Day 5 It must be genetic

Today was the day.  Piranha fishing was on the morning agenda!
We loaded up the boat and headed up river about 20 minutes before tying up to a tree.  Nixon handed us our fishing equipment.  Not a fancy Garcia or Penn Rod & Reel.  A tree branch pole with a short line, small leader and hook. It was time to catch the fish that would like to catch us.
In just a short period of time our boat driver hooked the first one.  According to Nixon it was a White Piranha.  He (I'm assuming it was a he) was about the size of my hand with some pretty gnarly upper and lower teeth.  Nixon asked if we planned on keeping our catch and we agreed that we weren't that interested in eating them.  I had actually tasted some that had been caught by a group back at the Tahuayo Lodge.  It was a pretty nice tasting fish although it had a lot of small bones.
Shortly thereafter Beth landed her first fish, also a White Piranha.  Three more were caught before we were done.  All three of them were "Red Belly Piranha".  One was quite a bit larger than the others with very large, razor sharp teeth.  The final score on the fishing..........  Our boat driver-4, Beth-1, Nixon-0 and me-0.  Do I feel sad to have been whipped by Beth in fishing.  Heck no!  After all her dad was one of the greatest fisherman of all time.  It must be genetic!

Beth and her White Piranha



Nixon and I were shut out!

Our boat driver and a Red Belly Piranha  (It was the largest one we caught and from what I understand about as big as they get) 

Check out the gnarly teeth on that boy!

On the way back to the Research Center Nixon did it again.  He quickly stuck up his hand and directed the driver to head towards a group of trees along the rivers edge.  It took us a while (as usual) to see what he was seeing but when we did it was a real treat, an anteater.  He was high up in the trees moving casually from branch to branch enjoying a mid-morning snack.  Also a few branches below was a porcupine which I can proudly claim to have been the first to see.  I pointed him out to Nixon who smiled and said something about me becoming a guide.

Anteater

Doing what anteaters do.........eating the ants in the tree

Totally oblivious to us

Still hanging around

After lunch we did our final canoe paddle.  Full  disclosure, we sit and Nixon paddles.  Again we were amazed at his navigational skills through the dense jungle.  We finally decided that Nixon has both vision and hearing super powers of some type.  We see only a dense canopy of trees.  Nixon sees right through them to find monkey's, sloths and other animals.  These super powers were on display again as he pointed out these and other animals during our two hour trip.

Spotted Tree Sloth

After the sun went down we did a short walkabout finding giant frogs and toads and a night fishing white tern.  There was a partial caiman sighting.  Nixon saw it (of course), I saw it but Beth never could pick it up in the thick vegetation. We also spotted a very large tarantula that ducked into a hole in the tree before we could get a picture.

Frog that we found on the nightwalk.  Nixon said they were edible and that they tasted like.............chicken (of course)



Giant Toad on the nightwalk

It's now Tuesday morning around 9:00 AM.  Our bags are packed for the hour and a half boat ride back to the main lodge.  We'll have lunch there before getting another boat back to Iquitos.  We have a flight at 8:00 tonight that will take us back to Lima (3rd time).  From there we catch a 12:05 flight to Quito, Ecuador.  We have about an eight hour layover before catching a flight to the Galapagos Islands for our last stop on this South American adventure.
Before breakfast this morning we had one final adventure.  It was actually a repeat of one we did yesterday.  Beth requested another piranha fishing trip.  We went down river today a short distance to a small lake to try our luck again. The little boogers are very hard to catch.  Their razor sharp teeth nibble away at the meat on the hook a little at a time.  Todays fishing report:  Nixon-3, our driver-0 (he was mostly a spectator today), Beth 1 and me 1/2..  I actually caught one!  He was the runt of the litter.  Hey, anyone can catch a big fish.  It takes talent to catch something as small as this one.

Nixon really put the pressure on me when he caught one

Total Concentration

At last, at last, at last

What an adventure this has been.  The idiots are on the move again!

