Some of the most interesting souvenirs to bring back from Iquitos Peru and the Amazon Rainforest are miniature sculptures carved from vegetable ivory, the mature fruit of the Yarina Palm, Tagua nuts. They have the look and feel of elephant ivory, but are a plentiful, renewable, rainforest resource. The best vegetable ivory sculptures are works of art. Even simple primitive carvings take hours. Artistic pieces can take days.