This morning we were awoken at 5:30am for our tours this morning. I rolled out of bed, and into the mosquito netting, then dressed for breakfast. Breakfast is a breakfast bar with eggs, sausage, fried plantains, fruit, cereal, breads, and a coffee. I chose breads and coffee for my breakfast. The sausage was pretty good, but the plantains didn’t quite work for me this morning. After breakfast Brad and I went back to the cabin to load up on sunscreen and mosquito spray and jump in the camp provided muck boots. Before we know it we’re off to go! We met up with our group at the lecture room, and meet up with Jenny and Loretta. We hopped in the motorized riverboat canoe, and after a short ride down the river we had arrived. We walked 500 meters or so until we stopped at the guide station where our guide, Javier, checked us in and offered the two Australian ladies a walking stick. The path was about eight feet wide, with a dirt path so I wasn’t too convinced that I could call this a hike. The only obstacles in our path are mud pits every few feet due to the rain so we wound up walking in a zig-zag pattern from the left side to the right side; wherever the mud was shallowest. Along the route Javier pointed out several types of frogs, and insects on our path, including a tarantula nest. It was about a 2 mile walk to get to the canoes which were waiting for us at the end of the path. Brad saw the canoes and seemed a little upset that there was a canoe trip as part of this experience. Now, to be fair, these canoes are MUCH bigger than the ones in South Africa. Brad got in the canoe first and I followed suit. The two ladies sat on their own benches behind me, and we started to pull back. We had pulled back about 5 feet when I patted Brad on the back and said “congratulations, this is the furthest we’ve canoed together and neither of us at the bottom of the river right now!”
We canoed through some exotic jungle trees and bushes looking at the scenery before seeing the lake ahead of us. Lake Sandoval is a huge lake surrounded by trees and wild life. Javier showed us some of the edges where we saw a variety of birds and trees along the journey. Mid-way though, Javier gets a call on his radio that another boat has spotted the giant lake otters on the other side of the lake. Javier asks Brad and I to help with the paddling as we mushed our way from one side of the lake to the other. Okay now, this is a big lake… I can tell you from experience that this lake is massive as we mushed our way along the river. As we paddled, I was reminded that I might have a very strong leg and core, but my arms seriously need a workout. When we got to the other side, Javier offered us fruit and a quinoa snack along with a cold towel. I accepted the passion fruit, and was surprised at how gelatinous it looks on the inside. It was very tasty though. The towel wound up being used to prevent the sun from burning my neck because the temperature had really gotten up there since there was so little cloud cover. We spent some time looking at the otters sleeping, and Javier told us that these are the last remaining otters in this lake. The family would likely die out, due to lack of other mates, and predators. While we were looking at the otters, we saw what appeared to be a Macaw Parrot in another tree, but it was covered by leaf cover. I borrowed Javier’s binoculars and saw a tail and perhaps the white of a face but it was very difficult to tell. When I was a kid I loved Macaw parrots and even had my room covered in them. To me, seeing this, makes this trip worth it. After watching the otters, Brad and I helped Javier row back to the small river inlet where we cruised next to these massive trees once again.
When we arrived back on shore again, Brad and I hi-fived that we made our first successful canoe trip and that the only reason we had such issues in South Africa had to have been because of our guide, Imogene. We’re kidding of course. On the way back, Javier stayed behind a bit so Jenny and myself took the lead marching our way back to the guide check-in area. We zipped around mud pits, and zagged around other people. A hop over some particularly large pits, and balancing over a log or two on our way back made me feel like a kid playing in the puddles after a rainstorm. I was particularly glad we had the mud boots because it was quite a lot of mud at some points, although the walk back wasn’t that bad. While we were walking, I had stepped on the side of a mud pit that was apparently too wet and slid about six inches into the mud. I didn’t hurt myself or anything, just got muddy and maybe a little sore. It just adds to the adventure… right?
We made it to the guide check in point, and four minutes behind us was Javier and Loretta bringing up the rear. Our stop off at the check-in area was only for a few minutes to allow Javier to check us out of the area. The walk from the check-in area to the boat seemed to pass very quickly as we hopped from one concrete step to the next. From there, we headed back towards our lodge by motorized canoe. After a 30 minute ride, we arrived back at camp to fill up on water and hang out in our cabin until lunch. By lunch I was extremely hungry, and needed to take my malaria medications. If I haven’t mentioned this before… the food here is INCREDIBLE! SO GOOD!!
