Nature in Perú

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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 interesting pictures.

Many of the nature pictures are from the visit to the Marashá Reserve during my trip to Colombia.

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.

Nature in Perú

Jungle along the Amazon river. (783k)

Jungle along the Amazon river. (1065k)

Walking Palm (Socratea exorrhiza, german: Wanderpalme, french: Palmier marcheur). (1264k)

Rain forest. (960k)

Rainbow over a flood lake connected to the Amazon. (We were fishing for Piranhas in that lake). (860k)

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. (584k)

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. (1128k)

Forest clear-cut. This is a big problem in the Amazon basin. (1094k)

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)

Sensitive Pea (Chamaecrista glandulosa), yellow flowers, and unknown pink flower. (1027k)

Heliconia sp. (german: Helikonien:Genus) in the rain forest. (1330k)

Heliconia sp. (german: Helikonien:Genus) in the rain forest. (643k)

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. (1089k)

Termite nest. These are quite different from what you see in Africa. These termites build cement tubes along the tree as walkways. (1120k)

Praying Mantis (Macromantis hyalina). It is well camouflaged in the center of the picture in thread posture. (1284k)

Peruvian Pinktoe Tarantula (Avicularia juruensis). (790k)

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

Small frog. (1004k)

Red-tailed Boa (Boa constrictor, german: Abgottschlange, french: Boa constricteur). (1194k)

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. (1180k)

Valley in the Andes. (996k)

Yellow and pink flowers 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. (1134k)

Flowering grass on Machu Picchu. (897k)

Flowers on Machu Picchu. (1.5M)

Flowers on Machu Picchu. (1398k)

Flowers on Machu Picchu. (1210k)

Flowers on Machu Picchu. (1110k)

Flowers on Machu Picchu. (1119k)

Lupines on Machu Picchu. (1038k)

Orchids on Machu Picchu. (1137k)

Flowers on Machu Picchu. (1390k)

Llamas on Machu Picchu (Lama glama, german: Lama, french: Lama). (1398k)

Marashá Reserve

Amazon rainforest. (959k)

Flooded rainforest. During the rainy season large areas of the rainforest are flooded. The only transportation is by boat. (1382k)

Sunset in the Amazon. (528k)

Flora in the Marashá Reserve

The white spots are a fungus. They were everywhere. (951k)

Mushrooms. (1103k)

Flower. (802k)

Epiphyte. (1400k)

Large seeds on a liana. (1081k)

Large tree fruits. (1010k)

Giant Water Lily (Victoria amazonica, german: Amazonas-Riesenseerose, french: Victoria d'Amazonie) with flower. (905k)

Flower of the Giant Water Lily (Victoria amazonica, german: Amazonas-Riesenseerose, french: Victoria d'Amazonie). (747k)

Second day flower of the Giant Water Lily (Victoria amazonica, german: Amazonas-Riesenseerose, french: Victoria d'Amazonie), turning purple. (849k)