First full week in the Jungle!
Hola mi amigos!
well we have completed our first full week at the Taricaya Research Centre and what a full week it was: activities this week included donkey training which involves riding one of the donkey´s while the other pulls a cart. Lodge maintenance where Lee got to walk the ocelot this time, fixing up the interior of an interpretation centre at the lodge which involved going up very suspect and wobbly ladders to nail on mosquito netting and leaf roofing panels.
Thursday mornings activity was the worst for Rachael, while Lee went off on an herpetology walk looking for reptiles and amphibians, I went across the river to another farm to weed helicona flowers (yes after a summer of weeding and picking vegetables in Devon I fly all the way to the amazon jungle and end up weeding again!). This, however, was a little different to weeding with hoes back home, we were using 2 foot long macchettes! It was extremely hot, uncomfortable and I got a really sore blister =0( I was extremly pleased to get back to the lodge for a cold shower!
We also took part in observations, where we head off to one of three platforms and spend a couple of hours recording what bird and mammal life we see.This includes Canopy Walk Way, a platform 42m high up in the canopy. A little scary to get to via a swinging, steeply ascending steel-rope bridge, but the views are well worth it. As well as lots of birds Rachael managed to see Dusky Titi monkeys from one platform and Lee got a great view of some squirrel monkeys while out on a walk with one of the guides.
During the afteroon siesta Lee and I have been doing some brid watching around the lodge and enclosures with some success. Wednesday evening we also watched some large fruit bats flying around the lodge.
Monday evening we were treated to an impromtu Caimen hunt. Setting off in the boat with a flash light to search for the caimen, Alex (one of the guides) would then lean over and try to catch them. After quite a few unsuccessful attempts crashing into the river vegetation and once finding a caimen that was too BIG! Alex finally managed to grab a small Black Caimen, one of the more rarer caimen in the area. Took some photos and even managed to get a pic of Lee holding it! (Yep he still has all his fingers and toes!)
Friday we all went on a five and a half hour walk around all the perimeter trails of the reserve. We got absolutely soaked when it rained but still had a really good time with Alex telling us about some of the medicinal properties of trees. The walk did however take us through a swamp, the water only came up to mid thigh but the mud was quite deep and we kept getting stuck. Phil (one of the other volunteers) managed to get some great footage of Rachael wobbling but not quite falling over =0)
Lee has had quite a mixed week, he was unwell during the beginning of the week with an upset tummy and then got bitten by a fire ant during the walk on Friday, pretty painful! He is back to his chirpy self now though.
We are off to explore the market of Peruto now before returning to relax with the other volunteers back at the hostel.
We usually check our emails around the same time on a saturday, at about 4pm UK time so if any one feels like popping onto MSN we can have a chat!
Hola mi amigos!
well we have completed our first full week at the Taricaya Research Centre and what a full week it was: activities this week included donkey training which involves riding one of the donkey´s while the other pulls a cart. Lodge maintenance where Lee got to walk the ocelot this time, fixing up the interior of an interpretation centre at the lodge which involved going up very suspect and wobbly ladders to nail on mosquito netting and leaf roofing panels.
Thursday mornings activity was the worst for Rachael, while Lee went off on an herpetology walk looking for reptiles and amphibians, I went across the river to another farm to weed helicona flowers (yes after a summer of weeding and picking vegetables in Devon I fly all the way to the amazon jungle and end up weeding again!). This, however, was a little different to weeding with hoes back home, we were using 2 foot long macchettes! It was extremely hot, uncomfortable and I got a really sore blister =0( I was extremly pleased to get back to the lodge for a cold shower!
We also took part in observations, where we head off to one of three platforms and spend a couple of hours recording what bird and mammal life we see.This includes Canopy Walk Way, a platform 42m high up in the canopy. A little scary to get to via a swinging, steeply ascending steel-rope bridge, but the views are well worth it. As well as lots of birds Rachael managed to see Dusky Titi monkeys from one platform and Lee got a great view of some squirrel monkeys while out on a walk with one of the guides.
During the afteroon siesta Lee and I have been doing some brid watching around the lodge and enclosures with some success. Wednesday evening we also watched some large fruit bats flying around the lodge.
Monday evening we were treated to an impromtu Caimen hunt. Setting off in the boat with a flash light to search for the caimen, Alex (one of the guides) would then lean over and try to catch them. After quite a few unsuccessful attempts crashing into the river vegetation and once finding a caimen that was too BIG! Alex finally managed to grab a small Black Caimen, one of the more rarer caimen in the area. Took some photos and even managed to get a pic of Lee holding it! (Yep he still has all his fingers and toes!)
Friday we all went on a five and a half hour walk around all the perimeter trails of the reserve. We got absolutely soaked when it rained but still had a really good time with Alex telling us about some of the medicinal properties of trees. The walk did however take us through a swamp, the water only came up to mid thigh but the mud was quite deep and we kept getting stuck. Phil (one of the other volunteers) managed to get some great footage of Rachael wobbling but not quite falling over =0)
Lee has had quite a mixed week, he was unwell during the beginning of the week with an upset tummy and then got bitten by a fire ant during the walk on Friday, pretty painful! He is back to his chirpy self now though.
We are off to explore the market of Peruto now before returning to relax with the other volunteers back at the hostel.
We usually check our emails around the same time on a saturday, at about 4pm UK time so if any one feels like popping onto MSN we can have a chat!
posted by Lee Barber at
8:30 AM
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