Amazonia, pt 5: The Heart of the Rainforest

After four days at Refugio Amazonas, we moved deeper into the jungle into the heart of the Tambopata National Reserve. Our next five days would be spent at the Tambopata Research Center, one of the most remote lodges in the Amazon. 

It's actually a lot easier to get to these days since a new road was built to access a boat dock at Filadelphia, between Refugio and the TRC, near the fork of the Malinowski River. So we actually had to backtrack from Refugio to get to the TRC.) What was once an 8-hour trip from Puerto Maldonado is now a three and half hour boat ride from Refugio Amazonas. 

Along the way, we passed a makeshift wooden platform
with a slanted sieve and diesel engine.
Illegal gold mining, which is prevalent in the area.

Two hours into our journey, we stopped at a half-sunk canoe next to a rickety set of stairs. It's the Malinowski control point, where we have to register to get inside the National Preserve. As we motor along for another hour and a half, it's feeling more remote and the forest more dense - we no longer see the (albeit sparse) lodges dotting the riverbank, and there's a heady sense of wildness as we scan the thick vegetation passing by.

Ahead, a dark shape on an overhanging branch catches our eye. It's a Great Black Hawk, standing with an almost military-straight posture. 

Did you know? Capybara supposedly taste like fish!

Further ahead on the riverbank, we strain to spot a group of capybara - looking just like the muddy boulders they are lounging on. More and more appear as our eyes adjust.

Once upon a time, the Catholic Church decided that, since capybara spend so much time in the water, that they were considered fish! So they are allowed to be eaten during the meatless Lenten season.

All too quickly we pull up to the shore - we've arrived at the port for the TRC and we disembark for the ten minute hike to the lodge. Perhaps it's just my imagination, but this trail seems narrower and darker than the one at Refugio. The group ahead stops to stare into the trees - it's a group of saddleback tamarins - and after just a few more steps, the path opens up to the lodge.

The TRC was originally built as a research center, but about six years ago they expanded and built luxurious (albeit 3-walled) rooms to accommodate more guests. I went fully expecting a "roughing it" experience, but this was NOT it. It was a five-star eco-lodge, with all-day electricity and wifi even in our rooms.  Immediately upon arriving in our rooms, we noticed movement in the trees behind our open wall.

Not a bad view...

Howler monkeys, howling

 A huge fig tree was in fruit, and on various occasions, groups of spider monkeys and howler monkeys entertained us with their antics. From the missing back wall of our room, we could easily watch them as they foraged for fruit and jump from tree to tree.

Spider monkey, spider-ing

We were excited to venture out into this part of the rainforest since, being more isolated, there was a greater chance of seeing a greater quantity and variety of species. We hiked our first afternoon to an overlook for a stunning view.

Seriously... that hair. Jealous much, Elvis?

During our stay, we spotted several strange and interesting birds, including the razor-billed curassow, Spix's guan, red-throated caracara, and several of these blue-throated piping guans: 

I also loved this pretty little Bluish-fronted jacamar:

I particularly liked the hike through the Bamboo Trail - who knew there was a species of bamboo (known as Guadua) that grew in the Amazon?? They particularly thrive on the poorly-draining upland soil found in this area, and they are home to a number of frogs, birds, and monkeys.  From one overlook, we spotted four separate species of monkeys - dusky titi, brown capuchin, spider, and squirrel! And on our hike back, a huge troop of what felt like at least 100 squirrel monkeys surrounded us, chittering away.

Tiny squirrel monkeys are constantly in motion!

Brown capuchins, who hung out in harmony with the squirrel monkeys

🐍 Sssnaaaaakes! 🐍

Perhaps the most famous of the Amazonian snakes is the anaconda - no, we didn't see one, but we tried our hardest!! The largest anaconda species can grow up to almost 30 feet in length, and weigh a monstrous 500 lbs. But anaconda, whose scientific name means 'good swimmer', are hard to find since they generally spend most of their time submerged underwater, with just their eyes and noses (which are higher up on their heads than most snakes) poking out. But that didn't mean we didn't see any other snakes.

Another common rainforest snake is the Amazon tree boa - which, although non-venomous, can be aggressive. Tree boas are predators that eat frogs, bats, lizards, and rodents, and spend most of their time traveling in the treetops. So it was amazing to me that on one evening walk, Anil spotted one in the branches overhead!

