In the Amazon, Part Two

So, do you want to hear Part Two of our Amazon visit? Good. Here it comes:

Saturday

We got up and dressed Saturday morning, then went just outside our hut to cover ourselves with bug spray. Anytime we opened or closed our hut door, we'd do so in a hurried way so as not to let any bugs (or other creatures) in our room. I'm sure we looked a sight with each of us running in and out of our hut to shower in bug spray. 

We were excited to head to the Amazon Research Center (ARC), and felt extra energetic ahead of breakfast. At the dining hall, Tim and I grabbed coffee, and Giovanni -- the Lodge's waiter -- motioned for Taylor and Wyatt to come outside and bang on the drum. "Breakfast!" the kids yelled.

Banging the drum for breakfast.

We are going to miss Giovanni!

At 9am, we climbed into the boat, and drove up river with Lander and Mr. Acho. We didn't see much wildlife on the way, so the ride lasted about two hours (it would have been longer had we seen animals). When we arrived to the ARC, dang, it felt HOT outside. The kids were pining for a swim, so after getting a tour of the ARC from Lander, we changed into swimsuits and headed back to the dock. The cool water felt wonderful.

Swimming by the dock of the ARC.

Thirty minutes after our swim, the kids and I were walking to the hammock room when we saw Pelancho, one of the ARC staffers. He said to us, "Caiman!" and motioned toward the water. We followed him down the steps and onto the dock, and sure enough, there was a caiman on the other side of the boats. A flipping caiman, right near where we had been swimming. We learned later from Lander that this was a "friendly caiman," and one that likes to hang out in front of the ARC. [OMG.]

Saturday afternoon, Lander took us on a hike in the trail grid behind the ARC. The grid contains 55 miles of trails laid out in transects that spread over 1,000 acres and slice through four different ecosystems. It's the largest scientific trail system offered in the Amazon. The trail grid is super cool, and we saw a ton of stuff. Lander showed us an iodine tree, another tree from which you can collect 'jungle kerosene,' an açai tree, fire ants, tapir tracks, and bullet ants. Btw, bullet ants are HUGE and rightfully nasty-looking; if you get stung by one of these suckers, you're gonna be in a world of pain. Lander told us he'd been stung about six times in his life (no, thank you). We saw, too, a ton of termite nests, and we learned from Lander that you can place your hands on a termite nest, let the termites crawl over you, then crush them on your body, and use the termite paste as mosquito repellent. Give me ALL the termites, please.

Looking at and learning about trees in the jungle.

Can you see the massive bullet ants on the green leaf? They are giant ants!

At some point while we were hiking, Lander told us a story about when he was a kid in his village, and his family was out for a walk in the forest with their dog. His family essentially ran into a giant anaconda. Lander's family could see that the anaconda had just eaten, which is why it didn't make a move on the family. Lander, his dad, and siblings picked the anaconda up and took it back to their village. From there, they sold it to the rescue center.

During our hike, we learned that Lander had had malaria five times between ages 10 and 17. FIVE times.

The coolest thing we saw in the trail grid was an anteater. An anteater crossed the trail we were on and ran up a nearby tree. We watched it move to a second tree and then stare down at us. Soon, the anteater appeared to be drooling. Lander shared that the drool was because the anteater was angry -- we were in its way.

Anteater!

A close-up.

A bit further in the trail grid, and the rain came. We didn't even bother with our rain jackets this time; we let ourselves get wet. Lander calls it a jungle shower. By the time we got back to the ARC, we were sopping wet, and I was ready for a soapy shower.

My shower -- in the ARC's shared bathrooms, of course -- was cold. There hadn't been enough sun as of late to heat the solar panels well enough to produce warm shower water. I'm not sure how clean I got in that shower, but hey, I had already had a jungle shower.

That evening, we hung out in the dining hall with Laura, Jim, Gretchen, and Bam. We talked about our time in the Amazon, we talked about our lives back home. 

Following dinner, Lander and Mr. Acho took us out for a nighttime boat ride. Before we had even left the waters of the ARC, we saw our caiman friend and then a second caiman (you can see their eyes -- like a gold color -- just above the water). We saw a few more caiman nearby, a ton of bats, and an emerald tree boa.

A friendly caiman. Maybe.

Can you spot the emerald tree boa?

It was such a wonderful evening and night.

In fact, everything was wonderful until about 3:35 the next morning, when I woke up and kind of, sort of had to go to the bathroom. That's when the inner monologue started: "Sarah, you're getting up in two hours -- just wait." "Sarah, you'll be so much more comfortable if you go now -- just go now." The voice telling me to 'go now' won out, and so I fumbled around in the dark-dark night and found my glasses, my flip flops, and a long-sleeved shirt (because, mosquitoes). I stumbled out the bedroom door and made my way down to the bathroom. And darn it, it was a party in there! Bam and Gretchen were there, too -- ha! We all got the 3:30am call, evidently. For what it's worth, I know for sure that I picked up several new mosquito bites during that middle-of-the-night bathroom trip. Thanks a lot, bladder.

