Nature in Perú

⇧
⇩

The Amazon basin is spectacular for wildlife. Unfortunately, I only had a small point-and-shoot camera with me, it was my first trip to a more exotic destination, so I don't have more intersting pictures.

If you know the name of any of the animals or plants that are not named in these pages, please let me know so I can add the names to my pictures.

Pictures of birds in Perú and other nature pages are separate:

Bird Page for Perú

Other Nature Pages

All pictures are © Dr. Günther Eichhorn, unless otherwise noted.

Jungle along the Amazon river. (784k)

Jungle along the Amazon river. (1065k)

Walking Palm (Socratea exorrhiza, german: Wanderpalme, french: Palmier marcheur). (1289k)

Rain forest. (958k)

Rainbow over a flood lake connected to the Amazon. (We were fishing for Piranhas in that lake). (859k)

Swollen Amazon with trees floating downriver. The Amazon rises in the rainy season by 10-15 m (30-49 ft) and is filled with floating trees. (563k)

Sunset over the Amazon. (583k)

Flooded rain forest. I was there halfway through the rainy season. The river had already risen by 6 m (20 ft). It would rise another 6 m (20 ft) or so. (1380k)

Root system. It will be flooded as the Amazon rises further during the rainy season. (1127k)

Forest clear-cut. This is a big problem in the Amazon basin. (1093k)

Liana in the rain forest. Some of these lianas contain large amounts of drinkable water in their porous wood. Our guide cut of a piece of a liana about 60 cm (24") long. You can drink from it like from a water jug. (873k)

Mushrooms. (1445k)

African Senna (Senna didymobotrya, german: Geflügelte Senna, french: Séné), yellow flowers, and unknown pink flower. (1036k)

Heliconia sp. (german: Helikonien:Genus) in the rain forest. (1359k)

Heliconia sp. (german: Helikonien:Genus) in the rain forest. (638k)

Heliconia flowers in the rain forest. (657k)

Giant Water Lilies (Victoria amazonica, german: Amazonas-Riesenseerose, french: Victoria d'Amazonie). Some of them were almost 2 m (7 ft) in diameter. (1099k)

Termite nest. These are quite different from what you see in Africa. These termites build cement tubes along the tree as walkways. (1119k)

Praying Mantis. It is well camouflaged in the center of the picture in thread posture. (1314k)

Peruvian Pinktoe Tarantula (Avicularia juruensis). (776k)

Millipede. You can see the wave-like motion of his feet. (1020k)

Small frog. (1006k)

Red-tailed Boa (Boa constrictor, german: Abgottschlange, french: Boa constricteur). (1211k)

There are several species of dolphins in the Amazon. They are generally almost blind, since the water is usually too full of sediment to see anything. They orient themselves with echo location. There is a dolphin in the picture in the center, unfortunately without a telephoto lens I couldn't get a better picture. (1181k)

Valley in the Andes. (995k)

African Senna (Senna didymobotrya, german: Geflügelte Senna, french: Séné) on Machu Picchu. I walked down from Machu Picchu to the hotel near the train station. On the way down I saw many orchids and other flowers. (1135k)