In the jungle (yungas)

Sunday 22 May
As I said - up at 4 a.m. Dress, breakfast, put on gumboots and, still in the dark, walk to the river where we emerge out of the darkness. All the way we are accompanied by the constant noise of the Howler monkeys (which we never see); but we do see some cute small brown monkeys called tiki plus some Capuchin monkeys which are apparently the most intelligent of all the monkey species. The noise of the howler monkeys is eerie and soothing all at the same time - it is constant background noise like someone left on a relaxation tape/CD of the ocean.

Further along the river, we are dropped off and step into the gloom of the jungle and tramp through mud to a different spot on the river (or was it a different river?).

Sound like fun? Well, it gets even better: we stay here for about 3 hours watching birds. Let's re-state that: we watch out for birds.

Well really - it was like watching paint dry. We saw a few green parrots (some orange-cheeked). They were arriving to feed at a clay lick. What is that I hear you say? A 'clay lick' is an exposed area of clay where animals gather to eat or lick clay to obtain clays or salts. 

The Tambopata Macaw Project is a long-term multidisciplinary study of natural history, conservation and management of large macaws and parrots. The project was started in 1989 and the lodges like the one we are staying in are sponsors.

Take it from me, this is what we were SUPPOSED to see (photos pinched from the internet):

And we saw - at a distance - some motmots (I think). Maybe we saw a turkey vulture too? And the scarlet macaws - now, they really were sensational!

I was covered head-to-toe in clothing, had a citronella wrist band (thanks Jenny B) and I looked a right 'dork' in the head net My Friend had given me but from within it I felt safe against the constant buzzing of the mosquitoes and other bugs.

All in all, by the time we got back for lunch after visiting a local homeowner and his plantation of all sorts of fruits (and we had tastes of many of them: oranges, grapefruits, star fruit, paw paw etc), we had already put in a full day and it was only 1 pm. The shower before lunch was very welcome and lunch well-deserved after our morning tramping about.

I had a well-deserved sleep after lunch! 

At 4 p.m. we go for a walk through the jungle near the lodge to a canopy tower 32 m high which we climb to be above the jungle canopy and we can see across the top of the jungle for miles. Very peaceful. No mosquitoes. No sunset as it is overcast but nice evening sky nevertheless.

We walk back in the dark; we are shown the tiny fluorescent lights of the fire fly larvae (with all our torch lights off); spiders; a scorpion. I cannot believe I am tramping through mud in the pitch dark swotting mosquitoes. But I think people are envying my mosquito head net - thank you My Friend.

Pre-dinner, I hasten to the bar for an Amazonian Paradise (passionfruit, carambola, curazao, rum). It really packs a punch!!

I decline the outing to the river to spot caimans at night. TOP goes. I just want to relax and enjoy the ambience of the lodge. 

After dinner I have a nice chat with an American couple from Philadelphia who are most interesting.

Electricity will go off in an hour so I have the devices plugged in charging up. 

Fortunately we don't have an outing tomorrow until 7 a.m. although there was an optional extra offered - to start at 4:15 a.m. Pass!!!!