May 12, 2010
First things first — if you’re the Gringo male who doesn’t speak Spanish and called my house in Chile this afternoon, but didn’t understand the nana, I’m not in Chile at the moment. Email me, because I have no idea who it is that called!
So yesterday I posted the beginning of some of the pictures of the Amazon cruise we went on with Delfin. Still can’t believe we won.
Each morning we woke up to an insanely beautiful view. Even though it looked pretty much the same every day (lush green trees, muddy brown water, blue/grey skies threatening to rain) this never got old.
Every night while we slept, the big boat we were on sailed (traveled, swam, boated? What is the proper verb for a boat in motion?). When we woke up, we’d be anchored somewhere and ready to go out on our small boats for the daily excursions.
And yes. It was hot. It was really fricken hot. So fricken hot that my curly hair came back.
And Seba fanned himself like a lady.
The first couple excursions were all bird/animal watching. I really don’t have any good pictures because we don’t own a long enough lens (aka, enough zoom to actually be able to make out the animals in the pictures). If I had known we were going I would have bought one when we were in the U.S. but since we won the trip, it was last minute planning and we didn’t go prepared. Fortunately Seba’s dad had really great binoculars that we borrowed, so we were able to see the wildlife really well but I have nothing to show for it!
I guess I’ll just tell you then — we saw three towed sloths, macaws (colorful parrots, like the kind that pirates have that talk when they’re in captivity), piranhas, monkeys (big howler monkeys that were sort of evil looking, and then little small cute monkeys called Frailes that were everywhere), baby caymans (similar to alligators), pink dolphins, which looks SO weird and prehistoric I felt like time had just been rewound ten thousand years, grey dolphins, and a million other kinds of cool looking birds.
What I do have pictures of though, are the expeditions we did on foot to visit some Ribereño villages. Our guides translated Ribereno as “River People,” and told us that in the Amazon jungle, 23 million people live there. Of those 21 million are Riberenos, who lives along the edges of the main river and have regular contact with Western civilization. These people sell fish and other produce and use their money to buy salt, gasoline for their little boats and matches to make their fires. The kids go to elementary school and almost all of them speak Spanish. Then there 1 million people called “Nativos,” or Natives, who have contact about once a year with the Western world, but maintain their own way of dress, only eat food from that they hunt, fish or gather and live on the banks of the tributaries to the main rivers. After that comes the very small group of “Indigenas,” or Indigenous people, who live in the jungle itself, not along the water. We apparently know very little about them because if the come into contact with people from the Western world they’ll either run, or shoot you with a poisonous blow dart to kill you (so your germs don’t kill them first). They don’t use fires, so they eat all their food raw.
I have to say that I was shocked by how many people we came across! I had no idea there were so many people living in the Amazon. And we did go fairly far in. We flew to Iquitos then drove about an hour and a half to the boat in Nauta, Peru, and then from there the boat traveled over 100 miles in during the five days we were on it. We’d be boating down the river and cross all kinds of Ribereños in their own little boats, or sitting on the shore fishing and swimming. We were the only big boat though.
Like I said, we went to see some Riberenos villages.
I’ll be the first to admit that this kind of tourism is very strange to me. I will also say that I’m incredibly happy we went. But I did feel weird just walking around and observing them during their day to day activities. They’re not monkeys in a zoo, they’re people! I tried to make conversation with them in an effort to feel less like they were people on display and more like they’re actual humans, but most of them were really shy.
The good thing is that Delfin is a responsible company and the reason that they take their tourists to visit these towns is to support people of the area. They pay the villages for the visit so that the villages can buy books and other materials for their schools.
This school even had solar power!
And the teacher of the school said he was glad that the tourists come so that the kids have interaction with people outside their town and get a grasp on how big the world is and that people come from all over to see their little piece of it in the Amazon.
The kids typically get married and start having children when they’re around 16 or 17. The entire village supports them and helps them build a house — and I use that term lightly. The houses consist of a raised floor in order to be off the ground when the water rises, and a roof so they don’t get wet, but has no walls.
The kids loved having their picture taken and seeing it afterward. I wish they had email so I could send them their photos 
Like I said, I did feel weird, and I wish the adults would have been willing to talk a little more with us (although I understand why they didn’t) so I didn’t feel like such an observer. But it was still really cool to see how they live and I was happy that even though it was rainy season we were able to set foot on dry land. Good thing the boat gave us boots, because I only brought my tennis shoes!
