November 10: Diversidad

Grenadilla
Two of the many magnificent butterflies in the Amazon.

One of the incredible orchids

Camp Tiputini


November 10, 2009

Location: Tiputini Research Center

Weather: Hideously HOT and Sauna-like

The day consisted of hiking through the jungle for a total of maybe eight hours today. Our group consisted of some wonderful people: Natalie (Science AND Spanish aficionado! What luck!), Brittany, Adam, Kyle, Dan (a temporary addition at the station) Antonia, Dr. Martin, and myself, all accompanied by Santiago, our very sweet guide.

One of our very first sightings this morning was a poison frog with a brilliantly red head. How Santiago spotted him is beyond me. It was not even the size of the pad of my thumb. He obviously has some talent.

Learning about secropia trees, bromeliads, strangler vines, and conga ants are one thing, but seeing them in person is totally different. They're real—not just the stuff of text books and foreign imaginings anymore.That's what I love about this trip: I am seeing what I've always learned about. Learning isn't theoretical, it's tangible and right in front of me. Isn't this how all education should really be?

Our first stop was an observation tower that rose higher than the tree tops at the top of a very long, very steep set of steps which wobbled every time someone took a particularly heavy step. I have no choice but to conquer my fear of heights if I want to do anything other than stand on the forest floor with the ants and the spiders. The top was, indeed, worthwhile. The ants were somewhat difficult to avoid, as well as the bees (one of which stung poor Antonia), but two scarlet macaws stood out like twin drops of blood in the tree tops, and butterflies simply surrounded the tower. I saw the lovely blue morpho, which made me realize just how beautiful six inches of blue brilliance can be, fluttering around in the dark selva. It's something I'll never forget--like this trip. It's permanently tattooed on my soul.

Other sightings: a walking palm (a real-life ENT! It moves about a meter a year to get to sunnier locations!), several small frogs, heard a howler monkey, and loads of very interesting mushrooms, flowers, and greeny, green greenery.

At the end of our morning hike, Santiago spotted a family of wooly monkeys in the tree tops. A little baby stared down curiously at us for quite a while, just waiting until we'd taken enough pictures. In Ohio, the only things crashing through the tree tops are B.W.'s wealth of squirrels. Hearing the monkeys is a lot different. I've no idea how they stay in the trees.

The same location provided an opportunity for us to see “lemon ants” in action. These tiny insects make their home in a tree and deposit an acidic chemical that kills the competing plants around the base of their home. It's an interesting symbiotic relationship. Santiago broke off a tiny twig and offered it to us to try. I scooped up a finger full following his example and popped them into my mouth. Lemon ants are called so because of their taste. Who figured that one out, I don't know, but I ate ants. I was extremely proud of Kyle. The boy never had ranch dressing in his life before I forced him to eat a slice of pizza with it as a dipping sauce, yet he tried ants without batting an eyelash. Very interesting.

Food at Tiputini has been very agreeable so far. Last night, on the way to the mess hall, I made a bet that dinner would be rice and beans. Sure enough: rice and beans. However, the beans slightly resembled chili and there was plenty of fruit to fill up on. Also, after hiking for hours, I simply don't—can't—care what I eat. I just have to stuff my face. Another lesson learned: it doesn't matter how picky you are, because after you've hiked for several miles, you don't care what you eat because it's food! We do really appreciate when they break out the peanut butter and Oreos. You've never seen a stampede like that before! PEANUT BUTTER? You'd think they had offered us a sip from the Fountain of Youth! My favorite fruit here in Ecuador has been the grenadilla, the odd globe that you crack between your fingers and slurp out the gummy seeds from within. It's a little like caviar in texture, I imagine, but sweet and refreshing.

The afternoon hike was filled with rain and creepy crawlies, like giant, five inch millepedes, spiders, snails, and walking sticks. The millepedes are pretty fascinating and look identical to a wet leaf frequently found on the jungle floor, coloring and all. I've had fun picking them up and showing them to people or picking up it's twin leaf and seeing if I can freak people out (I can haha).

We got a talk from Kelly, the man who is in charge of the Research Center, about what it's purpose is. It was built by Boston College, I believe, to provide an opportunity for research for students and faculty. It's main project, “Diversity and Abundances of Large Mammals and Birds in Undisturbed Rainforest of Amazonian Ecuador,” is photographing animals and birds in the jungle in attempts to see where and when they're active, and to find out more about their habits. National Geographic itself got involved by donating lots of night cameras and sensors for their research. Motion and heat detectors attached to the cameras snap photos of unsuspecting critters all through the day. The data received helps to show the abundance and diversity of species and indicates how healthy the jungle is.

The most oft-seen mammal is the red brocket deer, which appears in 40% of the photos. Nevertheless, pumas (the most far-ranging land mammal in the world, and also a Quechua word introduced to English), and other rare mammals have been captured as well. Rabbits, Amazonian red squirrels, and raccoons are a rarer sight. (Maybe we can give them some of B.W.'s?)

There are more species documented in this area than anywhere else in the world, especially bats and frogs. There are more species of frogs in one square acre than in the U.S. and Canada combined. That's mighty impressive.The crazy thing is they are still finding new species!

The showers here are freezing—blessedly. After all the hiking, I am so thankful to have icy streams cooling me off for the first time all day. Plus, it's good for my hair. My hair, consequently, has not fully dried since I got here. Soon, I'll look like a sloth with bits of moss in my hair.

Off to bed. Lights go out at 9:30 and we only have candlelight.