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I am in the middle of the Amazon rain forest, in North East Ecuador, reclining in a hammock, listening to the chirps, calls and howls of the Amazon.
It has been another of those surreal days, starting out with a 6.15am flight from Quito to the oil town of Lago Agrio. I was picked up in Lago Agrio for a 3 hour drive to the Cuyabeno bridge, inside the Cuyabeno reserve, a reserve of 780,000 square hectares of primary, pristine rain forest, Ecuador's 2nd largest rain forest reserve.
From the bridge, me, my bags and five others transferred to a wooden canoe with an outboard motor to travel a further 3.5hours deeper into the forest, up the CuyabenoRiver. The River is one of many tributaries that run into the mighty Amazon river and eventually to the Atlantic ocean itself.
We are in pristine primary rain forest now, inhabited here by circa 400 indigenous Indians, known as the Soni people. Trees soar above and all around, with 500 year old plus giants building an impenetrable canopy above, clear crossing the river in parts.
We had only been on the river for a few minutes when we stop as quick movements and squawks reveal a small troop of 10 to 15 Yellow Handed Titi monkeys scampering above us, jumping, swinging (yes they really do swing) and running high above through the forest canopy. On this first of many canoe trips we saw many birds and different species of monkeys, including a highly endangered species, the biggest monkey of all the species, our guide tells us is very rarely seen, but whose name I forget. At the other end of the scale we watched as a troop of 50 plus squirrel monkeys, the 2nd smallest of all, made its way through the trees. In bird life we took in Macaws, Toucans, Kingfishers, Swifts, the Greater Ani, humming birds and tiny long nosed bats, among many other species. And this was just getting to the lodge!
Several hours later we arrive at Tapir Lodge (I highly recommend this place!) (www.tapirlodge.com ). The place is lovely, built in traditional manner, all on stilts to protect from animals and snakes etc, it is in harmony with the surrounding forest and is one of just 6 lodges in this reserve. There are only six of us at the lodge, plus our guide, boat driver and two cooks.
The lodge can cater for up to 35 people, but this is the rainy season and so numbers are low. I am here with three couples, one being the guide and his girlfriend (Ecuadorian) a couple from Austria and a couple from Sweden. So, spot the gooseberry! Ho hey, they are all very likable folk who I got on well with and I was happy to share this part of my travels with them.
The next day, as for this entire trip continued to be overwhelming on the senses and again I have run out of superlatives! Day two and we took our canoe up river to a lake, around 9.00am to start a three hour trek through the forest. It was really good, with swamps as well as Terra firma (raised and dry land) among the rain forest, wild life all around us. The temperature sits constantly between 25 degrees and 32 degrees Celsius, but feels a lot closer and hotter due to 80% plus humidity here.
Returning to our lodge for lunch and a siesta, I could not resist the opportunity to grab a paddle and canoe and make my way up river on my own for a couple of ours, while everyone took a siesta. I also took a swim in the river, which while having large fish (up to 4 meters in length!!) with teeth, Cayman and piranha, I was assured was safe to swim in. The current in the river is very strong and when I got to the middle of the river, it was three strokes before I could make any headway to get back to the shore. So the local folk are good swimmers!
I really enjoyed my wee foray in the canoe. Without a motor you can really listen to the forest and you do not have to listen hard as you are overwhelmed by the volume of natures sound. I soon got the hang of using Indian style single paddle (I am used to the double blade of the sea kayak, so this was new to me) and the general tippiness of the canoe and made good progress quite a way up river. Of course at the furthermost point, the heavens opened up and reminded exactly why this is called RAIN forest! I was soaked but it did not matter, I was enjoying myself immensely.
On getting back to Tapir lodge I joined the others and we immediately went back up river to the lake to fish for Parana, and hopefully to see Anaconda, known to sun bathe in this area. We did not see any Anaconda, but we did see Parana. I and another of the group managed to hook one, but both times it fell away before getting it onto the boat. Our guide and boat driver both caught one each.
The fish are beautiful but handle with care, as they have razor sharp teeth, easily capable of removing the tips of unwary fingers. Orange and silver in colour, we took photos before returning the same fish back tot he depths of the lake.
My 2nd highlight on this day (the 1st being my solo canoe trip) was a 40 minute trek we took that night by torch light. How our boat driver took us to the start point and then got us back to the lodge is a feat in itself, as the river has many turns and bends and tributaries and is a maze of water. The fact it was by star light only, with no moon and trees crowding out the star light made his feat even more startling!
