Send Me to the Jungle!

Well Mom and Dad finally arrived after I've been anticipating their trip for so many months and we've already had an amazing time together. We spent a night in Lima when they first arrived so we were able to visit my old host family in Santa Eulalia. They were as adorable as ever of course. I was SO happy to see them. My parents cried (surprise, surprise) because they just felt so grateful of how much Carmen and her family had welcomed me into their home and included me as part of their family (big change from what things are like now). My Abuelita made arroz con pollo for lunch – one of my favorites – and my parents loved it since she's such a great cook. Then we all sat around talking with them for about 3 hours. I played UNO with Fernando and Naomi while Mom tried to teach Carmen how to use this jewelry making thing we gave to Naomi. Turns out it's really complicated, but Carmen was really into it and is excited about using it! It was hilarious to watch Mom try to explain to Carmen how to use it since they don't speak the same language, but I have to give my mom credit, she does very well for herself with all her crazy hand motions and facial expressions!

Anyway, on to the good stuff. We flew from Lima to spend about a week in the jungle on the Tambopata river. Let me just say that is was absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! It far exceeded my expectations and I can't wait to go back (not that I can afford it, but it's nice to dream). I'm not really sure what I expected actually, but I never thought it would be as much fun as it was.

We were a little worried at first how the trip would pan out because when we arrived at the airport in Puerto Maldonado, no one was there to meet us. There were lots of other people from the company we were using, but no one was holding a sign with our name on it. They were very nice though and took us back to their office to figure out what happened – turns out they weren't expecting us until the next day so when we were arriving at the airport, our guide was at a restaurant eating lunch! We were originally supposed to arrive the next day so there was just some miscommunication somewhere along the way. Our guide showed up about 20 minutes after we got to the office and he was very apologetic. He seemed really nice and told us from the beginning that he promised to give us the best trip he could so we felt like we were in good hands. Plus mom had a crush on him right away. On the 45 minute bus ride to the port (on the river where we caught the boat to the lodge), she kept waving at him and telling me how cute he was! Hahaha.

I'll try to spare you all of the details of the trip since it's already 12:30 am and I need to get up early. I wanted to try and get some stuff written before we get into the next leg of our trip and I forget all of the funny stories I wanted to tell you. The first day we got there we took a 4 hour boat ride down river to the Refugio Amazonas lodge where we spent the night. It was a beautiful boat ride and reminded me of documentaries you see on National Geographic about the jungle. Along the way we saw lots of birds and even a cayman (crocodile)! It was really fun and made me excited for what was to come. When we finally arrived it was already dark so our guides lead us along the path to our lodge. When we emerged from the forest and saw this big beautiful lodge in front of us, I felt like I was in a movie! There is no electricity in the lodge so everything was illuminated by candlelight when we arrived, making it look even more dramatic. They really want you to feel like you're in the jungle so the rooms you stay in are really simple and only have three walls – the other is open to the forest so you don't miss a beat. The rooms are really cute though and all the beds have mosquito nets so you can sleep comfortably without worrying about being eaten alive. They also had a private bath with biodegradable soap and shampoo (I was really impressed). It was sort of like luxury camping!

Our first morning in the jungle, we got up at 5:00 am to go to the Canopy Tower and look for birds. (Little did we know, we actually were "sleeping in" that morning because every other morning we got up at 4:30 to do the same thing!) The tower is about 30 meters high (I think) with 156 stairs (of course mom counted them) and from the top you're about even with the canopy of the rainforest so you can watch for birds. It was really misty when we first arrived, but it cleared up and we actually saw lots of birds – even tucans and macaws (the really colorful parrots that a lot of people have for pets). I thought I wouldn't like it since I'm not really into birds, but it was actually really cool. Our guide brought a telescope so we could look at things closer and he also has a really nice pair of binoculars that he always let us use so we really felt like we saw the birds up close and personal.

We had a private guide for the three of us whose name was Gerson. He is 23 years old and from Puerto Maldonado. He has been working for this company for three and a half years and, in our opinion, is the best guide they have. He was AMAZING! He speaks English beautifully and he has a great sense of humor. We were always joking around and laughing with him, which made the trip that much better. On top of that, he was really knowledgeable of the area and was always telling us interesting facts about the flora and fauna. You would think we were just walking along and he wasn’t paying attention and all of a sudden he’d point out a little frog. I have no idea how he could even spot something like that as it usually took us about 5 minutes to find it even after he had pointed it out! One time when we saw a frog, Mom thought he was pointing out dew drops because she couldn’t see it! Hahahaha.