During the wet season it floods much more here than it does at Refugio, and we noticed that all the boardwalks were built considerably higher from the ground. 

 They were also much, much longer, so walking to and from our rooms felt like miniature expeditions into the forest. And we encountered plenty of wildlife on those boardwalks, to be sure! On our very first day, I walked by myself to the lounge to meet up with the group. Now keep in mind, the boardwalk is L-O-N-G, a solid and steady five-minute walk, and it basically goes through the forest. The vegetation is cut back from the walkway, but the trees are tall and branches stretch overhead and provide a canopy. 

Halfway to the lounge, I spot movement up ahead - a snake! I quickly look behind me and ahead of me, but I'm all alone. As I get closer, I realize 1) I have no idea what kind it is (or if it is venomous, aggressive, or fast...), 2) it's thin, but really really long (maybe 10 ft), and 3) there's nowhere for it to go but along the boardwalk - either in the same direction that I'm going, or towards me.

I freeze. I look front and back and see that I'm totally alone. I'm torn, wanting to call for someone to share this experience with me, but knowing I probably can't run fast enough to get my friends. So I just wait and watch, enjoying my encounter. It must have dropped down from some overhead tree, and there were no nearby branches where it might have come from, and the boardwalk was perhaps 15-20 feet above the forest floor. The snake hasn't seen me (or just doesn't care), and starts moving away from me, searching for a way off the boardwalk. I slowly followed it (from afar!), until it got to a branch that hung about a foot from the boardwalk, and it tentatively stretched its neck, testing to find a part that was strong enough to hold its weight (there wasn't one). It took a little leap, but the branch gave away and the poor snake plummeted down onto the forest floor, where it quickly disappeared into the underbrush.

It was, I think, Chironius multiventris - commonly called a long-tailed machete savane. Our guide Paul says that they aren't venomous, but their method of defense is to use their long tail like a whip. (I'll admit it - I kinda want to be whipped by a snake. Dang... lost opportunities...) 

We later encountered a smaller one in the forest, who moved surprisingly fast to get away from us. 

I spy, with my little eye, something slithering in the forest!

Come back little snake! I just want a hug!

Tambopata does not disappoint!

🪲Amazonia🪰, pt 4: 🪳Bugs, 🐞bugs, 🦗bugs🦟

These little jewels are like glittering gemstones... it's a treasure hunt all over the rainforest!

Holy bugs*, batman. 

    *ok, ok, i know spiders and millipedes aren't technically bugs, but "arthropod, arthropod, arthropod" is kind of a mouthful. 
       So just take the term 'bug' in this post as the colloquial, m'kay?  

More than 90% of the animal species in the Amazon are insects, and in Tambopata alone there are over 1200 species of butterflies. The Amazon rainforest may have as many as 2.5 million different species of insects, but only a tiny fraction of species are known to scientists. And there may be millions of individuals within each species - some scientists estimate that 30% of the animal biomass of Amazonia is made up of ants alone!!

The sheer diversity of bug life here in the rainforest is mind-boggling. We encountered so many types - and some were absolutely stunning in their shapes, patterns, and colors - like these amazing guys:

Some of the most intriguing ones were found just on the handrails of the lodge - probably because they were so easy to spot. Others did their best to hide themselves through camouflage - it was astounding how closely some of them resembled leaves!!! 

The praying mantis was particularly interesting, since it swayed and bobbed as it walked, mimicking a leaf blowing in the wind. It was absolutely mesmerizing to watch.

🦋 🦋 🦋 🦋 🦋

Almost all differences between butterflies and moths are generalizations, and we definitely saw outliers to many of the butterfly vs moth 'rules'. Things like diurnal vs nocturnal? Colorful vs dull? Open vs closed wings while resting? Nope.

Clockwise from upper left:
Ceramidia moth, Tersa sphinx moth,
Leafy sphinx moth, Tiger moth 

 We found plenty of exceptions to the rules... While normally people think of butterflies as brilliantly colorful and moths as dull and boring, that was hardly the case.

The gorgeous Green-banded urania is the only diurnal moth found here, and is much more colorful than the crethon daggerwing butterfly next to it:

How breathtaking are these caterpillars??? 

The one top was huge - about the size of a hot dog, with menacingly spiky spines coated in venom. 