After lunch, we hung around our cabin until 2:30 when we met up with the Australian ladies, and Javier to go on a canopy walk. We left the lodge grounds and headed into the jungle where Javier showed us the different kinds of trees, and animals in the jungle. This time the path we were walking down felt more realistic to walking in the jungle. The walkways were about 1 foot wide, and we had to duck around the various trees and wild life around the pathways. One ficus tree we saw was close to 60 meters tall, and had a massive trunk at the bottom. Javier explained that these ficus trees were the model trees for the movie Avatar. On our walk we saw monkeys, birds, and butterflies. I would recount the names, but we saw so many that I would need a book just to keep them all straight. After walking for about a mile, we saw a tall staircase and hanging canopy bridges below the tree line. Javier started up the staircase while I took some photos at the bottom. Mid-way up the stairs Javier took a break and I was ready to keep going. When we reached the top, Javier asked us to go one-by-one over the bridge canopy. I was the first to go.
The bridges were close to 30 meters high off the ground, are constructed with four steel tendons: Two for the handrails and two for the foot planks. The foot planks are constructed of 1×4 planks, approximately 16 inches long, suspended between two of the steel tendons. The sides are flanked with cross-hatched netting and secured to the top and bottom of the walkways. The planks going from the stair tower to the first tree seemed to move with the sway of the trees. When I made it to the first tree, Javier told me to keep on going. One-by-one I went from one canopy to another. While walking along the canopies we saw a variety of monkeys, birds, and other wild life playing. The most astonishing part of the experience was looking down at the height of the trees to where we were followed by how much taller the trees are. The canopy seemed to disappear into the tree heights as if we were kids looking at the top of a tree from the base, even 30 meters up in the air. Occasionally, when we reached a clearing we could look down and see the tops of some of the smaller trees below our feet.
During the walk I spent some time taking pictures and videos of the walk. I enjoyed watching the movement of the bridges and the trees as the wind hit the structures. Each step felt like I was back on-board the Sea Sprit again with how much movement there was from side to side, but it made the walk all the more interesting. On one of the longest spans, I was using my iphone to video the walk with one hand on the walkway for balance. The wind soon picked up and I found myself losing balance, so I made the smart choice to put the phone away and continue walking towards the next tree top. When the canopy walk was over, we climbed one more set of stairs at the adjoining stair tower to the top of the stair tower where we looked at the scenery of the trees for a while. There was one more canopy to walk across, but it’s not part of our experience. It’s actually a honeymoon retreat where you can sleep in the treehouse for one night. I was surprised because bridge to get to the bridal retreat was actually a pretty long walk, and that would be frightening to do it in the dark. Jenny and Loretta commented that they felt like the stair structure was moving. Javier explained that this is actually just an optical illusion. The stair structure is solid and upright, but the trees around the stairs are swaying with the wind so it may appear that we’re moving but we are actually staying still and everything else was moving. I suggested to the women that they look out over the canopies far out and you’ll see that we’re not moving at all. It’s like being in a car and looking at the trees too close. It does the same thing.
While walking down the stair structure, Javier stopped us to show us the monkeys playing on an adjoining branch and we took some photos. On the walk back to the camp, we didn’t really stop anywhere except to see the odd butterfly. When we arrived at camp, I threw off my shoes and lounged in the cabin in the hammock watching the water of the Amazon river pass by. This, of course, turned into nap time. Brad went out to get some water but upon his return, he informed me that there is a night walk in the jungle to see frogs and sleeping animals starting at 6:30pm. This was exciting for me because I thought I would be doing a lot more walking and hiking on this trip, so I jumped at the opportunity to go for another hike in the Amazon.
(I imagine this is the point in the story where my mother is laughing because she knows what’s about to happen next)
At 6:30 I go to the meeting point to meet with Javier and the Australian ladies. Brad decides not to join the walk tonight, but instead to work on his blog posts at the bar. After 20 minutes, the Australian ladies don’t show up so it’s just me and Javier. Another guide, Manuel, and two people in his charge are being briefed on the walk in Spanish. Javier asks Manuel in Spanish to do the tour for him in English as well as Spanish to which Manuel didn’t seem too thrilled. Javier then backs out and says that I will be joining the other group. Since the introduction was in Spanish, I didn’t catch everything the group was saying but I did hear something about spiders. I didn’t think much of this, because… well… I don’t know why. We left the meeting point and started walking through the camp. Towards cabin 1, Manuel stops the group at a tree and shines his light on a tarantula sitting on the tree. His first explanation is in Spanish, where I understood a few words such as “nocturnal, female, bigger, and nest”. When Manuel explains this same thing in English he says that the spider is a female spider because she’s larger, the males are usually smaller. The tree near cabin one has a nest inside, and if you look you may be able to see others but not to be concerned because they’re nocturnal and it’s very common to see one in our cabin. They’re quick moving so we shouldn’t make any noise. Just as he explains this, he puts his finger too close to one of the legs and the tarantula was quick to attack his finer. He jumps back grabbing his finger making painful noises to the laughter of the two Spanish guys in our group. He is perfectly okay, and having a joke with the guys. I on the other hand am NOT OKAY. I should explain, I’m extremely arachnophobic so anything spider related just is not going to be okay. So… where was I heading? Into the pitch black Amazon rainforest, at night with a guide and a flashlight.
