Judy and Larry in an archway at Schoenburg Castle.
A painter copying one of the masterpieces in a museum.
A view from our room in the tower of Schoenburg Castle where we stayed the night.
Neuschwanstien Castle 
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Judy & Larry visit Germany
Judy and Larry in an archway at Schoenburg Castle.
A painter copying one of the masterpieces in a museum.
A view from our room in the tower of Schoenburg Castle where we stayed the night.
Neuschwanstien Castle
Amazon visit
In June 2006 I travelled with Randy Frakes to Iquitos, Peru. There we boarded El Arca, a funky river boat, and travelled upstream several hundred miles on the Maranon and Ucayali Rivers (these two join to form the Amazon.) We loitered, photographed, swam with the Piranhuas, fished for Piranhuas, and trekked in the tropical rain forest. These snapshots show a few of the local critters.
This shows just the head of a large anaconda loitering in the river next to the boat.
Here is a tiny Cat's Eye snake.
This is a Hoatsin bird hanging out in the bushes by the river.
Visit to headwaters of the Amazon
A black Huacary monkey stares at me.
El Arca, cruising up the Amazon at dawn.
Colorful caterpillar
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Giant waterlilies
The botanical explorer Richard Spruce (1817-93) had his first encounter with the giant waterlily (Victoria amazonica) in South America, where it grows in the backwaters of rivers in the Amazon basin, the Guianas and the Mato Grosso in Brazil. Its circular leaves, with their upturned rims, are anchored by long stalks rising from an underground stem buried in the mud of the river bottom. The leaves first appear as spiny buds but expand rapidly up to half a square metre a day. Their upper surface has a rather quilted appearance and a waxy layer that repels water. The purplish red undersurface is covered by a network of ribs clad in abundant sharp spines, possibly as a defence against herbivorous fishes and manatees. Air trapped in the spaces between the ribs enables the leaves to float - they are so buoyant that they can easily support the weight of a small child. Each plant produces some 40-50 leaves per season which cover the water surface and exclude light, thus restricting the growth of most other plants.
The botanical explorer Richard Spruce (1817-93) had his first encounter with the giant waterlily (Victoria amazonica) in South America, where it grows in the backwaters of rivers in the Amazon basin, the Guianas and the Mato Grosso in Brazil. Its circular leaves, with their upturned rims, are anchored by long stalks rising from an underground stem buried in the mud of the river bottom. The leaves first appear as spiny buds but expand rapidly up to half a square metre a day. Their upper surface has a rather quilted appearance and a waxy layer that repels water. The purplish red undersurface is covered by a network of ribs clad in abundant sharp spines, possibly as a defence against herbivorous fishes and manatees. Air trapped in the spaces between the ribs enables the leaves to float - they are so buoyant that they can easily support the weight of a small child. Each plant produces some 40-50 leaves per season which cover the water surface and exclude light, thus restricting the growth of most other plants.
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