day two of the Amazon trip

On day two of our Amazonian adventure, we went on a boat trip from our Colombian side of the river to the Peruvian side which included visits to several locations.  The first was a village where the residents all own exotic pets that they bring out for the tourists to hold and pet.  To my dismay, Mac held a baby caiman, a sloth, a monkey, and a mata-mata turtle. There is no telling how many germs and fleas he picked up in that short window of time.

From that village, we walked to a location where they keep a baby manatee whose mother was caught and killed in fishing nets. Then we saw two little wildcats that are being kept captive followed by a horrible anaconda which Mac put around his neck.

Although we were staying at a brand new hotel that was probably the nicest in the area, it was really like we were on a low-class cruise ship and required to participate in included activities that were low-budget.  This morning's activity was a lesson in what we do wrong in the world - teaching these young kids that the "rich" tourists will pay to hold your pet animals that should be living free in the natural wild habitat just rubs me the wrong way.

So then we came back to the hotel, had lunch, swam a bit and then took off on another of the included activities.  We went to "ride" water buffaloes which was the equivalent of a five year-old's birthday party where the ponies are brought in and you ride the pony in a circle.  Weak.

 After that we took the boat up into a really cool area of the river where everything is flooded.  Unless you knew these waterways, there is just no way known you'd find your way around.  We went to a "shaman's" house where we saw his plants, watched how he raised fish, and - Christmas miracle of all miracles - saw Mac eat fish for the first time in his life.  Why he chose to eat this particular fish, that had been roasted over a fire and served on a freshly picked banana leaf under conditions that were questionably hygienic is absolutely beyond all comprehension. But he ate several bites and declared it delicious.  Who knew we only had to find a medicine man in the Amazonian jungle to get Mac to eat fish?  We might have come years earlier.

where the fish are cooked

the roasted fish

preparing the feast - shaman is the heavily tattooed guy with  about 0.5% body fat on the right

not sure about this....

Delicious!

Mac's love of this fish did not extend to this fruit that he tried.  But at least he tried it!

not sure about this.

sniffing it.

cautiously tasting it.

No, I don't like it.

Not crazy about that fruit, but check out my new seed pod earring...

We went back to the hotel, hot and sweaty, but Mac was happy and had had a great day.