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NOMADIC LIFESTYLE, EARTH, United States
After getting my first passport in 2006 and traveling to climb Kilimanjaro in Tanzania my life changed. I began the process of getting rid of all my possessions and traveling the world. Traveling to over 125 countries and all 7 continents, hostels have been my home. This "new life" has taught me what is important and it was NOT accumulating money or possessions. Traveling is the best education. I hope my blog will encourage others to travel. My World Tattoo was a way for me to express my PASSION FOR TRAVEL.

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Showing posts with label PERU. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PERU. Show all posts

PERU, Huanchaco Beach











Sunday June 17 and Monday June 18th
I spent a couple of days relaxing in the small coastal village of Huanchaco. The fisherman here still use reed boats to fish in the ocean. The boats are called cabillitos de tortora. Cabillitos means "little horse". Fisherman kneel on them rather than ride in them. Nice to just relax without trying to see too many sights. I leave on the bus from Truijillo at 11 pm and will arrive in Lima at 8 am.



PERU, Butterfly Farm and Sanctuary, Amazon










































































































Wednesday June 13, 2007

Back in Iquitos and decided to go to Butterfly Farm and animal sanctuary. I caught a boat down the river a few kilometers and found my way to the site. A woman from Austria had moved here 20 years ago and began the Butterfly Farm which breeds butterflies in their natural habitat. She also has accumulated monkeys, alligators, parrots, a tapir, a jaguar and even an anteater. The woman told me that a parrot fell into the small pond and that the alligators ate it. She said the parrot fell into the pond because the monkeys like to sneak up behind them and pull out their tail feathers.

PERU, Amazon Adventure, Piranha





































While in the Amazon, we walked through the forest while the guide showed me the medicinal plants and what there uses were. We would also fish, mostly for Piranha, in the mornings to have fresh food to eat. We only took two live chickens and vegetables with us to the camp for the week. At night we went looking for Caiman {alligators}. My guide, Raphael, caught a young Caiman one night and they also shot a river rat that they jumped out of the boat and chased along the bank one night.

PERU,Amazon, Canoe trip to Camp


Saturday June 9, 2007

We took a canoe and went down a tributary of the Amazon River to our camp site. We passed several houses that belonged to friends of my guide. While traveling down the river my guide filled up my empty coke bottle with river water and drank it. He showed me the water and it was perfectly clear. The guide said the Amazon was the cleanest river in the world and was just dark due to the soil on the top which has not settled yet. We passed balsa wood that had been cut and tied together to float down the river at a later date. Hard to believe that as remote as were were there was still some logging going on.



























PERU, Slow Boat Down the Amazon




























I caught the slow boat down the Amazon to get to my remote destination 150 miles from the nearest city or town of any size. The trip will last about 18 hrs and my sleeping quarters will be a hammock along 250 other people. There will also be bananas, cattle and various other goods which will be transported back to Iquitos on the return trip. Many villagers also pay the fee to return to their villages after going to the city for supplies. The Amazon was so enormous it was almost unbelievable. You can not see the banks of both sides at some times. It looks like an ocean.






























PERU, Belen Market, Amazon






















In the Belen District is a market which is on higher ground but contains items from love potions to hand-rolled cigarettes from the Amazon Jungle. The turtle in the picture may not immediately be recognizable. lol The market is so large it would take several hours to walk by each stall if you did not get lost first.

PERU, Belen District {Venice of the Amazon}











In Iquitos is the Belen District which is the slum area consisting mostly of floating houses and floating shops. The rise and fall of the river makes this necessary for the low lying area.