Sabu & Tikibelle's Adventures in the Amazon!

Greetings TC Familia!

It's great to be back safe and sound from our trip to Peru. I've been looking at all the posts I need to catch-up on reading and am feeling slightly overwhelmed.

Thought I'd post a few photos from our vacation.

Tikibelle and I stayed at my Uncle's house on a lake in the Amazon, near Pucallpa, Peru. He's a missionary who runs a technical school in the jungle and also has a cattle farm, among other interests. I've been visiting and helping out every couple of years since I was a teenager. This year my cousin and her kids were there as well. It was also Tikibelle's, (my wife's) first trip to the Amazon.

Here's the local taxi service around my uncle's place.

Tikibelle's pet Capuchin Monkey, Stitch. We bought him for about $9 at the local market. He was unbelievably cute and full of personality. If we could have brought him legally to the States we would have. If we would have stayed longer in Peru, we would have had one of the local seamstresses sew him a fez. Being just a baby, Stitch immediately adopted Tikibelle as his momma and travelled everywhere on her shoulder.

Some kool kitsch architecture at the local zoo.

A Margay

Shaking hands with the giant otters.

The zoos in the jungle do not necessarily worry about the safety of their patrons. Here I've climbed into the crocodile enclosure and am playing with a 3-foot White Caiman. This was not discouraged. Imagine trying to do this in America.

Encouraged by my success, I pull a larger, 5-foot caiman from the tank by his tail. A few seconds after this photo was taken, he twisted free of my grip and laid my finger open to the bone with his teeth. Now I have a scar to rival the chisel-scars of some of you carvers.

Tikibelle with an old Shipibo Indian pot. This is closest thing to a tiki we could find.

Buying dinner at the local fish market.

A morning of my own fishing produces a medium-size piranha and a large peacock bass.

Tikibelle with a Wooley Monkey.

Sabu with a 3-toed Sloth found wandering across my uncle's property.

Having fun with my uncle's Brahman Cattle and sheep.

Sabu

What an amazing trip Sabu.
What an incredible range of animals.
That must have been amazing to come across and pet that 3-tode sloth.
Thanks for the pics.

Awesome, amazing, incredible. Sloths, giant otters, pirahna, caimans and monkeys. Great post, high adventure, travel, very cool.
Mahalo,
Al

Hey Tim, looks like y'all had some fun. But I don't think you should have tried to drink a mai tai from that caiman .

wow. amazing trip! thanks for sharing your pictures and descriptions.. such derring-do at the zoo~did your antics make Tikibelle frantic, or does she have a good insurance policy on you? :)

the monkey is amusing on so many levels. gosh 9 bucks american. thats.. cheaper than 3 happy meals (not that you'd eat your simian pal..just a monatary comparison).. Stich deserves a fez..you could send one.. to (wait for it) your Monkey's Uncle. and get pictures!

great travelogue..if you have more pix..post please!!
elicia

Cooool!
Can I go visit your uncle too?
My mom and I had planned an Amazon trip, but we both backed out

1. her- because of the size of the snakes
2. me-because the size of the bugs, ( I ALWAYS git bit by something if there is a bug in the house...)
   But that just looks amazing.
   I'll pick up lotsa critters, but I need my fingers, so now I know if I ever go, not to pick up the caimans!!!
   Thanks much!
   Pea

Elicia,

Luckily Sabrina wasn't with me when I got bit by the caiman. If she was, though, it wouldn't have made much difference. She has no sympathy for me when I injure myself due to my own stupidity, yet on the plus side, she's not overprotective and doesn't get all squeamish when I do macho stuff. It's a good balance.

When I showed her my finger, she quipped, "It's your own damn fault.", just like I expected. Gotta love her.

Sabu

Sabu the Coconut Boy:

"The zoos in the jungle do not necessarily worry about the safety of their patrons. Here I've climbed into the crocodile enclosure and am playing with a 3-foot White Caiman. This was not discouraged. Imagine trying to do this in America.

"Encouraged by my success, I pull a larger, 5-foot caiman from the tank by his tail. A few seconds after this photo was taken, he twisted free of my grip and laid my finger open to the bone with his teeth. Now I have a scar to rival the chisel-scars of some of you carvers."

You were DEFinitely not in the USA! Can you imagine? Anyone stupid enough (sorry, Sabu!)to climb in the enclosure and get bitten would then sue the zoo, win a million dollars, and lead to the closing of said zoo!!

Hip hip hooray for the right to get your own damn finger near-bitten off if you damn well please!!

(I LOVE the fotos, Sabu!!! I feel like I took a mini-vacation - with The Crocodile Hunter! Thanks for sharing them with us.)