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That is our boat home. And we're two kilometers from the dock. Uh-oh...I’ve had an urge to go to the Amazon Jungle over the past several years, and I finally got there. It was everything I had imagined: hot, wet, dense, and teeming with strange and dangerous wildlife.

It's a Jungle Sometimes

GringoAndGringa
2006-02-18 14:58:26

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That is our boat home. And we're two kilometers from the dock. Uh-oh...I’ve had an urge to go to the Amazon Jungle over the past several years, and I finally got there. It was everything I had imagined: hot, wet, dense, and teeming with strange and dangerous wildlife.

Our introduction was provided by a very capable team, Laurel and Pico at the Picaflor Research Centre. Picaflor recently became an official “Concecion Conservacion” - a plot of semi-park land. It is a project in sustainable forest management and a venue for academic projects. Laurel and Pico are an Anglo-Peruvian couple, and they have a small boy named Piquito. Laurel is a PhD biologist and Pico is a lifelong forest resident/brazil nut harvester. We recommend Picaflor highly. The food was great.

Being a “volunteer” at Picaflor includes three hours of work daily (in return for the quite cheap lodging). They are building a perimeter trail around the plot right now to discourage illegal loggers, and most of our jobs had to do with this. For instance, we walked along to the trail to check on the labourers who are cutting the trail and we built little tags saying “Concecion Conservacion” to hang on the perimeter posts. We even went out to retrieve an orchid that was

This one didn't eat us like most of the others.on a tree that had fallen near the new trail (long story… it was REALLY hard to carry back). Other than that, we helped prepare for the rainy season by painting used motor oil on the house-posts. We actually missed a day of work because we were violently ill (it’s still a mystery).

Leisure time at Picaflor could possibly be divided into two categories: Hiking the extensive trail system, and playing “Error” (to be pronounced in a funny Spanish accent). The hikes are great - you can go to a nice lookout, a secluded swimming hole, or just wander around looking for monkeys. The trails sometimes aren’t so great - the jungle is ...