Sunday

Sunday morning came early. We were on the boat about 6:15am with Lander and Mr. Acho to go fishing again. And yes, we had another lovely breakfast on the boat. This time around, we didn't catch as many fish, but we (and by we, I mean Lander) caught our biggest piranha yet. We also caught a one-dollar fish, a freshwater barracuda, a couple white piranhas, and some catfish.

On our way back to the ARC, we stopped by the tree in which we had seen the tree boa the night before. That boa was still there, still curled up.

Can you see the boa now?

Getting the best possible view of the boa.

Of course we're all climbing this tree branch in flip flops.

Taylor has no plans to fall into the drink.

I don't want to end up in the drink either.

After Acho docked the boat at the ARC, the kids asked to go swimming again. We threw our swimsuits on and ran from the dock into the river. I'm not gonna lie -- I spent most of my swimming time looking for caimans.

In the afternoon, we hopped into the boat once more for an easy ride up river. We saw capuchins -- including two moms with babies on their backs. We sat and watched the capuchins for a while; it's breathtaking to see them jump from branch to branch and move through the forest.

We made our way to an enormous lake, called Dolphin Lake, and Acho stopped the boat. We all jumped in for a little swim. This lake was not hot like the one we had visited just a few days before, but it was definitely hot in spots. When we were back in the boat following our swim and headed for the ARC, I asked Lander: "Lander, were there caiman and alligators in that lake?" Lander replied, "Oh, yes. But they're friendly."

Jumping off the boat and into the lake.

Swimming time!

Taking a breather by the boat.

We were lucky enough to see squirrel monkeys on our boat ride to the ARC. Some of these monkeys, too, had babies on their backs.

After another delightful dinner with Laura, Jim, Gretchen, and Bam (Aoife's arrival to the ARC got pushed to Monday), we all said goodnight and retired to our huts. Because the rooms our family was in had only twin beds, we had two rooms -- Tim and Wyatt were in one, and Taylor and I were in another. Tim went to his room to lie down, and the kids came to my room to read before bed. And that's when I heard, "Mommy, there's a spider." Sure enough, there was a freaky-looking spider on the floor next to my bed. What did I do? I got Tim, and made spider-removal his problem. 

Mission: Get this crazy-looking spider far, far away from my room.

Tim, ever the genius, suggested I go get a cocktail glass from the bar in the dining room. While I was retrieving said glass, I ran into Jim. I told him about the spider, and asked if he wanted to come see it. He did. So the two of us went back to the room, and I passed the cocktail glass to Tim. Jim thought the spider looked like a tarantula. [OMG.] Tim placed the glass over the spider to trap it, then slid a piece of paper under the spider. He wrapped the glass in the remaining paper and quickly moved outside. Carefully, he removed the paper and shook the spider out of the glass. We watched the spider land on the ground below. Jim took the cocktail glass back to the bar, and then we all went to sleep. 

But sleep was not for long. About 2am, a giant thunderstorm hit. I don't think I've ever, ever heard rain come down so hard or so fast. There was rain, thunder, and lightning -- all the works. Tim was up, I was up, Wyatt was up; Taylor's the only one who slept through it. We think the river had risen by a full meter when we saw it the next morning.

Monday

Our plan on Monday had been to spend most of the day going to yet another lake -- a special lake where we could see more caiman and pygmy marmosets (the world's smallest monkey) and incredible birds. But after that insane rainstorm from the night before, we were having second thoughts, especially because there was a four-hour round-trip hike involved to get to and from the lake. We talked to Lander and rearranged our day.

[Also, we showed Lander the photo of last night's spider. He told us it wasn't a tarantula, but just a regular jungle spider. Still, that thing needed to go (outside).]

In the morning, we went back out into the trail grid and hiked for three hours. On this hike, we saw some owl monkeys, a jungle chicken, the common potoo bird, and other birds. Wyatt spotted a yellow-footed tortoise buried under some branches. We did not get rained on, and the mosquitoes tore us up.

We waded through some small streams and big puddles following Sunday night's rainstorm.

A trail grid marker.

Did I take a cold shower after our hike? Yes, yes I did.

