Day 04: Canopy, Brazil Nuts, and Further Upriver to Tambopata Research Center

While there is ostensibly Wi-Fi where we are for tonight, it’s so slow as to be unusable for even accessing this blog, so I’m going to stop trying. I’ll write, but all these entries from the rain forest will show up at one time.

Our morning at Refugio Amazonas started with a 6:00 AM start. We walked through a lightening jungle to the canopy tower where we climbed a tower of many steps. It may look intimidating, but each step was small enough to not be difficult, so once we started, no problem. At the top was a vertical ladder though an opening–a trap door–that we closed behind us. Then at 100 feet, we were treated to a fabulous view at the top of the canopy.

Now, you have to imagine 9 of us standing at the top of this platform that only had space for probably ten people standing still. This left us shifting around each other as we each tried to get pictures from the different sides and to look through the telescope that Delford had brought. It was a bit of a challenge, but we’re a pretty compatible group so this worked OK, too.

The sun was shining at a low angle under the clouds for just the first few minutes when we were at the top, so I got a couple of sunny pictures. Then a cloud bank came between us and the sun.

I decided to take a picture looking down the tower. You can identify this one by all the guy wires that show. The tower moved a bit, but we knew it was securely anchored.

You can see what the path looked like that we walk through as we were returning to the lodge for breakfast. After eating, we sorted through our luggage. You see, the folks here really have their act together for us ‘touristas’–we only have to carry our “immediate” stuff ourselves. From the river to the lodge and back, they transport the larger pieces of luggage. It was a surprise, as I think we were all ready to pack our own stuff in and out, but we’re happy they’re doing it this way!

So after we put out our luggage to be transported to the boat, we took another walk–this time to where local folks harvest Brazil nuts. They do this once a year and stay for a month or so at a camp in the jungle. You can see in the pictures some (just a few!) of the things along the way: pretty flowers, what looks like a dark line across the trail that is actually a LOT of ants, Delford pointing out the name of the trail, some cicada towers (whose holes into the ground go about 3 feet deep!), white mushroom-looking growths, a HUGE Bullet ant that apparently has a nasty bite, and a jungle-sized ant hill.

Back in the lodge area, I found a beautiful fruit and a cooperative butterfly.

Then we were off to the next leg of our trip, back on the river for what turned out to be an over four-hour trip to the Tambopata Research Center. Before leaving, we had the obligatory round-up of characters. The group picture includes our local guide Delford and is minus Pam, who acted as photographer. The players are (L to R, back row), Steve, Kip, and Wayne, (L to R, front row), Delford, Franja, Linda, Gwenn, and yours truly.

The boat we had today was a little different, with seats that faced forward. This made looking out both sides a bit easier. We were treated to a snack of an apple, a tangerine, a nut bar, and a small chocolate for dessert. We are not going hungry on this trip.

After a couple of hours, we reached another place where we could get our passports stamped, so we did that (good opportunity for a pit stop) and then headed back to the river.

Back on the boat, lunch was served. This was again wrapped in banana leaves but was today an egg, potato, cheese, and pepper concoction. And it was again delicious, so I repeat, we are not going hungry on this trip.

The last few hours on the river were at times very slow. We picked up another pilot and a spotter. They had just come down the river, so they were familiar with the places where we had to be careful to not run into the bottom. Biggest thing was to not damage the motor, or the bottom of the boat, of course!

We saw a lot of wildlife along the river, but mostly I looked through my binoculars. Some birds were close enough to get a picture of, but for the most part, my camera lens couldn’t get close enough. But my brand new REI 6×32 binoculars were really up to the task. The field of view was wide enough to make things easy to find and the magnification was really good. What I was able to see was wonderfully clear, so I pretty much went with that. I took a few pictures, but we’ll have to see how they come out when I can zoom in.

By the time we got to the research center, we were hot, sticky, and tired. Having a nice cold washcloth offered to us first thing was very thoughtful. Then we got the welcome lecture, room assignments, and we were off. Delford offered a sunset/evening walk that most went on. I decided to take some time to work on the blog and pictures so when we get to Cusco I’ll be able to upload. I know it works best for me to keep up with this every day. Hopefully I’ll get pictures from some other folks of what they saw, because I hear it was a good walk.

Tomorrow we’re going to be up at 4:30 AM to go see the macaws at the clay lick. So now I’m off to dinner, then a shower and early bed.

Talk to you after tomorrow’s adventures!