The Inkaterra Guides Field Station runs several conservation projects in partnership with the Inkaterra Asociacion, a non-profit organisation. During our time there, we were able to head out to the project areas and be a part of some of our work.
Bird Monitoring Project
The aim of this project is to record the number of bird species that live in the Amazon Jungle. To date 540 species have been registered within the areas conserved by the Inkaterra Asociacion in the Amazon rainforest of Madre de Dios.
This was definitely the highlight of our Amazon trip for Mia. We got to go out to where the naturalists were working just as they were about to release a bird that they'd caught earlier this morning. So we had the chance to see the wonderful work that these guys do.
Measuring the tiny claw.
Poor birdie was stuffed into this container to be weighed, very gently of course.
Checking for any distinct features.
This was a female band-tailed Manakin, quite common in the Amazon jungle.
So so happy she got to release this tiny birdie!
The fine net used to trap the birds, it looks like the hairnets that Mia uses for ballet. The nets are to fine for the birds to see and they fly straight in and their beaks get caught in the nets. The naturalists work very quickly getting them out and taking all the measurements before releasing them, all within 10 minutes or less.
Checking out the different tools used by the naturalists. 
Future ornithologist? She was so fascinated by this whole process.
Bio-Orchard
The bio-orchard is an initiative aimed at conserving a diverse collection of native foods, cultivated with regional agroforestry techniques. Using anchestral knowledge of Amazonian goods and carbon-free farming, the bio-orchard utilises these techniques in the preparation of natural compost, sowing and harvesting vegetables, aromatic herbs and tropical plants.
Nope, not durian unfortunately. 
They're Amazonian custard apples.
This boy was game enough to try everything which was great. We thought the taste of the custard apple was not as flavourful and sweet as the ones we are used to.
Banana hut
The resident spider monkey coming out to look for a feed.
Star fruit season, the trees were covered in them.
Cashews. Here in the Amazon, they only eat the fruit and not the nuts.
There were so many in the trees and on the ground, if only we had access to an oven!
Dragon blood tree, natural anti-itch cream. The sap turns pink and powdery when you rub it onto your skin. It's one of the ingredients used in calamine lotion. The leaves of this tree is heart-shaped.
A local citrus fruit.
Cacao bean
This guys was feeding on the flowers.
Discovery of a new bird species - the red beak chickedee 😄Vegetable Farm
Here the Inkaterra Asociacion volunteers cultivate vegetables and fruit native to Peru to try and find the best methods and shortest harvest times. From here they then take the seedlings, fruit and vegetables into the local communities and introduce these new methods to the people.
These had so many different varieties of chilli, in all kinds of shapes, colours and varying in different levels of heat ranging from 1-10.
These ones looked just like cherry tomatoes.
This one is supposed to be super hot.
These tiny balls of fire were pretty darn hot, probably a 7 or 8.
According to our guide, this yellow one would be about a 2-3, not that spicy and used a lot in daily cooking in stir fries and stews.
Yep not hot, tastes like capsicum.
Amazonian lemongrass. Very different from the ones we know but just as fragrant.
Mini Mia with a mini pineapple.
Crazy city kids, trying to crack a Brazil but with a giant stick!
A leaf from a native plant from which the indigenous people extract its juice to use for tattooing.
This supposedly should last several weeks.
Break time.
Little happy gatherer with her bounty.
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