After lunch -- Aoife had joined us by then -- we headed up river on the boat. We motored for almost an hour before we saw white-moustached tamarins in the trees. We watched them jump trees for a little while, and got going again. Then -- then -- Lander motioned for Acho to cut the boat motor and pull over to the riverbank; he had seen something in the trees. Lander whipped out his binoculars, scanned the trees, and whispered excitedly, "Pygmy marmosets! Two of them! In the trees!" Pygmy marmosets are tiny, and how Lander was able to spot these two (or any of the animals he spotted during our stay), is absolutely beyond my comprehension. Lander got out of the boat and had us follow; Acho came, too. We stood just a bit into the forest and looked up -- and we saw the pygmy marmosets. Here again, we were in awe. We watched these amazing little monkeys run up and down the tree for a while, and then, when we couldn't take the mosquitoes eating our legs anymore, we climbed back into the boat. Lander and Acho stayed on the riverbank, just mesmerized by the pygmy marmosets. As we drove back to the ARC, we thanked Sachamama.

Photo of a pygmy marmoset taken through our binoculars.

Now there are two!

Dinner on Monday night was bittersweet. It would be the last night our Amazon 'gang' would be together. Bam, Gretchen, and our family were leaving the next morning. Jim and Laura would be staying until the 10th, and Aoife would be at the ARC until the 17th. We had formed this tight community over the past week, in this amazing and challenging environment, and we felt sad about breaking it up.

The ARC kitchen crew had baked us a marvelous chocolate cake, and we sat at the dinner tables for an extra long time that night. 

Our Amazon gang, clockwise from bottom left: Sarah, Taylor, Gretchen, Laura, Aoife, Bam, Jim, Wyatt, and Tim.

Look at this beautiful cake! The people who work at both the Lodge and the ARC are seriously amazing.

To no surprise to anyone, another downpour had started. Lander and Tim had talked about going for a night hike, but bailed on the idea once the rain started. We spent some time on Monday night with Lander, too. Wyatt gave him a picture he'd drawn of the Amazon. We asked Lander to help us remember the animals we'd seen (we were keeping a running list). And we talked about our incredible experience, and thanked Lander for all that he'd done for us.

Tuesday

My alarm rang at 5am, and I grabbed my glasses, flip flops, and long-sleeved shirt, and shuffled in the dark-dark to the bathroom. I probably picked up another 37 mosquito bites while going to the bathroom, but at that point, couldn't muster any energy to care. By 5:30am, the ARC staff had put out coffee, and Tim and I took 10 minutes to sit and caffeinate. We then roused the kids, packed the rest of our bags, and said our goodbyes. By 6:15am, we were in the boat with Lander -- Acho was staying at the ARC -- to head for the Lodge. Bam and Gretchen would meet us at the Lodge in a few hours; we would all go together from the Lodge back to Iquitos. We had chosen an earlier start because we hadn't yet seen El Chino and we wanted to; El Chino was a village down river from the Lodge. Several of the Lodge employees lived in El Chino.

Ten minutes into our boat ride to the Lodge, the motor completely fell off our boat. We all sat there stunned for a few seconds and then Lander said, "I am so sorry, but can you please help me paddle?" Lander, Tim, Taylor, and I each took a paddle, and began paddling back to the ARC. Of course, we were paddling up river, and it was a heavy boat with all of us and our bags. From time to time, Lander would call out, "Ayuda! Ayuda!" And sometimes he would call out, "Acho!" There was a plus to our paddling though, and that is that we saw a woolly monkey staring down at us from a tree.

Gulp. That's not good.

Paddling back to the ARC.

We paddled our way back to the ARC, and got out of the boat. ARC staff brought out a new motor and got to work straight away on repairing the boat. We filed into the dining hall, got another cup of coffee, and had a good laugh with our friends.

After about 25 minutes, Lander told us the boat was ready. We were now in a different boat, and the staff had placed a high-powered motor on this boat. How high-powered? Well, let me just say we drove from the ARC to the Lodge in 30 minutes (it had taken us two hours to get from the Lodge to the ARC).

We dropped our bags off at the Lodge and then headed down river to El Chino village. In this 250-person village, there's a Kindergarten, an elementary school, a high school, and a couple stores. It was so, so cool to see the village and learn about the people in it. We also had an opportunity to visit a women-run artisanal market, and we picked up a few handmade souvenirs.

El Chino village.

Learning about El Chino.

Every home is built on stilts.

Women artisans packing up after we went "shopping" at the market.

The first story of this building houses one of the village stores.

Looking up river from El Chino.

Then it was back to the Lodge to prep for the ride to Iquitos. But Sachamama had one more treat for us -- one of the guides spotted a three-toed sloth in a tree just off the Lodge's property, and he alerted us to it. Through our binoculars, we could see the sloth (slowly) moving around the tree. We loved seeing this animal!

About 10am, we boarded the boat bound for Iquitos. Gretchen and Bam were there, too, as were three of the four Lodge guests who had arrived Friday. All of our guides came with us.

