The jungle book

I feel extremely privileged to have experienced an Amazonian encounter. We were in a very pristine part of the jungle, for a real authentic look close up.

The trip from Quito was a fairly long one but not extremely arduous. It was a half hour flight from Quito over the Andes mountain range to Coca, a small town on the edge of the jungle. Our flight was full with a mixture of tourists and oil workers going back after a break. There are a few oil fields around this area which is a shame as they have cut into the amazon to extract the oil but this is not a political commentary or about the dangers facing the amazon, just of our experience.

From Coca we took a canoe down the Napa river for approx 2 hours. This canoe sat about 15 people, had a canopy over the top and a powerful motor driven by a very skilled boatman. The river is very wide but shallow in a lot of places so he had to zig zag from side to side to find the channels and avoid the large floating logs and other  floatsum bobbing in the water. The sides of the river where mainly full of trees clinging to the sides of steep banks with the occasional clearing revealing a thatched hut or lean-to or a busy oil port. Eventually we arrived at the landing site for Sacha Lodge. From here we had a half hour trek through the jungle over a boardwalk. We had to be careful where we stepped as half of the wood was rotten and there were big holes and missing boards in places. The jungle seemed very quiet with just a few brilliant iridescent large blue butterflies flapping across the track and back into the trees. There was also a handful of monkeys swinging by and a couple of exotic looking birds. 

At the end of the trek was a boathouse with another smaller canoe, this one with just a wooden paddle waiting to take us on a half hour trip across the black water lake of Pilchicocha.

This lake is called a Blackwater lake due to its very dark colour caused by the staining of the tannins from the leaves dropped into it. It's like a large bowl of tea. It is also the home to electric eels, piranha fish, giant otters, caimans, turtles and an assortment of frogs to name just a few.

We finally arrived at our destination and were ushered into the building that served as 

The breakfast and lunch dining area for a briefing. This was a large open air building with a very high thatched roof built over the edge of the lake. Underneath swum caimans, turtles, otters(not that we saw any this time) and clinging onto the wooden stilts were tiny bats sheltering from the hot sun. At the end of the building was the swimming pool. It was part of the lake with a floating dock and a mesh that dropped down to isolate it so that no nasties could get in, or so we thought. We had a lovely swim in it the next day, the water was so warm but refreshing, feeling safe in the knowledge that nothing would get us. It wasn't until we went piranha fishing with our guide that we found out that in fact the mesh wasn't small enough to keep out the piranha so they were also happily swimming about in our pool. Thank god I didn't know that at the time. It seems they have had a bad wrap tho as they are not as nearly fearsome as they have been made out to be. Contrary to popular belief they do not attack people or strip them to the bone. It's true they do have very sharp teeth but that is mostly for cracking the nuts that fall into the water from the trees above. I think barracuda look far more fearsome than these little fish. We didn't catch any when we went fishing, they were far to clever but they did have a nice feed. Our native guide caught two so we could at least see what they looked like. They were white bellied piranha as opposed to red bellied which are the ones who have the bad reputation.

 

Our adventures were to start right away, we were only given a short rest before our first jungle excursion. It was very hot and humid, like the Gold Coast on its worst summer day, but much like we had expected it to be. Anyway, lucky for us our first trip was sitting in the canoe and paddled out to the lake then into a narrow estuary where the jungle was very dense and sometimes hard going. We needed the machete at one point to cut thru a fallen tree that completely blocked the waterway. It must have just happened as they use this estuary every day. We saw the nose of a giant otter but as soon as he saw us he took off in the other direction, bit of a shame as that was the only sighting we had of one. We also saw a big tribe of Capuchin monkeys, our guide estimated the group to be over two hundred. They were swinging in the branches above us and running up the trunks of the trees. I think they took exception at our presence as a couple were behaving in a very aggressive way towards us, baring their sharp little teeth and jumping up and down on the branches above trying to break them on us, charming welcome. We also saw a heap of squirrel monkeys that day too.

