Dear Reader,
My time in Colombia has been a never-ending lesson in humility.
The lessons come daily from all quarters, and sometimes from all eras.
Today's lessons came from the 1860s, after I started reading Henry Bates'
The Naturalist on the River Amazons. Bates was a contemporary of Darwin and Wallace, spent eleven years living along the Amazon and collected specimens of over 8,000 species new to science.
Perhaps more importantly, his narrative of the peoples he met and their ways of life documented the moment in a way that few have since been able to match. Certainly not me.
But we have one tool that Bates did not: a camera.
So let's use it. :-)
18 ft anaconda sleeps on the riverbank
Squirrel Monkey shown here is part of a larger troop.
This young river otter plays with a fish (his dinner).
Without our indigenous guides, we'd never have seen the wonders of the forest.
This pile of "poop" is a really a frog.
An owl sleeps.
A lounging lizard with monkey close behind.
Scarlet macaws perch and wait...
...for their turn at a clay lick.
Capuchin monkeys scramble.
Mother otter yawns in the sun.
This moth probes for food.
Sharp eyes are needed to spot this walking stick along the forest floor.
A grey river dolphin grows to only 2 ft long.
A pink river dolphin and her calf.
A hawk waits by the river.
While underwater, fish patrol.
This bundle of fur is a sloth on his back. You're looking at the back end of the creature.
Tiny creatures are endlessly varied.
This gal's is the size of your fist.
The poison from this frog could take down a pig.
But this spider's harmless...I hope.
A monkey rescue facility provided a chance to see some species at close range. The animals are not captive.
A wooley monkey.
Life on the river with the indigenous peoples. Washing...
Fishing...
Traveling.
We're blessed to share the adventures with good friends.
Life -changing...
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