Last Day in the Amazon

The last day we woke up at 6 and headed out to the lagoon to attempt to watch the sun rise, but unfortunately there were too many clouds.

We rode around for a bit bird watching, headed back for breakfast, and then packed up to leave.

Can you see it?

Common potoo

They call this the stinky chicken because it has 2 stomachs like a cow and the leaves it eats have chemicals that smell horrible when the bird is cut open

Morning reflections on glassy water

The leaves that fall have chemicals that create an oil-like film on the water in some places

When arriving back to the reserve where we would catch the first of many buses, a couple men were walking up with animal cages. Turns out there are 2 sloths in them that were rescued from animal trafficking from the town of Lago Agrio a couple hours away. We all got to watch them be released right into the trees back into the wild. It was so unexpected and heartwarming and I really could not have asked for a better ending to my trip to the Amazon.

"Goodbye and thank you!" (More like "I'm scared shitless I wish I could move faster")

The past 4 days and 3 nights have been totally amazing. I have been to the rainforest before in Costa Rica, but this was a totally different experience. Off the grid only using solar power to charge camera batteries and have light to eat at night, sleeping in mosquito nets, seeing many new things, learning many new things, making many new friends, and thoroughly enjoying life. What more could you ask for?

Thank you Elvis for sharing your wisdom and being full of energy and passion!

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.

Amazon Day 2

Day 2 we woke up and headed upstream to an indigenous village where we got to learn about their housing, blow dart guns for hunting, food, and shamanism.

Of course today the people live differently with electricity and phones and ketchup and mayonnaise, but we got glimpse of their past through hands-on demonstrations.

Carnaval is happening around Latin America and this is a common sight

Owl monkeys peeking out

Pygmy marmoset, the smallest monkey in the world!

Stinging nettle hurts at first, but has medicinal effects such as pain relieving

At first we got a cooking demo where we picked yuca root from the ground, peeled and grated it, squeezed the water out and then sifted it where we then cooked it on a clay stovetop over fire like a pizza crust. The woman made it look easy, but a few of us got to try and it was very funny. We topped it with some tuna salad with cucumber and tomato and it was delicious.

The whole process in just a few steps from mother nature to cooked goods

We then got our faces painted to get ready for the shaman ceremony, using paint straight from the seeds of fruit.

Next we got to use the blow dart gun and spent a good half hour trying to hit a banana about 30 feet away where finally one of the girls got it! I have to say it was my favorite part.

After that we loaded into the canoe and headed to another community nearby where the shaman lived. The shaman used to be the head of the community and is a healer for the people using knowledge of the plants of the forest mixed with taking in a hallucinogenic concoction called "ayoska" where he trips and is able to communicate with his ancestors and look into the past and future. The shaman talked a little about the process and we were able to ask him questions, and then he performed a mini ceremony where he sang a song and waved a bunch of leaves around to get rid of the bad energy.

Although modern day indigenous people do not have to make bread out of yuca and hunt with blow guns to survive and although the shaman plays a much less important role in the community with most people going into the city for medical attention, it was a very cool hands on glimpse into the lives of how these people used to live in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. Way more interesting than reading about it in textbooks in Anthropology classes at Chico.

Amazon Jungle Tour Day 1

So after 24 hours of bus time, I arrive from Medellín, Colombia to Quito, Ecuador. While walking around the neighborhood where my hostel was, I stumbled across an Amazon jungle tour, which I had already wanted to do. The tour involved getting on another 8 hour bus ride that night to arrive the next morning in a town called Lago Agrio, where we would get on another 2 hour bus to a reserve called Cuyabeno where we would start our tour.

It started with a 2 hour motorized canoe ride to our lodge where we stopped along the way spotting wildlife such as various monkeys, birds, a sloth and different insects.

Lazy sloth

There are actually thousands of little tropical social spiders that build these webs.

White-fronted capuchin, considered critically endangered due to hunting

We arrive at the Guacamayo lodge that consisted of a series of elevated huts with palm leaf roofs and hammocks everywhere! After a delicious lunch, we get organized in our rooms which each had bathrooms with "hot" water (although we never seemed to get hot water, I wouldn't have used it anyways since it was so hot and humid the whole time).

We then go back out for some more animal watching (where I spotted a scarlet macaw, a very rare bird!) and finish it off at sunset swimming in the lagoon nearby. Even though there are anaconda and caiman (alligators) in the water, apparently they stay away from the deeper water in the middle so it was perfectly safe to swim.

Elvis, our incredible guide

This seems to capture the feeling on the trip. We spent probably most of the time on the canoe animal watching, traveling, and jumping out of it in this lagoon. Elvis sits up front and shares his wisdom.

After sunset we did some more exploring and actually found a caiman (near the shore) where Elvis, the guide, was able to coax it right next to the boat and out of the water! I have done crocodile tours where the guide feeds it and gets right up close, but those animals are more or less conditioned and not as hungry since they are fed. This was pure wild caiman about 7 feet in length right next to us..dunno how but it was all good!

My favorite photo of the trip! Set up my hammock on the bird watching/star gazing tower. Shined my headlamp on myself at lowest power and self timer for 25 seconds using my fisheye