Traditional Medicine Day

Today was an awesome day. First of all, we got to sleep in, which is always amazing! I got up around 8 and got to leisurely get ready and have breakfast before getting to the AP office around 10. From there we walked to the Belén market to learn about traditional plants etc that the people in Amazonia use. We also saw a ton of stuff in the market from piranha to turtle meat to alligator and beyond. Learning about the plants and other remedies was pretty interesting and we all enjoyed it. The Belén market is also pretty nuts, and I totally forgot to take off my watch before going in, but luckily nothing happened!

The Belén market

Piranha and other fish for sale

Turtle

The traditional medicine section

Some traditional remedies

Ayahuasca root necklaces

After the market we went to the Instituto de Medicina Tradicional, which is a national laboratory investigating the traditional medicinal plants to discover if they actually work and at which doses they should be used. We saw basil, oregano, ginger, coca (cocaine), cacao (chocolate), coffee, star fruit, ayahuasca, huacai (acai), plumeria, vanilla orchid vines, Chinese lemon, and a ton of other plants I had never even heard of before! There are about 700 different kinds of plants at the laboratory and it was both interesting and very beautiful! 

The brochure for the traditional medicine garden

This plant produces a strong pigment used in dye and food 

Beautiful plumeria

Wild mango

Starfruit tree

Vanilla orchid vine

Cacao tree

Weird little plant

After learning more about traditional medicine we went to a restaurant called Michiquinoa (I think) in Iquitos for lunch. I had a tamalito (small tamale) and a paiche dish for lunch, with came with camu camu juice and a tiny price of chocolate cake. Super yummy.

After lunch was one of the greatest things I have ever had the chance to do. We took a long motocarro ride out to a conservation area, where we got to learn about some Amazonian wildlife conservation and then see some animals. This is where I lost it internally! I knew I was super stoked to see sloths on this trip (which I am still stoked about), but little dos I know there are Amazonian  manatees! This was a wondrous discovery. Anyways, we had a short hike down into the area where the animals that are being rehabilitated are and started seeing he animals. First we met a little river otter, who was very playful and adorable. Next up were two baby paiche fish, which were enormous, even as baby's! They get up to 3 meters long in the wild and live as long as most people! Then we saw some kind of large fluffy monkey, a spider monkey, and two capuchin monkeys, along with an Amazonian raccoon and a small sloth (he was a little far away and tough to really see). Then came a multitude of baby turtles that were small and adorable. There was also another river otter that was only two months old and three caiman. Then came the star. The manatees! There were six manatees being rehabilitated and they were amazing. The Amazon manatee is the smallest of the manatee family and equally as adorable. They were all young, but one was particularly tiny and adorable compared to the rest. The best part was that we got to feed and pet three of the manatees. They are so cool and friendly and OMG I love manatees. It was so so amazing, and mom, you especially know how excited I was! 

The Manatees sanctuary

Lead cutter ants

The area where they teach local kids about recycling

Grandfather tree to teach the kids about preserving the jungle

The older river otter

Baby paiche fish

Turtles everywhere

Baby river otter

Caiman

Manatee

Petting the manatees

More manatees

Cute little fluffy monkey

After the manatees we went back into Iquitos and stopped to get some rubber boots for the jungle. I have a pair ready, but wanted a pair that fit my calf better, but they ran out of that size so I stayed with the ones I grabbed at the office yesterday. We then went back to the hotel where I finally finished tweaking my last slide. 

After tweaking my presentation we went to a bar by the river to hang out, where I had passion fruit sours (with pisco), and then we went to dinner at Chez Maggy, where I had a yummy pizza. Overall a fun day. Tomorrow it's off to the jungle, so can't post any more updates for about a week. Until then!

Also, today JK Rowling announced that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will be released as an 8th book in the series. Can it get any better?!!!