After filming the savannah fires,we journeyed west to San Ignacio de Moxos in the evening.
An isolate monkey foraging in a forlorn stand of tress not consumed in the clearing
We drove on in the evening to San Ignacio, a quaint if dusty little lowland town.
Panorama of the open street shops in San Ignacio
Panorama of the central square of San Ignacio
A mass was being celebrated in the local church.
Video of a very musical Mass at San Ignacio
Hear the hymn from the very musical Mass in mp3
A series of images of the musical Mass at San Ignacio
Even the dogs run free in this sacred performance!
We stayed the night at the Residencial Don Joaquin, a pleasant courtyard motel hostal with drive in parking under the flowering vines.
Just as in Ascension, significant areas of San Ignacio had been burned to the ground by out of control fires earlier in the burning season, so in some areas people were living in emergency tents.
Panaorma of the burned areas of San Ignacio with emergency tent shelters.
Across the main square was another establishment where we had breakfast.
Restaurant panorama
Coming out of San Ignacio were some of the worst tornado desolation vistas we saw on the entire journey.
Panorama of devastation
Panoramas of previously cleared dry forest land
Parrots in the trees
Panorama of a village on a river tributary
Further along the road were several wetland savannah ponds where there was a diversity of bird life, including wading birds, kingfishers, blue and white herons and two species of vulture.
Another river-side village with a woman washing clothes from her canoe
A very beautiful nectar-eating bird finding food on an isolated flowering tree
Panorama in a small stand of dry forest
Wading birds in another wetland area
Tiuius in a pond area and a crocodile killed by the side of the road
A little further down the road we came to the worst area of tornado forest devastation we saw on the entire journey, thinly disguised by a band of trees left standing by the road side.
Panoramas of 'los tornados' total absolute tropical forest destruction
Google maps image from 2012 shows this whole region has been largely cleared,
from Trinidad to San Ignacio, with only small forest remnants to the north of the road left.
After this we went to the Beni biodiversity reserve, which had also been severely burned out in the recent forest fires.
Panoramas of the blackened savannahs in the biodiveristy reserve
Panorama of the forest in the savannah island in the above panoramas
The reserve also contained a lake where there was a diversity of insect and plant life.
Insects and flowers on the shores of the lake
Termite mound
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