El Gato Waterfall

On our last day on the Tambopata river, we headed to this amazing waterfall in the middle of the Amazon.  A farmer owns this little spot here where we had lunch and took a hike on his land into the forest.  We banked our canoe off the river and took a hike to get to this waterfall.  As we climbed down this steep hill, we discovered a large area of mud and clay that we had to cross.  I wore my water shoes and walked into this refreshing and lovely oasis off the river.  I did get chewed up a little bit as is always the case when you go onto a piece of disturbed farming land.  It's interesting, isn't it?  I never have issues in places that aren't touched by people, but the minute I step into a farming area, I am attacked!!  As for the water???  I loved it.  There was something nibbling on my legs though and I didn't want to know what it was.  And watch the mud bank!!  I sunk up to my knees in it:)

Here we are having fun.  It's safe and a really nice place to cool off on those hot days.

The above pic is delicious rain forest food!!  Banana leaf, rice, egg, chicken, and veggies.  This was an absolutely perfect lunch after our swim.  In Nicaragua, they call this a nacatamal.  Here in the Peru, I'm not sure what they call it besides "almuerzo" or lunch.  Yum!!

While Jen went swimming, I snapped pics of plants.  The pic below is a shot of caladiums growing naturally in the wild.  These are some of my favorite potted plants here in Tucson.  I'll just say that sometimes I get jealous that some of these places don't have to put a lot of effort into growing their plants.  Caladiums do well in the desert during a hot SHADED summer with regular watering. But forget about the watering and you can say "adios" to your caladium collections. 

Until tomorrow.......