Drop the bait in the water and beat the pole on the water to attract the boys

Nixon spotted this anteater as we were heading back to the lodge

Day 4 Finding a needle in a Peruvian Rainforest

Today was moving day.  We moved from the Tahuayo Lodge deeper into the jungle to the Amazonia Expeditions research center.  Before moving we had one more adventure in store before heading out.
We were going to hike into the jungle in search of the elusive Poisonous Tree Frog that live exclusively in this area of the rainforest.  They're rare, very small (about the size of a dime) and well camouflaged so the little guys are hard to find.  Searching for them in the forest would be about like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack.  Their skin is poisonous and serves to protect them from most predators.  According to Nixon, if they got on your skin it would cause a rash.  We completely trust Nixon so we weren't going to rub one on our skin to find out.
Several biologist have been studying these frogs so they had set up several small cut off plastic coke bottles in hopes of attracting them.  We found several tadpoles in a couple of the bottles so we were thinking we'd have to come back in a month or so.  However, we finally found one.  As advertised it was small and blended right in with it's surroundings.  There was a degree of satisfaction knowing that with Nixon's help we had found the Peruvian Frog equilvent to a needle in the haystack.




The very elusive and very small poisonous tree frog 



Along the trail we also came across what is known as the "bat tree".  It was a large tree that according to Nixon fell around 300 years ago.  The inside of the tree has completely decomposed.  It's turned into a home for four different species of bats.  The tree was big enough that you could actually walk through it (about forty feet long).  We opted to take pictures from the large opening.  However, Nixon took the camera and walked the entire length while making an amazing video for us.

The "bat tree".  It was large enough that if you squatted you could walk the entire length.  It was full of four species of bats, including large vampire bats so we opted not to make the trek. 

At the entrance to the Bat Tree

Vampire Bat.........Big and Scary

This was a small one but he wasn't really welcoming looking

A lunch of Chicken and Rice along with fresh fruits and vegetables had been prepared.  We enjoyed eating it where the trailhead met the river before heading back to the lodge to get our bags.  We were in a small boat for another hour and a half trip to the research center.  Again, the journey was a treat unto itself, especially when the driver would skillfully take a "shortcut" through a small stream that to most of us wouldn't be recognized.




Copper Faced Monkey

The Research Center

The Research Center is also built on stilts.  It's smaller than the main lodge although it is still surprisingly large.  It's a little more rustic in that there are no bathrooms or showers in the individual lodges.  Right now it's not very crowded.  We are now sharing the entire center with just two other "guests" .  A young man from BYU and a young lady from the University of Vermont.  They are both doing internship programs here.  There was a third student but he left this morning.  They're nice young people who are having an amazing internship experience deep in the jungle.

Amazing video Nixon took in the bat tree!

Day 3 In Nixon We REALLY Trust

Hiking through the muck! 

We learned to trust Nixon really quickly.  He grew up in a small village no more than 10 minutes from the lodge.  This is his home and back yard.  It is also clear that his skills at navigation both by water and land are amazing.  He also has the ability to spot an animal that Beth and I have trouble finding even after he points them out.  There are millions of trees and as we go along the river he will suddenly stop and find something as small as a pygmy monkey or something that is barely moving like a sloth.  In passing he found camouflage bats on a tree that it took both of us close to a minute to spot at a distance of 3-4 feet.




