Bora Bora Tribe and Monkey Island

A couple weeks ago, Papa Paul and the organization took a group out for a day in the jungle. Lucky for us, this group included all the girls! We hopped on the organization’s boat and headed down the Amazon to visit a Bora Bora tribe and Monkey Island. It was a nice cool day.

The Boras did some tribal dances for us in the native (which now means "tourist") attire. As you can see, the native attire doesn't require much...and this group covers a lot more than other Bora groups. It was an experience. After the dancing, it was time to barter for goods. We brought random items to trade for their hand made goods--for us and for the girls. It was fun "purchasing" stuff without any cash. Gum can get a lot of bracelets. :)

After the Boras, we continued down river to Monkey Island, one of the coolest places ever. A monkey was waiting for us at the dock when we arrived and then it dug around our stuff in the boat. That was a little unsettling, so we carried our stuff with us. The choro monkeys (or as I call them, the "Curious George" monkeys) were all over us, wanting food. The people who run the island have fruit available to give to the monkeys. We met Herkie's distant cousin, who ate an uvilla on my shoulder (pictured below). He's not as cute as our monkey, but he's in the same basic family. Some monkeys, like the choros, were much more direct in their approach to getting food. For example, out of nowhere, one would jump from a limb to your shoulder, which was quite shocking at first. They also would grab backpacks. Then there were more shy monkeys, like the tamarins or the one that looked like a Dr. Seuss character, that would take a piece of fruit if you offered and then run off to eat it.

It was a wonderful day, being able to take advantage of the incredible things to do in the deeper jungle that most of the girls have never gotten to experience. And it was our first trip, as well. The girls had a lot of fun, even though some were a little scared of the monkeys. Here are a few pictures of the day.