9/10/14
Our time at the research center has been good, but I'm really starting to feel the effects of the jungle - namely in terms of bug bites and heat exhaustion.
Our first afternoon here was pleasant. We arrived in time for lunch, which was a good meal because of all the people staying out here yesterday. After lunch we took the boat out down the river a little ways before docking it on the shore to embark on a hike. The purpose of the hike was to find monkeys, the hoazin bird and macows. Along the way we saw a capuchin monkey, a great whip snake, and the hoazin bird. The hike itself, however, was very strenuous. It took us over several "treacherous crossings," as one of the other traveler liked to call them. These crossings entailed either knee deep mud or a foot of water, so the easiest way to pass was through to balance on top of a log that was laid across the trouble zone. The more difficult stretches were 20-40 feet long and required continuous balancing over three or more of these logs.
We also were hiking at a very brisk pace, and it was all I could do to keep up with Witt enough to not loose sight of him ahead. The hike ended with us arriving at a lake where the hoazin bird lived before we turned back to return to the river and the boat. The hoazin was an interesting bird. Our guide explained to us that it was alive during prehistoric times! It also has two stomachs, like a cow.
On our return journey it started pouring down rain, so we truly got to experience the whole rain in the rainforest thing. It was pretty intense, and the rain was pelting down on us. My rain jacket was great to have on, but I was still nervous about the safety of my camera. Luckily we made it out alive, although completely drenched, and my camera survived.
When we got back to the lodge we had enough time to shower before dinner. It was a lot of the guests' last night, so the dinner was a feast that ended with a cake! I went to bed immediately after the meal, and slept all the way until breakfast at 8 - almost 12 hours worth of sleep.
Today has been a bit slower paced. After breakfast we went into the jungle behind the lodge for a hike, but there weren't many animals out and the humidity was excruciating after the rain yesterday. Witt didn't have any long pants left because of the drenching we got yesterday, so he did the hike in shorts and ended up paying the price for it - the Mosquitos devoured him. I was ok in terms of bites, but the humidity was tough for me. Llyako made me a head reef that was made out of green leaves and some vines that he had woven in order to absorb some of the humidity, and it worked! I looked a bit silly, but since there was nothing but monkeys in the jungle to see me I rocked the head gear all the way back to the lodge.
We had a small lunch then took some downtime for reading before heading out on the boat for some fishing. We didn't have any live bait, so we used lurers instead and the fish were not biting. Then it started to rain so we ended our expedition a little early. Around the bend the rain stopped so we hunted a bit for sloths, with no avail, and I attempted some canooing after getting off the boat, but decided my technique needed a little work before I would be comfortable going out on my own in the Amazon.
We leave tomorrow to return home, and it is going to be quite the travel day. We have 2 hours back to the main lodge by boat, then 4 hours to Iquitos, 30 minutes to the airport, 2 hours to Lima, about 6 hours of layover, 7 hours to Houston, then a layover and short flight before we return to Austin. It'll be a long day, but I'm thrilled to be coming home.
