Monday, October 6, 2008

30th September - Jungle Trip Day Two

On our first morning in the jungle we were up very early, at 5am, for a trip into the jungle behind the lodge to visit the nearby parrot clay lick (or collpas as they are commonly known as in Peru, from the Quechua word for "salty earth"). The lick was situated on a high clay bank on the bend of a small river that ran through the jungle and joined the main Madre de Dios river a short distance upstream of the lodge. At the lick a small hide has been built so that visitors can observe the goings-on without disturbing the parrots.

For the first 30 minutes not much happened apart from the parrots occasionally making a fly past. Apparently they always check out the area to ensure that it is safe. Once this had been established they became more adventurous and began first to perch on the branches which were overhanging the cliff and gradually, one-by-one, making their way down onto the actual cliff-face where they began to nibble at the clay. There are two main theories as to why the parrots (and many other animals) congregate at such sites to eat clay. The first one is that they clay contains nutritive minerals that are good for the parrot and the second is that they clay helps to protect them from any toxins that may be in their diet, from seeds or fruit that may be poisonous.

There are five parrots that are commonly seen at this particular lick but this morning we saw only two of them the Dusky-headed Conure (or Parakeet) and the Orange-cheeked Parrot, both so-called for obvious reasons. And they were soon covering the cliff in large numbers (2). After another half an hour they had had enough and disappeared back into the jungle.

The morning´s breakfast brought us a tropical fruit salad and scrambled turtles eggs which tasted only slightly different to the usual chicken eggs and maybe slightly more creamy in textile.

The next excursion took us first to Isla Rolin, more commonly known as "Monkey Island" due to it being used as a refuge for rescued pet monkeys who are then trained to live back in the wild once more. Unfortunately the island is quite large and almost totally covered with thick jungle and, despite calling for them and visiting a few different locations, no monkeys at all were spotted during our visit.

Next on our itinerary was Lago Sandoval, an oxbow lake formed many, many years ago when a meander in the Madre de Dios river became so tight that the river broke through the narrow body of land between its bend and left behind this large u-shaped lake.

Whilst travelling back down river to reach the entrance point for the lake we passed several large floating dredging platforms which are used to try and extract gold from the river silt. It often takes many days of washing many tons of silt to obtain only a few grams of tiny gold grains and the miners live in very poor conditions. Also, mercury is used to finally extract the gold from the silt and this can cause many problems with the health of both the miners and the surrounding environment and the creatures that live there. Gold mining has long been one of the largest industries in the Madre de Dios region and it is thought that much of the gold used by the Incas came from here which was at once part of the Antisuyo region of the Inca Empire.

A Peruvian River Police boat also sped past us on its way to some misdemeanour further up river whilst on the banks a number of Little White Egrets were spotted. A short distance later a family of local Indians, who lived in one of the tiny communities dotted along the river, were bathing in the river. Although by the look of the water they probably came out even more dirty than when they went in!

Once we reached the entrance point to Lago Sandoval we had to walk for about half a kilometre to reach a small complex where we had to sign in as part of a survey carried out by the local tourist board. But during the walk from the river to this complex we firstly heard, and then briefly saw, a group of Red Howler Monkeys making their way rather noisily through the trees above.

Once we had passed the entrance complex we had another 5km to walk through the jungle to the lake along a well defined path that was lined on both side with thick jungle. We were able to see more of the various trees and plants we had been introduced to the previous day along with many more specimens of ants (including leaf-cutter ants, carrying some huge bits of leaf), a small gecko and some very colourful butterflies. The weather was very hot and humid and it was quite hard going but I really enjoyed it as this seemed exactly like the jungle I had expected to see from its portrayal in films and on television.

Just before we reached the lake we passed a small community containing a number of huts. One of the huts functioned as a restaurant and shop which sold expensive (unsurprisingly given the journey they had to get there) cold drinks. Here we were given our lunch, a typical jungle dish called juanes - rice, chicken and an egg wrapped up in a banana leaf and steamed. It was quite similar to another common Peruvian dish, the tamale and quite tasty. However, the heat and humidity was by now almost overwhelming and the conditions were just like being in a sauna and the sweat was just dripped off all of us. Even the guide, who was from this area, said that the heat and humidity were unusually high for that time of year.

