Amazon basin cruise

It's 9 a.m. and the piranhas aren't biting. No matter. Our skiff is backed up to a banana tree in the flooded Amazon River basin of Peru on this warm and sunny morning, and pink dolphins are putting on a show a few feet in front of us. Yes, pink dolphins, which seem almost as happy as we are to be here. What a great way to start the day. Off to one side is a cecropia tree, its huge leaves making it feel as if we're sheltered in an outdoor room while listening to the chattering birds and monkeys in the tree canopy overhead.