I flew from Medellin, to Leticia on the Amazon. Just as we were landing, the pilot aborted, turned around, flying back to Bogota. The rain, it seems, was too heavy. In Bogota we sat around for two hours, changed the flight crew and flew back to Leticia.
The Amazon was impressive, because you somehow feel the might of this river and the impact it has on the surrounding countries.
The docking area in Leticia was quite modest.
life along the river
The passage from the boat landing to the stairs leading to the lodge was just a plank. Rather than fall in, I let my guide carry my suitcase (22.9 kg)
I could not complain about the view from my room (and the hammock made it all even better) Even from this distance, you can "feel" the Amazon!
from where I ate lunch, there was a small pond (linked to others by water) and there was someone watching me...
wasps, not my favourite
I was given an in-depth description of the local beliefs in the museum, but I do not profess to have figured it all out.
parrots are also keeping an eye on me
travel on the water is sooo peaceful
this guy is working the yucca
the village meeting house
the chickens don't seem to worry about snakes
tree with nests
this village is on Peruvian soil and represents a first relocation. My guide loved this place. He tried to talk his wife into moving there. She said he was crazy.
these are bee populations that they brought in
Iguana (much larger than I expected) way up in the tree
peaceful
Parque Santander in Leticia. Every evening tens of thousands of parakeets come together. The noise is deafening.
They say someone once let loose a bunch of these birds and the descendants keep coming back.
and the water levels were quite high all around.
although the river encroaches on your territory
children playing at a school along the river
since he was in the swing of things, I let him continue up the (long) staircase
inside I also had nothing to complain about
visited a monkey protection project
Here I begin to understand how a boss I had in the bank was afraid of monkeys...
along the way, I always had the impression that I was being watched...
monkeys everywhere
grey dolphins. I also saw the pink ones, but was not able to capture them on "film"
sundown along the Amazon
life along the river
this cute girl in the village was only mildly interested in us.
I was impressed by how the balcony color was coordinated with the flowers (or vice-versa)
The main drag here in this village was an airstrip, which drugrunners used for a short time before the Peruvians closed them down. Walking along, we startled a hunter snake, which quickly fled (partially crossing my path). Scared the sh*t out of me, because the snake was over one meter long and at that time I did not know it was non-venemous.
Here the yucca is pressed.
after that, it goes into the big pot
my guide's job was to find sloths; although we were succesful in that, his stories about the anacondas in these waters were just as fascinating!
tarring the boat, to make it more waterproof
We saw many sloths, but this perhaps the most visible of them all
bird drying his wings
