He had no choice. Maximo Napa Castro had to eat whatever he could get his hands on: seabirds, cockroaches, insects and a sea turtle, among other things. He also managed to collect rainwater in his boat.

But the thing that really kept him going, the Peruvian fisherman says, was the thought of his loved ones at home. This motivated him not to give up.

The 61-year-old was found on the brink of death recently after being stranded at sea for nearly 100 days. An Ecuadorian ship spotted and picked him up about 624km from Peru's port city of Chimbote.

He'd left the port of San Juan de Marcona on 7 December, but strong ocean currents and stormy weather caused him to drift hundreds of kilometres into the open ocean in his small boat, which didn't have a radio beacon.

After his miraculous rescue, he was admitted to a hospital in Paita. He was discharged after a few days of intensive treatment for, among other things, severe dehydration.

Tears flowed when he was reunited with several of his family members in the country's capital city, Lima.

"Mr Napa arrived in good physical condition. He could walk, wash himself. Shocked, but in good physical condition," said Peruvian Navy port captain Jorge Gonzalez.

Maximo told local media he'd survived for a long time by eating whatever he could find, but that he hadn't eaten anything for two weeks by the time he was rescued.

"The turtle blood saved me. I had eaten the last bit of rice I had left a long time ago," he told Peruvian radio news service RPP.

He became emotional as he revealed that for the sake of his loved ones he'd kept going.

"I thought about my mother every day. I also have a granddaughter who's only two months old. I clung to that. I held on for them."

His daughter Inés Napa shared her family's concern on Facebook earlier this month when her father was still missing.

"Every day is torture for the whole family," she wrote. "We don't wish this on anyone, but Dad, we won't lose hope that you will be found."

She hailed his rescue as "an incredible miracle".

His mother, Elena Castro, told local media: "I asked the Lord to return him to me, alive or dead, just to see him again. We kept believing."

Maximo said it's a relief to no longer have constant hunger pangs.

"I ate rice, chicken and beans today. I wanted to eat five plates, but my stomach still needs to get used to it. My mother is going to make me carapulcra (a pork stew) and sopa seca (tomato noodles)."