After an early breakfast at the Chuncho Lodge, we had a short boat ride across the Tambopata River to collect the jeep as we were then headed to a new site in the Amazon River Basin.
But, because it had rained cats and dogs all night long, we were forced to trudge through mud uphill to reach the car. We were all worried that the jeep wouldn't be able to make it up some of the hills on the 18 km long dirt road but, somehow, it did.
This was where we'd eaten the picnic lunch on our way out to the lodge a day and a half ago now. Thank goodness, we didn't need to stop there again.
After returning to the company's office in Puerto Maldonado again to dump more of our belongings so our backpacks which we'd be carrying would be lighter, we headed out on another boat ride, this time on the Madre de Dios River toward our next lodge.
A photo of the bridge spanning the Madre de Dios River across from Puerto Maldonando:
Jorge, our guide, said if we wanted, we could continue on the river for 268 kms to reach Brazil which was northeast of us. We said no thanks as we'd be visiting later on our trip.
We had read that Peruvians living in the Amazon region were a mix of native and Spanish ancestry. We passed homes that Jorge indicated belonged to river people or ribereños who depend on fish and crops for their survival and live simple lives close to the river much like their native ancestors.
We were so appreciative that the company provided knee-high rain boots and even more so later!
Somehow, in all of the emails back and forth with the company owner, we never realized we'd be walking several kilometers in the jungle with our possessions for the next couple of nights on our backs. Steven and I were and are in pretty decent shape but we've never had to carry our stuff under tough conditions.
Maureen: Recognize my rain jacket I bought with you at Costco? It came in handy that day, thanks!
The protected Tambopata Nature Reserve feature eight life zones: subtropical humid forest, tropical humid forest, subtropical high-humidity forest, subtropical high-humidity foothills cloud forest, subtropical rainforest, tropical cloud forest foothills, subtropical lower foothills cloud forest and semi-flooded subtropical cloud forest. Economic activities in the reserve include fishing, hunting, subsistence agriculture and foraging. However, the most important activity is tourism with 25 registered tourist lodges.
The dried leaf frog was almost impossible to see in the matching mud!
Jorge had to obtain permits at the ranger station which meant we had a short break even though we had to take our muddy boots off to enter the office or use the facilities!
I would encourage you to click on the following letter that was at the station from Mother Nature so you can more easily read the heartwarming message.
As I mentioned in a previous post, the Tambopata National Reserve, a nature reserve in the Peruvian Amazon, was created in January, 1990, to protect the forests adjacent to two rivers that have two important ecosystems and are noted for its biodiversity. Tourism in the protected area is concentrated around the Tambopata River and the lower Madre de Dios.
We relished the boardwalk portions of the trail but they were few and far between.
We saw many locals who had been hired to carry by lodges to carry their guests' belongings. Unfortunately, our company and lodge didn't use porters!
In my first post about our trip to the Amazon River basin, I discussed 'walking trees' that we saw on our night hike. Here was another example of one; the darker brown parts were the newer growth.
When I came across this part of the trail, I just hoped I wouldn't get my foot stuck in mud-like quicksand that almost swallowed my shoe back in Panama at the beginning of our adventure. Glad to report, I came out unscathed with both muddy boots intact!
Jorge said we needed to detour off the main path and take the alternate and less dangerous path through the jungle. We weren't surprised to discover that it wasn't uncommon for people to break their legs on the main trail during the rainy season. Recovering from having broken both feet in less than six months made me especially cautious.
Jorge warned us to tread carefully around these ant holes.
The colors and varieties of the ferns were spectacular.
These chapaya fruit were both sweet and a little sour, according to Jorge. People collect and boil them in water to drink the beverage like coffee. Red howler and Capuchin monkeys love them if they are lucky enough to get to them first!
I asked Jorge what these white blobs were and he said they were cotton and were used to make down pillows.
Unfortunately, the side path ended and we were back to the muddy, main trail. Jorge saw and heard a blue and yellow macaw but neither Simon, our fellow tourist from Australia, or Steven and I were able to spot it in the thick undergrowth.
As we'd been hiking for what seemed like a long time already, we were a tad envious when we saw another porter carrying other people's gear seemingly easily over his head.
Jorge said the government had built the bridge cum boardwalk because it was even muddier during the height of the rainy season. I would never want to be there during that time as we found it tough enough that day.
We were each very relieved to arrive at the small boat dock close to noon after hiking for several kilometers. Jorge unfortunately had caught a bad bug the previous day and had not felt up to sharing much of what we had seen on the trail. I was sure the last thing he felt like then was to row us around Lake Sandoval.