Walking down the dock to the Iquitos-bound boat.

That's the Amazon River in the background.

The guides fed us a boxed lunch at the Lodge office in Iquitos. We had some time to kill before heading to the airport, so Lander put us in a couple tuk-tuks and took us through an Iquitos market. We also walked down to the river and saw a humongous bridge being built. This will be the first bridge in Iquitos; you may recall that, as of now, Iquitos is only accessible via boat or plane.

Hello from our tuk-tuk.

Riding through Iquitos.

Visiting a food market. Note the alligator head -- nothing goes to waste.

Walking through the market.

Looking at the bridge being built. When the bridge is finished, Peru's president will come to Iquitos for the dedication.

Nope, not candy. Grubs on a stick.

Grubs in a bowl. Tim and Wyatt did NOT go for these; they like 'em fresh out of nuts in the forest. ;)

About 3pm, our large group -- guides, too! -- hopped in a van and drove 30 minutes to the Iquitos airport. All of us guests were on the same flight -- the 5:45pm flight to Lima.

At the airport, we exchanged goodbyes with Lander. We are really going to miss him -- he inspired us and taught us and became our friend.

The Amazon left its imprint on all four of us. We're not the same people who showed up at the Lodge on February 1, toting flimsy plastic water bottles and mediocre bug spray. We're still wimps (I mean, we'll never pick up an anaconda or get near bullet ants), but I'd like to think we're slightly stronger wimps. We spent eight days in the jungle, surrounded by nature at all times, doing and feeling things that we've never done or felt before, and we'll carry those memories with us forever.

Sachamama gave us a most wonderful adventure, deep in the Peru jungle. To this spirit mother of the Amazon, muchos gracias.

Thank you, Lander, for everything.

In the Amazon, Part One

It’s 6:28am on Saturday, and I’m sitting up inside my mosquito-netted bed, typing this blog update, which won’t actually post until we’re back in Lima on Tuesday evening.

I’m writing from the Amazon, specifically the Tahuayo Lodge (www.perujungle.com), situated on the Tahuayo River, a tributary off the Amazon River. We got here about lunchtime last Tuesday, February 1. In the past few days, I’ve alternated between “this is amazing!” to “get me out of here stat.” Let me tell you about our stay thus far.

If you read our last post, then you know we had an early morning flight last Tuesday. We got to the airport about 3:45am, all bleary-eyed and kind of grumpy. Even at that early hour, the Lima airport was packed. We made it through security and headed for our gate. But what did we spot en route to our gate? A Starbucks. We never ever saw a Starbucks in Ecuador, and here we are – 12 hours in Lima – and we see one at the airport. Seeing as that was the only option for food and coffee, we handed over some dollars to Starbucks.

Our flight left Lima about 5:30am, and we landed in Iquitos nearly two hours later. We were met at the Iquitos airport by our Tahuayo Lodge guide, Lander. When guests stay at the Lodge, they are matched to a local guide; this guide stays with you throughout your trip. Lander and two co-workers put our bags in the back of a van, and then drove us into the city of Iquitos. Our destination was the Lodge’s office in the city.

Driving through Iquitos was wild. Iquitos is only accessible by boat or plane, so cars appear to be limited in the city. However, there are a ton of tuk-tuks – motorcycles with a carriage affixed on the back. And these tuk-tuks are constantly weaving in and out of traffic. After 35 minutes in the van, we arrived at the Tahuayo Lodge office, which was right next to a bustling market; people were selling all different kinds of food – fruit, fish, plantains, chickens, and so much more. 

We went inside the office and upstairs for breakfast. Following breakfast, Lander took us on a quick tour of the market…and that’s where we started sweating. It. Was. So. Hot. And. Humid. We were dripping by the time we got back to the office. 

Fruit, fish, and more for sale in the market.

Following Lander through the market. Can you feel the heat all around us?

We didn’t have too much time to be uncomfortable, though, because Lander soon ushered us down many steps to the Itaya River and onto a boat that would take us to the Lodge. We climbed onto a skinny boat, and were joined by Lander and two other Lodge employees, in addition to the driver. We put on life vests, and off we went. Twenty minutes into our ride, and we had reached the Amazon River. It was so cool – it was so big! And as we motored along the Amazon, we encountered more and more debris – like logs and branches and parts of bushes. Our boat driver did his best to avoid this debris, but sometimes couldn’t see it all. So there were times when he’d have to stop the boat, lift up the motor, shake out the debris, and then get going again. 

About to leave Iquitos on our four hour boat ride.

Lander is showing us the map with Amazonian rivers.

Hello, wide and mighty Amazon River.