The walk had been going only a minute after our guide told us not to touch any of the trees. To place emphasis on this, he shone his torch on a tree just 30 seconds later to reveal a Tarantula sitting at hand hold height. This was a juvenile Tarantula, but still a good 4 to 5 inches across (photo on photo page). Throughout the walk came more Tarantulas, Scorpion Spiders and the biggest and most beautiful (many would argue ugly - see photo ) weta I have ever seen, measuring a full seven inches in length, bristling with huge barbs on back legs and mandibles that would puncture deep into the flesh is handled. The noise of the jungle at night is a beautiful cacophony of sound with frogs of all kinds booming, cicadas whirring and buzzing in many dialects (each species has its own unique sound) ad the occasional bird and monkey interjecting. On getting back to my cabin, which only has mesh for windows I fell asleep to these same sounds. Muy bien!
On our final day at the lodge, we rose early at 5.30 am and were on the river in our canoe by 5.45am. This was to be a long day and the best yet. The forest at dawn, as it is all night long is full of sound and as the sun rises so to do the awakening sounds of monkeys and birds. We took our canoe up river to the lago to watch life in the forest and water come awake.
As we sat in silence in our canoe the sun crept up moving the world from black, to grey, cold blue and then a wondrous fiery pink and red across the water. We had hoped to see the Pink River Dolphin that inhabit these waters and are most active in the mornings and we were not disappointed as a dolphin surfaced not far away is a spectacular display, plunging back deep before we could even aim our cameras. It quickly became a cat and mouse game as we sat watching in the direction the dolphin was sure to surface, only to hear it appear in the opposite direction and again disappear before we could focus our cameras. We were close enough, we could here it breaching and using its blow hole like a small whale, each time it surfaced. I have included a couple of photos, but you have to look hard to see it, as they are of the top of its head and back only.
With birds and insects singing a background chorus, the dolphin was absolute magic, all the while making a mockery of our attempts to capture our wannabe National Geographic award photos, but at least it made for a great memory. The rising sun silhouetting the trees and bouncing its reflections across the water made this a beautiful Amazon dawn.
We left the dolphin, circling and chasing its fishy breakfast and crossed the lago to another river to watch birds. This time we saw macaws, Toucans, the ever present and ever beautiful Greater Ani, herons and many others. To top things off, as if we had not seen enough, as we headed back to our lodge we saw a troop of Woolly Monkeys, Squirrel Monkeys and a Sloth.
The Sloth, hanging upside down was grey and fawn in colour and doing what sloth's seems to do...eating leaves and sleeping. It was beautiful to see. I feel very privileged to be in this place. It really is National Geographic on a grand scale.
Getting back to the lodge we had a wonderful breakfast of fresh forest fruits grown at the lodge, eggs and fresh brewed coffee. The food at Tapir Lodge is wonderful, prepared by two cooks who put out three course meals suitable for any high class restaurant...but only the more discerning ones at that!
Mid morning we headed down river a further 90 minutes or so to one of two Soni communities here in Cuyabeno Reserve. The Soni are the indigenous people who live and hunt here. They are the only ones allowed to hunt, with monkey meat being the key meat they eat.
Each village has a population of circa 200 people. The village we visited is built in their traditional style, with houses sitting on poles 4 feet above the ground as protection from snakes and forest animals, the jaguar, although rare now, being among them. The folk wear western clothing and thanks to the oil company have solar power to provide some electricity, although all cooking is done on fires, kept hot 24 hours a day.
We were treated to a snack of Yaro Bread; Yaro being the staple food with all meals and highly versatile. The yaro root was dug out of the ground in front of us, cleaned, grated and dried (by squeezing in a flax like contraption twisted until all water has run out) until it has the appearance of desiccated coconut. It is then cooked on a earthen-ware flat disk as a flat bread, similar to Naan bread, but more fibrous and coarser. It was very nice. This was all done from ground to mouth inside 30 minutes.
Back in our canoe we went a few minutes up stream to another part of the same settlement to visit the local Shaman, who explained to us (through interpreter) his role and how he became a Shaman.
Dressed in his traditional clothes (see cover photo for this blog), with paint and feathers, jewellery and a large feather straight through his nose, he definitely made an impression and held the countenance of wisdom of not just years, but the collection of many generations.
This was no ´tourist act´, this is the way he dresses, talks, thinks and lives every single day...albeit this was just one hour of his time. He had no prior warning of our visit and we were apparently lucky he was not out in the forest collecting the materials of his trade. Around his neck hung a row of 15 Jaguar teeth, handed to him from earlier generations of Shaman. Each tooth was up to 5 inches in length, so I would not like to meet a Jaguar face to face. Jiaros, our guide told us later that he tried to buy one of these for $100 (USD) and was told by the Shaman that he would not give up a single Jaguar tooth, for a sack of gold, let alone a hundred bucks!