Steven had such a big smile as he was no longer having to schlep his backpack on that muddy excuse for a trail!
For about ten minutes, Jorge rowed us up the narrow river to reach the jungle lake which was surrounded by different types of rainforests.
Yellow, red and silver piranhas lived close to the shore.
Jorge said many people eat eggs from this type of turtle so it was endangered.
This was the first time we'd heard of a Watkins chicken bird! It had two stomachs and no predators because it was a 'stinking bird', according to Jorge. I should have asked him more about what he meant.
Lago Sandoval is a very shallow 'oxbow' lake, only up to three meters depth in the middle, that was formed generations ago by the shifting waters of the Madre de Dios River. We were glad we had decided to not only see the macaw clay lick and stay at the Chuncho Lodge but to come here for a couple more nights as Sandoval is considered by rainforest specialists as the best and most attractive lake in the Peruvian rainforest.
I wish I had time to take a photo of a cormorant as it took flight just inches above the water. We spotted only one other canoe out on the lake so it was exceedingly peaceful. We were so fortunate that we weren't there in the high season when there are up to 200 people on the lake.
The black blob on the lower right was a red howler monkey that we saw sprinting from branch to branch. Those stay well clear of people unlike other types of monkeys. If you click on the photo, you will be able to see a bigger version of it as you can with any of the other photos.
It was amazing to look up and see the 100-foot tall Mauritia palms that bordered many parts of the lake.
This was Casa Sandoval, our home for the next two nights.
Just feet from the lodge, a Capuchin monkey entertained us in the cerecopia tree.
A lady finger banana tree:
After lunch, we had siesta time for a couple of hours so Jorge could get a much needed rest before going back out on the lake.
Black vultures:
Jorge explained woodpeckers made their mark in the palm trees.
Awahu fruit was very popular along the Amazon, according to Jorge. The fruit wasn't that close, unfortunately, unlike the fruit he had been able to cut down at the farm yesterday afternoon, so we had no idea how it felt or tasted.
I don't recall ever seeing any other tree with so much fruit on it before. More even than the avocado tree, yesterday, right, Lil Red!
In the distance, we saw what Jorge said was an anhinga or snakebird bird poking its head out of the water.
At the same time as we saw the bird, we heard a red howler monkey in the distance. The animal is famous for having some of the loudest sounds in the animal kingdom. The troop of monkeys get together every morning to make a deafening chorus of calls. Their howling warns other howler monkeys to stay away from the trees they're feeding on. The throaty call of a red howler can be heard up to an astonishing six kilometers away! It's a sound I will never forget. If you want to hear what one sounds like for yourself, google howler monkeys.
Jorge knew this was a male turtle as a female one is much bigger.
When Jorge told us these were Hoatzin, I was curious to learn more about the unusual birds. I read they "crouch on low branches of trees that hang over rivers in the Amazon jungle. The fat, foul beast stinks of manure, barks and caws in guttural tones, and produces offspring with sharp claws in unusual places."
From what I read, the Hoatzin "never quite got hang of the whole “being a bird” thing. Not that it doesn’t try to fit in—on the outside, the Hoatzin looks like a mish-mash of half a dozen other birds, with the scruffy crest of a Guira Cuckoo, a Cassowary’s bright-blue face, the body of a chicken and a long, stiff hawk’s tail. The Hoatzin can fly, though it's a clumsy, reluctant flier at best."
It was fascinating to read that Hoatzins apparently "never got the genetic message that they aren't dinosaurs anymore and shouldn't be growing claws on their forelimbs! To be fair, Hoatzins do have claws in the normal places—but baby Hoatzins also have claws sprouting from their stumpy little wings.
There is, of course, an evolutionary explanation for this odd appendage: Hoatzins build their nests on tree branches that extend out over water, which doesn't leave their chicks many exit strategies for when a hungry snake or monkey is heading their way. So, when the featherless chicks feel threatened, they hop out of the nest and belly flop into the water below. Once the danger has passed, they paddle to shore, and use their wing claws to clamber up the tree and back into the nest."
We watched as several Brown Capuchin monkeys cavorted in the bushes, scrambling from branch to branch as they foraged through the palms along the edge of the lake. Often, we just had to look for a branch that was moving to see what animal was there!
A photo of the bridge spanning the Madre de Dios River across from Puerto Maldonando:
We were thankful for the stepping stones that covered parts of the trail as this area could get up to 60 cms of rain - about 24" - during the rainy season which was just beginning.
