All play and no work

On the hunt!

Vitorino is a member of the Maiqjuna village in the forest a few miles from the Napo River. To hunt for his family, he looks for a calpo—a waterhole with evidence that animals use it frequently to get salt and other minerals.

He waits, he shoots…these days with a rifle.

What about the BLOW GUN, you say? Glad you asked!

The art lives on, at least in the villages that serve tourists, and maybe others…

And it turns out that YOURS TRULY is a dead-eye with a blowgun. Check out my two shots!

Beware the piranha!

Is it true what they say about the piranha? *

When fishing for them, bait your hook with raw beef, then stir up the water so they think their prey is struggling. Hook ‘em when they come to investigate.

This one became part of our dinner. They are tasty!

And what about me, the great blowgun hunter? Am I a good fisherwoman?

Check out my WHOPPER!

We returned this gigantically tiny Amazon catfish to the river so it could become lunch for a PINK DOLPHIN.

(Yes, the fabled pink dolphins of the Amazon exist, and we saw them with our own eyes. Heart-stopping beauty. More on that later, when we have time to sift through the videos…)

* People bathe and wash their clothes, and kids play in the Amazon every day, with no fear of piranha. The people eat piranha, not the other way around.