Surrounded by the Peruvian Amazon rainforest and accessible only by ship and airplane, Belen is a floating web of open-air markets, boat commerce and family dwellings made of water-logged balsa wood and hand- hewn vigas. While guide books call it “The Venice of South America,” Belen has a beauty and an atmosphere that is profoundly itself– vast cumulous clouds mirrored in deep green river water, underwater groves of billowing sea-plants, chihuahua-sized spider monkeys tied to dug-out canoes, and growing young families living out life in damp and tilted floating dwellings.