Twitching Extraordinaire!

Saturday 20 January

Another early morning alarm call – well the lights snapped on the fan begun to stir the air once more – about 04.45. This gave us both time to shower before meeting Jesus for our early morning “jaunt”. He had told us to take welly boots – which boded ill – as well as all our usual wet weather gear, cameras, mozzy repellents and sun tan block. Sonia was going to accompany us again, as she needs to learn more about the primary forest that we would be visiting later in the morning.

We boarded a long boat – not the catamaran for us today – and both Sonia and Jesus started paddling to the far side of the lake, and the entrance to the canal. We saw herons and swallows, snake fish and cormorants – all the usual flying fraternity of the lake, out for their early morning sabbaticals. We did not see the otters – perhaps it was too early for them yet, but we did see squirrel monkeys leaping around with early morning zeal. They had furry red coats and bushy tails, a little larger than the squirrels we have at home. We watched until they went inland behind the trees. We made our way round the lake, constantly using the binoculars - I am becoming a real twitcher!! They paddled and stopped for a rest and paddled some more, so the whole journey to the canal took about an hour. The sun rose behind us and we could feel it getting warmer on our backs as we headed up the canal to where we started our boat trip on Thursday – is that really less than two days ago? – where we landed and once more donned the dreaded welly boots.

The path seemed much drier that two days ago, but we were soon over our ankles in thick gloopy mud, making loud squelchy noises as we proceeded along the path. Our aim was to see the blue and yellow macaws – giants in the skies and trees here, but only seen in zoos and chained to stands in pet shops at home. They had such a rich vibrant plumage – bright royal blue backs and heads, which becomes rich sunshine yellow on their fronts and under their wings. They have a very large beady black eyes, surrounded by white, and a huge beak, capable of ripping apart nuts and other vegetation that they feed on. We had heard several – they make a loud cawing noise which echoes through the forest, drowning out any lesser bird calls – but hadn’t managed to find them amongst the palm fronds and tree branches. We continued along the path for about a kilometre – a third of the distance we have to walk back to the river on our return to civilization tomorrow – stopping to look through gaps in the trees at other birds – parrots, seventeen red macaws all sitting on one stark white tree trunk, flycatchers up near the canopy and other birds I couldn’t name, but no blue and yellow macaws. We heard at least one woodpecker, tapping noisily nearby, but frustratingly couldn’t pinpoint his position. We stopped at a seat beside the stream of viscous brown mud and opened our breakfast packages – cheese sandwiches in a very sweet white bread, two pancakes looking like parathas from an Indian restaurant – dry with no filling – and a couple of packets of biscuits – on savoury and one sweet. We had brought water with us to drink. I slowly ate one sandwich, but passed on the rest – Colin ate both his sandwiches and started on the vanilla biscuits (which he didn’t like) – I suppose he is a breakfast person.

Continuing along the path we came to a gap where the foliage was less dense and we could see quite a long way into the forest. There on a dying palm tree sat four blue and yellow macaws, one at a time feeding from inside the dead looking trunk. Other macaws came to join them, some were pushed away by the huge male by head-butting the interlopers and screaming a long shrill shriek in their face. They soon got the message. But he allowed a couple to stay, so we watched as the six played musical chairs for positions on the branches closest to the food. They were magnificent birds, with a massive wing span, all obeying the huge and masterful male. We watched these for some time. During our walk we had seen a couple of other groups of tourists walking towards the canal as well as one set from the Lodge going home, and we had also picked up a two stray dogs, one limping along on three legs. Goodness knows where they came from, but they followed us faithfully part way there and all the way back to the boat. On our return journey, Colin’s cap was knocked off by an overhead branch, while I actually slipped over, my boots sliding on the side of a muddy bog, but luckily I managed to swivel and land on a dryer spot in the vegetation at the side of the path, so I didn’t get a muddy behind. We arrived back at the boat, changed our boots for shoes once more, and paddled backwards to the lake.

We now crossed to the opposite side of the lake from the Lodge – the far tip of the left hand of the oxbow, the direction we had seen the sun setting in yesterday evening. It was a hot journey, as the sun was well and truly up and shining by now and we were quite pleased to reach the far bank to find some shade under the trees. Whilst out in the centre of the lake, an osprey flew over and around us several times, obviously look for fish. A large bird, with a huge wing span and enormous talons hanging down from its claws, it swooped over the water not far above us. We clambered ashore and took a narrow, very soggy path through the primary rain forest. This was much denser than the secondary forest we had trekked yesterday, and most of the trees were much larger and older – lofty pillars all trying to reach for as much light as possible. It was gloomy below and the floor, littered with debris of dead leaves and branches, was very wet and squelchy. There were many fallen trees, blocking our path, displaying shallow root systems, which we had to scramble over or under. Apparently the mulch is only about a metre or so thick, and the soil underneath is very poor, so trees tend to have elongated root systems sometimes stretching as much a kilometre away from the trunk. We continued to pick our way through the forest, not seeing or even hearing many birds or animals. Quite a way in, Jesus pointed out a large earthy hill, with several round holes, descending into the gloom below. This was an anthill, made by the leaf carrying ants, like we have seen around the Lodge and on the way here. It was no longer in use. While we were examining it, hundreds of black flies swarmed over first Sonia and then me, buzzing around us, in our hair, ears, covering our T-shirts – they were horrible – and I screamed whilst trying to bat them away with my hat and hand. Colin and Jesus tried to rescue us, shouting that they wouldn’t bite, but more and more flies kept coming until in the end we just ran from the area, almost half way back to the boat before we were clear. I was glad Sonia was there, as she didn’t like them either, and she’s a local.