We just had a small group of six, an older couple from the UK and two girls from Melbourne in their early 50s so it was a nice intimate group. We decided we were all too tired to do the night walk so after dinner we all went back to our cabins to crash.

The cabins were wonderful. The whole lodge was built on stilts as it was mostly mud beneath us so there were walkways everywhere, branching off to the various cabins.  Ours was one of the first so we didn't have too far to walk. There were two cabins together but each one had its own walkway to get to the front door. There are no locks, just a bolt either side to close the door. Once inside it was huge, big lounge/ bedroom which opened up onto a large covered deck with two hammocks either side. The bathroom ran the length of the cabin with the shower at the end and large window, floor to ceiling looking straight out into the forest. There was no glass in any of the windows, just a fine mesh so there was not much between you and the jungle. There were large mesh windows in the bedroom going out to the balcony too, you woke up to the sounds of the forest waking up. Surprisingly there weren't too many insects at night but you had to make sure you didn't leave any of your doors open. One night we were walking back when we saw a tarantula slowly walking along the broad walk. He was very shy as he didn't like the torch being shone on him and tried to duck away. Not as quick as I tried to duck away I must admit.

Over the next two days we went hiking thru the jungle, paddling in the canoes, climbed up a 38 metre kapok tree and a 40 metre skywalk trying to spot as much wildlife as possible. They had just built a new set of stairs to climb the kapok tree which had only been open for a week. It was an impressive metal construction with 199 stairs. Up until then was a wooden structure that I am sure would never pass any health and safety inspection and we were all very pleased we didn't come a week earlier. The funniest thing happened, our guide was so knowledgeable in all things flora and fauna.  When he heard the cry of a bird he could identify it instantly.  The call tone on my messages in the phone is a magpie and we must have got signal when we reached the top of the tree so a message came through loud and clear.  It stunned our guide and he had a look of such confusion, what is that bird??  I causally said "Australian magpie".

Our days started with a 5am wake call, 5.30am breakfast and first excursion was by 6am. That lasted until lunch then there was a break as the animals all settled down in the heat of the day then another excursion before dinner then the night excursion. In this time we saw several different groups of monkeys (black tamarind, squirrel and capuchin) jumping through the trees from above which was a different perspective, toucans, vultures, hummingbirds, kites, tarantulas, frogs (heard the poison dart frog), caimans, bats and a multitude of different bugs, birds and reptiles that I never made a note of.  It was a surprisingly peaceful place despite what it may Sound like and on a rare moment when we got time off it was the most relaxing thing to swing gently on the hammock and listen to the crickets and other bush noise while trying not to think that a giant tarantula may be creeping around below you. The morning we left it was pouring rain, had started in the middle of the night and continued on so we were handed out ponchos and were allowed to wear the boots they gave us for our bush walks until we had got back to the napa river after our half hour canoe ride across the lake and trek back thru the jungle. It wasn't bad enough to be miserable, more refreshing and a nice way to finish off our visit to the rain forest they call the Amazon jungle.

Galápagos Islands

Going to the Galápagos Islands is a dream come true. It really is everything it's made out to be and is, or should be, a bucket list destination for everyone even the most remotely interested in unusual wildlife. What I think makes it so good is the diversity and amount of wildlife in such a small area. You really have to be careful where you walk in order not to trip over a basking sea lion or squash an iguana or disturb a nesting bird. Due to there being no natural predators they seem to have no fear so pay you no mind when you wander passed them, in fact they completely ignore you as if you weren't there at all. Anyone could become a wildlife photographer as the animals practically sit on the end of your lens.

