Today we canoed back to the Napo River to visit a clay lick where parrots congregate and eat the clay from the hillside. They do this to get minerals like sodium from the clay they don’t get elsewhere and to counteract toxins that build up in their bodies from the berries in their diets. From our boat we could see hundreds of parrots on the wall and hundreds more in the nearby trees waiting to take their turns. We spotted four different varieties. They were easy to spot because they all congregated together in line parrot groups along the wall for protection. These included yellow crowned parrots, blue headed parrots, mealy parrots and dusky-headed parakeets. This was fascinating to watch.
Our guide spotted a boa constrictor on a tree branch near the clay lick who was waiting for his moment to catch breakfast.
Later we visited a local Kichwa community and learned a lot about their culture and how they live. We were given a tour of their school where roughly 65 children attend school from grades 1-6 with only three teachers to teach them all. The school was empty since we visited on a Sunday, so sadly, we didn’t get to interact with any of the children. We were then escorted to a family homestead where we learned how they constructed their homes and cooking areas from local materials. This was not a fake tourist village. This was the real deal.
They were kind enough to prepare some samples of food typical in their diets for us to try. Watch the video to see what we ate. You know this is going to be good.
In the evening we took a forest walk and saw a mahogany tree estimated to be over 600 years old. These trees were decimated to build furniture but now are protected. We felt so small just standing next to the roots of this giant tree! We also saw several frogs and insects but the highlight of this walk was the family of three owl monkeys in the hollow of a tree. They were adorable!
We are loving our time in the Amazon. There are things to see and experience everywhere we turn and we are absorbing every last bit we can before we have to leave.
Wow!