Rachel in the Rain Forest

Hi everybody, this is Rachel! Today was our first full day in the Amazon rain forest. Our group was split up into 6 different groups to do different activities at different times. Our morning team activity was to go to Oxbow Lake to search for giant river otters, which can be 2-3 meters (6-9 feet) long. To get to the lake, we went by boat ride on the river and then hiked on a very muddy trail for about 20 minutes. We never saw any otters but we saw bats clinging to the side of a tree, several birds, and we fished for piranhas! Grace K. and Dewey both caught piranhas. It was very cool. We did put them back in the lake after we looked at them.

We went back to Posada Amazonas (our lodge) for lunch. After lunch and
some free time, we went to see a medicine man to learn what plants
native people would use for curing different sicknesses. After the
tour, they had samples of the native remedies for us to try. The “Red
Bull of the Jungle” energy drink tasted terrible. Back at the lodge, we
ate dinner and went on a bug walk where we saw few bugs as it was cold
outside.

Normally, in the time that we visited the rain forest, temperatures would have been around 80 degrees, but a front called a “friaje” (free-ah-hay) came in and it was cloudy with temperatures in the 60′s. At dinner one night, the local people serving the food were dressed in sweaters and wool hats. So, naturally, all the animals thought it was too cold to come outside too.

This is my last time blogging on this trip and it has been a great pleasure. Peru was absolutely fantastic and I wish we could have done more. I would like to say thank you to all of the people that helped put it together and gave us this great opportunity. I am honored to have won this trip and I will never forget it. It was the chance of a lifetime.