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Published: November 24th 2005
Yesterday after the monkey excitement, and about 25 minutes before we arrived at the Dracaena lodge, we sailed into the confluence of the Cuyabeno River and a nearby Laguna. Overhead flew two Blue and Gold Macaws, squawking loudly. "Okay," Lisa said, "I've just had my first 'I'm the luckiest girl alive' moment." Today, while paddling down the Cuyabeno River, I thought back to Lisa's comment yesterday and agreed. I am the luckiest person alive.
We spent the first half of today paddling downstream in two canoes -- Lisa, Ami, Brenna and I in one, and Diego, Rod and Juliette in the other. Earlier Walter, our motorized canoe driver, while towing the two smaller canoes, had hauled and deposited us upriver so we could have a leisurely trip downstream. For the most part it was a quiet, uneventful trip, with a few exceptions. Turns out our guide has an amazing eye for spotting sloths. Sloths, as you may know, are not exactly the fastest animals in the planet and as they sleep about 36 hours at a time, they usually resemble termite nests -- large, dark, unmoving blobs in the tops of trees. But we got lucky with this
perezoso ("lazy animal") -- he moved while we were watching. We were surprised at how quickly he moved, too. Not that he was the fastest animal we've ever seen, but he was faster than we expected. According to Diego, (who is quite knowledgeable on the subject of sloths), the sloth was preparing to go to sleep. (Random sloth fact for you: As it turns out, sloths are quite strong. It would three men to pry a sloth out of a tree, but a harpy eagle can just pluck them up. While I didn't really want anything to happen to the sloth we were observing, I couldn't help but secretly wish that an eagle would come along while we were there, just so I could see this in action. It also takes sloths all day to climb to the bottom of their tree to go to the bathroom. And then they have to switch trees since the smell of their feces would attract unwanted visitors. Fascinating, huh?)
We tried paddling our canoes into the trees and underneath the sloth to get a better look, but our view was better from the main river. Diego had a spotter scope with him, and we took turns peering at the sloth. They have the most mild, good-natured looking faces.
But the fun didn't stop with the sloth! While we were out on the river we paddled our canoes into a small inlet and busted out the fishing poles and raw meat for a little piranha fishing. Unlike most fishing -- where you try to be as quiet as possible so as not to disturb the fish -- periodically you have to splash the surface of the water with your pole so as to attract the fish. I would like to report that we caught a boatful of the flesh-eating fish, but, alas, we did not. (Clearly I am not a true fisherwoman. I should have told you that I caught one -- with my bare hands, of course -- that was meter long and that we had to sacrifice someone's arm to catch it, but instead I was honest. Silly, silly me, tee hee.)
But the coolest part about the fishing actually wasn't the fishing. While we were stopped along the river we heard howler monkeys. They make the coolest, and the most un-monkey-like, noise I have ever heard. They sound like an approaching storm. Seriously. I felt like I should be in the Arctic, not the jungle. Howler monkeys make their calls from the tops of trees (as a way of marking their territory) and can be heard from 1-2 km away. And because their sound travels so well it's difficult (for humans, at least) to know exactly where they actually are. To top it off, when they see humans approaching they grow silent, so it's even harder to spot them. I wish you could have heard them, though. It was incredible. In my mind, their call ranks right up there with Sandhill Cranes and Loons.
* ** * ** *
We made it back to the Dracaena lodge just before a pounding rainstorm hit. A few hours later -- when the rain was beginning to subside -- the two final additions to our group -- Paul and Ruth from Australia -- arrived, completely soaked. They didn't get much time to recuperate, though; Diego was eager to hit the trail and show us some of the local plants. We all donned heavy, dark green ponchos and black rain boots, and trudged through the jungle, examining various palms and other trees. Later that night -- after dinner -- we crept through the forest again, this time armed with flashlights, on the prowl for bugs and other nighttime creatures. While out on the river earlier we got a lot of sun, and my eyes were really sore at this point, so I couldn't see our nocturnal animals very well. I did manage to dodge the few large spiders we found and see the little frogs (the first of which was spotted by our very own Brenna), but I didn't quite get as much out of the trip as the rest of the group.
And like last night, I hit the pillow exhausted and slept soundly, more content and at peace than I have been our entire Ecuadorian trip.
em
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allie
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SLOTHS!
oh, em. how lucky you are! i cannot wait to see pictures of these sloths. you do have pictures, don't you?