We were all really impressed by how many things he spotted and were so happy he was our guide. It was really nice for me to have him along too since he’s my age. We had a lot of fun talking and joking around together, plus I got to practice my Spanish because we spoke in Spanish most of the time when we were just talking together. He was also really patient with my parents and all of their picture taking. He even would help us get better shots and at the end of our trip burned a CD for us of all the pictures he had taken. He never made us feel like we were in a rush and had such a confidence in his work that we never felt unsafe for a minute – even while kayaking down the river and walking through the jungle at night! He told us the first day he met us that he would make the trip the best he could for us and he wasn’t kidding. It was better than any of us could have imagined and it was because of him. We liked a few of the other guides (Mom had a crush on one of them, William, and was sad when he left the lodge), but a lot of the other guides we met didn’t seem as fun or dynamic. Gerson had so much energy and enthusiasm and made us really excited about everything we did. I wish I had the money to go back because I would go back in a heartbeat. The chef at the lodge told me he’d pay for my ticket to come back….maybe I should take him up on it!

Anyway, back to the trip. After seeing the canopy tower, we got in a boat again to head further down river to the Tambopata Research Center (TRC). It’s the lodge furthest up river (about 80 km away from civilization) and is the best place to see wildlife. We weren’t supposed to go until the following day, but Gerson suggested we go as soon as possible since it’s a better forest than Refugio. The lodge there was quainter and more intimate, very comfortable. The first night there were only 5 guests there – us and one other couple from San Diego so it was very relaxing. There has been research going on at TRC since 1989 about macaws (the big colorful parrots that lots of people have as pets) and how to protect them because they are often stolen from their natural environment to be sold on the illegal pet market. We watched a video about them and they are incredibly smart birds. The researchers are hoping they can find a way to teach these birds to protect themselves, and in turn, they’ll be able to help lots of the wildlife in the rainforest. I was surprised at how interested I was in their work since I don’t even like birds. It was actually really fascinating though.

As part of their research, they go to this place called the Clay Lick every morning to observe the macaw activity. They have found that macaws go there to eat clay because they believe it supplements their diet. There are many factors that play into whether or not the birds will land – including the weather, potential predators, the time of year (which has to do with the mating season I think), etc. so in order to observe them, we have to arrive before sunrise as to not disrupt their decision to land or not. Therefore, we got up at 4:30 every morning so we could be on the boat by 5 and all set up at the clay lick by 5:15. As you can imagine I was not very excited about this the first day. First of all, I don’t even like birds, second, it was 5 am, and third, I had no idea what to expect. When you first get there, you just sit around on these little camping stools for about an hour, waiting for something to happen. Little by little, some macaws and parrots start arriving in the area to land on the trees nearby and scope out the area. After at least 30 minutes of this, if they have decided the conditions are okay to land, they will fly around doing what the researchers call a “dance” and then they’ll land on the clay lick and start eating the clay.

The first morning we were there, there were a lot of birds, but they kept making the alarm call, which the guides said was unusual. We waited for a while though and they finally decided to land on the right side of the clay lick. We sit facing the center of the lick so we couldn’t see them that well, but our guides broke the rules and took us much closer so we could see them. They set up their telescope and let us use the binoculars to get a good look. It was AWESOME! There were these beautiful blue and gold macaws just sitting there eating clay! We could only stay that close for about 10 minutes because if the researchers saw us, the guides would get in trouble. (Another example of how great Gerson was….other guides would not have brought us closer like that….he was always going out of his way to get us a better look.) They said it was really good activity that day for this time of year so we really lucked out because we weren’t even originally supposed to be there that morning!

As part of the research at TRC, they hand raised about 30 macaws in 1993, which they call the “chicos”. Each one has a tag around it’s foot so they’re easier to identify. Since they were raised by people, these birds are extremely friendly and often come to the lodge (to steal food!) and visit. The first morning we were at the clay lick one of them came and Gerson had it land on my shoulder! Since I’m SCARED of birds, I almost had a heart attack, but I tried to stay calm and just kept laughing! Haha.

The next mornings weren’t very exciting. I don’t even think they landed either of the days, but the last morning was INCREDIBLE! It was like out of a National Geographic special. There were tons of birds everywhere – mostly parrots that day (not many macaws) and it was out of this world. It was a really clear day so we were able to see their colors really well. We tried to get pictures and I even tried to take some video of it with my camera, but nothing comes close to seeing it in real life.

Well I have to leave in about 10 minutes for the rest of our trip and I haven’t even had breakfast yet so I have to stop writing. I’ll write more when I can, but I hope this gives you a good introduction.