Fresh water river dolphins called “bujeos” live in the Huallaga and all along the Amazon river basin. There is a species of this dolphin that is pink, known as the “bujeo colorado” (these really do exist. You can look it up if you'd like). We come into the dark side of the jungle with the common belief that these “bujeos colorados” are demon possessed and can actually transform into gringos that steal, rape and murder in the villages.

I was in one village where they told me that every time they had a party several gringos would show up out of nowhere and would begin to steal, rape and murder. The villagers had no idea where these gringos came from and so they decided to plan a party and if the gringos showed up they would try to trap them and figure out who they were...... At midnight when the party was really going strong the gringos started to show up. All at once the villagers tried to grab the gringos. The ones that were caught, instantly turned into “bujeos colorados” and the ones that got away ran to the river, dove in and swiftly swam off as pink river dolphins.

When I heard this outlandish story I began to laugh at the unbelievableness of it all, but the 15 or so villagers that told me the story looked at me very seriously and just said “You wouldn't laugh if you understood our jungle.” I stopped laughing and read to them the words of Jesus:

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).