River Gato

Our day started well before the dawn. We got on the river again, but it was only a short ride. We proceeded through the jungle to a lookout over a clay lick that attracts a lot parrots, parakeets, and macaws every morning. Paul explained that many tropical fruits are toxic and parrots need to ingest some amount of clay to neutralize them. Toxins or not, I tend to think of my grandmom's chicken who would also eat some dirt, supposedly for good digestion. The birds show up at dawn, and it is quite a ruckus. At times it would seem that different species would take turns, other times they would all mingle noisily. Green parrots and scarlet macaws, among other species, paid a visit. It was impressive to hear a hum of their wings when an entire flock got startled and circled around. Having had enough dirt, some would pose for us in nearby trees, before disappearing into the jungle...

Paul showed us many native trees and plants on the way back - walking palms, erotic palms, iron trees, curare plants, and many more. Paul spotted a bullet ant. It carries a very poweful sting the pain of which can last for 24 hours. Paul commented that there are very few dangerous critters in the jungle. Most are equipped to hunt other critters, and as such can inflict only a very limited damage to us. Morpho butteflies would never sit still to take a photograph. It was extremely humid and my lens kept fogging up.

We spent a couple of hours around the lodge before accepting Paul's invitation for another jungle walk. We went to the same area near the lodge as on our night walk and everything looked different in daylight. Paul heard pecaries. Before long we could both smell them too. Abandoning the trail, Paul lead us on a pecarie chase through the jungle. Having picked up a tick the day before during a brief stop, I expected to be covered in ticks. I did not get a single one. Every time we would get close, the entire pack would storm off in another direction. We caught glimpses of them quite a few times, never getting very close to photograph in the dense undergrowth. Then they crossed a trail right next to us. It was suprising to see how fast they were...

In the afternoon, we set out for our camping site another two hours up the river in Bahuaja-Sonene National Park. Mario, the owner of the lodge, accompanied us a part of the way up just to the border of the park, where he is building an observation platform. He was fun to talk to. Photography is his hobby too, and he took interest in our photo equipment.

The river got shallower in places and there was a lot of drift wood, some of it large tree trunks, both in the river and along its banks. The current got a bit faster in places too. We passed a confluence with River XXX and soon after reached our campsite. Paul and a couple of his assistants set up our camp site while we explored the river banks.

Just as the sun was going down, Paul offered a walk along the beach further down the river banks. He spotted a jaguar track. He showed us how to look for animals in the dark by looking for a reflection of their eyes. We found a number of birds this way. Flood pools in a dead branch of the river were full of small caymans. It was a spooky sight to see reflections of their eyes. Paul volunteered to catch a small one, but they must have grown since his last visit - they were much too big and much too quick. We found pecarie tracks. While Paul tried to attract the real thing, we head them but did not see any.

The stars were out. It was completely dark, just as one would expect this far from civilization. We fell asleep to the sounds of the jungle.