In search of monkeys...

Tuesday , May 12th....  Inkaterra Amazonica, Peru.


We are awoken early, the sun streaming in and the sounds of the birds and insects all around. With only screens there is no barrier to the sounds of nature. It is surprising how loud insects can be!  Half asleep I fumble for my phone to check the time.... 6 am.  Guess we are getting an early start!

 A quick breakfast and we pile into our canoe for our first excursion of the day with our guide, Fabrizio. There are six of us, all hovering around sixty, except Shelda, who is but a sweet young thing on this trip. We travel by boat about a half hour up river to The Hacienda Concepcion, another property belonging to Inkaterra. As we skim along the river we scan the banks for signs of wildlife. Suddenly the captain cuts the motor and slows, pulling closer to the bank where he has spotted a cayman. Caymans are a member of the alligator family. A large white cayman is sunning himself on the banks. He slips quietly into the water as we approach. We see two more as we continue, a large adult one and a small young one. These are content to stay in their sunny spot and allow us to get closer and snap some photos. Fabrizio explains they are not aggressive and will not attach humans.

 

At the Hacienda we board a smaller non-motorized canoe and row soundlessly around a jungle lake. It winds through thick, lush vegetation filled with jungle sounds, birds calling, insects buzzing, monkeys howling. We are on the lookout to spot the creatures but they are elusive. Our first sighting is a striking bird with a large plume on its head. It is a member of the cuckoo family. Other small birds flit in and out of the trees, butterflies dart and flutter about, too quick for our cameras.

 

 

 

As we head back we spot a brown sloth hanging from a branch high up a tree. He has been swimming and is drying his coat.  Nearby we hear the screeching of the howler monkeys and study the treetops for signs of them. There they are, a family of them leaping from branch to branch, scurrying along the tree trunks.  They move quickly, our eyes can follow but they are too fast for my camera and too high up. I regret not bringing my big zoom with me today.

 

 

 

A little further and we spot a turtle warming himself on a log in the sun. A beautiful and fraceful white and yellow heron swoops by.

 

 As we near the dock we spy another heron standing on one leg on a floating platform.

 

 

 

Alongslide three turtles are lined in a row.

 

 

Part two of the morning excursion takes us away from the Hacienda, through the jungle to the botanical garden, where we learn about the various plants that are still used by the Shamans and traditional Peruvians for their medicinal properties.  Along the way Fabrizio chops the fruit off a cocoa plant to show us where chocolate comes from. We taste the sweet white nectar the surrounds the seeds that will eventually become chocolate.  We see how Brazil nuts grow and are harvested. The nuts we know form inside larger hard shells, similar to a coconut. Using Fabrizio's machete I swing and split the hard outer pod revealling the nuts. I am rather proud of my accomplishment, especially since the only other person to attempt this was a guy, about six feet tall. And it took him half a dozen tries to split the shell!

 

Our afternoon excursion is the highlight we have been waiting for.  We start with the Anaconda Wetland walk. It is hike through the jungle to the wetlands, where a raised wooden walkway runs about a metre above the marshy jungle floor. Here the sounds of the forest are like a symphony. He hear monkeys and toucans, parrots, and choruses of insects. It is dim here under the canopy of the jungle, only 2% of the sunlight reaches the floor.

 

In this area anacondas and caymans live, but it is difficult to see an anaconda. They come here to eat, but once they are fed they go back to there habitat and digest, which can take several months before they come to feed again.

 

As we end the wetlands walk we arrive at the Canopy Walk. This is what we have been anticipating. A mower rises 100 feet above us. 150 steps.  This is the beginning of a network of towers connecting seven suspended swinging bridges and eight observation platforms carrying you through the treetops, the jungle laid out below.  The view is spectacular, the walk is exhilarating. While we do not see the much anticipated toucans or parrots, it is still a highlight.  We end the canopy walk at the treehouse, a small cabin-like structure sitting 100 feet up in the trees. You can book the treehouse to stay overnight, sleeping amid the noises of the jungle.

Back at the lodge, it is turning dark. Flashlights come out to make your way through the pitch black evening. I mention to Luis, the manager, that we had not seen a tarantula. "Really", he says, "I can show you a tarantula." And he leads me to a nearby tree where a large, black, furry tarantula pokes out of a knot in the trunk. He has made my day!

 

 

While our visit has been much too short, it has been memorable. Something that I will recall for a long time.   And the mosquitos have not been a problem at all, not even a fraction of a Saskatchewan summer!

 

Time to pack up again, tomorrow morning we head to Cusco and Machu Pichu!!!  

 

Come with me.....