It seems like a number of you are interested in South American butterflies so I will post a series of photos from a trip that I made in January. I will start off with a little background and then get into the butterfly and other animal photos.
I visited the Peruvian Amazon with Margarita Tours. I wanted to see the Amazon all of my life so this trip was a real dream-come-true for me. The trip was also excellent in that I met up with old high school friends who I used to herp with in the deserts of the US and Mexico. The Margarita Tour was a dedicated reptile photography excursion but the participants were from diverse backgrounds and each had different interests. We all got along well and it was truly a wonderful experience and one that I would highly recommend to anyone who would like to experience the natural wonders of the Amazon.
A trip like this is the best way to see a large number of reptiles in a short period of time. Any one person will see only a few reptiles in the forest but collectively, we found many species. At Madre Selva, indigenous kids also brought in animals and exchanged these for T-shirts. Their ability to spot small, hidden animals in the forests was phenomenal.
We visited two of the Project Amazona field stations: Madre Selva and Santa Cruz. These stations are affiliated with Margarita Tours. Santa Cruz was located about an hour by fast water taxi from Iquitos but Madre Selva was much further away and required a 12 hour boat trip down the Amazon. I found the time on the water when in transit to Madre Selva to be just as exciting as walking in the forest. In the late afternoon as we approached the Rio Orosa, we saw many birds as they crossed the river. The most exciting to us were birds such as Russet-backed Oropendolas, Bare-necked Fruitcrows, Swallowings, White-eared Jacamars, Black-collared/Slaty Hawks, Greater Yellow-headed Vultures and the many species of parrots. One of the highlights of the trip on the river was the return journey at night between Madre Selva and Santa Cruz. It was an unforgettable experience to sit on the upper deck of the Nenita and watch the moon set into the Amazon, smell the moist tropical vegetation, catch occasional glimpses of various nightjars and potoos or see fishing bats streak across the bow lights.
I flew from Los Angeles to Lima and then Lima to Iquitos on LAN. Service was good, particularly on the LA<->Lima connection.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ts/flight1.jpg
Iquitos is the gateway to the Peruvian Amazon. Once upon a time, it was a booming city when rubber was valuable. There are many old and beautiful buildings along the waterfront of the Itaya River.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...s/Iquitos2.jpg
The Amazon was in drought this year. Normally, the Itaya River would be up to these houses in January, the wet season, but this year the river was about 3m lower than usual. The Itaya River is visible in the distance. Iquitos is bordered by the Itaya River and this flows into the Amazon a few kilometers downstream.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...itosRiver2.jpg
We travelled down river on the Nenita, a new boat operated by Margarita Tours. This style of boat was typical of other transports that we saw on the river.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ts/Nenita1.jpg
On the trip to Madre Selva, the clouds of the wet season built up in the afternoon and we received a torrential downpour. Drought in the Amazon is a relative term. We had a little rain on most days but just not as much as usual. The bigger problem was a poor snow melt in the Andes that feeds the Amazon.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3.../habitat2a.jpg
Later in the afternoon, it cleared and the river was like a mirror:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...s/habitat3.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...s/habitat4.jpg
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