The 4am wake-up call wasn’t too bad, at least it wasn’t cold and we didn’t have to trek up and down mountains all day. When you look at things from that perspective most things in life seem quite easy. After a quick breakfast, my gumboots and I took a very muddy walk back to the port, before taking a boat to the Ox-Bow Lake for a morning wildlife cruise. We spotted mostly birds, including a Toucan, but also saw a couple of Giant River Otters, which are the biggest in the world at 2m long. Everyone took turns at fishing for yellow-belly Piranha’s (which were tiny but looked vicious) and I dozed in the early morning sun.
Back to the port, another hike through mud, another boat ride down the river, and another hike through mud later, we arrived back at our lodge, welcomed with fresh juice and fried bread before a quick rest in the lobby. Then we were off again on a walk through the jungle to a wooden bird-watching hut, where we sat inside, looking out small holes to spot the Macaws. We sat silently for what seemed like hours, and managed to spot one or two, but didn’t see very much at all which was disappointing (though I’m sure we were the noisiest bunch of silent bird-watchers ever. I don’t blame the birds).
After lunch and an afternoon siesta, we walked back to the port in our gumboots and caught the boat upstream to a shaman’s medicinal garden. The shaman himself wasn’t there but his gardener showed us around the jungle of a garden, explaining each plants properties and uses. We chewed leaves which left our tongues numb and saw vines which, according to the gardener, were not hallucinogenic or addictive, but that would make you feel drunk and have ‘visions’. I have my doubts. We tried some syrup of one of the plants – red bull of the jungle they called it, due to its energetic properties. It tasted like Benadryl to me, pretty gross but better than corn beer and Guinea Pig by a long shot.
By the time we arrived back at our port, it was pitch black, and we used our torches to guide us back via a longer trail to see if we could spot some nocturnal wildlife along the way. Unfortunately all we saw were big, hairy spiders, a small gecko, and some small insects. And my torch decided to die, so I was standing about 2mm from Birgitte’s back the whole time, in case the Puma decided to jump out at me while I stood in the dark. Man, was I looking forward to a good cocktail by the end. We had dinner, official farewell’s to our guide Wilfredo and a few cocktails. Then a wonderful night’s sleep. Truly wonderful.
– Sarah
Sarah