After about four hours, we reached the Lodge. Once the boat stopped, the heat smacked us in the face. OH MY LANDS. I knew then that the next week wouldn’t be all fun and games. 

We climbed up the Lodge’s front steps and entered the main dining room. We were greeted by two Lodge employees, who handed us a camu camu drink. Mmm, delicious! Camu camu is a fruit found in the Amazon – it looks like a cherry – and it is crazy sour (we know – we tried some; a camu camu fruit is also packed with 30x the Vitamin C found in an orange!). But squeeze it and add some sugar, and you have a fabulous drink.

Camu camu fruit. There's like a gazillion ounces of Vitamin C in there.

Lander then showed us around the Lodge (there’s not too much to see; it’s not that big of a place) and took us to our room/hut, which had two stories (what they call a matrimonial bed on the first story and two twin beds on the second). The entire Lodge is built on stilts, because during the high-water season, the water rises very high and floods the area. We visited during the low-water season.

The Tahuayo Lodge

Our hut at the Lodge.

Walking through the Lodge.

We put our bags down and went back to the dining hall for a 1pm lunch. There, we met other Lodge guests: Laura and Jim from Spokane, Bam and Gretchen from Los Angeles, and Aoife from Ireland. 

When we finished eating, Lander returned to talk to us about our schedule for the next few days. We told him what we wanted to see and do, and he told us our options and gave us new ideas. Here’s the schedule we decided on:

• Tuesday afternoon: Hike
• Wednesday: Canopy zip line in the morning; looking for pink dolphins and swimming in a lake in the afternoon
• Thursday: Boat ride to terra firma (higher ground) followed by a hike to look for poison dart frogs
• Friday: Fishing trip in the morning; canoeing in the afternoon to look for giant river otters
• Saturday: Head to the Amazon Research Center in the morning (leg two of our Amazon trip)

And here’s how those days panned out:

Tuesday

We agreed to meet Lander for a hike at 3pm. All of us dressed in pants and long-sleeved shirts except Tim; he wore shorts. We packed a day back with our binoculars, bug spray, and water. Lander gave us rubber boots; he himself carried binoculars and a machete.

Before we got started, I asked the Lodge manager if we could purchase a water bottle, as we arrived with just two freebie plastic bottles of water from our Lima hotel. Thank goodness there was a larger water bottle we could purchase; otherwise, those flimsy plastic waters wouldn’t have gotten us very far.

Lander took us below the Lodge and showed us two plants – one that was the Amazon’s version of cilantro (it smelled incredible) and another that local villagers crush up and use as shampoo (it’s also supposed to help your hair grow). We hadn’t even left the Lodge grounds, and we were in awe. 

So then we started hiking; we headed out the back of the Lodge and into the rainforest. We stopped just before the entrance of the rainforest so Lander could tell us: “Don’t touch anything. If you’re going to fall, let yourself fall. Do not grab onto anything.” One of us asked, “Are there poisonous snakes in the forest?” And Lander replied, “Yes, there are. I’ve seen them.” And he proceeded to tell us about a few encounters he’d had with a bushmaster and about the time he was bit by a fer-de-lance and spent a week in the hospital. But Lander told us: “Don’t worry. The snakes, they are scared of us. And I watch all the time for snakes.” So right there, I knew this would be a different kind of hike. 

The four of us gringos started sweating profusely just a few steps into the rainforest. The air was really, really thick. While we were walking, it was manageable. But each time we stopped to look at something, it was unbearable. And the mosquitoes, ohhhhh the MOSQUITOES. They. Were. Everywhere. And they tore us up. I kept grabbing the bug spray and spraying myself in new areas (fingers! forehead! ears!), but it was too late. Lander didn’t seem bothered at all by the bugs – or the heat.

We did see super cool animals on our hike: owl monkey, squirrel monkey, bartender rat, macaw, nun bird, and an oropendola – a bird that makes an insane and lovely sound like a raindrop hitting a puddle. 

Lander also showed us a special nut, about the size of my fist. He used his machete to crack it open, and then tapped on the nut to show us what was inside. Soon, he had a white grub in his hand. “Anyone want to eat this? It’s edible for humans.” Wyatt replied, “Yes, I will.” Tim and I looked at each other in shock. Lander handed the grub over to Wyatt and HE PUT IT IN HIS MOUTH. He chewed the grub, and then spit it out. Tim and I were crazy impressed. Then Wyatt said, “Daddy, you have to eat one now.” And Tim agreed, especially considering his 9-year-old son just made an attempt. Lander tapped another grub out of the nut and passed it over to Tim. Tim gamely put the grub in his mouth and chewed…and swallowed. And then said, “I need a beer.” Lander looked at me and Taylor and asked, “Would you like to try, too?” “Nope, nope,” we quickly replied.