The bottom one I originally thought was just a tiny bit of fluff... until it started moving! Think of a teensy tiny mop atop the world's smallest roomba...

This was one of my favorite butterflies - the glasswing, with its see-through wings. Plus, it liked to play dead - it flopped over when I put it on my palm, but then Paul picked it up and started to drop it, and in the middle of its free-fall, it flew away. 

Amongst all the cool things I saw in the Amazon, this one made my jaw drop!! It's the pupa of a false burnet moth, contained in a mesh cocoon.

Closeup of the cocoon

🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷 🕷

The Amazon is NOT for the arachnophobic - not only are there thousands of spiders, but some of them are H-U-G-E. They all seemed to come out during our night walks (or maybe we just noticed them more). Along with the fluorescent scorpions and spiders, literally thousands of other arachnids appear at night. 

Every step would send large jumping spiders skittering away. Flashlights on the trees lit up tail-less whip spiders and enormous water spiders. We also found a ton of orb weavers in the shine of our flashlights, probably because their bodies were the size of ping-pong balls.

There is definitely something undeniably creepy about seeing so many spiders, but it was hard not to be fascinated as well. I didn't necessarily want to get my face too close to them, but c'mon! How cool is this?!

Nobody really knows why the spider decorates its web with a cross, but some theorize it's to make the spider look bigger... or it's a warning for birds not to fly into the web.

You can easily see the sexual dimorphism of the golden silk orb-weaver here - the gorgeous female is in the center of the web, and the smaller male can be seen above her.

She's so pretty!

We encountered this beauty of a banana spider, or Brazilian wandering spider, in the middle of the trail on one of our night walks. But I've got to be honest... it was kinda scary since they are one of the most aggressive and venomous spiders known to man:

Banana spiders are an invasive
species in Madre de Dios, brought
in with the non-native banana plants.

We saw a few tarantulas as well - the chicken tarantula, that Paul said was named so because it takes care of its young like a chicken (and yes, when it startled back into its hole, several smaller babies ran in after it). But my favorite was the huge pink-toed tarantula that showed up on the boardwalk - you could easily see her pink toes!

Social spiders live in colonies of up to 50,000 individuals, and they capture prey together and share in the spoils. I would NOT want to accidentally walk into a social spider nest!

Their metropolis can be 25 ft long!

And in the mid afternoon when the sun was hottest, so many different little jumping spiders would appear on the handrails! So pretty!

🐛 🐛 🐛 🐛 🐛

The many many many many many many legs of the rainforest millipedes

Did you know? The difference between a millipede and a centipede isn't the number of legs (and they rarely have a thousand, or even a hundred legs). 

Millipedes have two sets of legs per body segment, while centipedes only have one. And generally speaking, their behaviors are different too - millipedes will roll up into a ball when startled, while centipedes will run away. And millipedes for the most part eat decaying plant matter, while centipedes are predators. But both can be harmful to humans - centipedes are venomous and will bite; millipedes are poisonous and secrete toxins.

 

🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜

Good lord, the ants.

We saw little ants. Big ants. Solitary ants. Swarms of ants. Trails of ants. They crawled up our pants. We ate ants. We* purposely let ourselves get stung by ants. 

*and by 'we' I mean the boys** in our group.
     **and by 'boys' I mean the two Cambridge professors.   NOT the 13-year old.

But it was for science!

The tarangara, or 'devil' tree has a symbiotic relationship with colonies of Pseudomyrmex triplarinus, a tiny but highly aggressive fire ant. The tarangara is used by the local indigenous people as a punishment tree - depending on the crime, perpetrators are tied to the tree for hours or days and allowed to be bitten by the ants who are guardians and protectors of the tree. Each individual bite "feels like a cigarette burn," claimed Paul, and in three days a criminal kept tied to the tree would be dead from the bites, suffering in agony the entire time. Of course Anil and David had to see what the fuss was about, and allowed themselves to be bitten by a single ant... (sigh... 🙄)

The bite, two days later.

Luckily, when we were invited to try being stung by a bullet ant, everyone wisely opted out.

So many ants marched through this path that they dug their own trench into the dirt!

Another intriguing ant was the Army ant, which is used by indigenous people to close up wounds. Yes, some of us had been attacked by them on our first night in the forest and we feared them as a menace, but they could be useful as well. Paul showed us how to find just the soldier ants, who have huge mandibles and large yellow heads. After grabbing the body and maneuvering the bite in just the right place, you can twist off the body and the jaw continues its hold - creating an effective suture.

