Jungle Life

After our romp around the Belen Market yesterday, I felt so sorry for all of those poor animals hacked open and slapped onto a piece a wood to be sold for a few ¨soles¨. I had dreams about it all night! Those poor turtles lying upside down, hiding in their shells waiting to be scooped out and made into soup! AWFUL. I was very pleased that our friend Marlon from yesterday suggested that we go to an animal preserve today to see some LIVE animals. We took a boat down the Nanay River to a shelter where they care for injured animals and those that are near extinction. Things are a little different here, and you can just walk into any of the enclosures and pick up pretty much any animal you like! First, our guide passes us a huge sloth! He was very friendly (and slow) but we didn´t really know what to do with him once he was dangling from our arms! We got to hold these old prehistoric turtles (150 years old!) that looked like dinosoars, parrots perched on our arms, GIANT guinea pigs ran around our feet, and a huge snake wrapped itself around my neck...a little bit scary. We decided not to go into the jungle cat enclosure, and we hoovered near the door of the anaconda and crocodile cages. It made me happy to see that not ALL the animals are being eaten.

Then we went to visit the Bora tribe a little further down the river and they were very welcoming. They make a lot of money from tourists so they put on a real show. First, we met the chief and then all the little girls dressed Chris and I up in tribal jewelry and headresses! They did 5 different dances for us, and asked us to join in on a few. I couldn´t help but laugh as Chris was being pulled around by a throng of topless Bora women as they tied all kinds of jewelry, belts and feathers to him. It was great! I left with an new anaconda skin bracelet, Chris with a porcupine quill bracelet, and I have already been adorned with guayuru and snake bone earings, a tropical bird feather hairwrap, and a jaguar tooth necklace for protection... will those be legal in the States? So much for saving the animals....yikes!

Oh yes....
For the record: I know Hollywood stars look oh so sexy in those movies trompsing through the Amazon, and I understand that some strange people have the ability to look ¨sexy¨while sweaty. However, there is NO WAY that they smelled good! Oh my goodness, all of our ¨jungle clothes¨smell the same. I think it´s a combination of the extreme heat, crazy humidity, and general filth. Our clothes smell like a mixture of mildew, BO, and the inside of a cast. ugggggghhhhhhhhh. JUNGLE.