HE PUT IT IN HIS MOUTH.

Lander's working on getting a second grub -- for Tim.

HE ATE IT.

We walked through the forest some more, looking at plants and trees and insects and birds and other animals, and then hiked back to the lodge. All of us were just dripping; we were drenched with sweat. I couldn’t get back to our hut and in the shower fast enough. It took me too long to peel my sticky clothes away from my skin.

Tim took the kids to the dining hall for a Coke and an Inka Cola (a Peruvian favorite), and he had his well-deserved beer. After my shower, I met them in the dining hall, and we compared bug bites. I had them all over my legs, all over. Turns out leggings might not be the best pants in which to hike in a rainforest. Taylor had bug bites on her face, and Wyatt seemed to have just a few on his hands. Tim said his legs really itched; by the next morning, he’d have a full-blown rash on the part of his legs that wasn’t covered by boots or his shorts (he clearly brushed up against some kind of poisonous plant on our hike; that was the last time he wore shorts in the rainforest). While Tim and Wyatt played cards, Taylor and I escaped to the hammock room – literally a room with five hammocks overlooking the Tahuayo River. We read, encountered minimal bugs, and loved it. 

When in Rome...you gotta try an Inka Cola!

A Coke after a rainforest hike sure does taste good.

Hammock + book = happy girl.

At 7pm, Giovanni – the Lodge’s sole waiter – banged the drum and yelled, “Dinner!” We all filed into the dining hall and sat down to eat. About 7:30pm, all of the Lodge guides and staff came into the dining hall. Soon after, Giovanni emerged from the kitchen with a cake and placed it in front of Wyatt. The cake read, ‘Happy Birthday, Wyatt.’ Everyone started singing the birthday song to Wyatt, first in English and then in Spanish. Giovanni cut the cake and we passed out pieces to the staff and other guests. Wyatt enjoyed his Amazonian birthday celebration.

Singing happy birthday.

Look at that awesome cake!

After our cake, Lander sat down with us. We talked about our day and made plans for the next day. We agreed to start our day with a boat ride at 6am. From there, our family shuffled back to our hut and promptly fell into bed. I was woken up sometime in the middle of the night by Wyatt, who was very scared about animals that might be creeping into our hut (he probably heard a bat in the rafters). Poor kid – he got himself in a right tizzy and could not get back to sleep. And of course, getting yourself in a tizzy heats you up, literally. It was already flipping hot outside; it’s even hotter inside a mosquito net. Needless to say, it was a bit of a rough night. We cancelled our 6am boat ride with Lander and let the kids sleep instead. And that brings us to Wednesday…

Wednesday

We walked over to the dining hall for the 8am breakfast. By this time, we had befriended Laura, Jim, Bam, Gretchen, and Aoife. Throughout our stay, we would so enjoy talking with them, swapping stories from our days, learning about their lives, and commiserating/laughing together about the mosquitoes.

After breakfast, we went back to our hut to get ready for a forest hike. I steeled myself for more heat and more mosquitoes. Once again, I put on leggings. We covered ourselves in bug spray, filled our water bottle, and met Lander at 9:30am. Our plan was to hike 45 minutes to the canopy zip line, do the zip line, and then hike back to the Lodge. 

We made it to the canopy zip line, and three other Lodge staffers were already there. They had hiked from the Lodge, carrying large bags of equipment. We climbed up some steps to the zip line platform, and started getting gear on. The mosquitoes just ate us up. I could feel bites coming in on my butt. No surprise, we were drenched in sweat. 

In the past couple of years, I’ve developed a fear of heights, or maybe it’s a fear of falling – I haven’t quite figured it out. I was not keen on zip lining, but I didn’t want to get eaten alive by mosquitoes. So up I went; up we all went.

If you zoom in on this photo, you can probably see the bazillion mosquitoes around us.

Um, hi. That's a super high platform, right?!? I wasn't anxious for nothing.

There were three ways we could get up to the starting platform, which was about 75 meters high; you could get hoisted on a pulley, you could climb up a step ladder, or you could pull yourself up an ascender. Taylor and I opted for the pulley; Tim and Wyatt climbed the ladder. Lander climbed up first, the rest of us followed, and another Lodge staffer, Hugo, closed us out. Once I got up to the starting platform, I sweated some more; we were up high. The kids were chomping at the bit to zip line, and I was holding onto the tree for dear life. 

We sailed through four zip lines, the longest of which was about 150 meters. I looked up at the sky every single time. The breeze felt great, and the mosquitoes were non-existent.

Back down on the ground, we got out of our equipment and put our rubber boots back on. The mosquitoes again attacked us, and our sweat bath continued as we hiked to the Lodge.

