Amazon Village Visit and Lunch with a Village Family Day 12 Peru

Friday, December 21 Winter Solstice in USA, Summer Solstice in Peru

Village Visit, Lunch with a Village Family

Our last full day on the Amazon River and we're up at 5:30 am to do some bird watching as the La Perla makes its way to the village we'll be visiting later this morning.

We were hoping to see some beautiful birds but with the rain last night and early this morning, the sun isn't up to dry the birds' feathers so they can fly. Here's hoping the sun comes out for them.

The birds may be chilling but the people are up and getting to work.

Peter and the captain do a little catfishing once the boat stops.

Breakfast is a 7:30-pancakes, bacon, fruit, and the thick coffee that will fuel us through the day. We freshen up a bit then it's on to the skiffs for our village visit. The skies are still cloudy and it's sprinkling. I think we might get a downpour. Roger and Hulber hand out the ponchos just in case.

We're invited into one of the houses and meet a lovely lady and some of her ten children. She shows us around her home.

We get to try our Spanish with some of the children.

We visit the local church and Emma and J.J get their hair braided by some of the girls.

One little boy cuts himself on something and we all make sounds of an ambulance as Hulber brings out the first aid kit to tape up his finger. Emergency resolved, we poncho up and move on.

Next we visit the couple whose house we'll be having lunch at. Our tour director Wendy is there visiting and we sing Happy Birthday to her.

The children love having their photos taken on digital cameras and cell phones because they can see what they look like. There are few mirrors and they mostly use puddles or the river for looking glasses.

Lastly, we visit the local one room schoolhouse (not unlike some schools we have in the smaller towns in Vermont). The children and their school are on holiday. The teachers have gone back to Iquitos until after the New Year. But the villagers open the doors for us.

Hulber introduces the children to us all and they sing some songs for us.

This is the first time the village children have seen Chinese people. It appeared to be a happy encounter.

More videos:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKa6O-DUsAoClmn4VU14XHFo1lpbcgnKb
We have snack time with them. We all chip in and a runner goes to the local shop to buy some crackers, Fanta orange and Coke-A-Cola. 
We say our goodbyes and give out many hugs. Then head back to the boat to freshen up before lunch. 
The children run along the shoreline and set up camp watching us on the boat. I feel like we're the zoo animals being observed by the children. We make faces back and forth and giggle a lot. They hang for a while but either get bored or are told to move away-they scatter.
We're back on the skiffs at noon for our quick trip to the village docking area. The girls meet J.J. and Natasha and escort them to our lunch.

We are welcomed into the home and introduced to our host and hostess who have been cooking all morning for us.

We had steamed fish in banana leaves with some yummy spices; steamed chicken and rice.

 And bush meat stew-Jay and I don't try it but others did and said it was great. (I think they said it was rat meat.)

I really enjoy the chicken and rice steamed in a banana leaf .

We had our choice of banana smoothie, lemonade or Jungle Beer (made from Yucca). All were delicious.

More photos: https://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/Peru-2018/Amazon-Village-Lunch-/

We again say our goodbyes and give out lots of hugs. And head back to La Perla.

The boat is on the move again. Bar snacks today at 3:30 pm with an explanation of how our Saturday transfer to Nauta to Iquitos will run.

Next up: Sunset celebration on the Amazon River