In Monday's Daily Dilemma, we asked students to help us figure out how we should get around while we are in Iquitos. Students responded with a variety of good answers. The majority of you thought that we should use canoes to explore and do our shopping in the Belen Market.

Following your advice, we hired a strong young man to paddle us around the flooded streets of Belen. Jose is like a taxi driver, but instead of driving a car he drives a canoe. Belen is on the edge of the large city of Iquitos. Belen is unique because much of the city is covered in water for most of the year. From January to May the streets, soccer fields, and gardens are underwater. Many of the houses are built on rafts that float up and down as the river rises and falls. Other houses are built on stilts so that the water does not cover the house when the water rises.

The floating city was full of life: people paddling canoes, children swimming and laughing, people going about their daily lives in houses floating on the Amazon River.

I have never experienced such an interesting city, and it proved to me the people can adapt to and survive in the flooded forest.

Keep Exploring!

Dave

Wednesday's Daily Dilemma sparked some very strong reactions from students. Students were asked if they thought selling wild, rainforest-dwelling animals as pets was okay. All of the responses were in favor of keeping the animals wild.

It was such a heated debate that we decided to write more about the situation in today's Animals of the Amazon. Great work, Student Explorers! You've shown to us that you care about the rainforest habitat and its inhabitants.