Jun 18

Took a walk through the woods by boat.  Because the river is still high, we are canoeing through the woods, where in later months they will be hiking. 

These are bats on the tree.  They line up for protection. 

• They look like knots on the tree due to their color (camouflage)

• They can see each other - if one moves they all move, fooling predators they are a bigger animal

The rules for vegetation / trees back home are not necessarily true here. 

• The trees do not shed their leaves, since they are in the equator, they do not have a cold season. 

• [Pic coming] They grow underwater. Even the leaves grow underwater.

• [Pic coming] You see leaves on the same tree that are green,  yellow, brown, red, etc. Back home, the green would be newer growth, and the others indicating a point of decay. Not here. The leaves that look like they're dying to us, are actually new growth. 

[Pic coming] You can see the under is red/ pink. That is the natural/ original color. As it is exposed to the sun, the leaves turn green.

• [Pic coming] Trees walk. We'll not really. But this is a walking trees. It is all one tree. But it appears to be walking away because the tree's branches grow down to the ground and root. 

○ This also means, is you cut a limb from the tree, it will grow upward,  and then start sprouting is own roots to the ground. 

○ If you want to completely kill the tree and keep it from growing back so you can build a house, you must cut down all the limbs, then dig up all the many, many roots. 

○ Given that roots can be spread well over 20 feet, I recommend just selecting another place to live. 

On the way back for lunch we saw some pink dolphins. This time I got to see more that the disturbance in the water. I actually got to see the back of the dolphin. Interestingly, the pink dolphin, which is popular here, is pink for female, but gray for males. So it was a male (ie. grey colored) pink dolphin.

After lunch, went for a hike behind the lodge. I was warned it would be very wet and muddy. It was.

(Fire ants on tree)

We came across a tree of fire ants (their name is self explanatory). Unfortunately, I will see them several times,  and once accidently picked up a few in my shirt. If not for Nelly noticing, I would have felt the pain. One thing that is cool about them, is they don't necessarily down in water. In fact,  they will group together and float across water if needed. 

[Pic coming] thorn tree, finger

Unfortunately i slipped and instinctively grabbed for something to keep me upright. But mistake in the jungle. I grabbed a branch covered in thorns (there are actually several plants that use thorns for protection). I got out 4 of the bigger ones but the rest were too small to get out until we got back to the cabin. I am so glad I brought needle and tweezers. I got a few more out when I got home, but there were several that where the skin had already covered the thorn.. Nelly told me to wait and they would would work themselves to the surface. That is largely true. (In fact, i found out I had even more thorns.)  But the smaller ones were obstinate, so another guide, Cilla, dug those out for me. 

Jun 17 - First Hike and Find Something Special

After arriving, we went for our first outing, looking for sloths. One of the things you learn early, is that although you go looking for one thing, you may not find it, and you can't get so focused on your goal that you miss other wonderful opportunities.  

We saw a sloth rather early in are trip, but it was hard to get a decent picture or see details, because of where he was. In the meantime, we saw lots of other animals. 

Later, we did see another sloth. This time we hit the jackpot. Not only was he easy to see, but he was moving around & eating - in my limited experience, both are rare to see (They are lazy bums; no actually I believe it's that they need so much energy to digest their food that gives them little energy for other things.  I'll have to check on this.) 

Sloth eating

Sloth hanging out

Sloth moving verrrry slowly

Too big to load, so copy-paste the link without quotes: "https://youtu.be/3BaHUqjWAlE"

Jun 17 - On The Way to the Lodge

Sorry I've had some problems uploading. Will catch up as soon as can...

Arrived in Iquitos last night after a long set of flights. To get around Iquitos, people walk, take the bus, ride motorcycles, or take a motortaxi. Love the motorcarros (ie. motor taxis)

I was a little hungry, so went looking for something to eat. I wanted wine, fruit, cheese, maybe some bread. They sent me to the Mercado down the street. They had alcohol (I looked at wine, but completely clueless, so skipped), all kinds of processed food (which my body hates), produce that didn't excite me, and some non-food items (clothes, etc). I thought they might have a rain jacket for me, since I left my behind accidently.  Nope.

Since I always travel with protein bars,  I headed back to the B&B. In the alley next door, a little farmers market had been set up. I bought some grapes. (They tasted awesome, but I forgot how big the seeds are if you don't re-engineer them to the small seeds we have at home.) That, with my protein bar was enough after all the food on the plane. 

Nelly is my guide. I've heard great things about her. She has already learned I ask way too many questions.

On a side note, my favorite from prior trips was Anselmo, from my 1st year. I adored him. He reminded me of my dad. He retired, but happened to visit during my last trip. 

A few facts about the Amazon and Tahauyo area:

• The Amazon River is one of the 7 wonders of the world, and the largest river in the world.

• The B&B is by where the Tuhauyo & Amazon meet.

• This is a picture of where the Amazon & Tuhauyo rivers merge. Notice the difference in colors?

• The lighter water in the picture is from the melting of the Andes into the Amazon

• The Tahauyo River is considered a blackwater river. When the river rises, it floods the forest allowing the tannins and decomposing vegetation, to color the water black. This process is called igapo.

• The Tahauyo River level changes drastically during the year - it starts to rise in Nov and peaks in Apr.

The lower arrow show how high the water was this year. You can see the water has already receded quite a bit since Apr, even though it still has a ways to go. The upper arrow shows the highest water level this tree has ever seen. The trees to its side do not have those lines, indicating it was before they grew. This is one way they are able to track previous water levels (there's more to it,  but too sciencey for me). 

The Andes are to blame for this. They stop the humidity, which causes more, creating a severe rainy season from Nov-Apr. This means more water fed into the Amazon. (At least that's my layperson explanation)

We went by a village where houses are in the midst of trees. Yet, the village by the lodge has the trees around the houses cleared away.

I asked why the difference. Erosion. The trees help with erosion. So they no longer cut down trees when building a new house, and are adding vegetation along the shores.

Examples of the impact of erosion

Broken bridge

Church collapse

House now on edge - likely to lose eventually

There are many small village along our route. Each village tends to be an extended family. Which makes it hard to find someone to marry near home.  So they have sport matches (volleyball, soccer) between villages. This allows them to meet people to marry. 

The sports get-togethers also provide an opportunity to trade goods. Different villages have various "specialities" (for lack of better word).  During the sports matches, people will bring their wares (produce, meat, etc) and sell to each other.

This is a building used to make charcoal. Many villages now make charcoal and sell it to Iquitos restaurants, who use for barbecues. It is much cheaper than cooking with gas.