Puma and other wild friends
Saturday, May 28th, 200524 May – 28 May, 2005
5 day excursion to Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado. Beginning and ending in San Ignacio, we teamed up with an American fellow, Armon, to help cover the large cost of renting a 4WD.
Day 1 – 10 hours travel by 4wd to the park.
Day 2 – Pick up our guide and head into the park. This is some of the most remote and virgin forest in the world. We drove part of the way, but when the trail was too overgrown with vegetation for the car, continued on foot with a machete. Spotted an ocelot on the trail who quickly took cover. Got squawked at by a pair of macaws. Flocks of parrots overhead, and then were treated to the awesome sight of a family of 15 or more spider monkeys following each other in what almost appeared to be a parade or conga line, as they each lept from the same limb of a mighty tree.
Day 3 – 26 km by foot. From our campsite to a waterfall, spotting more spider monkeys on the way. When we were beneath their tree, care was called for as they broke off small clumps of leaves and twigs and dropped them at us to keep us moving. After swimming at the waterfall, we encountered another group of monkeys – capuchin monkeys. We actually saw one clutching a baby swing from one tree to another using a vine – I thought that was pure fiction! Bees! Aaargh! Jo scored 2 stings, Armon just 1, while Richard won with 6!
Visitor in the bathroom.
Day 4 – Some shorter walks. Through the forest in the morning. Out to the savanah in the afternoon, where we had a nice but distant sighting of a tapir. We then listened to two of them calling out to each other for some time, while our guide whistled in his 2 cents worth (which the animals did respond to, although they refused to come out of the grass…) That night, we did a walk with torches, and this is where we had our most breathtaking encounter ever – an adult puma. He (or she) considered running, but then curiousity reigned and he came within 15 metres. Here he stood for a minute, not even flinching when I took a photo (came out awful as the flash didn’t carry…), but then at the smallest noise, he turned and sprinted in to the forest while we looked at each other and the guide and pinched ourselves. Saw some foxes, too, but they pale in comparison to the great cat.
Wild puma in Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado. He came within 15 metres, out of curiosity. We saw him quite clearly with the torches, although the photo does little justice to this fact. Apparently, a very rare encounter.
Day 5 – Return to San Ignacio (where we are now). Over 13 hours drive, due to 3 flat tyres…
And this is the dry season! Thankfully, loggers on hand to help us out of a bind.
Dodgy boat trip. Gave this one a miss.
Capital of ... 
Richard and Jo