It was interesting what was helpful and what was deadly in the rainforest. There were plants we couldn't even touch, but ants and termites that we could eat. 

Anil, having a mid-morning snack

And so we did... (yes, I did try them... the ants had kind of an earthy, nutty flavor. I did NOT enjoy the popping of the exoskeleton though...) Additionally, Paul taught us how to find edible termite nests, where we could find a snack if we got lost in the forest. They were smaller than the ants, which meant they were a bit more palatable - but I still thought they tasted a bit like dirt. 

🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝

Speaking of nests, look at the cool forms of these bee/wasp nests! I was particularly intrigued by the entrance to the Yellow bee hive - it looked just like a flower!! Yellow bees don't sting, but they will get into your hair and chew on it, giving you the most elegant and stylish haircut.

Overall, despite how many bugs we saw, I actually expected to be bothered a lot more than I was. Not sure if it was the dousing of bug spray that helped, or the head-to-toe covering, or the mosquito nets, but the handful of bug bites that I got each day were nowhere close to what I had anticipated. And it was the rare bug that found its way inside my mosquito net that freaked me out - but otherwise, I felt like as a visitor into their world, I could appreciate their richness and diversity.

Amazonia, part 3: In the jungle, the mighty jungle...

The Amazon at dawn

Our time in Amazonia was spent in Madre de Dios, a region of southeastern Peru in an area known as the Tambopata National Reserve - near the western border of the Amazon Basin. What causes such a vast rainforest to form here? On the western side of South America, the Andes mountains block moist air coming from the east, causing a huge amount of rainfall. This moisture slowly flows eastward across the entire continent, seeping from marshes to stream, then to tributaries that feed into the Amazon River, which eventually reaches the Atlantic Ocean. 

The Amazon rainforest, or Amazonia, covers an area of 2.3 million square miles (in comparison, the continental US is about 3 million sq mi). While most of it is in Brazil, about 13% is in Peru (as well as parts in Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Surinam, and Venezuela). This dense tropical forest is the world's largest rainforest, sometimes thought of as the 'lungs of the world', and definitely a hotspot for biodiversity. 

Tambopata is famous for birds - more specifically, the macaws and parrots that come to the clay licks in search of minerals they need. But I was initially introduced to Tambopata by an entomologist, and my previous trip to the Amazon showed me how diverse (... and profuse!!) the insects are in the rainforest. And I never knew how interesting the flora could be, but exploring with a forest ecologist whose passion for every fern, orchid, and vine really made me appreciate the plant life - not to mention the mushrooms and molds that we encountered!! Being here is completely overwhelming... but exhilarating!

We were spending 9 days in Madre de Dios, and each day we had multiple forays into the rainforest. We were hiking 7-10 miles, usually on two or three outings each day, with some boat rides interspersed. 

Stairmaster, schmairmaster

On our first morning at Refugio, we woke up before dawn - our goal was to watch the sunrise from the 30-meter observation tower that would bring us up above the canopy of trees. 

From the tower we could see the top of the canopy, and the
emergent layer (the tops of the tallest trees)

From the top platform, we had a stunning view of the endless sea of pristine forest, stretching for miles in every direction. Because we were above the overstory, it was much easier to spot the many species of birds that flock in the treetops.

Clockwise, from top left: White-fronted nunbird, blue dacnis,
yellow-backed tanager, mealy parrot

Just look at the gorgeous colors on these green and purple honeycreepers!

WHEW, it's hot up there!

Once the sun rose, it quickly got very, very hot so we made our way back down to the shade of the forest floor. One of the most sought-after sightings in the area is the Harpy eagle, one of the world's largest raptors - which can grow to be over three feet tall. 

Searching for that Harpy

A harpy eagle nest was located a few miles from the lodge, high up in an ironwood tree, so we went in search of this elusive bird. 

Jillian, waiting patiently in the blind

We spent about an hour at the blind and even went back in the afternoon, but the eagle didn't show itself. We did catch sight of the nest, though - so cool knowing that when the eagles finished it, it would be the size of a small room!!

The nest

On another trip down to the river, we spotted this white (spectacled) caiman. The name 'spectacled' comes from the bony ridge between their eyes, that look like a pair of glasses. Caimans have more pointy snouts and longer, sharper teeth than their alligator cousins. 

