A huge centipede
Braving the ant-infested heights of the observation towers
Paul swimming in the TiputiniNovember 13, 2009
Location: on a boat on the Tiputini River
Time: 7:45 AM
Weather: Bright and sunny and hot—and humid, of course
I haven't felt the urge or the energy to keep up with journaling almost the entire time we've been here. The heat and the humidity drive me to search out my bed, which is somewhat cooler and perhaps a little drier than the rest of the jungle. Sluggishness just seems more natural in this heat than attempting anything more exerting than sleep. I've never felt anything like it, not even in the muggiest of Augusts or in the deep South. The discomfort of being in a sauna too long is constant here. The air here is tangible, wrapping itself around my neck and chest like a wet blanket. It's inescapable.
So are the critters here, unfortunately. A tarantula found its way into Katy, Caitlin, Emily, and Lizzy's cabin and had to be rehabilitated (by Natalie, the only one brave enough), as did the enormous gecko who also squatted in their room. That's the obvious downside of staying where the stuff of textbooks comes alive: you find them in the most inconvenient places like in the bathroom or on your pillow.
Wednesday, we climbed an observation tower taller than the trees, where we needed harnesses to cross the rickety bridges. Lovely. If ever there was an absolute need to overcome my fear of heights, it was then. Between every section of bridge, it was necessary to unhook my harness from one safety line to another. I'm proud of myself. No panic attacks, no wimping out, just sucking it up and doing it!
The ants were by far scarier than the height. They loved the trees we were in and were swarming over the surfaces like a sea of pepper with legs. I only managed to get bit a handful of times; however, I did find a colony of them squished in my boots later on. The bullet ants are the ones you really need to look out for. Only a few bites from them will send you into a raging fever.
The afternoon was spent hiking and taking a boat ride around a small lake known to house anacondas, caymans, and hideous, sqawking birds called guans. The water was dark, murky, and punctuated by spiny plants. To quote Dr. Martin, it was “lovely, but inhospitable."
They brought us by canoe to see the cayman and feed him meat. He wasn't very large but he tore viciously at the meat and I shudder to think that he is what is swimming beneath me in the river. We took a boat tour of the river and most of us swam in the river. I was entertaining the miserable Aunt and opted not to tempt the caymans or the piranhas. There was a bit of a hullabaloo when a hidden tree branch touched the legs of the swimmers and we had a good laugh at the "river monster." Maybe the scariest part of the river is the little fish that swim up your urethra and latch on, making urinating extremely painful. NO THANK YOU.
We did see glimpses of the shy, rare pink dolphin! They are secretive and very elusive. I never did get a good picture of them. They are fresh water dwellers and the subject of a lot of Amazonian myth.
From a website I (have later found) about them:
"Locals don't kill them because they think it's very bad luck. Don't eat them, because they think dolphins used to be humans long time ago and they can turn back into humans whenever they want. For some, the Boto turns into a handsome man at night, seduces and impregnates their wives and daughters before returning to the river and becoming Boto again. For others, they're considered evil or plain bad luck. When women give birth to a child with Spina Bifida - birth defect that prevents the baby's skull from growing properly, leaving an opening that resembles the blow hole of dolphins - locals say that their babies are the dolphins. To some Indian tribes, the gray dolphin is sacred, semi-divine creatures, Brujos (Spanish for Wizards) to be respected, almost reverenced." (http://www.unique-southamerica-travel-experience.com/amazon-pink-river-dolphin.html)
Thursday was our project day. Shannon, Lover of Lichens, led us up another observation tower to count, measure, and describe the conditions under which the lichens were growing. The work wasn't difficult: taking measurements, humidity, temperature, elevation, and numbers, but the bugs made things interesting. Lauren was our translator, I took measured, Jessica took notes, and Jenny and Shannon came up with cool names for the shades of colors our lichens grew in to identify them later: pea green, sea foam green, gray green, forest green, lime green, leafy green, etc., etc. We couldn't think of a better way to identify the species so we pulled from our Crayola color memories and found about 20 new colors!
By the way, we found out that 90% of the birds transported from the rainforest to North America die on the way, which makes the numbers in the 900,000s. Hideous. All of these magnificent birds who fly free here in the jungle are sent to live in cages. There's something so wrong with that.
The cabins had electricity for a few hours every day to allow our electronic devices to dry out. After those few hours, even the water was shut off for a certain amount of time. Pro: we could all drink the water at Tiputini and not worry about creepy bacterial content. Con: it was freezing. You don't want to waste water when it's that cold. You'd think that we'd be used to it by now with Cuenca's temperamental system, but we aren't. The water is still just as bone-chilling and my legs are just as covered in razor burn from trying to shave over goosebumps. At least it's a break from the heat!
It was interesting living in a cabin but hearing every word spoken by the surrounding ones. Regular conversations were interrupted by unseen people. I could hear Nate snoring every night.
Candlelit conversations are some of the most beautiful moments I will remember from this trip. Jessica, Shannon, Jenny, and I shared a cabin and played MASH and giggled until all ours of the night. When there are no cell phones or computers to distract you, talking and getting to know other people becomes much easier. Another lesson from this trip: I can live without hot water, electricity, and pizza and really fall in love with the simplicity.
Thursday night, our last night in the Amazon, we went on a night hike through the jungle with our guide, Santiago. Within the first ten minutes, I decided to be done with the jungle. Seeing two very poisonous banana spiders in 50 meters will do that. Our guide told us that if we were bitten by these spiders, the most poisonous in the entire world, we couldn't be evacuated from the jungle fast enough to save us. A cheery thought... A small(er) spider dropped out of the darkness onto Antonia's head and she shrieked, shaking out her curls desperately. After that, we pulled up our hoods to create a 4"x4" peephole.
So very many poisonous spiders here... Smothering humidity... Enclosing darkness... I nearly had a panic attack in the overwhelming, sweltering darkness. It was then when I began to count down the hours until a hot shower and a dry towel. Two girls found ticks on their stomachs and another group saw a coral snake. I am not a jungle girl like Jess. It's been fun but give me my mountains, my lakes, and my low humidity. Now.
-Snakes (very poisonous)
-Spiders (including the most poisonous in the world)
-Bullet Ants (who release pheromones calling other ants over, and if bitten more than a few times, will kill you)
-Centipedes (probably poisonous)
-Monkeys (if left to their own devices)
-Pumas
-The river creatures (caymans, piranhas, urethra fish, etc.)
-Native humans (probably)
-Humidity
-Plants
-Amazonian Molecules
We're now headed out in the same way we came in: canoe, chiva, boat, chiva, boat, bus. The only thing we're lacking is the check in point from the oil company, for which I am thankful. Everyone is ridiculously grumpy and sick of being squashed together with our luggage (some of which is unnecessarily large for this trip but I won't name names) and in need of getting the hell away from each other for just a little bit. Getting back to Cuenca will be a blessing.
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