Bien viaje, chicas!!

After four wonderful weeks in Iquitos, tomorrow our foursome will say goodbye (until school starts) and we will go our separate ways.

This weekend, twenty medical students from around the world came to Iquitos to work with Amazon Promise, an NGO founded and operated by my friend, Patty Webster.  Amazon Promise is an organization that sends groups of medical professionals and students to remote areas in the jungle to give much needed medical care.  On Sunday, we went to the Amazon Promise house, an apartment in one of the old colonial mansions on the malecon, so everyone could meet Patty and enjoy a typical Peruvian lunch. We chatted with the med students and then gave a brief presentation to the group about our work in Belen and the other municipalities around Iquitos.  The Amazon Promise med students will be working this week at a free clinic in Belen, so hopefully our presentation gave them some good background information about living conditions in the area.

Today, we visited the Centros de Salud that we have been working with to drop off a summary of our findings in all the municipalities. At each site, we picked up some data from the health posts about local rates of diarrhea and GI parasites that we will compare to the data that we collected.  Derek visited the local lab and checked on the status of our water samples--they should be done tomorrow!

After we wrapped up all our loose ends from our project, we headed out on the Rio Nanay to the Mariposario (Butterfly Farm) about 30 minutes by peca-peca (a typical small Peruvian boat).  Upon arrival, we were greeted by several macaws and a lagoon teeming with wildlife.  We then took a guided tour around the compound, which included a large netted-in sanctuary that houses over 40 species of butterflies.  The Butterfly Farm breeds butterflies in its hatchery, releasing 70% of the adult butterflies into the wild and keeping 30% of them to continue to reproduce in the sanctuary.

Although it began only as a farm for butterflies, the compound quickly grew into a refuge for battered and illegally poached animals that are confiscated in and around Iquitos.  Unfortunately, due to the diversity of animals in the jungle, Iquitos is a hotbed for illegal trafficking of animals.  These animals are captured from the jungle, brought to the city, and then sold as pets or for their furs.  When authorities in Iquitos encounter these illegally trafficked animals, they confiscate the animal, but often have no good place to send the animal for rehabilitation.  About 8 years ago, the first such animal (a jaguar named Pedro) was dropped off at the gates of the Butterfly Farm.  Since then, many illegally poached animals have made their homes at the Butterfly Farm, where they are cared for humanely.

Now it is time for the Last Supper for Katie and Chloe: pollo con chaufa at Kikiriki.  Chloe has been awaiting this meal as a culmination of her two favorite Peruvian foods: roasted chicken and fried rice.

Buenas noches!!!
Kim