El Oriente In Napo where we began the monkeys rans freed in the town square. There must have been 30 0f them. On the river in the early morning A family brings bananas to the market to sell A vulture perched on a pole along the river There hanging things are the nests of an Amazon bird. They enter through a hole in the top. They are very stong and flexible since the bird chooses a certain type of cane to make the nest Leaving the nest On the river in the motorized canoe. The people on the shore are panning for gold. We stopped to look at the process. Kind of like the Old West only hotter. That little speck of shiny stuff in the center-left is gold. These are insects about 8 inches long each that are huddled together against the tree. Very dangerous we were told. A close of their bodies a lagoon where we watched for cayman and birds - no cayman but lots of beautiful birds. Along the river We visited a family who lived along the river There were about twenty people belonging to the family who lived in the house but there were onloy about six there when we visited..most of them children This bottle contains about a gram of gold dust panned from the river. To the left is the stove where the family cooks its food. The diet is incredibly simple and almost nothing is bought since the nearest store is a an hour away by canoe. The house next store There was a TV in the house which was covered when we were there. This was the only bed but most of the people in the house just slept on the floor Our canoe waiting for us . The canoe drivers have set fees for taxing people up and down the river. A port along the river Unloading bananas Along the river Along the river BIG parrot Spyder monkey monkeys everywhere one day old picarary (?) Kids in the river Toward evening Back across the river to the lodge
