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Published: October 24th 2009
When they say the roar of the jungle, I now understand what they mean. We slept for 3 nights in a lodge set deep in the rainforest, right on the banks of Lake Sandoval, called Sandoval Lake Lodge. During these nights we were aided to sleep by the many fascinating and sometimes quite disturbing, noises of the rainforest. You would not believe what sounds can come out of such tiny insects, fragile looking birds and sweet looking monkeys. A racket that is what! A good kind of racket though, not like the disco on the other side of the wall we experienced in Lima. The sounds of the rainforest are definitely more soothing than those of some drunken Peruvians attempting karaoke that is for sure!
One particular noise I was fascinated by was coming from the cicada, an insect no bigger than your average moth, belting out a noise that could be heard for what seemed like miles and resembled a chainsaw! Another fascinating noise coming from the red howler monkeys, it sounded almost like thunder, a real deep and loud groan which again, could be heard right from across the lake.
Speaking of this amazing wildlife, we managed
to get really up close and personal with it all. We were designated a personal guide called Dolores who took us out three times a day either by foot or by boat in hope of sneaking a peak at some of the beautiful creatures hiding around us. Lake Sandoval is home to a family of giant otters, 5 in total (which are endangered) and we managed to watch them rolling around with each other playfully and eyeing up our boat from afar, curious of our intentions. They are such beautiful creatures and they seem even more beautiful when they’re not cooped up in a small tank in your local zoo. Seeing them from 10 metres away in the wild by far beats seeing them 30cm away behind glass, doing laps in their enclosure which is far too small.
Speaking of zoos and aquariums, this trip was really quite emotional for me due to memories of times that I’ve visited such places. Sitting in a boat with my binoculars gawping up at a family of dusky titi monkeys just lounging around on a branch, or at a sloth slowly munching on a leaf or attempting to follow the movements of
tiny squirrel monkeys leaping from branch to branch, really made me think.... I’ve many times as a child and teenager spent £20 to visit a zoo or aquarium and seen such wildlife really up close, but I don’t think you could even put a price on how rewarding it feels to see them in their real home. It’s worth even more than the £100 per night that was spent for me to stay at Sandoval. Their home is where they belong, not behind bars so we can gawp at them. I feel guilty for even taking pleasure in the past from being able to sit literally inches away from a gorilla behind glass. It’s beyond words the feeling I got seeing them thoroughly enjoying their freedom, which they all deserve, just as much as we do!
As well as mammals we saw some incredible birds. One bird looked scarily prehistoric... the Hoatzin, whilst others were dressed boldly in primary coloured wings... the many types of Macaw. One morning we rose early to catch these beautifully bright Macaws at the wood lick where they go without fail most days to attain nutrients from the wood of hollow trees. It really
was a beautiful show!
We weren’t only taught about the mammals and birds at Sandoval though; we also went on a night hunt for creepy crawlies! As my friends and family will know, I am definitely not a fan of insects and I think this walk just reinforced that fear of them. We spotted many HUGE tarantulas as well as ants around a 1 inch long with a bite that feels almost fatal, which was enough to discourage me from ever venturing out into the jungle at night again! They truly were scary. Saying that, the tarantulas were mostly hiding in their burrows from us, so I’m not sure why I got so scared!
Another somewhat scary moment was when we went on the hunt for caiman lurking beneath the surface of the shallows in the lake. All we could see was their bright red eyes popping out of the water as our torches reflected off them. I could not believe quite how many caiman were hidden in the shores, we must have seen at least 20 pairs of eyes and I’m sure that wasn’t the last of them! We were extremely lucky though to spot not just
eyes, but an entire head of a medium sized caiman as we were pulling into the dock, literally less than 2 metres away from where I was sat! It was frozen, probably from fright, for at least a minute as we all shone our torches and gawped in amazement!
To say the least, this was definitely one of the most fulfilling wildlife adventures I have ever been on and it’s only made me even more excited about our up and coming 2nd jungle adventure at Chalalan lodge in the Bolivian rainforest! What I will not miss though is the 95% humidity and the cockroaches that called our bathroom home though!
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Robert
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Great Photos
What a nice trip I visited the area 2 months ago!!! I know that InkaNatura Travel does a good job there.