Amazon teaser: snakes, spiders, and snails big enough to put on a leash

We are out of the Amazon, though this will be a short post.  We are exhausted and have to catch a flight to Lima.  We also need to tend to our bumps, scrapes, bites, and stings.  The most striking thing about our Amazon experience (on the Abiseo River, a tributary of the Amazon) was the overwhelming density of life.  As Tess said, "Everything grows on everything."  On two occasions, I was photographing an insect, only to have it attacked by another insect.  We knew we were in for an interesting and exciting adventure when our host said nonchalantly over dinner the first night that only one guest had died in the last year.  (That was part of a VERY PERSUASIVE safety talk on life jackets.)

So let's get to the photos!  This guy was found by the workers about 30 yards from my favorite reading hammock.  Yes, it's venomous.  And yes, I used a telephoto lens.

And spiders.

And the snail that one of the kitchen workers kept as a pet.  Seriously, check out the leash.

The tree wider than our family.

This butterfly escaped from the Izula ant (about an inch long with the most painful sting in the world).

The bee was not so lucky.

Of course, there were some beautiful things, too.

Tomorrow, the cave adventure seven levels underground.