Peruvian Amazon - Tambopota-Candamo Reserve Zone (TCRZ)

In the rain forest everything seems to develop some kind of protection against predators.

Swallowtails, sulphers and white butterflies cluster around a mineral rich area at the rivers edge. Over 1200 species of butterflies live in the reserve.

The rain forest provides well for this family. Living on a farm with avocado, papaya, and limón trees; star fruit, plantain, corn, hot peppers, tomatos, cacao, black and white amazonian ducks, chickens, and the natural pharmacy of the Amazon.

On the bank of the Tambopota River a Black Caiman hussels down to the waters edge as our boat passes in the night.

The dark resin in the bark, Sangre de Grado, spanish for "Blood of the Dragon," has a long history of indigenous use in the rainforest and South America. An herbal medicine, it is used as a wound healing agent, an antiseptic, to relieve itchy bug bites and used internally for hemorrhaging, mouth ulcers in the mouth, tonsillitis, throat infections and more.

Wood decayed fungi almost glow under the dimly lit canopy.