Early in the morning we started a brand new day of exploration by visiting San Jorge Village. Here we had a great time watching and experiencing firsthand how people live nowadays in the Amazon region. Our visitors could see how so many little things that we may take for granted can mean so much for other people in a different environment and under different conditions.
The highlight of this cultural visit was an emotional encounter with a welcoming committee formed by the town’s representatives of Minga Peru. The latter is a non-profit organization, founded in 1998, with a mission of promoting social justice and human dignity for women and families in the remote rural areas of the Peruvian Amazon. Minga Peru has been developing various projects in the area, including the training of women and community members in agroforestry, crop cultivation and the construction and management of fish ponds. These projects have proven to be invaluable to the economical sustainability of many people in this region of the Peruvian Amazon. We heard testimonies from women and admired their determination and courage to share their stories.
We continued navigating down river and arrived at the confluence of the Marañón and the Ucayali Rivers. We all gathered in front of the bridge to admire the place where the mighty Amazon River gets its name. We celebrated by toasting with a typical drink before turning onto the mighty Ucayali River.
In the early afternoon we arrived at Clavero Lake. In this oxbow lake, some of the more adventurous among us went for a refreshing swim. It will be a great story to tell friends and family back home! After the swim, we came back to go on a skiff ride around the lake and in a couple of nearby small streams. We saw three-toed sloths, several bird species, elusive pygmy marmosets, herons, terns, and more. Once we were back on board, a spectacular sunset was a real-life golden finale for a wonderful day in the Amazonia.