This man arrived to the Soni people some years ago. He is from the Colombian Amazon originally and was sourced by the Soni after their Shaman became weak and ill, (now deceased. If his stories are true (and I have no doubt that he believes them to be so) then his Father was circa 170 years old when he died. Who knows, this place is such a mystery, perhaps there is an element of truth to this feat.
The Soni are by no means the most traditional of people. A further 100 miles south in the Yasuni National Park (almost 1 million hectares of primary rain forest) are a people of approx 1000 population who are entirely in their traditional ways, still living in traditional dress (which is b***** all), hunting with blow pipe and poison dart as well as spear (Soni use rifles these days, which is somewhat devastating for endangered Monkey species). In fact numerous folk visiting here have been killed by poison dart and the Ecuadorian government have cordoned off the part of the Yasuni Park where this tribe lives, as it is not friendly to visitors, and has reputedly killed more than a few for infringing on their lands. (Nice to know...good to avoid!).
Our visit to the Shaman was quite an experience and worthwhile. The Shaman no longer holds sway over the Soni, but provides a very necessary service for the health of the people and is a living repository of the Amazons medicinal plants. Such that he currently has 4 ´students´. all professors from western universities (Canada, USA, England and Australia) documenting his knowledge and perhaps unlocking some keys to modern and future medicines. For this reason alone he is an important man in the community and in humanity.
Following our visit to the Shaman we had a brief walk into the nearby forest to a massive tree that takes 25 people, finger tip to finger tip to circle. The tree is believed to be circa 600 years old, with massive buttress roots starting 10 meters above ground. The Amazon soil is poor in its quality, and has a layer of up to 2 meters of rotted foliage, before hitting solid and nutrient poor clay. Trees have adapted to spread rots wide, rather than deep but strong winds and rain take their toll. Close to the tree our guide made a sudden dive trying to catch a brightly coloured poison dart frog. The frog got away, but these frogs, common here, are the ones used to make poison darts. The darts are rolled across the back of the frog, and the poison will kill a monkey in less than 2 minutes and a human in 5. The trick here is the poison is only lethal if injected, i.e. punctured into the body, skin contact alone is harmless. The dart tips, once the poison is applied are then dipped in a wax, which shatters when it hits its target after penetrating the skin. The wax is also a lubricant to make the dart easily puncture the skin. Nice to know!
We returned to our lodge on this last day around 3.00pm for a 2 hour siesta. Again, this was not for me, and I leapt back into my paddle canoe and went back up river for 90 minutes or so. Drifting back to the lodge on the current just using my paddle to steer, I was alone, surrounded by the overwhelming sounds of the forest...and I loved it! This time I saw, and managed to photograph a bird (a species of Heron) I had not seen before. I managed to get directly below it and take two clear photos before the current dragged me away and the bird took flight. It turns out this particular heron is rare (endangered) and not normally seen....although I forget its name I will look it up in a book sometime soon.
On getting back to the lodge the others rose their siestas in hammocks and we were back in the boat to watch the setting sun and go find Cayman (a crocodile like creature that you do not want to meet while swimming!). The sun sets fast here, as we are directly on the Equator, so days only vary by approx 30 minutes year round. In the pitch dark on our canoe we aimed our torches into the waters and bushes searching for the tell tail red reflections from the eyes of Cayman. We were rewarded by sighting a Cayman 20 feet away, watching us watching him. His head was clearly picked out, but this is all we could see, just the top of his head and eyes, before he drifted off perhaps in search for more manageable prey.
On our way back to the lodge our guide spotted a red reflection some four feet above the water. Approaching with caution we came face to face with a 1.5 meter yellow constrictor snake, hanging in the tree, tasting the air four feet above our heads. Harmless to humans this snake still gave fright to some so we backed away and headed back to the lodge (photos of snake in album). That was enough adventure on this night.
On getting back to the lodge, our two chefs greeted us in Tuxedos! This was our last dinner here at the lodge, and they had prepared for us a fantastic crème vegetable soup, followed by a rich stroganoff and forest fruits bathed in rum, washed down with passion fruit juice mixed with a light vodka. Muy bien!
My senses were a buzz with the forest and the day and previous days. That night I fell asleep in my hammock outside my lodge to the wild and continuous sounds of the forest below. This was a lovely experience that passed all too quickly, pleasantly caressing all of the senses and calling me back fro another time to canoe in primary Amazon rain forest! So watch out!
Our leaving day started with a fabulous breakfast, before we made our way back, 3 hours in canoe and 2.5 hours by bus back to Lago Agrio, where I caught the last standby seat on the local airline returning oil workers for a weekend in Quito...and a new and less welcome assault on the senses!
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