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We've settled into our jungle lodging, candle light at night, sharing the toilets and cold showers with the resident black tarantula. Up early for a hike, often before breakfast. Mid-morning hike, lunch and siesta. Late afternoon hike, dinner and then a night hike. The Rainforest is a Fascinating Place!
A highlight of our stay here was the time spent on Lake Salvador. Michel had taken the opportunity to sign up two slots on the lake. The previous evening was amazing, but we were wanting to spot the rare giant river otter. We were more than rewarded as the family not only showed up, but performed for us right in front of the boat. We also identified a lot of birds...I've added approx. 125 birds to my list.
The afternoon hike was centered around tracking down monkeys and learning about the plant life. After dinner we took another night hike to seek out more spiders and frogs.
Unexpected, at least to me, is how the rainforest is in short supply of nutrients. One-half of all species are found in the rainforsests, while they occupy only 7% of the earth's surface. Having said that, it rains so much that the
nutrients are washed away in the flooding. The enormous trees have root systems only 1-2 meters deep. The plants have come up with all kinds of seed dispersal so their seedlings don't fall in the tree's root zone and compete for the nutrients. For example, the Belly Palm develops a large bulge in the main trunk. When seed fall from above, they hit the bulge and bounces away from the tree. Trees have developed all kinds of defenses to keep amimals from eating their leaves, spikes, thorns, etc. The Chaca tree. known as an analgesic, blood purifier, diaphoretic, expectorant, insecticide; for rheumatism, or Naked Indian tree sheds its bark so the Strangle Fig can't take hold and potentially kill the tree. An even stranger, the Ant Tree (Triplarus americana) has resident fire ants living in the trunk of the tree in small channels. If you brush against this tree the ants come pouring out by the hundreds, on a mission to bite whatever. You can identify one of these trees in the jungle because there is literally no living thing, plant, insect, animal within a small diameter of the tree.
The birds and animals are no less interesting. Tamarin
monkeys have evolved over time to become smaller, requiring less food. However, the fetuses have not proportionately gotten smaller...be like a human giving birth to a 15-20 baby. To compensate for the need to care for this large baby, females take on multiple husbands. The males mate with the female, and not knowing whose baby it is, they tend to the baby with great care. The males actually seem to be more attentive to the babies than the female. Macaws typically lay four eggs, but will only attend to the first two to hatch...leaving 3 and 4, if the do hatch, to waste away in a corner of the nest.
After a breakfast we pack up and return back down the Manu River. Joining the Madre de Dios River we arrive at Blanquillo, where we spend the night at lodge Tambo Blanquillo.
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