodness, did we fly! Sttill it took a long time to get here. When we left Iquitos, the river and rainforest looked like this:

That little strip of forest is very tall,, but the river is very wide!

Now at the lodge, here is the forest. The presence of the sky is a great comfort to me:

covered walkway, my building on the left.

What are these? Maybe I'll find out tomorrow.

It's very dense away from the lodge's clearing.

So that's all folks, I've got a pisco sour waiting for me!  We going for a walk in the dark later, I'll tell you about it, but don't count on pictures.

Whew! What a relief! I'm finally here and it's great!