Common Squirrel Monkey

Fearless hikers deep in the brush.  Nixon let me hold his machete but only for a minute,

Camouflage Tree Bat 

Camouflage Tree Bat.  It took us a while to spot this even though we were only a little more than an arms length away

If we trusted Nixon yesterday we really trusted him today.  He led us on a hike through the jungle.  Much like our time in the canoe the day before he instinctively followed a path where there appeared to be none.  We were hiking in muck that was quite thick and made even thicker thanks to an overnight rain.  At one point water poured over Beth's boot.  I managed to keep my feet dry but my boots are also a little larger.
Our morning activity was one of those we wouldn't miss but would have us questioning our sanity.  We did the lodges zip line through the canopy.  The trees grow really tall in the rainforest so the canopy is way up there!
We were hoisted up a Kapok Tree to a height of about 150 feet.  Once harnessed in Nixon simply said "OK you can step off now".  Beth went first with me filming and she survived the first section.  I followed closely behind.  We both agreed on a couple of things.  Stepping off a perfectly good platform 150 feet in the air isn't natural.  We also agreed that even though we've done several zip lines before (Jamaica and China), we may be getting a little old...............nah, we'd do it again in a heartbeat!



Nixon has taken survival skills classes.  He told us this vine would be full of drinkable water......it was!



Beth zipping along!  That first step is a doozy!

Our afternoon activity was a little less adventurous but equally fun.  We visited Nixon's village, El Chino.  It's a small village of around 250 people along the river.  We walked around and Nixon showed us several plants that are used in herbal medicines as well as some very small marmosets that live in a tree near the village.  We briefly met his mother and some other family members including his niece.  It was fun sitting and enjoying a coke outside the local store watching adults and children enjoying games of volleyball, soccer and just chatting it up.  A typical Saturday afternoon in the Amazon Rainforest of Peru!

El Chino Primary School



House around the "village square" which had a volleyball court, soccer field, meeting area, playground and more.

Pygmy Marmoset there is a colony of them living in the trees behind the village

These guys had a very intense but fun game of volleyball going.  They were actually very good players who would occasionally use their heads or feet.  Every point ended with laughter

Happy Children and Happy Chickens

Day 2.........."In Nixon We Trust"

Every day there are at least two activities.  A morning activity, lunch/rest time and then an afternoon activity.  After dinner there are also options of walkabouts or going out on the river for a night paddle.
For our morning activity we headed back up river to complete the canoeing into the jungle that was rained out the afternoon before.  After switching to the canoe we headed directly into the jungle.  This is when we first started to appreciate Nixon's amazing skills.  He pointed the canoe into an area of trees and brush.  He carefully weaved and bobbed his way through until we came to an opening which was actually a grass covered lake.  He carries with him at all times a machete that he uses to clear small brush (and hopefully protect us if we were ever attacked by an anaconda).  Watching him use the machete is a site to behold.  Even though the brush is thick he clears only the smallest path. Anything that needs to be taken out that is less than about an inch and a half in diameter is usually removed with one swing.  How he got us in and out so easily is beyond me.

Nixon paddled us straight in to what you see.  I think we went about 500-600 yards in to the lake that was covered with grass

He navigated us through here.....somehow

Nixon calling caiman and various birds.  His ability to imitate the sounds animals make was amazing

This is a "walking tree.  As the roots grow and spread the tree actually very, very slowly moves.

We spotted the Hoatzin Bird almost immediately after getting to the opening. This bird is about the size of a chicken.  They live mainly in the Amazon and Orinoco River basins.  Their head has a very distinctive crown of colorful feathers.  One other unusual trait about them is that their stomach is similar to a cows with multiple stomachs.  Very unique looking which is why it has been incorporated into the Amazonia Expeditions logo.

Not a great picture but this is the Hoatzin Bird




https://nerdist.com/miracles-of-weird-the-hoatzin/

In the afternoon we went down river to a large beautiful lake for a swim.  The water felt really nice.  It was spring fed by numerous springs so the temperature would constantly change as we moved around alternating from warm to refreshingly cool.  There are two types of freshwater dolphins (Gray and Pink) that live in the lake.  We saw several of them close up, however they only surface for a short time for a quick breath so we never caught them on the camera.

The water was cool in spots and warm in others.  It was fed by multiple small springs




https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/amazon-river-dolphin

On the way back to the lodge we enjoyed another refreshing afternoon rain (aquatic massage), after all we are in the rainforest.