We continued our walk and were ushered into the forest near the backside of the camp. The hike started with the wider walkways at first, but were then directed onto one of the smaller nature paths to take us into the forest. As I’m walking through the forest my thoughts are drawn to Harry Potter and his friends going into the dark forest next to Hogwarts at night and silently wishing that I had Hagrid to come and clear the forest away from me. I also had one eye out for centaurs… because you never know. A few minutes into our walk, Manuel spots a small spider next to the walking trail and discusses the spider in Spanish, with a quick translation into English for me. I made quick steps around the spider and continued on with the walk. As we walked I saw the army ants still out in full force carrying leaves back from a neighboring tree as we hiked. The group came to a quick stop at a tight turn and Manual began discussing something in Spanish with the guys. I couldn’t see what he was talking about, but when he started to explain it in English the Manual and the two Spanish guys moved back. Directly in front of us was a spider web close to two feet wide, with a spider about two inches in diameter making his web ready. I yelped the first time I saw it, and quickly covered my mouth since Manual asked us to be quiet for our time on the walk. The Spanish guys laughed and I wanted to jump through my skin to get back to camp. Manuel explained that we need to be very cautious of the spider and this spider web because it’s extremely poisonous and if we were to get bitten there is no anti-venom around. They would likely have to amputate. “Of course!” I thought to myself, “great, just great” as I looked for the nearest escape outlet. Behind me are more spiders and other poisonous things. In front of me is a guide and two other guys who were actually very helpful in pointing out everything I never wanted to know about spiders… ever.
The walk continued with a variety of poisonous things such as… you guessed it… more spiders, and other creepy crawlies. Manual mentioned that if we were ever to get caught in the Amazon jungle that our safest spot to be would be to climb a tree for 3-4 meters and secure ourselves there. That should keep us away from *most* of the poisonous creatures around us. Trying not to fall out of the tree? Details.
At one point in the walk manual stopped us next to a ficus tree and explained in both English and Spanish that in order to feel the presence of the Amazon a little better we would be turning our flash lights off for 4 minutes to hear the animals and listen to them for a while. “You’ve got to be kidding” I asked. Mmmm nope, that’s exactly what the itinerary was. I used my flashlight to inspect the spot where I was standing in a full 360 degrees for anything resembling a spider or other insect and checked the area for a few feet around me. All clear. When we turned our flashlights off the Amazon went dark and noisy. I could hear the animals chattering, scampering, and the occasional howl of an owl in the distance. It was surprisingly loud in the dark. Since we’re standing in the forest, there was almost no moon light to be seen on the ground, so the darkness was extremely dark. When my eyes adjusted a little more, I could see Manual move about five feet away from the group and begin to wander a bit. After the few minutes were up, Manual turned his light back on and began to walk. I followed quickly thereafter and we soon found ourselves back on the larger paths which I recognized from this afternoon’s canopy walk. I was SO GLAD that we were finally getting back to camp. When we made our way back through the bushes into the camp, I wanted to kiss the grass beneath my feet. I was SO HAPPY to be away from there. I do NOT like spiders.
Manuel directed me back to my cabin at which point, I ran into Brad. I had some choice words for Brad on his description of the night nature walk which was sold to me earlier this afternoon. For the sake of children, I will not repeat the words said but I can tell you that I probably had some funny remarks coming from the other cabins as I expressed my displeasure with the experience in vivid detail on the way to dinner. At dinner, Brad and I enjoyed dinner and I started mine off with a stronger drink to calm down from the ordeal a little bit. By the end of dinner, I was exhausted and wanting sleep. When I got back to the cabin, I quickly showered under the cold water and under the faint glow of the flash light before falling asleep to the sounds of birds outside the cabin. Since we had a few more hours of electricity we turned on a fan to help us fall asleep easier.
