Ecuador – The Amazon (Day 2)

A torrential overnight rainstorm took out the internet connection at our lodge which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. With nothing else to distract us, we were able to completely unplug and absorb the scenery and wildlife around us.  Wow!  This place is magical. 

We took a hike to “the tower.“ This is a platform built high into the canopy of the forest at the top of the Kapok Tree and is a perfect location to search for birds. We brought our binoculars and our guide Paúl brought a telescope to zoom in on birds we never would have been able to see with our naked eyes. It was one of the best experiences we’ve had in a long time. We saw over 25 different species of birds including toucans, macaws, parrots and tanagers. There were even unique insects up at the top too. We really wished we had one of those massive telephoto lenses the paparazzi use to get close-up shots of these amazing creatures!  We spent almost three hours in the canopy, but easily could have stayed there all day.

During our downtime, we went swimming with the piranhas. Just kidding, we went Piranha fishing off the dock in front of the lodge. We used bamboo poles with a simple chunk of meat as bait. It was fun to feel them bite at the bait, but they are very hard to catch. They nibble at the edges of the bait so setting the hook was difficult. Watch the video to see if we caught anything. 

Our night activity was a canoe ride along the Garza Cocha lagoon at dusk where we spotted black cayman, squirrel monkeys, several species of heron and lots of other birds pointed out by our guides. We then docked the canoe and went on a night hike through the jungle where we navigated by flashlight through the thick vegetation-lined trail. Paúl spotted many different tree frogs, millipedes and even a few tree snakes. At one point Rex looked down and saw a huge spider perched on a leaf at thigh level right next to the trail. He called to the guides and he was instructed to not get too close. Of course, this is after I pushed in close to get a zoomed in macro photo. Paúl told us it was a wolf spider which looks similar to a tarantula, but packs a painful necrotic bite.  Glad it didn’t jump on us. 

We fell exhausted into bed immediately after dinner and slept soundly until the howler monkeys started roaring at 3 am…

More to come tomorrow! I can’t wait.