We trek down to the boats, carrying our portable chairs, and this time we get onto the first boat. We head back to the macaw clay lick as the first splashes of light are just starting to paint the horizon. The howler monkey is roaring, we still can't get over how incredible it sounds, almost like machinery, and a bit like a howlong wind, and also the fact that it is a single small monkey, audible for up to 5km around.
The guides bring us coffee, tea and crackers, much better than yesterday! No milk unfortunately. As we are chatting and sipping our drinks, a white (or spectacled) caiman cruises just below us in the water, through pink tinged cloud reflections. He eventually submerges and just eyes us, and we admire some tiny blue tanagers and yellow social flycatchers as the first of the macaws start arriving, filling the air with squawks.
Naun points out a tiny green and rufous kingfisher perching over the river as more and more macaws and parrots start arriving, the airborne blue and yellow macaws flashing like gold in the rising sun. I spot a blue throated piping guan (wild turkey) high up in the highest tree. My favorites, the scarlet macaws are painting the trees, with vivid reds, blues and yellows. The difference between the scarlet and the red and green macaws is the patch of yellow on the wing of the scarlet. One is hanging upside down. We marvel at the fact that the same species (even colours) stick together. Many of them are probably families with fairly young chicks. Naun points out another bigger kingfisher and we manage to just capture him in flight, reflected perfectly in the waters below.
We wait for the first brave parrots to go to the lick. It's the chestnut fronted macaws that try it first, around 6:35, at the same place as yesterday, and after that its officially open and tons of birds head to the lick. Blue headed, white fronted and mealy parrots, followed by blue and yellow macaws and even a few scarlets. In the photo below, you can see 5 blue and yellows at the top, followed by 2 scarlets, many many green mealy parrots on the side, and further down chestnut fronted macaws, blue headed parrot and white bellied parrots. You can also see the amazing golden underside of the blue and yellow, flying to the right of the lick.
The clay feeding frenzy continues for about 30 minutes, and then it is over and the birds start moving off. It's strange the way they all choose to come together and then leave. To find out more, you can check out Macaw project
We head back to the lodge for a hearty breakfast.
At 9:00 some of us go with Naun to the canopy tower. We admire three large yellow banded spiders that have cleverly monopolized a weather station for their webs, and as we watch one rolls up his prey in an instant. Next Naun points out a little black fronted nun bird, and explains that these birds are one of three species very important to the jungle, as they act as sentinels for mixed flocks. They will sound an alarm call if they see predators.
We come to an "erotic palm tree" with very suggestive tubers hanging from its trunk. Naun explains that the tribespeople bring their boys to these palms and tell them to use the machete to cut the size they would like their manhood to be. They also use the sap to rub in that area to have a Viagra type of effect...
Naun points out another leaf cutter ant colony, covering a huge area this time, he says it is big enough to house 8million ants, one queen, the only one who lays eggs.
We come to a huge iron wood tree and have a rest on a bench while Naun explains that the buttresses of this tree can be hit with a stick to produce a very loud noise heard for miles, useful when lost. It is sad that these beautiful trees, up to 800 or more years old, are cut down for charcoal. Naun say they are homes to hundreds of species of insects, birds and even reptiles and amphibians. We continue through the thick mud, grateful for our wellingtons. It is even hotter and more humid than yesterday, but the clouds are gathering.
We reach another huge tree, a kapok this time and take a group pic in front of it. We see macaw boxes in these trees and admire the researchers who climb that high. This tree has no leaves as it is about to flower with beautiful pink blossoms. Naun explains that trees with pink, blue and white flowers are fertilized by bats and moths which they attract; red, yellow and orange flowers attract birds.
Next we see a tapir print, an nocturnal vegetarian animal we are unlikely to see. We come across the researchers as we are walking, they are resting as they are carrying another huge macaw box. They show us how it works, and we spot two beautiful red and green macaws, about 1m in length, high in the tree above us. Macaws mate for life, if one dies the other will be a widow...