Here's hoping for a snack!

Four different types of cacao!

We crossed over to the other side of the river to visit a local farmer, who allowed us to try the various fruits that were planted on his property. The most interesting to me was the multiple varieties of cacao - the flesh is sweet and delicious, and I would never suspect that their seeds to be the hidden source for cocoa!

One morning, we took a trip to Lago Condenado, an oxbow lake (formed by the shifting waters of the river). Along the banks, we saw a small flock of hoatzin, with their distinctive blue faces and red eyes.

It was hot on the lake, under the blazing
sun! Good thing we all had our 'hats'...

Click to enlarge photo. See anything??

In one of our more intriguing sightings, Paul pointed to a dead log up ahead and told us all, "I see at least five mammals there!" We didn't see anything, then he upped his number. "Six. No, seven. At least ten." After our hint that this animal could fly, we figured out that they were bats - but we still couldn't find them. 

It wasn't until we were parallel and could see their silhouettes that we finally discerned the upturned noses of these extremely camouflaged Long-nosed Proboscis bats.

Such great camouflage!

After paddling across the lake, we took a short hike to see the 'biggest tree in the forest' - a strangler fig that had completely encompassed a large tree. It was so big that it no longer needed the support of the host tree, and had outcompeted it (possibly by stealing all of its sunshine and sapping it of nutrients).

At the buttresses of the kapok

The inner tree had since decayed, leaving the strangler fig in a form that's known as a columnar tree, with a hollow core. It was so big we could all fit inside!

Inside the columnar tree - bigger than
most NYC studio apartments!

Near the strangler fig was a huge kapok tree, with lovely flying buttress roots. Kapoks are one of the tallest trees in the forest, which means they are vulnerable to gusts of wind up above the forest canopy. Because it has a shallow root system (which is common for rainforest trees because the fertile soil is at the surface), it forms the buttresses to help keep it from toppling over.

Vegetarian piranhas!
(but clearly not gluten-free)

On our way back across the lake, we stopped briefly to feed the piranhas. Did you know - piranhas eat bread?! 

Lago Condenado

We slowly hiked back to the lodge, enjoying the sights and sounds of the rainforest.

The indigenous people call this the penis plant...

We saw dozens of these walking palms - an interesting plant because of its strange, spiky root system. In a wild fit of fantasy, (and particularly in the inky blackness of night), one can only imagine a sinister horde of these, skulking their way towards our poor innocent explorers...

So many interesting trees and vines! 

1. The naked tree sheds its bark every season in order to rid itself of any parasites.
2. Vines are fascinating! Some start from above and grow down, other start from the ground and grow up.
All are looking for support in their quest for sunshine... but might kill their host tree in the process.
3. I was particularly intrigued by the leaves of this creeping vine that had plastered itself flat onto the trunk of the tree. 

Did you know? An epiphyte is a plant that grows on another plant, with no roots reaching the ground. They are divided into two categories - hemi-epiphytes and holo-epiphytes.  Plants that only live part of their lives as epiphytes are hemi-epiphytes - when their lianas reach the ground and they root (for example, a strangler fig), they are no longer epiphytes. Those that live their entire lives in the air are holo-epiphytes - like some bromeliads and orchids.

and this little frog who wanted to read about himself!

And of course, we had lots of fun animal sightings...  

Like this curious saddleback tamarin...

This agouti visited the lodge 

He's hard to spot, but there's a red brocket deer eluding the paparazzi 

Our guides are adept at using all their senses to stay alert and observant. They have so much knowledge - not just in recognizing the plants, but in listening to sounds and identifying smells. As we walked back to the lodge from the oxbow lake, Paul suddenly stopped our group - he had smelled some fresh sloth pee! (now that's an impressive nose...)

Sloths spend all their time up in the treetops, but about once a week they will climb down to pee and poop, then climb back up a different (but nearby) tree. So we all craned our necks looking for the sloth. And finally, the other guide Angel spotted it! It was a two-toed sloth, sleeping in a palm tree. Just his back was visible, but he did stretch up his back leg to show off his sharp claws!

Staying at Refugio was a wonderful introduction to the rainforest - and we couldn't wait to move even deeper into its heart - to the only lodge inside the National Reserve, the Tambopata Research Center...