Continued Jungle Awesomeness

Sunday morning brought another 4:45 wake-up call, which was made a little more difficult by the sleepy sound of falling rain. We paddled across Laguna Challuacocha for our candle-lit breakfast in the lodge, then headed out for another morning of exploration. The weather was still a little rainy, but getting a wet doesn’t make much of a difference when you´re drenched in sweat, anyway. First stop was the 30 meter-high canopy observation tower, which was built around a giant kapok tree. It was really amazing to experience the forest from the canopy level, looking across a sea of green and feeling the energy of the morning rainforest. It´s truly spectacular to realize just how much life is surrounding us. I got of few pictures (my crappy little camera doesn’t even come close to capturing how beautiful it all is), but then of course my batteries died and I didn’t get a chance to replace them for the rest of day...We pass around binoculars and check out lots of different birds (lots of parrots, macaws, oropendulas, and others that I can’t remember). Sergio, our native guide for the day, brings along a telescope and we use it to watch many-banded araçaris, which are like mini-toucans. They´re super cute and brightly colored with yellow stripes on their chests--definitely some of my favorites from the trip. While looking at the araçaris, Mike spots even MORE black mantled tamarins chillin’ in a tree. We watch them frolick around with their cute little ¨milk mustaches,¨ and Jeremy is stoked because he´s never seen monkeys from the observation tower.

After spending about an hour and a half up in the canopy, we head off for a hike. Today´s hike is more focused on plants and ethnobotany. Jeremy and Sergio point out all kinds of cool plants: (very) phallic-looking palm roots that are used as aphrodisiacs, brisly “monkey palm” hairbrushes, spikey roots that can be used as graters, etc. We learn about which trees are best for lumber, which are best for dugout canoes, and which types of fibers are most useful for various needs. My favorite highlight was the tree that produces “dragon’s blood,” an aptly-named blood-red liquid that has antiseptic properties and can be used to seal and dry wounds (you don’t want cuts festering in the damp forest). We also find a few things to taste, including a plant that tastes exactly like garlic but isn’t related in any way, and tiny lemon ants, which we sprinkle into our palms from the tree branches that they live in. And yes, they really do taste like lemon!

We wrap up the hike and head back to the lodge for lunch, where we discover that some kids (they´re on vacation from school so there are a few helping out at the lodge) found a boa nearby. The snake (a red-tailed boa) is coiled up in a rice bag behind the bar, and Jeremy gently lifts it out to get a good look. The snake is huge and beautiful and we can definitely tell how powerful it is at begins to constrict around Jeremy´s arm. It´s a pretty special find, and we´re told by a few different staff members that we´re really lucky to see it. Jeremy returns the snake to its bag and it sits behind the bar for the rest of the afternoon, until being released later in the evening.
After lunch most of the guests and staff members pile into 2 canoes, and set off to visit the Sani Isla community. On the way a guy up in a tree is harvesting ice cream bean, and he throws some down to the canoe for us to try. The look like huge pea pods, and we eat the white, cottony looking fruit inside. It´s surprisingly juicy and mildly sweet. The community center is about a 30 minute canoe ride up river, and that day there had been a meeting so the place was really bustling. The community seems to be really well organized and democratic. The lodge is the main source of income, and the money seems to be used very transparently for community development. Currently, an internet center is in the works as well as a building for cacao processing. Jeremy and Sergio give us a little tour of the school, the medical center, meeting center, football field, etc. Then we hop back in the canoe and head a little farther upriver because Sergio has invited us to visit his father´s house. The house is simple but welcoming--made of palm with a thatched roof. We sit in the cool(er) living room, which is bare save for a couple benches along the wall and a table in the corner. A woman brings us a bowl of chicha (fermented yuca...everyone carries around buckets of chicha. It´s all-purpose: hydration and calories, plus a little alcohol kick), an offering of hospitality, and we all pass it around as Sergio´s little sisters peek around the corner at us. Sergio is really proud of the house because it´s built traditionally, with all natural materials (except for the twine on the thatching). He takes us to see the house he is building, too, and then we head back to pick up the other folks at the community center.

We spend the evening before dinner driking refreshing cold beers at the bar and looking out at the gorgeous views of the forest and lagoon. More many-banded ariçaris fly right up to the tree closest to the window, and we get a great look at them. Dinner is a traditional meal of fish steamed in banana leaves, boiled yuca, and plantains. After dinner we embark on another night hike. Sergio wants to look for a giant anteater that´s been seen around, but the hike is a bit of a bust. We see plenty of cool insects and spiders, but nothing very different from the first night. Upon returning to the cabin area, Jeremy spots an awesome tree frog with HUGE eyes hanging out on a porch, and we all get a good look before it hops away. A nice high note to end the hike on...Little did we know that even more awesomeness awaited us.

After the hike, Jeremy, Mike and I head over to the campsite across the lagoon. Mike and I hop out of the boat, but Jeremy starts freaking out and tells us to hurry up and come look. We walk back to the stern of the boat and shine our lights into the marsh. A small red and black snake (I think we found out it was a cat eye snake) is coiled around a tree and restricting a mouse that looks WAY too big for it to eat. The snake´s head is like, the size of my pinky, and this is a very healthy jungle mouse. We all stand in the boat, leaning into the trees, watching the snake be a total badass. It waits to make sure the mouse is dead, and then goes to town working its jaw and maneuvering around to get started on the mouse´s head, all the while keeping itself wrapped around the tree. After a few minutes the mouse looks like it´s being consumed by a tube sock. The snakes mouth and throat are so expanded, we can see the lines of skin between its scales and its muscles are working like crazy to get it down. We can´t believe we´re watching this. Jeremy is beside himself. It´s one thing to watch a snake in captivity eat something that´s been fed to it, but to just happen to stuble upon the process in wild, and watch it from beginning to end, is just nuts. In 10 minutes the snake slurps down the tail, and retreats into the darkness with a mouse-shaped buldge in its belly. So fucking awesome.
Then we go to bed.