We reach the canopy tower around 10:40. This one is different from the one at Refugio - it is not quite as high, but has a ladder instead of stairs. The climb up is quite freaky, especially for Wendy. Up top it's scorchingly hot, as now there is no canopy cover. The view is pretty cool over the canopy tops, the photos don't really do it justice.
As we climb back down, we can hear thunder in the distance so we make our way back at a slightly faster pace. On the way we see little tamarins jumping gracefully through the trees. We can hear the howler starting again in the distance.
Close to the lodge, we again see the adorable and athletic black spider monkeys, hanging out in the tree in funny poses and then jumping and crashing through the trees to get closer to their friends.
Lunch back at the lodge consists of chicken in a creamy yellow pepper sauce with rice, with a really delicious lime cheesecake type of dessert. We have afternoon naps in the hammocks until 3:00, when we head out for another walk. This time we are going to the pond platform, and we hop back onto the boat, to take us back to the island from which we view the clay lick. We spot around 30 black vultures on the bank of the river with their wings out and we go and check them out. Lucio explains that they like to bath in the river but their wings aren't that waterproof, so they need to dry them out.
Once on the island, we spot turtles and blue and yellow macaws again. Then we see the spider monkeys crashing through the trees from a distance. They are heading down towards the ground. We keep walking but keep an eye on them. It looks like they are going to go to the clay lick! We stop and watch them through binoculars as they sit on the clay and break off large chunks with their hands to eat. One of them had a baby, very cute!
We continue walking through the steamy heat over the island, until we finally reach a large green pond, with a platform over it. We sit and resta while, checking if there is anything to be seen. Unfortunately there are no hoatzins, the Amazon punk chickens that we were hoping to see here.
We walk back and head back to the lodge for cold showers, it has been so hot and humid. Dinner consists of a weird spaghetti "stir fry" - the beef is nice and soft but the rest pretty bland. And a disappointing creme caramel dessert. We gather up our tips for the guides before heading out for our last night walk.
This time Naun is taking us, and he says he is going to wear his wellingtons as he is going to try and catch a caiman for us! Uncle John gets really excited, and even wears his wellingtons even though they give him blisters, saying that if there is caiman wrestling to be had, he will be in there! Naun has also promised Wendy a tarantula...
We head off with our headlamps, the ladies covering every part of their bodies to try and protect against the creepy crawlies that tend to fall out of trees in this darkness... We spot frogs and huge wolf spiders, and a weird green spider.
Then Naun finds a tarantula hole, he and John actually saw it going in there. We gather around and Naun warns us not to scream. He grabs a long stick and tries to coach it out, we see a very large hairy leg, but sadly our little friend isn't feeling very sociable tonight.
We leave it for later and carry on, suddenly Naun rushes off into the forest. He comes back out with something in his hand, and tells us all to switch off our torches. As he opens his hand in the complete darkness, we see a bright yellow shining firefly. He explains that there are 6 or 7 different colours of these in the Amazon.
He then takes us off the path, through the thick spider infested jungle towards a stream, him and John searching everywhere for caimans. No luck unfortunately. We spot another tarantula hole, with two large black legs sticking out. Once we scare it, it goes deep into its hole and we don't manage to coax it out. I am sad that I never got a photo of the three pink toed tarantulas we saw... So here is a pic from google, and the one of Naun trying his best to get it out.
On the way back, Naun spots a beautiful little screech owl in a tree. It is making a soft hooting sound, which Naun starts to copy. He is really talented at mimicking animal sounds. We count the hoots - the owl hoots 39 times, Naun can only manage 25 in one breath, and we continue this exchange for a while, it is very sweet the way the owl is responding.
Our last sighting is another different owl, larger this time, very close to camp.
We say our goodbyes to Naun as he won't be joining us on the boat tomorrow, he was an awesome guide and we give him a generous tip from the 8 of us. Then we head straight to bed, exhausted after another busy, hot and exciting day.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Tambopata research centre, Amazon
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