Not quite such an early start today, 6:00 wake up, breakfast 6:30, leave 7:00 to go to the clay licks. These are frequented by blue headed and yellow crowned parrots most days as without the minerals they are ill, but if it's raining they don't visit.
We were off in the canoe as usual with Hugo at the front then Andreas, me and Ian sharing a seat, then the lads with a seat each and finally Blue at the back with another oar.
A few sightings along the way (various times of the day so different lighting but they are just snaps so I'm lumping them together.
Greater Ani
Lesser Kiskadee
Long Nosed Bats
Ringed Kingfisher
Limpkin
We weren't long in one of the waterways when Hugo heard the sound of the Giant River Otters. There is a family of 6 living in the area but it is so vast that sightings are few and far between - how lucky were we to spot them.
Then they dashed off in the opposite direction and we followed, paddling as fast as we could (not actually us obviously). We caught up with them just in time to hear an almighty squeal which Hugo said was a pup demanding a share of the just caught fish. They had swum into dense vegetation and it was really hard to get a clear shot, I ended up half standing and leaning on a log.
They really are quite evil looking creatures but............ Wow!
Having spent a long time watching them we then hurried off but unfortunately just before we got to the landing stage it started to spit with rain. They paddled like crazy and luckily got us under shelter before the heavens absolutely opened - glad we've seen Amazon rain but so, so pleased we weren't caught in it.
Because of the rain we knew the parrots wouldn't visit for a while, so after it stopped we went up river to the Kichwa Community Centre to see how life was before the Spanish arrived. As usual this kind of thing isn't really up our street but we listened intently and nodded at the right moments. The Wildlife Centre was conceived, built and is run by the community for the community and I have huge respect for what they've achieved. I'll write separately about it later.
We had lunch at the centre and whilst we were waiting for it to be served, school finished and firstly there was a race around the field and then the infants came out.
Andreas produced a hunting blow pipe and darts (non poisonous) so Danny and Freddie amused themselves trying to hit the target - unsuccessful but good fun.
We had a delicious lunch of catfish, palm hearts, rice and cassava (yukka) and then the special treat Andreas had arranged - fried insects of some sort plus some kind of roasted nuts. For a moment I thought I'd been transported into I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here - we ate the nuts but not the bugs, the crazy Italians did though and declared them to be very tasty.
The finale was a large grub (4cm x 1cm) and Freddie was nominated to eat it but as soon as he touched it, it wriggled - yuk! Eventually after many false starts he did eat it but I couldn't look, I knew I'd be ill. He said it wasn't too bad, very watery but not an awful taste.
All credit to him for having a go - it was probably a rite of passage - he's 9 years younger than his brother, and Dad and Danny have been adventure holidaying for years and this is Freddie's first time with them! Wife is apparently at home having bought a new house which Vittorio hasn't even seen and is busy getting it ready for him!
All credit to him for having a go - it was probably a rite of passage - he's 9 years younger than his brother, and Dad and Danny have been adventure holidaying for years and this is Freddie's first time with them! Wife is apparently at home having bought a new house which Vittorio hasn't even seen and is busy getting it ready for him!
We then heard word that the parrots were at the clay lick so instead of the slow canoe, Hugo jumped in a speed boat and got us back to the creek quickly, we than had a 1.5km very fast walk through the jungle in the afternoon heat and me carrying my backpack which weighs about 4kg. But we got there and there were loads of parrots in the trees around the lick (you may need to look carefully!)
Sadly though they didn't come down and after about 20 mins something scared them away and apparently it would be at least 2 hours before they returned and we couldn't wait that long.
On leaving the hide, we saw this cute Leaf Nosed Bat curled up under a leaf!
And a millipede - goodness knows how large a centipede must be, this was about 10cm long.
And a millipede - goodness knows how large a centipede must be, this was about 10cm long.
On the way back to the lodge, this squirrel monkey kept us amused trying to get at these fruits and dropping them almost on top of us. In her greed she tried to get the whole bunch and sent it crashing into the water.
Somehow Blue, our rear oarsman, spotted this anaconda asleep in the dead reeds, awful shot but we didn't want to disturb it just for a photo!
Back home we decided we should have a look at the observation tower as it has a lift. Unfortunately we got stuck in it for a while (no real problem). The views from the top were amazing but Ian decided it was safest to walk down the 7 floors!
