Beyond the wooden gates and away from the traffic of Iquitos, I spent the afternoon at the poolside lounge alternating between the swinging hammocks and shady treehouses. I swam in the cool, beautifully tiled pool and floated under water fountains while surrounded by tropical flora and fauna.

If it looks like it should be a scene from a movie, it’s because it is.

Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo was filmed here between 1977 and 1982. The movie is about would-be rubber baron Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald (called Fitzcarraldo by the natvive Peruvians) and his dream to finance and build an opera house in the Amazon so that the Caruso and Pucinni could be heard in the jungle. The movie was inspired by the real life Peruvian rubber baron Carlos Fermín Fitzcarrald.

P.S. The poolside lounge offered tropical cocktails and a full menu, but I had my first good cup of coffee in Peru at La Casa! It was a glorious, richly french pressed cup of delicious that tasted even better after weeks of instant coffee.

We arrived at the site and began setting up the operating tables before realizing the local government has organized our spay and neuter clinic in a church!  In fact, we sterilized animals in a church a day before the Imaculate Conception. Despite the unusual environs (an altar here, a pew there) the team sterilized 16 animals and treated 3 dozen more.

Because of the holiday, we had Tuesday to relax and unwind. Some of the team took a jungle tour, while others spent the day relaxing on Monkey Island. In the afternoon, we all met up to relax poolside at La Casa Fitzcarraldo, a gorgeous resort in the heart of Iquitos. I will write more about Monkey Island and La Casa Fitzcarraldo later this week, as each deserves a post.

Today, we returned to Plaza Roja for a second week of sterilizations in San Juan. We had a small turnout, but our team of 5 veterinarians and 3 nurses sterilized 8 dogs and 2 cats before lunch so we were able to visit the Plaza’s artisan market before heading back to the clinic.

The Amazonian Manatee is found in the fresh waters of the Amazon River and its tributaries. Years of both commercial hunting (now outlawed) and by the indigenous people of the Amazon (still common) made the manatees increasingly rare. In an effort to preserve the species, manatees are now legally protected.

At the Center, local biologists work in partnership with the Dallas World Aquarium to rescue and rehabilitate adult manatees and care for baby manatees who have been orphaned, injured or abandoned.

The adult manatees live in a man-made lake designed specifically for the Center. The adults come up for air about every 5 minutes, but we could only see the ripples in the water from their snouts as they came up for air.  While we watched for air bubbles, our guide taught us about the manatees and their plight before entering the enclosed tank area to see the babies.

Baby manatees remain close to their mothers for up to 2 years and are dependent on their mothers for nutrition and to learn about feeding and resting areas, travel routes, and warm water refuges. Because of the long period of time baby manatees spend with their mothers, the orphans need extra care.

The Center has created a special formula to provide the orphaned babies the nutrition they need. I was lucky enough to bottle feed to the four babies in rehabilitation. Manatees are nearly blind and the babies would clumsily swim up to the bottles to feed.  Later they curiously came above water to snack on the lettuce leaves while I pet their tough, slippery skin and rubbed their little snouts.

The Amazonian Manatee Rescue Center does not have a website, but for more information you can visit the Dallas World Zoo.

This week, the volunteers working with AmazonCARES treated over 400 dogs and cats at the mobile clinic at San Juan Bautista. While the veterinary teams completed 96 sterilizations, an esteemed panel of judges* examined all of the puppies entering and exiting the clinic.

The panel’s criteria was broken down into three main categories; cuteness, snugglability, and new puppy smell.  Points were added for good behavior (such as sitting patiently for photos and getting their vaccinations). The competition was stiff, but the above pup, Santa, has been chosen as the inaugural Puppy of the Week.

A new batch of puppies will be added to pool of competitors each week as they visit the Amazon CARES mobile clinics. Every Saturday, a new Puppy of the Week will be chosen. After four weeks, the winning puppies will compete in a head to head final battle of cuteness to determine who will be crowded Puppy of the Trip.

Below are a few of the other competitors.
More photos can be seen on my flickr site [tag: puppy_patients]

*The ‘esteemed panel of of judges’ is actually just me, but I know a thing or two about cute puppies so I am more than qualified to judge a competition of cuteness. Especially since this is my blog and I make the rules.