PAINTING ON PADDLE

Paddles are popular souvenirs for Amazon tourists. Local artists cater to the market by producing decorated paddles, mostly with crude renderings of a river map or the ubiquitous parrots. This work is quite exceptional in the quality of the artwork. The title means "Souvenir of Loreto." Loreto refers to the region of the Peruvian Amazon. San Pablo (see photo) is a small town on the Amazon mainstream, about halfway between Iquitos and Leticia.