May 11, 2010
About two weeks ago we traveled to the jungle. It was so magical I can barely believe that it ever happened. If it weren’t for the photos and videos I would think we just dreamed that trip up.
We flew into the city of Iquitos, in Peru. It’s the world’s largest city not accessible by road. Our guide told us that 500,000 people live there, though Wikipedia thinks the number is lower, so the guide may have been including the population of surrounding towns.
The minute we our plane touched down, the people from Delfin Amazon Cruises were waiting for us to whisk away. After about an hour ride to the tiny port city of Nauta, where the Delfin II docks, we got off the bus to the Delfin’s welcome area. They gave all the guests little chilled towels that smelled like Christmas, cold water, and the mosquitos began to attack. I was immediately nervous. I could feel my legs getting bitten but it was so hot, even at night, that I couldn’t imagine trying to wear a long sleeved shirt and pants. I hurried on board hoping to unpack my bug spray.
I think I’ll remember that first sight of the river and the jungle for as long as I live. I couldn’t believe how wide the river was, how brown the water was, and how sweet the air tasted. It was so humid that the oxygen we were breathing actually felt thick.
But, because this is a cruise For Ballers Only (or Pretend Ballers Who Are REALLY Lucky) there was air conditioning in all the cabins. No mosquitos nets and hammocks. Just organic cotton sheets, chocolates on the pillow and towels made into marvelous sculptures.
Sweet dreams.
The first night we were so tired. I hadn’t gone to bed at all the night before because we had to be to the airport at 5:30am and that’s the time we normally hit the sack. We’re vampires.
But I still couldn’t sleep. The energy in the Amazon was simultaneously peaceful and electric. Seba and I watched out the window, straining our eyes for a glimpse of the jungle we knew was on shore, but we couldn’t make anything out. The sounds all around us were like one of those cheesy “Noises of the Rainforest,” CD’s — but real. And not cheesy, because they were real.
Eventually I drifted off, and I was so excited to see the Amazon during the day that the next morning I jumped out of bed, even before the alarm went off at 6:45am sharp. Yes, we had to totally adjust our vampire schedules because breakfast was at 7am every morning, before the first expedition of the day at 8am.
The spread for breakfast was pretty out of control. Every kind of tropical fruit you could think of and then about 20 more that you didn’t know existed. For the carnivores, lots of bacon, ham, cheese, eggs and other delectables.
Not to mention the selection of fresh juices every day. I never had any clue what in the world I was drinking, but man, they were all so good! Look how excited Seba is.
Then off to our daily excursions in awesome little mini boats with our guides. Don’t let the face fool you. Seba looks thoroughly unimpressed, but I promise you that he was jumping for joy on the inside.
The world’s largest lily pads!
The first day on our boats, we were mostly all busy oohing and ahhing over the mere fact that we were in the Amazon while our guides explained the area to us. We got to the animal spotting later (parrots and piranhas and three-toed-sloths, oh my!).
May 10, 2010
I’d met Brent, but not Tara before they hired us for their wedding in Grand Rapids in September, so I decided to look her up on Facebook before their engagement session. I’ve often heard photographers say that they attract like-minded clients, and I’ve often found that to be the case, although never to such an extreme extent before — Tara’s interests? “Naps on my couch, Skinny Cows, Barnes and Nobles.” I feel like we were destined to be friends forever. Her dog as her profile picture pretty much sealed the deal for me.
We headed downtown for their session to grab a few shots on the classic bridge.
Happiness.
Brent looks really handsome here.
Tara has some seriously beautiful eyes.
Prior to their session, my mom and I went downtown so I could scout some locations out. We walked around and I made a whole giant plan of where I wanted to go. First time ever that I actually mapped something out before a session. It was kind of a big deal.
Then Seba and I got downtown the next day and parked in the PARKING LOT OF MY PHOTOGRAPHY DREAMS. Amazing lines everywhere. Tara and Brent said they prefer urban style photography. I think this fit the bill pretty much perfectly! So we changed plans, ditched my original locations and Brent and Tara killed it, making this probably one of my favorite sessions to date.
Looking at this picture below makes me smile every time.
I seriously could have shot in there all day long.
But we mixed it up outside with some gorgeous summer light too (though don’t be fooled, temperatures were sub-zero. Ok, that’s an exaggeration but it was cold!).
Love love looooooove these last two! There is something super romantic about both so I put them in black and white. LOVE.
And this last one is hands down my favorite. J’adore SO MUCH! Tara and Brent just look particularly adorable and the lines are so great. Winning combo all around.
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