We flew from Quito to the island of San Cristobal with one stop on the way so whole trip took about three hours with a time change back one hour. At Quito we had to go thru a fruit scanning device as no organic foods are allowed on the islands and our shoes had to be clean. We paid a $20 park fee at that end too. Once we got there, what a parlava. There were only two on the counters and two planes arrived at once. It was only a domestic flight as the islands belong to Ecuador but we had to pay another fee of $100 and as Jon said, he'd never waited so long to pay someone $100. Eventually we all made it thru, were met by the guide and were soon on the bus to take us to the boat. There were only 19 passengers, 5 from Usa, 5 from the UK, 4 swedes, one guy from Austria and 4 of us from Australia. We first had to get into zodiacs to take us out to the boat and as we waited we took in the scenery. It really was beautiful, the sea was very clear and a gorgeous teal colour, the Little town was very colourful and we got our first look at the sea lions as 5 of them were lying on the pier steps. Once we got to the boat, The Monserrat, it wasn't quite so gorgeous. Our cabin was below the water line, was very tiny with twin rock hard beds with a very smelly musty damp odour. There was a big cupboard we could store our bags and that was about the best feature of it. The window was tiny and I had to stand on the bed on tip toes to be able to see out of it. Once I did look out all I could see the water line so there was no opening it for fresh air. The best thing about the boat the food was very good and plentiful.

Our first excursion was that afternoon when they moved the boat to a different part of the island. Once again we all climbed onboard the zodiac and were landed onto a rocky pier. This place was just fantastic and all thoughts of our cabin were forgotten. We walked amount the sea lions and pups. Some pups were lying under bushes or playing in the rock pools or bleating out for their mothers while others had found their mothers and were sucking noisily to get a drink. The adults were just basking in the sun or rolling lazily in the sand. Over in the bushes the frigate birds were nesting. They were jet black with either red or white on their throats and had Very long wing spans. Over by the rocks were my favourite of all, the blue footed boobies. They look so comical and had beautiful blue feet. A little yellow warbler was jumping around the rocks and sand and jumping up and down by the sea lions trying to catch the flies. We were just amazed how none of the birds or animals paid any attention to us.

The next day we landed at Cerro Bruno and had a walk along the beach which had fine white sand just like the Gold Coast. One the the beaches we walked along was supposedly one of the the top 10 in the world although I'm not so sure about that. There wasn't as much wildlife around here but there were lots of sea lions once again lying in the sand. Some played in the surf and looked like they enjoyed rolling in the waves or surfing in. Then came the moment of truth when we had to put on our snorkels, mask, flippers and wetsuit and enter into the freezing cold water. Even though these islands are right on the equator and considered sub tropical, there is a cold current that comes from the south and swirls around them making the temperature of the water on its very best day no more than 24 deg. When we were there it was around 19 deg, about 10 deg lower than I like. I'm not much of a snorkeler anyway, it's not something I enjoy let alone swimming in cold water but I had to give it a go. Once I had lost all feeling in my body it got better. There were sea lions swimming around but I wasn't game enough to join them so all I saw was some colourful little fish. Some people saw turtles and rays.

That afternoon we went back to the little town we embarked at and had some free time to shop after they took us to the tortoise breeding centre. Here they collect the eggs from nests of the tortoises and incubate & hatch them then keep the babies until they are 5-10 years old and release them back into the wild. There were tiny little tortoises protected in a caged area to slightly bigger ones in the open to really huge ones that they must keep anyway. The biggest one I think was slightly over 100 yrs old.

Next day was another walk along the beach, this one was on Isla Espanola, the most Southern of the Galápagos Islands. We were pestered by mockingbirds who were looking for water and knew what a water bottle looked like. They were quite persistent and hunted out the bottles trying to peck into them. The rules are very strict here so even tho we were tempted to give them some we could end up with a heavy fine and even spend some time in jail. Later that morning others went deep water snorkelling but we decided to pass on that one and were pleased we did as apparently the water was really cold. They could only stay out for half an hour but were rewarded with sea lions swimming around and chasing fish.

