Put to the Test

October 12, 2009 Early start at 6:30 A.M. when we take off on our skiffs to see more wildlife (sloths and more bird and monkey species.) We picnic with our boats pulled up to the river's shore. The women even have an outdoor bano for our ease and comfort. After lunch we visit a river village and wait while the guides ask the mayor's permission to enter. That granted, we walk to the elementary school which is attended by all the village's primary age children (around 40 kids). It's a single classroom, government-built, and taught by a teacher recruited and paid for by the government. A school in every river village was a project started by the now-disgraced President Fujimori in the 1990's. Many of the children bravely approach us and one little girl holds our hands. The children sing for us, and we for them. We teach them to count to 10 in English. We are all having a great time. On our way out, the villagers have set up a little market place to sell their hand-made goods so we enjoy looking and buying. The afternoon excursion leaves La Amatista around 4 P.M. for the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve and, after a sweaty 45-minute wait, we commence into the reserve but only after the captain himself has motored over to talk to the ranger. What is more pervasive than bureaucracy? More animal sightings and then much hubbub along the river bank. A group of people working in the preserve have 2 anacondas, a juvenile and a 100-pound adult, which they kindly display. We get out of the boats for closer observation. It turns out that they are keeping the snakes at their encampment until the rainy season starts and the waters rise. The snakes will be released in a few months when their chances to hide themselves and escape being killed by poachers improve. Some hold the snakes while the rest take photos. There is also a large project here to incubate turtle eggs. Once hatched, the babies remain in the compound until they grow a bit and are then released into the river. Important to increase the species since they have been hunted almost to extinction here. Hard to think kindly of the poachers, many of whom work for outfits that sell the bounty to foreign markets. So these bastards exploit both the hands-on poachers who do the dirty work (trying to feed their families) and rape the ecosystem for profit. The way of it. Darkness falls and the stars are wonderful. Our guide is otherworldy in spotting nocturnal creatures. True, we have 2 big spotlights to shine onto the banks, but at one point he actually leaps from the boat to retrieve a large month lounging in a tree away from shore. He also brings us 2 different frogs, each about as big as a fingertip. The grand prize was a juvenile cayman - part of the crocodilian family - which he leaned over to pluck from the black water. I admit to some misery during the return trip. No new bites thanks to a generous coating of DEET, but much grief from my old crop. Bites and bladder = I've got issues. Can we speed this thing up a little?