Luckily we then had a chance to cool down with a swim in Lago Sandoval which lay at the bottom of a small hill just outside the tiny community. Once I had changed into my swimming costume and plunged into the waters of the lake I found it to be quite warm in the shallows but as I moved into the deeper section there were cold currents below the surface which swirled upwards once I disturbed them with my movements. This, along with a soft, sandy bottom of the lake resulted in quite a strange feeling as I waded through the lake, despite the idyllic setting. Our guide had assured us that we would be perfectly safe whilst swimming here but when I asked him which creatures actually lived in the lake he replied that he would tell me later, once I was back on dry land. This was quite worrying and my fears weren't helped when I felt (or at least thought I felt) small creatures moving past my legs and feet under the water which caused me to jump a few times. There were also many flies visible on the surface so I probably swallowed a large number of them too. Unsurprisingly I decided to cut short my swimming session not long afterwards!

Just after I had climbed out and changed back into my normal clothes a group of around 4 or 5 Giant River Otters were visible about 100m from where we had been swimming although they were a bit too far away to see properly, even though binoculars. However, we then took a boat trip on the lake and were able to get a bit closer to these majestic animals as they frolicked around on the surface and occasionally ate a large, juicy fish. The guide then explained that, as well as the Giant Otters, other animals that lived in the lake included electric eels, caimans, sting rays and at least 5 different types of piranha! Which is probably why he never told me before I went for a swim!

After we had observed them for about 15 minutes the otters then disappeared back down into the depths of the lake and the next creature to make an appearance was the Hoatzin. This large, unusual (some might also say prehistoric, due to the claws that can be found on young Hoatzins to help them climb trees) looking bird was perched in a tree on the edge of the lake but unfortunately disappeared before I was able to get a good photo of it. A Grey-necked Woodrail was then spotted making its way through the undergrowth followed by an Anhinga (also known as a Snakebird because of its long, thin neck) high up in a tall tree. Shortly afterwards we were able to see what looked like a little, blue heron wading through the shallows. Apparently the name of this bird is the Little Blue Heron. I wonder how long it look them to think up that name.

Our guide (who also seemed to spot things long before we even know they were there) then pointed out a group of Red Howler Monkeys in a tall Aguaje (or Moriche) Palm tree. Aguajes are small red fruits that are very rich in vitamin A and also in the female hormone oestrogen so the local males are warned not to eat too many of these fruit or they risk growing breasts! The group was split into two sections with a mother and small baby in one part of the tree and two adult males in another part. They didn't really do too much though, other than scratch themselves.

Then, on the trunk of another tree, our guide spotted three small bats sleeping. Once we got a bit closer it was possible to see that they appeared to be Proboscis Bats and they stayed there quite happy whilst we watched them for about 5 minutes before one suddenly woke up with a start and they all flew off. On a large branch which stuck out far into the lake a large Neotropic Cormorant was resting in the sunshine. As we approached it spread its long wings and flew off a short distance before landing on the surface.

Next up was a spectacular looking Rufescent Tiger Heron. I had some real difficulty in seeing it as it was very well camouflaged against the background foliage, with the black and chestnut plumage which indicated that it was a young specimen of the species, and because it stayed extremely still (so still that I commented that it must have been a stuffed model that had been previously planted there by the guide). It was only when the boat was a few feet away from it, and its position had been pointed out to me, that I was able to see it.

By now it was mid afternoon and whilst it was still very hot the soft breeze that was blowing over the lake made the conditions very nice and this, along with the stunning scenery, made the whole occasion very pleasant indeed. Our boat was now heading towards the small channel which ran from the lake back down to a small resting place about 3km along the trail which we had taken to reach the lake and from where we would have to walk back to the entrance (and our boat back to the lodge).

But even in this channel there was still the opportunity to see some wildlife. Another Grey-necked Woodrail made an appearance along with a few small turtles (or at least the tops of their heads, all that was visible of them above the water). Someone shouted out in Spanish that they had seen a head (cabeza) in the water not far from the boat but I misheard and thought they said beer (cerveza) which I thought was rather surprising and also quite welcoming. However, it actually was a cabeza and it belonged to a large Black Caiman which is a lot larger (and more dangerous) that the Spectacled Caiman we had seen the previous day. They are also usually nocturnal so it was quite surprising to see one during the day, especially this close. But thankfully it totally ignored us as we drifted quietly past.

Once we had reached the mooring point of the canoe it was late afternoon and was just started to get a bit dark. It had been a long day and so the 3km walk back to the entrance took rather longer than when we had made it earlier and by the time we reached our riverboat there were a lot of aching feet and legs amongst us. A took only a short time before we reached our lodge and, as the sun set over the trees on the opposite side of the river we dragged ourselves wearily up the steps leading up to the entrance and from there to our respective huts for a well deserved rest.