Project Peru

Video Clips

What a Trip!

This video is available in two formats!With your teacher's help, choose the best one for your computer: Windows Media Player 9 or higher Apple Quicktime 6.0 or higher We finished paddling yesterday, bringing to a close our exploration of... May 06, 2005

End of the School Day

When the bell rings, punctuating the end of the school day in Arequipa, the stampede begins. The students body runs, paddles in hand, down to the town boat launch for an afternoon of some work but mostly fun in the water

May 04, 2005

School in Arequipa

We stayed in a hut right next to the school in Arequipa. At 7 a.m. sharp, the bell rang and school was soon in session. First, the students lined up outside and the teacher congratulated them on being on time to school

May 02, 2005

Fishing in the Flooded Forest

If you've ever tried fishing in a puddle, you probably haven't ever had much luck. But fishing in a flooded forest--even in just six inches of water--and you might just catch yourself some dinner!

April 29, 2005

Imagine Waking Up To This!

Yesterday morning, I woke up to the sound of a single word uttered in my ear at close range: anaconda!

April 27, 2005

Portaging Dugout Canoes

When we planned our route for Project Peru, we casually noticed that the Yanayacu River didn't quite connect with the town of Manco Capac. I remember thinking, "What's one small portage on a six week trip through the flooded rainforest?"

April 25, 2005

The Journey

The trip from the end of the Samiria River to the beginning of the Yanayacu has been long and hectic. We started out by hiring a motor boat to tow our canoes. Then, we paddled ourselves in the dark for a while...

April 22, 2005

Leaf Cutter Ants

We stumbled across a long line of leaf cutter ants today. Most of the ants were carrying shreds of leaves or grass several times larger than the ants themselves!

April 20, 2005

Making Dugout Canoes

We got word this afternoon that someone was building some dugout canoes near a village we would be passing. When we arrived in the area, we heard the steady sound of chopping, so we decided to trek back into the woods to investigate.

April 18, 2005

Howler Monkeys

Today we heard two troops of howler monkeys battle it out for territorial supremacy. It was really loud!

April 15, 2005

Watch the River Dolphins!

Today we spotted some gray and pink river dolphins. They were breaching all around us for more than an hour. We were hoping some dolphins would sidle up to the side of our canoe...

April 13, 2005

Want to See Some Animals?

Today we endured a massive afternoon rainstorm. I'm not sure how many inches fell, but the rain came down so thick it was difficult to see and breathe. We did see some animals in the morning, however, before we had to put the cameras away...

April 08, 2005

Paddling the Samiria

As we make our way down the Samiria River, every turn brings something new and amazing. Sometimes we prefer to paddle on the river itself. Other times, we dive into the flooded forest...

April 08, 2005

Lancha Life

We've been puttering along the Amazon by boat for nearly two days now. All aspects of life--eating, sleeping, socializing, working--are neatly contained within the confines of our diesel-powered river barge. It's a little crowded, but we've made lots of new friends and had plenty of time to spot animals in and around this amazing flooded river.

April 05, 2005