Our team of two Peruvians and 4 Americans were in the middle of a three week descent of the remote Pacaya River. The Pacaya River flows through the heart of Peru’s largest protected area, the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, which protects close to 5 million acres of rainforest. Finding a place to camp in the Purvian Amazon in the middle of the rainy season an be difficult because the floods into the forest. Finding a speck of dry land to camp on often required paddling or walking through the flooded forest in search of dry land. As my Peruvian friend Warren and I bushwacked through the dense forest looking for dry land and the end of a long day of paddling Warren started screaming in Spanish. I couldn’t understand his rapid, frantic words, but they caused me to freeze. It turned out I was about to set my hand down on this poisonous caterpillar.
I always think of Warren when I see this photo, he knows more about the forest than anyone I have ever met. I feel so lucky to have had the privilage to travel deep into the Amazon Rainforest on 4 occasions between 2005 and 2007. I look forward to our 5th adventure together.
