cat nails

After leaving the Bora Bora to their jungle delicacies, we re-boarded the boat for the penultimate time! On our return to Nauta and Iquitos we passed this duo taking a daring shortcut through the greenery. I enjoyed all the boat time but except for a few trips at the lodge, I was always on a motorboat. I can't imagine rowing everywhere I need to be... I'm sure I'd have much bigger biceps if I loved here.

Our next stop was the labyrinthine market on the edge of town in the Belen district. Peering into the stalls revealed a menagerie of bottled jungle essences, exotic and varied enough to make any witch ecstatic. Pame purchased a kilo of marinated jerky-like meat... not sure what animal it was or if it really kept on her flight back to Lima but it was tasty.

We walked up and down slopes beneath tarps to protect the wares - not the shoppers - from the intense midday heat. The main city center of Iquitos sits right on the river and though it is hot and humid, the skies are usually gray and hazy. But the western parts of greater Iquitos - such as the Belen district - boast clear blue skies with no protection from the sun. It seemed like every other stall was selling some sort of plant or animal part suspended in liquid - things that might otherwise spoil in the sun - and shopkeepers saw it fit to shade their wares.

A selection of oils, elixirs, and magic powders...

Cat nails (uña de gato)? What in the world are cat nails used for?

I like to think that no cats were harmed in the making of this orange and white can in the center. I remember my first cat used to shed her claws with ease and I had a small collection of her abandoned crescents (as well as forgotten whiskers) growing on my desk. So it's not like cats had to be painfully declawed for that, right?

But really, what on earth are cat nails used for?