They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  All I can say about these pictures of the river and lakes is that my photography is but a pitiful shadow of the reality.

Hanging bird nests, high flying hawks and vulture, vultures in the trees, a kingfisher, cranes sitting and flying, a distant hornbill, and the elusive hoatzin bird.  This last is photographed only after a trek thru the jungle and a climb to a platform that overlooks a favored nesting area.

In defense of my photographs -- yes, I know they are pitiful.  I did not know what to expect and the camera I took to the Amazon was my old Pentax ME with just two lenses: an old 28-80mm f3.5-4.5 zoom and my compact 500mm f8 mirror telephoto.  The film was standard 'shoot kids in the backyard' Kodak ASA200 print .  Not the best choice.  While some days were sunny, a grey overcast is more to be expected.  Need a faster film to deal with the subdued lighting.  My 50mm f1.4 would have been very useful on the jungle trails where the sun is blocked by the tall trees.
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But you know what -- I don't care that the photos did not come out great or even very good.  Just being in the Amazon, cruising the rivers, was just so much fun.