Friday, December 15, 2006
13 December. Another big storm last night. Rained most of the night, and this morning the river level is up another few feet. We are able to get our canoe into spots yesterday we would have walked to. And it is the last day guests will be able to get to a particular part of the swamp unitl the water rises high enough to make canoeing in possible. So we took advantage of this access and went looking for a rare and endemic prehistoric bird only found in porcupine palm swamp. When these birds are babies they still have claws on their wing joints so they can climb in and out of the nest. They loose these prehistoric claws when their adult plumage develops. We found the birds and while they are outstanding to look at, their pumage is amazingly good camouflage. Their blue eye feathers look like a piece of forest fruit, their red crown plumage looks like a bromilliad flower and their russet, black and white body colours blend them perfectly with the palm corpse. My new 'birder' friends were over the moon to have seen such a rare bird.
Interesting, that as we slipped around in the river swamp we never saw signs of actual Caymans. Although we we walking on small dry peninsulas in the thick, still-water swamp, often crossing through foot deep water and mud - perfect croc country - Moises said the Caymans won't come near humans. They were not out sunning themselves within spotting distance either. I kept a close watch, being so used to crocs, but there was nothing. This is probably because they are hunted. Small numbers remain and those that survive are wary of humans - even in the reserve.
My day was perfect when we saw a troop of 6 blue and yellow Macaws and 2 sloths - slow moving and very monkey like (and one was actually climbing - they are incredibly slow movers and it is easy to understand why the term sloth is used for a couch potato person). Also huge waterlillies, in flower.
And the only eucalyptus native to the Amazon, which they call a firewood tree. It has the hardest wood of the forest and is prized for making charcoal from and then for cooking bread. It has buttress roots, smooth silver bark and a stringy dark brown outer bark that sheds off as low as high-water mark and protects the tree below this level. The other interesting tree was their capok tree. Now, it has the same yellow flower and green fruit with the cotton like interior. But...it grows to one of the largest trees in the forest. The specimen I took a photo of would be 35m tall with a trunk diameter of at least 3m. Is it just more water and better soil?...
Liz and Paul, the lovely english birder couple and I shared our guide, Moises. He has 29 years guiding experience in the area and specialises in supporting research teams of botanists, orntholoists, biologists, etc. A jungle man born and bred. Many of the villagers work at the Lodge. They take turns at guiding, boat driving, cooking, maintenance, etc. So everyone gets some work and some money. They live very simple lives in thatched huts on high stumps, with few walls, no electricity or plumbing. They are generally BIG families. Manuell, our boat driver is one of 15 kids and at 24 already has 3 1/2 of his own with his 21 yo wife. Another of the staff I spoke to has 10 siblings but at 25 is not married yet. Ramiro spends his free time in Iquitos, out of the jungle, and I get the impression he thinks city women are more his style (probably because they can earn $).
Interesting, that as we slipped around in the river swamp we never saw signs of actual Caymans. Although we we walking on small dry peninsulas in the thick, still-water swamp, often crossing through foot deep water and mud - perfect croc country - Moises said the Caymans won't come near humans. They were not out sunning themselves within spotting distance either. I kept a close watch, being so used to crocs, but there was nothing. This is probably because they are hunted. Small numbers remain and those that survive are wary of humans - even in the reserve.
My day was perfect when we saw a troop of 6 blue and yellow Macaws and 2 sloths - slow moving and very monkey like (and one was actually climbing - they are incredibly slow movers and it is easy to understand why the term sloth is used for a couch potato person). Also huge waterlillies, in flower.
And the only eucalyptus native to the Amazon, which they call a firewood tree. It has the hardest wood of the forest and is prized for making charcoal from and then for cooking bread. It has buttress roots, smooth silver bark and a stringy dark brown outer bark that sheds off as low as high-water mark and protects the tree below this level. The other interesting tree was their capok tree. Now, it has the same yellow flower and green fruit with the cotton like interior. But...it grows to one of the largest trees in the forest. The specimen I took a photo of would be 35m tall with a trunk diameter of at least 3m. Is it just more water and better soil?...
Liz and Paul, the lovely english birder couple and I shared our guide, Moises. He has 29 years guiding experience in the area and specialises in supporting research teams of botanists, orntholoists, biologists, etc. A jungle man born and bred. Many of the villagers work at the Lodge. They take turns at guiding, boat driving, cooking, maintenance, etc. So everyone gets some work and some money. They live very simple lives in thatched huts on high stumps, with few walls, no electricity or plumbing. They are generally BIG families. Manuell, our boat driver is one of 15 kids and at 24 already has 3 1/2 of his own with his 21 yo wife. Another of the staff I spoke to has 10 siblings but at 25 is not married yet. Ramiro spends his free time in Iquitos, out of the jungle, and I get the impression he thinks city women are more his style (probably because they can earn $).
# posted by The Essence of Good Taste @ 11:21 AM 
