Atun Poza and Mud Therapy on the Ucayali River
Last night we traveled back down the Ucayali River before stopping near the community of Atun Poza. Here we disembarked to explore this tiny community and the surrounding forest. They mainly grow rice and catch fish, and this being the low season, the rice was nearly ready for harvest. Birds seemed to enjoy the rice, with large flocks of parakeets, pigeons, and different blackbirds flying around the fields. Fishing also seemed to be successful as many people were drying various fish.
The village held many exciting discoveries. In a corner there was a tarantula. Numerous parakeets were pets, and people were showing off their catch of piranhas. One gentleman returned from his fishing with an anaconda he caught in his net wrapped around his neck. Not too large, it was a nice sight to see. A simple way of life in a nice little community.
Seeing as though it was Saturday, the kids were not in school. Many of them accompanied us into the forest, probably wondering what we were up to. We made our way through some beautiful varzea forest, with many large trees and a lush understory. A centerpiece of this forest is one massive Ceiba tree. Also called kapok, this giant emerges above the canopy around it. Massive buttress roots help support it in the thin soil. An excellent diversity of birds and plants were observed, and many stories were shared of how the local people make a living in this spot. And certainly it was a great little spot.
In the afternoon we continued on farther downstream. For some of us, our afternoon consisted of some beach and mud time. In a few places along the river, there is a mud that is said to have therapeutic properties. We went onto an expansive beach and coated ourselves with this mud. As we let it dry, we wandered around exploring this newly created land, caused at a bend in the river by silt deposited by the river. Whether or not the mud expelled the toxins it is claimed to do, we certainly enjoyed rinsing it off in the river. As we floated down river, we were able to reflect on the amazing explorations we have had this last week in the Amazon.
