Encantado

Welcome to a forest filled with water. In the wet season, the swollen Amazon becomes a looking glass into another world, where pink dolphins swim like something from a dream. In Peru they are called bufeo colorado—the ruddy dolphin. Their color ranges from white to gray to a vivid pink. These astonishing mammals, actually river-dwelling whales, easily navigate their way through the complex, hazardous world of the Amazon rain forest. Encantado invites readers on the adventure of a lifetime as we travel into one of the world’s most lush and beautiful jungles in search of these magical creatures. Our guides include scientists and researchers as well as the local people, who have lived with the encantados—the enchanted ones—literally at their doorsteps for centuries. Our main guides are the dolphins themselves. They lead us into myth. They take us back in time to a prehistoric era. They alone can show us the depth of the Amazon’s beauty, diversity, and magic—and help us to keep our planet rich and whole.

What mysteries await in the Amazon’s flooded forests?

• Pink River Dolphin Facts: Meet the bufeo colorado, the legendary river-dwelling whale that can blush from gray to a vivid pink and navigates the jungle like no other creature.
• Science and Myth: Travel with scientists on a real-life expedition, then listen to local shamans share ancient stories of the ‘encantados’—the enchanted ones.
• A Flooded Forest Adventure: Canoe through the treetops of a forest filled with water, encountering everything from giant spiders and piranhas to monkeys and caimans.
• Paleontology for Kids: Journey back in time with a paleontologist to discover prehistoric creatures and see how the Amazon is a window into a lost world.