Amboró South:  Samaipata




Amanda relaxes after tea at La Vispera in Samaipata - a beautiful place with organic herb gardens, and a cabaña worth the splurge at $25/night.




Most orchids were not in season, but small bromeliads bloomed on trees and telephone lines.




Woodpecker - not so very different from its cousins in our neck of the woods.




Standing under crossed tree ferns at Las Lauras in Amboró - seems like a dinosaur should come lumbering through. 




The view from underneath a tree fern. 




The view from underneath two tree ferns - notice the interference pattern where their fronds overlap. 




Spectacular tree with purple blossoms (but no leaves this time of year) in Samaipata.




Amanda stands in front of niches carved into the mountaintop at "El Fuerte" pre-Inca ruins near Samaipata.




A deep hole near El Fuerte - well, mine, sacrificial offering repository?  The butterfly (genus Adelpha) seemed drawn to the entrance. 




Sleepy dog with comfortable quarters, and profuse lavendar, back at La Vispera.




La Pajcha (Quechua for waterfall).




High above the falls, we watched two condors taking shelter from a light drizzle.