We woke up at 6 this morning and after breakfast we went in the skiff for another adventure in the jungle. We saw a saddle backed tamorine (monkey) which was what we saw the other day at the village where they had the crafts out for us. He scampered around , there actually were at least two of them, so it was neat to see them in the wild after seeing that one up close. They are really cute monkeys. We saw some more blue morpho butterflies. We hacked our way into a secluded area that was a canopy and tried to catch piranha but none were biting at all in that place. But while we were there, I saw a hummingbird for a long time in one of the leafy areas. Eric could not see it so we are not sure what kind it was. I thought we would see many more of those than we have, but we saw more at Machu Picchu than we have at this area. We moved to another place to try our hand at fishing. We were successful at that place, at least some of us were. We used raw beef as bait and the poles were long sticks and they just had the hooks and weight on them. We had to feel the fish biting and snag them. I caught one tiny one but asked them to throw it back in. I had three more out of the water but they “got away”. yeah yeah, I know. Then anyone who wanted to go swimming could go. It was raining and it was right at the place we caught the pirahna but about 8-10 people went in, including Jim. There was a dolphin playing in the water on the other side of the boat so you could say they went swimming with the dolphins. It started out clear when we left this AM but started sprinkling and did that off and on for awhile, turning into a steady heavy sprinkle. We were all pretty wet by the time we got back, even with ponchos and such, just from the length of time we were out. It is nice really though as it is not as hot when it rains and with the rains being gentle, we can still go and do. Today is laundry day though and we are all down to our last duds and the rain doesn’t help! Socks, pants and underwear are at a premium! Most of us brought more shirts so are doing ok with those, except for the long sleeved, cover up variety.
Also, we are using the 97% deet and the mosquitos are coming up to us while we are spraying! These things are vicious! I killed about 7 in our room this morning just slapping my hands. We have been bitten several times but not as bad as I would have expected, but I think to not get bitten would be impossible.
I have given up trying to photograph the birds except when one is extremely close. It is so vast here and it is just too hard to catch them where you can see the color. We saw a toucan on the journey this morning but it was again
at a far distance. I am glad I saw one in Argentina when we went as that may be the only one in the wild I ever see! Secondo , our naturalist is especially good at spotting things for us.
We went into a community for a home hosted meal today. It was certainly one of the most different ones we have done. The house was pretty new but was basically all open except for one enclosed room that was about 8x8 where they slept as well as the oldest son was an artist and he painted there. We all bought one of his paintings as they were more souvenir types than anything but it was a nice way to support his talent. There were 8 children in the family and 6 of them were there with us. The food was cooked on a wood fire grill and included placostemus (catfish) like we use to clean aquariums, except much larger, wild guinea pig, another fish cooked in palm leaves, palm nuts, and other things. We spread palm leaves on the floor and that is how the food is served. They had a pet parakeet that was fun to watch. There was also a beautiful moth that was similar in color to the blue morpho butterfly.
After Siesta, we got in the skiff again and went to the shore where there was a eco tourism resort. We went a short distance to the dock of a small lake where we got in catamarans, which were boats that were two dugout canoes tied together. We could go 7 people in each catamaran and a driver. I sat in the front and they gave me a paddle so guess I had to help. I made sure to sit in the back the next time. There were beautiful birds flying all around the lake and Secondo heard a pigmy marmoset monkey but we could not see it. But we did spot some more of the saddle backed tamorin monkeys from the catamaran. Then when we got to the start of the trail, we split into two groups and we went with Secondo who very shortly saw two big families of the same monkeys. We stopped and watched those and then continued up the trail. The trail had big tree slices for stepping stones and they had put wire mesh on there to help with traction. But it was still slippery in places. The total walk was 3 miles roundtrip and was really a wonderful experience. Midway, there was a canopy walk with the wires and ropes and was like swinging bridges from big tree to big tree. We saw some birds but none too close. We got back and took the catamaran back to the lake boat dock and on the way we saw a baby caiman on a log sticking out of the water. And shortly after that, we saw about 8-10 big capybaras eating near the shore so we were able to see them in the daylight and it was really amazing as they are huge.
After dinner, we had a talk by Eric about shaman. Then we had a visit from one -he came on board and we met up on the top deck and he explained what he does. It was very different from the Shaman we saw in the Andes. This one is more of an herbalist and while there is some spiritualism tied in, it is more about curing people who are sick with natural things that the rainforest has. Since there are no medical doctors except in really large cities, his knowledge of which plants can help things is very valuable. It was very interesting
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