Amazon Jungle Adventure 2

Second Jungle trip took us about 85kms (~2hrs) down the Amazon by boat and then to a Lodge – camping especially in the wet would not have been pleasant so we opted for the easy Lodge option.

The waters of the Amazon are up about 4 metres and everywhere there are villages with many of their homes underwater – people sit on window sills and others can do their washing from their top step – directly into the water.  This must be pretty convenient for those who normally have to walk about 200metres to the water’s edge!!

On our first trip out we came across a young family (on a window sill) holding a baby sloth – they said it had been in the water and they rescued it but later we found out that they probably killed the mother for food and now had the baby but the babies are difficult to raise so it probably wouldn’t last without it’s mother…..it was a 3 fingered variety (there are also 2 fingered ones that look different and feed on different things) and it looked like E.T. – so cute!!!!

All trips out from the lodge were by boat and the next stop was to a place to see monkeys and macaws and we were lucky enough to see an iguana in a tree (although later I was to discover in Guayaquil there is a park (Park de las Iguanas) where there are hundreds of iguanas walking freely)

Back to the story ….then a man arrived by boat with a Anaconda and a weird looking prehistoric turtle.

The monkeys here were very funny – one larger one pushed a young one into the water but the younger one was a bit frisky and when my friend moved it away, it bit her – not a big bite but I would have been concerned if I was her.  Who knows what diseases they carry?  We did the night walking in the jungle looking for tarantulas but didn’t find one (other groups did) but our guide was good with medicinal plants and cut the bark off a certain tree to close the wound the monkey had made and it worked. 

Next day was a 5:30am start to see the birds but the morning was foggy - so magical paddling at this time - eerie but beautiful at the same time - only saw a few birds -  kingfishers, parrots and many eagles soaring above the villages. It really is best to go in the dry season to see the best of the wildlife.
But we did go fishing for Piranahs and also swimming in the Amazon....not at the same tme although the guides did say that piranahs wouldn't eat us unless we had an open wound.....did we believe them???
Some people caught piranahs and ate them for dinner - not me though.

Last day we returned early and where the Amazon met the Nanay River there were pink dolphins – grey on top and a pink rear.

A great eye-opener was the Butterfly Farm and Animal Orphanage out of Iquitos –  it was started by Gudrun a Dutch lady about 25yrs ago and houses birds, animals, manatees, and butterflies in all the stages of growth.  Here I saw animals I hadn’t seen before like an Ocelot, Leopard (which can no longer be allowed free because it has no fear of humans and would probably go into a village without fear and eat a young child as this is the size that would be suitable for him), Pygmy monkeys, a Capybara (the largest rodent in the world) and Capuchin monkeys (used in many films because they are so intelligent – Gudrun gave them a piece of paper totally folded and not only did it unfold it totally but refolded it exactly as it had been handed to him! They only take about 30secs to work out how to unscrew the cap off toiletries and can open bags and take out wallets, unzip them and steal money – for this reason and the fact that they pester other animals they are kept in a large cage (secretly I was pleased as I didn’t feel like being hassled by them).  Sometimes you just have to be in the mood for it to find it funny and I was tired after my jungle adventures and the early morning.