We ate lunch at 1pm, and then prepped for a 2:30pm boat ride with Lander. Lander and our boat driver took us down river to look for dolphins, and find them we did. We saw both pink and gray dolphins, and it was really cool. After our dolphin sightings, we headed to a lake to swim. The water in the lake was hot in places and warm in others. The water was also black and acidic (tannic acid), so you couldn’t see hardly at all, but when you brought your hands near the water’s surface, they looked reddish. Taylor’s and my bathing suits are now stained by the acidic water (an Amazon souvenir, clearly).

Heading out to look for dolphins. We're so happy -- the mosquitoes can't really get us here!

See that white splash? That's a pink dolphin, I swear. I took about 15 photos, all of similar splashes. It's dang hard to get a photo of a dolphin!

Time to jump off the boat into some acidic water!

After our swim, we jumped back in the boat and headed for the Lodge. We played cards again in the dining hall and ate our 7pm dinner. Lander joined us about 7:30pm, and we confirmed plans for Thursday before all retiring to our rooms.

Thursday

Our plan on Thursday was to head to “Frog Valley,” where the poison dart frogs make their home. I was tired of having my legs chewed up by mosquitoes, so I pulled on bright blue joggers; I thought the thicker fabric might protect me better. 

After breakfast, we packed our day pack with our rain jackets, sunscreen, bug spray (always, always), and binoculars, and grabbed our boots. We met Lander by the dining hall, and walked to our boat. Paolo would be our boat driver that day. Lander and Paolo had packed the boat with extra water and lunch supplies.

We were soooo looking forward to the boat ride, for that was the one place where we were guaranteed to be cool. We jokingly called the boat rides our “air conditioning.”

Each time we got in the boat, Lander said we were going exploring. He would constantly look out for wildlife, and signal for the driver to stop so we could get a closer look. About 45 minutes into our boat ride to Frog Valley via Rio Blanco, Lander stopped Paolo. “I smell a snake,” he said. Paolo slowed the boat down and turned the motor off. Lander looked carefully at the river banks and trees, but couldn’t come up with a snake. We firmly believe he did, indeed, smell a snake. 

Not too much further on, Lander said, “Hmm, the weather is changing. Put on your ponchos, please.” And about five minutes later, the skies opened and rain gushed out. We grabbed our rain jackets from our day pack and hurriedly put them on. Lander had a poncho, which he put on over himself and his backpack and his boat seat. [Note to self: When going to the Amazon, bring a poncho, not a rain jacket. Two very, very different things.]

The rain poured and poured. The four of us plus Paolo got drenched; Lander stayed mostly dry. Those pants I had chosen to protect me from mosquitoes? A horrible choice in the face of rain; I would have been so much better off in my leggings.

After 30 minutes of rain, the deluge stopped. We motored on a bit further to Frog Valley. Paolo parked the boat and Lander helped us all climb out – onto a muddy hill. We walked 50 meters to a shelter the Lodge had built, and put all of our stuff down on the table and benches there. Lander and Paolo brought up the water and lunch supplies. And then it started raining again. We waited about 15 minutes to see if the rain would stop; when it didn’t, Lander said, “Let’s go.” We set off on our hike, and hoped to God we wouldn’t see a bushmaster (okay, I was the only one hoping).

The rain didn’t really reach us through the canopy. And the silver linings to all the rain? Less mosquitoes (although, trust me, we still got bit) and cooler temperatures. We walked and walked through the forest, seeing different things along the way, but never a poison dart frog. After some time, the kids had had enough and were getting hungry. Lander turned us around, and we headed for the shelter. Back at the shelter, Paolo got a fire going and Lander chopped vegetables. We ate some of the best chicken I’ve ever had in my life, plus rice, a tomato and avocado salad, and apples. I remained sopping wet.

Lander talks, and we listen. 

We also had a taste of what Lander called jungle butter – it was an edible fruit we found on the forest floor. Tim, Wyatt, and I ate some…and it was absolutely disgusting. It took a while to get that taste out of my mouth.

Making lunch under the shelter.

Attempting to dry out.

Cooking chicken.

Just maybe don't eat the jungle butter...

We were still under the shelter, packing up from lunch, when we heard Lander cry, “Everyone, come here! Poison dart frog!” We raced through the bushes and found Lander, and he pointed out the teeny, tiny, colorful poison dart frog. It was so, so cool. The frog stayed still long enough for us to snap some photos. Our visit to Frog Valley had been a very wet, very awesome success.

Poison dart frog with blue legs! It's soooo small -- about the size of a penny.

Once back at the Lodge, it felt amazing to put on dry clothes. We shuffled to the dining hall to play cards before dinner, and we also caught up with Aoife, who, along with her guide, had spent the day making a spear. (And yes, she was intending to use said spear to go spear-fishing that night.)