We continued our way back to the boat then, no more primary forest for me. On our way, we saw a small lizard on a very thin branch of a tree, to which a spider’s web was attached. As he neared the joining point, the spider raced across the web and stood guard to the entrance. It was a face-off for a few seconds before the lizard gave way and ran back up the branch. We saw other lizards and grasshoppers on the way, before we reached the boat. Sonia was first aboard, and she told us she just caught a glimpse of the osprey with what looked like a small bird in its claws – Colin and I had been too busy trying to clamber safely aboard without rocking the boat too much – but it meant that the bird had its prey and wouldn’t be flying around the lake again for a while.

We paddled gently back to the jetty, where Jesus told us we had free time till lunch – almost three hours to while away until 13.30. Plenty of time to complete yesterday’s blog and start today’s entry – I still have only notes on a couple of days earlier in the week, but I am trying to catch up soon. I blogged for a couple of hours and caught up a bit. Hopefully I will be able to publish these entries tomorrow when we return to Cusco.

We went to lunch and were treated to Russian salad (potatoes, beetroot and onion in a mayonnaise sauce), followed by poached chicken with a herby sauce, sliced fried potatoes with beans and carrots, followed by a large chunk of watermelon for dessert. We watched another video after lunch, this time about the wildlife in the Amazon Basin generally, but food makes you sleepy and it was all both of us could do to keep our eyes open – watching wildlife in the Amazon has a soothing effect. We then relaxed until it was time for another outing.

We, together with Jesus, the Australian couple and their guide all went out on the catamaran with two paddlers – probably to cover the extra weight! We almost floated down the side of the lake to the far end, where we found a colony of cappucin monkeys on the move. There must have been about thirty of them, from very small babies on their mother’s backs, to large dominating males. They were “flying” through the trees as they jumped from branch to branch, trying to follow where Dad had been before. We watched them for about half an hour as they were in the palms and trees immediately lining the lakeside. Youngsters often roamed away from the troupe and had to be called back by Mum, in no uncertain terms.

Going on further around the lake, we saw lots of birds coming out for their last feed of the day, skimming across the water, looking for an unsuspecting fish or two. A couple of turtles were making their way along the shallows. But also in the lake we saw several cayman – one about 3 metres (10 feet) long, with his head out of the water, floating out in the deeper water, was watching all around for likely prey. They have extremely large brown eyes that seem to be able to see all around. We saw several other cayman during our voyage tonight, from tiny babies often on the edge of the bank, to larger specimens lurking within the reeds and plants. As twilight fell and the lake became a deep indigo pool, we saw night monkeys – very small apes, with dark brown fur and tiny round creamy faces – sprinting along the lianas and swinging through the branches, so fast it was hard to keep up with them – particularly when trying to use binoculars - as this was another large troupe and there were lots of things happening all at once. Their only predators are owls, but we had seen no sight of them since we came. It was quite dark by the time we left the monkeys, all gathered together in one lofty leafy tree. The bats were skimming around by now, and we again saw nightjars, hiding in the shrubs near the water, being serenaded by frogs and cicadas. There were odd shrieks from birds further inland as they all settled down for the night. In the grounds we again saw the large furry tarantulas resting outside their nests in the trunks of the trees.

We made our way slowly back to the hotel, where we just had time to change and get a drink at the bar before dinner. I was drinking beer, but Colin decided to try a cocktail – he chose a Majita (rum, triple sec, syrup, sparkling water and mint) – which he had first tried in Kenya. The barman had to go out into the garden to pick the mint. Dinner was asparagus soup for the second night – good job it is really delicious – beef, vegetables, chips and rice. Followed by chocolate mousse – every man’s favourite – Jesus and Colin almost fought for my portion. The juice tonight was the delicious starfruit again.

Back in the room, after sorting our luggage to be carried by the porters tomorrow, as we make our way back to Puerto Madonado, I spent an hour blogging, before the lights went out. It started to rain heavily again soon after we were in bed (and it rained all night) which will make the track even more muddy for our journey tomorrow.

We have really enjoyed our time here. The accommodation is very poor, and for the high expense you pay to visit here, it really should be much, much better. But the rest of the Lodge, the wild life and the expeditions were fabulous. The otters were probably my highlight (I was disappointed not to have seen them again today), closely followed by the monkeys and the macaws. The flying and jumping bugs at night were the low points, together with that awful swarm of flies earlier today. When I got up later in the night, there were five horrible cockroaches roaming over the floor! Enough to make you scramble back under the mosquito net as quickly as possible.