Animals of the Amazon
Wow, I can't believe we have reached the final Project Peru update. It seems like we are just getting started and I could easily spend another month down here looking for wild animals! The biodiversity of plant and animal...
May 6, 2005
It has been interesting to paddle our way out of the depths of Pacaya-Samiria. The closer we get to larger groups of people the less wildlife we encounter. This is due to a variety of factors, including hunting, disturbed...
May 4, 2005
One thing that has continued to amaze us on this journey is the diversity of bird life we see in this forest. Some days I forget that the flocks of birds flying overhead are actually flocks of parrots, parakeets,...
May 2, 2005
We have been very fortunate on this trip to see a number of rare rainforest animals! Most people that visit the jungle hope to see anacondas, howler monkeys, and pink dolphins, but surprisingly few do. Our ability to spend...
April 29, 2005
What an awesome morning! I woke to Warren telling me that an anaconda was caught in the fishing net he had set and he wanted to bring me to check it out! It didn't take me long to get...
April 27, 2005
Well, we have made it to Lake El Dorado and are excited to see lots of cool animals! On the way here from Manco Capac we have already seen wattled jacanas, a large three-toed sloth, horned screamers, lots of...
April 25, 2005
While Adam and I were paddling along a couple of days ago we saw an interesting sight. After we heard some rustling in the bushes, we looked over and saw a small bird struggling in the water. I immediately...
April 22, 2005
While we have featured a number of the amazing animals we have seen on this journey, we haven't been able to say much about the plants of the rainforest. I want to introduce you to one of the wild...
April 20, 2005
Tonight we got quite a surprise in our kitchen. While finishing the rice we noticed a four-inch-wide tarantula crawling across the floor! This sparked some excitement in the ranger station. In addition, we saw three baby tarantulas at camp...
April 18, 2005
We often focus on large animals in this update. Today, I want to take some time to recognize some of the smaller creatures! As a group, the insects of the Amazon are among the most spectacular and diverse of...
April 15, 2005
Wow, what an awesome day! We had gotten a few glimpses of river dolphins as we headed down the Samiria River, but today we hit the jackpot!As we pulled into our camp, Ranger Station #6, we saw numerous river...
April 13, 2005
Animals of the Amazon While paddling down the headwaters of the Samiria River, we have been fortunate enough to see many wild animals. One of the most exciting discoveries today was a group of Squirrel Monkeys! We could tell that...
April 11, 2005
It is great to finally be heading out into Pacaya-Samiria. While we were able to see many animals during our travels, we know we will see many more while in the reserve. Today we were able to see a...
April 8, 2005
During our time on the lancha, a two day journey from Iquitos to Lagunas, we had some time to chat with people. I also took this time to talk with a different species riding the boat, a parrot named...
April 6, 2005
While we were in the market we saw a number of rainforest animals. Hopefully we will see many of these when we head into the Pacaya Samiria Reserve. People harvest these animals for a number of reasons including food,...
April 4, 2005
Since today was filled with lots of traveling, we did not get a chance to see much wildlife. One great event, though, was seeing the circling vultures above the Iquitos airport. We mentioned on Wednesday that these may make...
April 1, 2005
We just got off the phone with Ruben, our friend in Lima. He told us that pilots are having a hard time landing their planes in Iquitos because of black vultures! Apparently, these birds are soaring around the airport,...
March 30, 2005
As we get ready for this trip, we need to think about all of the animals we might encounter in the jungle. Most of the animals will be harmless, like sloths, macaws, and tapirs. However, we do need to...
March 28, 2005
