Monkeys and spiders and caterpillars- oh my!

Because my last blog post was a bit of a Debbie Downer, I thought I´d use my excess of free time today to post about the magical experience that was my Amazonian adventure- the part before I was reduced to a mumbling, fumbling, helpless, formless blob. 

The adventure started out with a boat ride up the Amazon River.  I was astonished by how low to the water the boat was, and had to get used to feeling like we could sink at any moment, if the boat turned or if a big enough wave came along.  Aboard was only me, another woman who lives in a village up river about an hour, and the driver.  I was wide-eyed as we cruised by miles and miles of dense jungle, with tiny villages dotting the shore lines periodically.  We passed many canoes with men fishing or children in them, and not once did we slow down.  I figured they must be used to a little wake.  Or at least I hope so.

We stopped by the other passenger´s hometown to drop her off, and the driver took a 10 minute break.  He told me I could come up, too, but not having to go to the bathroom and not wanting to just leave all of my stuff on the boat (or carry it with me, for that matter), I opted to just stay on board.  There was a group of people and small children sitting on the dock, just hanging out, so we shared a few a few greetings, etc., but mostly they just wanted to stare at me.  I caught a glimpse of a boy fishing, and he actually pulled in a pretty good-sized fish.  It looked a lot like a shark to me, but it obviously wasn´t.  He was so proud as he reeled that thing in!

Our boat stopped a couple more times, for reasons I still don´t understand.  Eventually, we turned off onto a tributary and were soon cruising right along with a giant flock of common and great egrets.  It was like something out of a Disney movie.  I felt like freaking Poccahontas.  I almost broke out in the song "Just around the river bend," but, figuring that I would automatically be labeled as loca, I held back. 

Finally, three hours after our boat ride began, we pulled up to the Muyuna Lodge.  I was welcomed with a cold, tropical drink (some sort of fruit smoothie) and shown to my bungalow.  It was amazing.  Bungalow after bungalow was connected by elevated wooden walkways.  Tropical plants surrounded the place, and the sounds of the jungle surrounded us.  I was so looking forward to spending the next 5 days in this magical place.  Here are some shots of my digs:

I was blown away by how nice everything was, how welcoming the workers were, and how remote the lodge really was.  I had lunch in the dining bungalow with a big group of people from California, Australia, and England, all of whom were leaving right after lunch.  They had fabulous things to say about all the great adventures they had had, and this just made me even more excited to get going in my exploration of the jungle.

My guide, Larissa, told me to meet her back in the main lodge in half an hour, to be sure to wear my rain boots, long sleeves and long pants, and plenty of insect repellent.  When I arrived, she checked me over and insisted that I tuck my pants into my rain boots.  Figuring the animals wouldn´t care if I looked nerdy, I did as she told me.  It was a good thing I did, because it wasn´t long before we were wading through mud that was shin-deep.  Mud that I could scarcely walk through.  At times it was like walking through quicksand.  Though the trek was muddy, buggy, and hot (understatement of the century!), it was all totally, 100% worth it. 

Throughout the course of our 3 or so hour walk, we saw 5 different monkeys.  This blew my mind, as the only place I´d seen monkeys prior to this was the zoo.  It was crazy to see them in their natural habitat, playing happily in the treetops.  Here, a pygmy monkey, the smallest monkey of all, clings to a tree.  Larissa did a fabulous job of hearing the monkeys in the distance.  She would stop on a dime, look up in the direction of a sound she heard, say "Be veeeeery quiet" and then proceed to make sounds that would attract them to us.  It was unreal.

Here, another pygmy monkey (called "leoncito" or "little lion" in Spanish because of the mane-like hair around their head) peeks at us from a tree.  He was a playful one, scurrying around the tree to hide from us, peeking out at us, running around and around the tree, and seeming to enjoy himself immensely.  We also saw a dusky titi monkey, but just for a brief moment.  I wasn´t able to get a picture of it.           In addition to monkeys, we saw many different fungi, which are beautiful here, and were even more prevalent than usual because the area that we were hiking had been completely underwater the previous week.

This was probably my favorite fungus (which sounds weird, I know).  I thought it was a flower at first, but Larissa informed me that it was actually fungus. 

This was another pretty cool fungus, called the pork ear mushroom.  It´s really flimsy to the touch, just like a pig´s ear  would be.                                                                                    Larissa informed me that generally, if something is brightly colored in nature, it´s probably poisonous.  These fungi, for example, are not.  However, we did see some other kinds that were.  Here´s an example of a poisonous mushroom and a poisonous caterpillar (or calerpitter, as my nephew Luke says):

In addition to animals and fungi, we saw quite a few impressive trees.  Here are a couple of my favorites.

On the left, a spiny trunked palm tree.  Do not mess with this one.  On the right, a giant ficus tree.           Later, Larissa pointed out scars on a rubber tree from over 100 years ago.  Iquitos and the Amazon jungle in general were hot spots during the rubber boom from 1879-1912. 

The only reason we can think of that this tree was spared is that it was too small back in the day to warrant cutting down.  Then the rubber boom subsided, and it continued to grow.  It now stands proud and tall, almost mocking the men who dared consider cutting it down so many years ago.    

Although my time in the rainforest was cut short, I came out of the experience with a tremendous respect for all that it has to offer.  From controlling the jet streams which affect our weather patterns, to housing millions of species of plants, animals, insects, and fungi, to providing a tranquil getaway for us human beings caught in the hustle and bustle of our busy lives, this is certainly a sacred place.  I hope I make it back someday, and I hope that a bad case of the Itis does not follow me there next time.