That afternoon we landed on another part of the island and this time saw thousands of marine iguanas all around the rocks and on the beach. They are very colourful with splotches of red, a bit of blue and black. They were everywhere and once again didn't mind that we were there as long as we didn't get in their way. One walked boldly up the path towards us as we were having a lecture about the island and stood there to glare up at us. Then he started running at us until the group parted and let him walk straight through the middle of the group. He then strolled through and disappeared around the corner. On the little beach was a rock pool where all the seal pups were playing. One had got on top of a big rock and was defending it like he was king of the castle, another couple where having a little tussle in the shallows. Further on the albatrosses were nesting. We were lucky to see them as in another month they would be gone for at least 5 months. The chicks were quite big now, almost fully grown but still with brown fluffy down and a goofy look to their face. Apparently once they learn to fly and leave the island, they don't come back for 5 years, spending that entire time out to sea. They are monogamous but sometimes the females are a little naughty and have an affair with another if she likes the way he dances. Then she finds her full time mate and pretends to mate with him, all the while knowing her eggs are already fertilised. The dance they do is very elaborate and can go on for ages. They also dance just before they leave the island and go on their separate ways so they can remember each other the next season. We walked on to the cliffs which is where the chicks learn to fly. They take a running jump and if they are lucky they fly, if not they crash and have to try again. It looked so majestic with the towering cliffs and albatrosses soaring around on the breeze. Also here were the masked boobies, nesting in the rocks and on top of the cliffs. Further around were more iguanas and masked boobies, all living almost on top of each other, it seemed just incredible. This day and the first day were the best for wildlife spotting.

The next day was Floreana island, starting off again with a walk on the beach. Here were more blue footed boobies and iguanas and supposedly flamencos. The Galápagos is the only place in the whole of the pacific to have them. Today wasn't a lucky day for spotting them tho. We did see one way in the distance and if it wasn't for our binoculars we would have missed it altogether. Lucky I wasn't counting on seeing lots so I wasn't disappointed. On the other side of the island we saw pelicans, brightly coloured crabs and stingrays swimming in the shallows. The guide also managed to unearth a small scorpion to show us. Back on the boat we went to another deep water snorkelling spot and this time we decided to do it. The water wasn't as cold as the first day and as you had to jump in from the zodiac you didn't get any choice if you liked it or not. Once I stop panicking and regulate my breathing I even get to enjoy it a bit. The water is very clear and there are lots of schools of colourful fish swimming around. Others saw turtles and sharks but once again we missed on them.

Each time we get back on the boat there is always a drink and some delicious little nibble waiting for us. This time it was hot chocolate, others is usually a cold fruit juice and maybe deep fried banana dipped in chocolate or falafel ball or pastry of some sort. The chef did an amazing job for such a small space to work in.

That afternoon was another beach landing, this time to post office bay. On this beach just back on the dunes is a barrel where sailors since 1780 have been leaving letters for their families in the hope they get picked up by the next passing ship and delivered home. They reckon that 99% get delivered. Now it's obviously a touristy thing but it still works. If you find a postcard or letter addressed to a place near you, you take it back home and either hand deliver it or stick a stamp on it and post it. We left two postcards and took two. One was for an address in ocean shores which is just down the road from us in nsw and the other was for Nantwich. We aren't going there but I thought I would give it to doreen who comes over in feb for her to deliver it. Just a bit of fun. 

Everyone else went snorkelling after that but Jon and I decided to take a walk and see the cave that a sailor lived in a couple of hundred years ago. He was kicked off his ship and lucky for him put on an island that had fresh water, not all of them have. He manage to live there for 2 years before finally being able to get off. He was the first inhabitant of the island. 

Our final day was an early start, up by 5am, breakfast by 5.30 then off the boat by 6. We landed on Santa Cruz island and saw the most glorious of sun rises.

 The airport was on the other side of the island and on the way we went to another tortoise place. This one the tortoises were running around wild, well at least walking around wherever they pleased. There were cows in the fields and dotted around were the huge tortoises, seemed such a strange mix. The bus had to be careful not to run any over as they strolled down the road or across it. We walked to a big pond that was almost dry and there, wallowing in the muck and shallows were 43 of varying sizes with several more strolling around the place. This was the last look at the wildlife of the Galapagos as we were then taken to a ferry to cross the sea to the other side, another bus then dropped at a different airport to that we arrive at and whisked away back to Quito. It was truly a very memorable and once in a lifetime (due to the extraordinary costs involved) experience.