We douse ourselves in our "DEET bath" before heading out. I spot a little agouti right outside our rooms, he is a small rodent.
We pack up all our stuff and head off on our hike with Naum. He explains to us about the large boulders lying around which actually contain Brazil nuts, and about the stacks of earth we see, which are actually cicada towers. He shows us many trees, including the amazing vines which eventually become huge ficus (fig) trees.
As we walk though the forest, the most noticeable thing is the sounds, they are so incredible that we try to record them to listen to again and again. The bird and cicada sounds are awesome, and there are some really unique bird calls. One is called a screaming piha, and his call sounds just like a wolf whistle. Naum explains a "gringo" tree to us - it is almost completely smooth and without bark. He says this tree sheds its bark so that it is less likely to get attacked by parasites. Under the bark it is reddish - just a like a white person when they have been in the sun, and then they also shed their skin ;)
Naum spots a hawk and says "how come I don't know you?" - he sets up his tripod telescope and we all check out the small brownish hawk, with yellow eyes and feet, light under its tail and dark grey on its back. It is unfortunately quite far away. Naum is excited because he says this could be a new species for Peru - a bird that is more common elsewhere but perhaps hasn't been seen in the Peruvian amazon... He thinks it is a sharp shinned hawk.
Next he spots some tracks in the mud - definitely a cat, but probably a smallish one he shows us the "walking tree", the only tree in the rainforest that is actually able to move its position, but growing roots in the direction it wants to go.
We reach the mammal colpa (clay lick) and climb the stairs into a hut/hide high up on stilts. It overlooks a section of red clay. We spend about 20 minutes waiting quietly to see if anything comes down, but unfortunately we are not in luck today. We head back down, and poor van takes a tumble down the very steep and narrow steps.
We continue the walk, and Naum points out a gorgeous little bird - a multicolored puff bird, and he also finds a tiny little frog which he holds for us to look at.
After this we are really in luck! We spot a whole lot of small russet backed tamarin monkeys, jumping acrobatically through the trees. They are really cute, black with orange hind legs, and small lighter coloured faces. Naum says they are not true monkeys, as they have claws for climbing, rather than nails.
A few seconds later we spot dusky titi monkeys as well! These guys are bigger, with orange on the top half of their bodies and long thick tails.
After all the excitement we reach the canopy tower, an enormous steel structure many many stories high, built to enable us to have a view over the canopy of the jungle. It is simply a series of steps.
We climb and climb and climb, it seems like it will never end. Finally we reach the top, and the view is incredible. We are so high above the forest it is scary, and we can see over all the trees, even to the mountains in the far distance. The is a wasps nest up the top with us which is pretty unsettling. There aren't any birds or animals to spot, but it's a different viewpoint which we enjoy and take many photos.
On the way back, we spot more tamarins, and a beautiful red headed woodpecker, which Naum explains has been identified as one of the "keystone species" which is essential to the rainforest - many other species depend on it.
Back at the lodge, we are greeted with juice and biscuits, and need to head off almost immediately back to the boats for our 5 hour trip to our next destination: Tambopata Research Centre, or TRC for short. The boat is nicer this time - it has proper seats facing forwards, more comfortable for the longer ride. Lunch is banana leaf wrapped egg tortillas (omlettes) with potato, veg and cheese. Very filling again!
We head off and have an amazing with many sightings along the way. First of all we spot a turtle surrounded by beautiful butterflies, a heron then three different species of egrets. We spot women loading charcoal in large sacks into a boat, and then an amazing mass of different coloured butterflies... There must be hundreds of them, all converging on a certain area on the ground - Naum explains that it is a salt lick that the butterflies like.
We reach the Malinowski control point and we all get off the boat to sign in. We are now officially entering the Tambopata national reserve. Tambopata research centre, where we are heading, is the only accommodation inside the actual reserve, all the others are only in the "buffer zone". We use the last chance for toilets, and check out the tiny museum onsite with caiman and piranha skulls, bottled snakes and other oddities.
Back in the boat, a bit further up the river, we spot a gorgeous capybara on the side of the river, he is alone, and sitting pretty like a sphinx, looking straight at us. Capybara are basically giant rodents, and the males have a gland on their noses. This one is probably at least 20kg, but they can reach up to 60kg!
We spot macaws flying overhead, and howler monkeys in the trees.
Naun also points out beautiful black skimmer birds, and we see a whole family of capybara. They head towards the river, and soon we can hardly see them, they are all swimming. Naun explains that they have webbed feet, and so are very good at swimming.
Finally we arrive at the port of TRC, and walk 100m to the lodge. It looks similar to Refugio, a bit smaller, and less fancy. The rooms are smaller but still very nice, and the bathrooms are shared - 8 in total. There is a large eating area, a small bar, and some hammocks for chilling, as well some some off limits areas - the kitchen and the researchers areas. There is some electricity, and amazingly even wifi!
We hear the pigs before we see them - the noises are incredible. They sound like monsters roaring! One of them is close to the rooms and we manage to catch a photo, he seems quite skittish and its hard to get a good shot. Apparently there were 40 of them near the lodge this morning.
We find gum boots to fit us and get ready for our afternoon walk.
Lucio is our guide this time, and it's getting pretty late in the afternoon. We have more of an auditory experience, as the animal and bird sounds are all around us, they are incredible. We see more dusky titi monkeys but don't manage to photograph them. We also come across one of the tallest trees, they use these for canoes, and many of them have been chopped down.
Lucio regales us with his entertaining stories and amazing knowledge of the jungle. He grew up here, and his senses are so in tune with the environment, he hears and smells things we would never even notice. Soon it is dark, and we have to switch on our headlamps to get back. It's incredibly muddy and we are so glad for the gum boots.
Back at TRC we grab a beer at the bar, and Uncle John attracts a crowd with his always magnetic personality, always keen to chat to someone new. Dinner consists of noodle soup, beef stew, salad and veggies, followed by an apple cake. After dinner, one of the resident researchers at TRC shows us a video and gives a talk about the work that they are doing here on the macaw project.
He talks about the macaw clay lick - a large area of clay that many of the birds come to feed at, we will be visiting this tomorrow. They explain that they believe the birds eat clay for two reasons: 1. to get the sodium, and 2. to detoxify some of the poisons they eat that occur naturally in their foods. The researchers monitor the use of the clay lick by different species throughout the year, and have correlated it to their breeding season.
They also place macaw nests throughout the area surrounding the lodge, and monitor the nests for chicks. They take the chicks out and check them and watch them grow. The baby chicks are actually pretty ugly/cute - fat little birds with no feathers. It takes many weeks for the feathers to grow. One sad fact is that the parent birds will have up to 4 chicks, but often select which chicks they want to survive, and will nurture and feed those. The other chicks will slowly starve to death.
We have a really early start tomorrow, so we all head to bed after Troy the American researcher answers a few more questions. Half of our group have already fallen asleep during the video anyway!
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Location:Amazon Rainforest, Peru
Appears to be "thrill-a-minute!" What an adventure and the Groblers appear so "at home!" and relaxed.
ReplyDeleteThe commentary on this blog makes one feel as if the reader is very big part of each excursion, experiencing it first-hand!