Amazonia - Day 8

(Continued from May 2010 Post)
The next morning, we left the lodge at 6am - the last group. I heard our neighbours leave at 4:30. Maybe the management didn't feel there was much point taking children out on the lake at 4:30, or maybe the other groups wished to see animals before the loud children scared them all away.
Abel steered the canoe from the back, Mili and Scooter paddled in the middle, Mili pointing to various sights. Boo alternated sitting in the prow, sitting by Mili, sitting by Daddy, sitting by Mama. In other words, she moved constantly. Amazingly, we did spot black cayman imitating logs in the water, and a few red howler monkeys. E.J. sighted them on a palm branch high above the lake - they looked like so many red bumps on a log. Mili also pointed out endless species of birds. We had a great view of the beautiful, russet-coloured stinky turkeys (Hoatzin) I heard the night before. They have two stomachs and regurgitate what they eat so they can chew it again. I guess they are like feathered cows sitting in the trees. Because they chew these half-fermented foods, they reek - both as living birds and as dead meat. As interesting as all this was to E.J., Scooter and me, it was no great shakes for a 3-year old. After an hour, none of us could justify keeping Boo enclosed any more.

We returned to the lodge to eat breakfast and then relax (or run around singing and releasing pent up energy) until 10. Mili led us on a walk through the jungle. She had a knack for finding plants Boo could touch, and trees with stories interesting to Scooter. There was dense undergrowth and only the occasional tall tree. One was the cork tree, used to make corks for wine bottles. Another was the garlic tree - not like any garlic I've ever chopped for dinner. Mili cut a small piece off the trunk and there was an overpowering stench of garlic. She put a little in her boot to deter snakes (snakes must be like vampires). A third tree, called Kapok, was huge. Local tribesmen call it El Madre de la Selba (Mother of Nature), and come for miles to worship under its branches, according to Mili. They believe the tree is so tall that their requests and souls (when thy die) will be taken up to heaven by the tree.
Mili admitted that the first time she guided a group by herself she was hopelessly lost for five hours on these same trails. The tour group kept asking what they were looking for and Mili kept putting them off with bits of information as she searched desperately for a familiar trail mark. She assured us that was six years ago. We returned to the lodge after only an hour. We almost saw another species of monkey, but we were too loud and the monkey too shy. Thank goodness plants can't run away or we wouldn't have seen anything. Having said that, we did see creeping palms, but they only move a few inches each year, so they couldn't escape fast enough.
All the other groups walked for hours, reporting numerous sightings of monkeys, birds, even cats. We mostly stayed at the lodge. E.J. didn't mind the time to relax in the hammocks. Scooter discovered the pile of Brazil nut pods in front of the lodge. He tried every way he could to open one while Boo used them to help ants build their nests. I am not sure the ants appreciated her efforts.
At 4:30pm, we took a dusk canoe ride. We really wanted to see the giant river otter, but Mili said it was unlikely. The mother had two cubs and they were being especially retiring. Sure enough, we didn't see much. Just as dark fell, we saw a troop of squirrel monkeys in some branches overhanging the lake. We enjoyed watching them as they leaped from tree to tree and chattered at one another. Mili told us that the monkeys know how to swim but don't like the water. When they fall in, they cry like babies as they swim to the nearest tree root. Scooter wished that one would fall either into his canoe or into the water nearby so he could hear it cry.
As we rowed across the lake to the lodge, I heard a loud motor boat or chain saw in the distance. I thought it strange that the Park staff allowed such an intrusion in a protected area. However, Mili identified the sound as a red howler male calling his troop in for the night. The sound intensified and echoed over the lake. I didn't know an animal could make such a racket.
As we disembarked at the lodge, we checked on the large colony of leaf-cutting ants slowly building their nest over the wooden stairs. The cutters still cut busily overhead - regardless of the dark. Long lines of leaf carriers still brought pieces 5-10 times bigger than themselves down the tree to the leaf chewers. These chewed the leaves and mixed the paste with dirt to make their homes. Mili told us the queen lays the eggs and the hatched larvae eat the chewed leaf mixture.