Last year our Garza Viva manager Andrea was approached by the interior designer of the new Aventura Mall in Iquitos to produce a large hanging array of jungle animals to greet people entering the mall.
She spent months working with this designer and four artisans to make dozens of colorful balsa wood birds and giant chambira butterflies. The birds included an egret, tiger heron, toucan, macaws and a kingfisher. When we stopped at the mall after visiting the aquarium, I loved seeing these creatures twirl around in a mild breeze.
The artisans from Padre Cocha who made the birds and artisans from Amazons who wove the butterflies were very proud to have their creations displayed where thousands of people could see them.
Our final stop was visiting an artisan by the river in Iquitos. We had seen a purple gallinule on a mural the day before, so it was fun to see real birds walking on water plants with their long yellow toes. Their natural diet is snails and other aquatic creatures, but they were happy to gobble up bits of bread that Nixon tossed them.