Jorge made sure we looked skyward from time to time to notice that the tree canopy was mostly so dense that the sky wasn't visible.
The sight of the pretty heliconia plant restored our dragging spirits a bit.
The sign at the end of the trail reminded people that litter doesn't come back alone and that we each had to bring it back out.
Our first glimpse of Lago Sandoval where we were staying for the next two nights:
Jorge remarked that 50,000 people visited the Tambopata Nature Reserve last year and, every year, more and more people come to visit the exquisite sights. Yesterday morning, there were about 30 people at the macaw clay lick which worked out well enough. I couldn't imagine their being up to 60 people in that confined space in the rainy season. I wondered how there could be room for everyone to come away with a positive and even uplifting experience as we had when the macaws came to eat at the lick.
Jorge added that locals own four lodges on the lake, each containing four to five rooms, and there was one big lodge which had 25 rooms. We would be staying at one of the small lodges.
After a delightful time on the boat, we reached the lodge's 'pier' close to one.
The undergrowth was so thick we couldn't see the trail that Jorge said connected all the lodges around the lake.
The Hoatzin was also known as the Canje pheasant.
Lina: You so would have loved seeing the monkeys' antics for several minutes as we were lucky enough to do.
The squirrel monkeys were far smaller than the Capuchin variety but we saw one grab eggs from the Hoatzin nest. Others chattered and leaped through the trees.
We were lucky to see another anhinga perched on a branch.
Simon, our fellow traveler from Australia, was happy to row and help Jorge out. I was glad with that plan as it meant my hands were free to take photos and write notes of what we'd seen.
The lake's ranger station was situated high among the trees so it had a bird's eye view of goings on on the lake.
Only locals were permitted to fish in Lake Sandoval for catfish and 10-foot long paiche, the largest scaled freshwater fish in the world.
'We' had just paddled over to the other side of the lake when we heard the distinctive sounds of a red howler monkey again. It was much closer this time, right by the ranger station. It would have been fascinating seeing it but not sure I would want to be so close without ear protection. Jorge said red howlers always make the sound before and after it rains.
Of course, just moments later we came across a troop or family of red howler monkeys but they luckily weren't screeching just then!
Red howlers were protected animals in the Reserve but not in the buffer zone where we were part of yesterday and therefore could be hunted. Jorge stated he thought they should be protected everywhere.
One of the monkeys was marking his territory and therefore made a noise but then stopped very quickly.
This was as sharp a photo of the 'red' howler I was able to get at a distance through the trees. It was quite immense and had a very commanding presence.
Because dusk was approaching, Jorge wasn't able to tell us whether this was a hawk or a vulture.
After just seeing one cormorant at the beginning of our afternoon boat ride, we were happy to catch sight of so many more.
We were especially lucky when Jorge spotted a family of river otters in the lake. Once widespread throughout South America, the giant otter was hunted nearly to extinction and is now one of the most vulnerable mammals on the continent.
Jorge and Simon followed the otter family making sure they didn't get too close to them and spook them.
Even though Lake Sandoval had a thriving and healthy population of otters, seeing the powerful predators as they fished and frolicked in the lake was a highlight of the afternoon boat ride.
They were the most difficult animals for me to photograph as they moved so quickly, darn them!
A while later, we were lucky enough to see two of the otters go onshore.
Since they remained somewhat stationary for a moment or two, I was able to take this photo of the entire animal at long last! Again, just click on the photo to see it better.
Jorge declared that now we'd seen an otter family, next we needed to be on the search for a caiman.
What a pretty sight it was with the moonlight shimmering on the water in the later afternoon. By just 5:15, it was pitch black so almost impossible to take any more photos. Jorge said we'd only spot a caiman by their eyes that would be pinpoints of light above the water.
Since Simon and I had our headlamps on, a lot of moths were attracted to the light. We had to make sure to close our mouths so we didn't inadvertently swallow some Amazonian bug!
After the sun had set, we experienced the nocturnal life of the lake beneath a star-filled sky.
As Jorge expected, we did spot the bright eyes of a few caiman poking their heads above the water and an egret before we returned to the lodge for dinner at 7. Steven and I knew we'd sleep well that night after another great day in the Amazon Basin, lots of exercise, fresh air AND because there was no electricity in our cabin! The next day would be another early one with our having to meet at 6 with our bags packed for breakfast!
Next post: Dawn boat ride on Lake Sandoval & return to Puerto Maldonado.
Posted on January 28th, 2018, from Littleton, Colorado.
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