Kinkajus, Kiskadees, Clay licks and more

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My journey into the Amazon rainforest only got better. After the piranha fishing (very unsuccessfully I might add, tricky little buggers can nibble around the hook), we went on another short hike through the forest. To our delight, just near the lodge, we saw some small black monkeys called Black-Mantle Tamarin. They had been hanging out in the area for a couple of days. Then a short while later we came across the Pygmy Marmoset Monkey, apparently the smallest monkey in the world. Not long after that we saw some Squirrel monkeys, and later we saw more Squirrel Monkeys who had joined up with a troop of Capuchin monkeys. As we getting in our canoe and heading up the canal towards the lake that leads back to the Lodge we had to stop and make way for the Squirrels and Capuchins to cross. It was incredible, close to a hundred monkeys jumping through the trees and crossing the canal right in front of us! We later came across some Red Howler Monkeys, which takes our grand total of monkeys to five.

Then however I did a stupid thing. I asked Gus, our guide, "What's in the lake?" He responded, "If I tell you will you promise me that it won't put you off swimming?" "Sure," I responded, after all I already knew about the piranhas and they didn't appear too interested in the people swimming with them. He then replied, "Piranhas, anacondas, electric eels, caimans and all sorts of other things. But you don't need to worry yourself about the piranhas and caimans because they won't view you as food, and the stingrays and electric eels prefer the shallower swampy areas." I cursed my stupid question and noted he hadn't mentioned why I needn't fear the anacondas. However swimming in the lake with the piranhas is all part of the experience, so somewhat nervously, I did take a brief dip in the water. Swimming with piranhas (and anacondas, caimans, electric eels and stingrays) ticked off the list!

And if that wasn't enough, I also ate some ants that tasted like lemon. Seriously! We were walking through the forest and came across a tree that had clear space all around it, unusual for the jungle. Local Indians believe that the tree is evil because the clearing around the tree is unnatural. However the scientific explanation is that the tree is home to a lemon-ant who sets up their nest in the tree and clears the space around it and creates space for their nests. And obviously tastes just like lemon.

There were lots of different activities - trekking through the rainforest, night hikes, canoe rides, exploring the creeks, going up bird towers, so lots of opportunities to see different kinds of wildlife. The guides were excellent, pointing out different animals and birds and making sure everyone in the group got to see them. They also explained about the plants in the rainforest and how native people use them. I learnt more about nature and science than I did in years of schooling, for example in the Amazon there are something like 630 different species of trees and shrubs in one hectare. By way of comparison, there are 680 species in all of North America, so that gives you an idea of the diversity there is.

We also visited a local community for an hour or so one morning to see the underwater world. This was really interesting, but it was just as interesting to find out about the local Indian communities that live in the rainforest. The guides had told us that the local people fish with dynamite, which I couldn't quite believe until I turned around and saw one of the young Indian guys without a hand. Apparently this is quite common, so it was good to support the local community to reduce their dependence on dynamite fishing.

Diversity was certainly covered in the animal world too. We saw tapir prints during our day trips, once we even saw a green vine snake. I was quite relieved to hear from Gus that snakes are very hard to see on a tour. We saw lots of stunningly coloured butterflies, including the beautiful bright blue Morpho butterfly, and an iridescent bright green one which turned out not to be a butterfly at all but a Uranea Moth. We also saw fruit bats and bulldog bats, and on the night trip we saw all sorts of spiders, a couple of scorpions, one eating dinner which I was pleased to see was a cockroach. Then we also saw a Kinkaju, which is a mammal. Well we kind of saw it, I saw a creature up a tree with little orange eyes shining in the light. On evening canoe rides we also saw caimans, turtles and we saw frogs, toads and lizards.

However it was in the bird world that we were truly spoiled. Don't laugh, but I am now a converted birdwatcher. I even bought a little book of all 577 species of birds spotted in this area and have started ticking them off. However when you have spotted exotic and colourful birds with names like Spangled Cotinga, Ivory Billed Araçari, and Greater Kiskadee it's quite addictive! I won't bore you with all the names of the birds, but we saw dozens of beautiful birds that live in the Amazon rainforest. One evening we were gently gliding through the canal in the canoe when we spied a Hoatzin on one side. He then took off, swooped in front of us and settled on the other side of the canal. Other times we saw Macaws, Hummingbirds, Toucans, Tanagers and all manner of magnificent birds. One morning we went down the river a further 30 minutes or so and watched the birds at the parrot clay lick. There were four types of parrots feeding that morning and it was amazing to witness.

One of the highlights however was on our last afternoon as we were exploring one of the creeks on our way to a bird watching tower. We came across more monkeys, but more thrillingly an anteater! These are very rare and difficult to see, and Gus, in 11 years of guiding in the rainforest, had only seen two previously, so we were well and truly spoiled.

All up it was an amazing trip, I surprised myself by how much I enjoyed it, and it exceeded all my expectations. Hopefully it will stay fresh in my memory, because as you'll see in the photos, the birds and animals are tricky to photograph. The common theme in all of them, is look very closely....it's not all foliage!

PS - By special request for the flight geeks, I flew to and from Coca on an Embraer 190

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Photos

Jumping monkeys
These squirrel monkeys jumped across the water just in front of us, as we were in the canoe coming up the canal.

Another tropical flower, and check out the ants
These ants are enormous. They are the Conga ant, and apparently can inflict extremely painful bites for up to 12 hours.

Hoatzin
Look very closely! You can see the silhouette on the right hand side.

Scorpion
This kind of Scorpion is tail-less, but for his dinner, the cockroach, no less dangerous.

Clay lick
The green things in the cliff are actually parrots.

Kapok tree
This giant of the rainforest won the battle for sunlight. We used his roots as a tunnel.

BBQ night
Going around the table staring on the left: Mike, Jackie, Me, Gus, Segundo, Andrea, Thomas and Ann.

Exploring the forest
Nestled in the foliage is a brilliant blue bird. I think it's the Amazonian White-tailed Trogon.

Yellow spotted Amazon turtles
There's a pair of them on the log on the left

Anteater
Very rare! We were lucky to see this.

A Many Banded Aracari
A really beautiful kind of Toucan

Comments

[anonymous]

Love the jumping monkeys
... am SOOO jealous, but nice to enjoy your trip vicariously. L