Amazon Day 3

Day 3 we woke up at 6 to bird watch on the 50 foot tower at the lodge. We had a book and a monocular set up on a tripod while Elvis searched around and found us some cool birds in the canopy while the sun was rising.

After breakfast, we headed to the jungle for a 3-4 hour hike where we saw so many interesting animals and medicinal plants and trekked through knee deep mud at some points. 

But actually before the hike we went to search for the Anaconda, which we found!!! We could see it from the boat but we actually headed around the corner and hiked in the jungle to get a better angle where I climbed a tree to get the shot. It was almost 20ft long and probably 10-12 inches in diameter..way cool!

Another cool thing was last year while taking the entomology class in Costa Rica, I learned about certain insects but didn't actually see them until today. My favorite thing was the zombie mushroom, where the spores enter the insect and take over it's body/mind for a week before killing it. Scientists still do not understand how this works, but the mushroom basically directs the insect to a suitable habitat where the insect dies and that mushroom grows out. Almost as impressive was Elvis' ability to find these things!!

Not only did this smell good like frankencence but it burns long like oil, used for lanterns back then

Not only do these ants act as insect repellent, but if someone had a severe enough punishment, they would be tied to this tree and be dead within 24 hours due to ants entering through nose and mouth. This is probably about 7 seconds of holding my hand there...I got to 10...weirdest sensation ever

After a long and hot hike, we headed to the lagoon where we then swam to chill off and then headed back for lunch and a couple hour break.

Then it was back out where we got to see pink river dolphins!! All the time I thought I was being messed with when people were taking about pink freshwater dolphins but they actually exist! Something about them being warm blooded and exposed to the sun changes their color just like our skin would tan. 

Wow.

Later, we went for a night hike to find different insects and spiders. Elvis coaxed out a tarantula and picked it up like nothing. The spider is smart and saves its venom for a prey it can actually eat like a bird, since when it hunts it releases everything at once.