Red Squirrel and a mouthful

Hawk

Let the Adventure Begin..........

On the evening of May 30 we flew from Cusco to Lima.  This was our second overnight stay in Lima.  Once again we stayed at the Lima Airport Holiday Inn.  Like our first stay this one was also short.  We got to the room around 9:00 PM and were on a 3:30 AM shuttle for our flight to Iquitos, the gateway of the Peruvian Amazon.
We were met at the airport by a representative of Amazonia Expeditions and a driver.  The airport was small and we expected Iquitos to be small as well.  We were surprised on the drive to find the city was actually quite large with a population of just under 500,000.  Iquitos is unique in that it can only be reached by boat or plane.  It was around 7:30 AM as we made our way across town to the offices and port where we would catch our boat.  The road reminded us of India.  Everywhere there were what seemed like thousands of "tuk-tuks" and motor scooters darting in and out.  Cars were few and far between.  We were told that because cars must be shipped in that they can be as expensive as houses. For this reason most people do not own a car.  What they lack in cars they make up for with "tuk-tuks" and scooters.

The Amazon River Basin from the Amazonia Expeditions Office in Quito

The basin was busy with boats of all shapes and sizes

The boat that would take us to the lodge looked like it would seat around a dozen people.  On this particular three hour journey it was Beth, Nixon (our guide for the entire stay), the driver and I.  All the other seats were full of food and water supplies that we would be delivering to the lodge. 

A couple of seats for us and everything behind us was luggage and supplies

We were in the Amazon River, which is quite muddy (like the Mississippi) for part of the journey.  We then moved into the Tahuayo River, which unlike the Amazon, is a very dark but clear color.  It was quite interesting to see the area where the waters meet.  Off one side of the boat the water was muddy brown while on the other side it was clear and black.
We stopped in a small village about half way for a break.  There was a small store that sold snacks and a restroom.  Both the men's and women's facilities went directly into the river.  Beth was pleased that hers actually had a toilet while mine was straddling an open space between two boards!  It's a massive river with billions of gallons of water flowing and our journey would continue to take us up river.

A local village along the way.  This is where we stopped for our "restroom break"

River Village..........notice the difference in the color of the water from the previous picture.  The picture above was in the Amazon River.  This village is located on the Tahuayo River (a tributary to the Amazon)

Arriving at the lodge

From the deck of the lodge

Taking a break

The lodge complex which is built completely on stilts is quite large.  The main dining hall could easily seat over 100 people.  It had a bar, library and sitting area as well.  There was also a large "Wi-Fi" room, a hammock room and a separate seating area back near the rooms.  Our room was two stories with two beds, a sitting area and a bathroom upstairs and a bedroom, closet and bathroom downstairs.  We knew it would be rustic but it was quite nice and comfortable.




Passenger boat delivering locals to and from the local villages

After a welcome drink of local juice we unpacked.  It was time for lunch which was very good.  We then met Nixon for our first "adventure".  We took a small motor boat with a canoe attached upriver.  The plan was to switch to the canoe and paddle into the jungle.  Just as we reached the spot where we were going to make the transition it started to rain pretty heavily.  We waited a while before tying the canoe up and heading back to the lodge.  The rain was actually cool and refreshing.  We told Nixon we appreciated the aquatic massage that the raindrops provided.
The food, especially lunch and dinner, is exceptional.  There are tons of fresh fruits, vegetables, salads, rice or some other type of grain, along with meat, chicken or fish.  We are always anticipating the banging of the meal drum which signals it's time to eat!
After dinner we put on the provided rubber boots for the first time and did a short night walk around and underneath the lodge.  We found a baby caiman (alligator) in the shallow water.  Nixon stealthily
snuck up on it and picked him up giving us an up close look at the little fella.  We also found a huge toad (softball size), bats and a tarantula bigger than my open hand., although I didn't actually hold him.
The motto of Amazonia Expeditions is "Let the Adventure Begin"............it certainly has!