After dinner, Tim and Wyatt joined Lander on a nighttime boat ride, and Taylor and I gleefully returned to our hut to read books inside our mosquito net. 

Friday

Friday morning came early, way early. We met Lander and our boat driver Acho (pronounced Ow-cho) at 6am for a fishing trip. Acho had cut our fishing rods from skinny branches in the forest, and Lander tied string and hooks on them. Initially, we used raw beef for our bait; once we had caught a few fish, we used fish bait.

Fishing was fun. We caught red-bellied piranha and catfish. All of us caught fish that morning, but of course, Lander and Acho – the pros – caught the most. 

Fishing.

Fishing.

Lander's such a pro.

Fishing.

Fishing, and poised for rain.

Mr. Acho caught a piranha.

At one point, we heard a river otter nearby. Lander made a river otter noise – and the river otter responded! We thought we might see the otter, but no such luck. We know it was quite close to us, but they can be hard to view in the wild.

We ate a breakfast of bread, peanut butter, jelly, oranges, hard boiled eggs, and instant coffee on the boat. And we talked and talked to Lander during breakfast time. We learned he’d been a guide for the Lodge for four years; previously, he worked as a guide for another company. He learned English just four years ago (his English is incredible), and he’s from the Yahua tribe. He grew up in the Amazon, but now lives in Iquitos with his wife and three children. He’s 31 and returns to his village often to visit. And Lander LOVES his job. We asked him, “Have you ever been to the United States?” He said, “No.” And then Tim asked, “Have you ever been to Lima?” Lander said, “I have a brother there who tells me to come visit. But I don’t want to. I love the jungle, this is my home. I don’t want to leave.”

We asked Lander about mosquitoes, too: “Lander, we’re getting chewed up by mosquitoes, but they don’t seem to bother you. Do they?” And he shared, “No. They bite me, but I don’t have a reaction. There’s no effect.” I guess when you grow up in the Amazon, your skin is a heck of a lot tougher (let’s face it, everything about you is a lot tougher).

During our fishing trip, we got rained on but weren’t soaked through. And we saw more pink dolphins.

We got back to the lodge for lunch, and Lander fried the piranha we caught. 

Piranha for lunch.

Tim and I were on a mission to find more bug spray, too. God bless the Lodge, which sold a spray bottle out of their gift shop cupboard. We snatched that puppy up, tore off the cap, and doused ourselves yet again.

At 2:30pm, we got back in the boat with Lander and Acho, and drove up river about 20 minutes. Lander tied the boat up on the river bank, and we climbed into two canoes that Acho had been towing off the motorboat. Lander, Wyatt, and I were in one canoe; Acho, Tim, and Taylor were in another. We paddled for 90 minutes before going back to the motorboat, and then heading back to the Lodge. We had hoped, again, to see a river otter, but one didn’t materialize. We saw instead turkey vultures, hawks, parrots, parakeets, herons, and more.

Tim, Taylor, and Mr. Acho.

Still poised for rain.

We canoed through this channel; it was so beautiful.

A walking tree. Amazon villagers never use wood from a walking tree; legend has it that if you do cut up and use a walking tree, your family will die.

That night, Tim and Wyatt went for their third boat ride of the day – this time with Lander, another Lodge guide, and two new guests from Montreal. In the darkness (and it’s dark-dark out there at night), from the boat, the other guide spotted a tree frog on the opposite side of the river. I mean, seriously, the Lodge guides have crazy skills.

*****

Today, Saturday, we leave the Lodge at 9am to head to the Amazon Research Center (ARC), a certified research institution about 15 kilometers up river. We’ll see Laura, Jim, Bam, and Gretchen at the ARC; they arrived on Friday. And we’ll see Aoife at the ARC on Sunday. We’re pumped to explore a new area of the Amazon. 

*****

So far, our Amazon trip has been both amazing and utterly challenging. I’ve never been this physically uncomfortable in my life, and I’ve never been so excited to go exploring and see trees and animals and a giant forest. I’ve had enough mosquitoes to last me for a lifetime, and I’ve loved being completely disconnected from the outside world (while there is a WiFi room at the Lodge, the connection is unbelievably slow, so I didn’t even try). 

Lander calls the Amazon the “lungs of the world,” and it evokes such a beautiful image in my mind. From what I’ve seen of the Amazon so far, it’s a wild and wonderful place. The ecosystem works here – plants and animals taking care of each other – and it’s absolutely magical. 

We want to thank Sachamama, the Mother of the Forest – one of three ancient snake mothers of the Peruvian Amazon – for all that she has shown us in just a few days.