The instant we reached the confluence of two rivers that mark the official start of the Amazon River, we spotted a school of freshwater dolphins arcing in and out of the fast-flowing brown water.
Some of the dolphins were grey, and like their ocean cousins they had a pointed dorsal fin, only they were much smaller. Others though, were completely different. They were pale pink in colour, and dotted with spotty grey patches. The pink dolphins do not have dorsal fins, instead they have a weird looking, chunky hump running along their backs.
From here, we changed into a smaller canoe, known as a peque peque for the sound that its outboard motor makes, and headed up a smaller tributary. Immediately we noticed changes in the vegetation along the riverbank. The trees were taller with fatter trunks, the canopy was thicker and there were vines dangling everywhere. A handful of villages and jungle lodges, all made changes with wooden huts and thatched palm leaf roofs, were built along the banks.
The biggest difference though, was that the water was much darker in colour. Instead of the turbulent muddy brown of the main river, it was now coffee black, so still that you could see a mirror image of the beautiful rainforest and sky in front of the boat.
Mogli the Kid
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| Adam and Mogli outside the lodge |
We spent the first night of our four-day jungle tour in the company’s secluded riverside lodge, and amazingly our group of three plus guide and the boat driver had the place to ourselves. The lodge was originally built for teams of scientists and documentary makers who visited the area.
We were hardly roughing it – the main area was a massive hut totally enclosed by mosquito netting and there was a separate hammock-equipped chill out area. We stayed in an enormous cabin a few metres down a thatched walkway, which again was totally enclosed in mosquito netting as well as a second, finer net over the bed. I was amazed to find we had an ensuite and running water.
The afternoon was spent monkey spotting. At this time of day they often pop down to the river for a drink and a dip. Our chances of spotting animals, entirely dependent on the water level of the river and the amount of flooding in the area, was not that high. But at least we were guaranteed an adventure, rather than staying at one of the lodges closer to town that contained zoos of animals like anacondas and alligators.
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| Three-toed sloth |
Amazingly, our guide spotted a three-toed sloth clinging to the top of a tree along the river bank. After we gawped at the sloth from afar, Mogli the Kid decided to climb the tree and coax the sloth down. True to their name, sloth movements are so slow and dopey that they are pretty safe to handle. We thought he was joking, but minutes later he had squirmed his way up the tree and was shaking its limbs, trying to get the sloth to fall onto a lower branch.
Now I can’t say I approve of all of Kid’s methods, but it was pretty funny seeing him and the driver, Chaco, scale the tree and shake the sloth off its branch. As it neared the bottom, it fell into the water (luckily sloths can swim). Kid grabbed it under its arms, so there was no chance it could maim us with its three-inch claws. Although with the pace that it moved, I’d be surprised it could be quick enough to strike anything!
Kid’s taste for adventure and infectious enthusiasm made the trip an amazing experience. He was always ready for anything, and would capture any animal he spotted with his eagle eyes, including a bizarre looking jungle porcupine he found on the first night after everyone went to bed. Another night, he found two big hairy tarantulas and let one of them crawl up his arm, over his back and onto his face!
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| Tarantula! |
Kid was never short of a yarn – he told stories of his village, a two-day boat ride upriver, about his hunting expeditions for tapirs and wild boar, close encounters with jaguars and jungle potions that his people obtained from vines, palm trees and frogs. You need to know what you’re doing if you want to extract these substances – a certain type of frog provides a hallucinogenic substance while from another they extract a poison which they put in blow pipes and use to hunt animals!
The campsite – and mozzies
After a night in the luxury of the lodge, it was time to head further upriver to find better fishing and animal spotting locations. The boat took us into a network of smaller, swampier creeks. At some point the creeks were impassable, jammed with masses of beastly thick floating reeds. Everyone in the boat had to hack away at the reeds with machetes and use wooden paddles to coax the boat through the swampy mess, which was crawling with spiders, grasshoppers and snakes.
Our campsite was a small clearing often used by native fisherman. Our guides brought a live chicken with them in the boat – apart from being lunch on the last day, chickens are used to warn against lurking predators. If a puma or jaguar roams into camp one night, the theory is that it will feast on the chicken first and won’t come after any humans!
As soon as the boat rammed into the steep muddy bank, we were greeted by a blizzard of mosquitoes. Being an Australian, I am well used to having a few mosquitoes buzz around outside at twilight. But this was like landing on a planet where mosquitoes ruled the world.
Even though it was the middle of the day and we were covered head to toe, we were constantly surrounded by a cloud of mozzies intent on sucking our juicy blood. They quickly seized on any exposed skin – I was bitten on my face and finger tips, and they somehow managed to bite me through my waterproof pants. Adam had big welts on both knees with scores of bites on each where the mozzies had permeated his clothing.
Deeper into the jungle
We were really keen on exploring deeper into the jungle, but the problem is that any uncleared area is inundated by mosquitoes. We put our plans for a night walk to spot animals on hold and jumped back in the boat, which is the only place to get away from the mosquitoes. Cruising through one of the lakes under the luminescent glow of the moon and the stars was a celestial experience in itself. Then Kid spotted a pair of illuminated red eyes lurking among the reeds - a baby alligator!
Typically, he was keen to catch the animal and show it to us before releasing it back to its hideout. Now as I said I don’t fully agree with his methods, but once he had grabbed hold of the alligator and allowed us to hold it, it was a pretty cool experience. To catch it, he speared it in the bottom of its jaw, which he said would hurt it “like a toothache,” and then pulled it from the water.
Our days were spent cruising through the creeks and lakes trying to find the best places to fish for piranha. I had not even realised it was possible to eat them, but I soon discovered they are a regular fish like any other, only with big sharp teeth. This makes it really difficult to remove the hook from the piranha’s mouth when you catch one.
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| Tiny piraña |
We caught plenty of fish, including the aggressive piranhas. The problem was that most of them were tiddlers. Our fishing equipment was pretty basic – just fishing lines and hooks attached to long branches, with no reels to cast out further and no sinkers to get the bait to the bottom of the river where the bigger fish lurk. Adam was particularly disappointed that we did not catch a plate-sized piranha that we could eat. We did catch enough edible fish for two night’s worth of food, including some creepy looking pink catfish with long whiskers.
When it wasn’t raining, a huge variety of birdlife were easily spotted flying between trees along the riverbank. Adam woke early one day and spotted a pair of elusive toucans, but they had flown away once he returned with the camera. An endangered scarlet macaw – a giant, red parrot – hung around the lodge quite a bit, squawking noisily. We also spotted enormous brown and white hawks, kingfishers, herons and heard the hilarious sound of the jackass bird – I can now see how they got their name, they sound like a bunch of birds imitating a donkey!
One rainy morning we moored the boat in a swamp and trekked into the jungle, fortunately the mosquito cloud was a little smaller. Kid weaved this way and that, hacking off branches and vines with his machete to make a path. The rain meant that most of the animals were hiding, but he did show us some cool jungle plants, such as a vine that was filled with fresh water and another vine that emitted an iodine-like substance that could be used as an antiseptic.
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| The ever-hopeful piraña fisherman |
Another vine produces ayahuasca - a hallucinogenic substance popular with nitwit hippies who rarely find the high they’re after and instead end up throwing up for hours and crapping their pants. My favourite was an enormous tree that is used as a “jungle telephone.” If you whack it with a stick it emits a deep thudding noise that can be heard from miles away. More spookily, we saw a fresh jaguar paw print in the mud- it would have been at least the size of my fist!
We lucked out a bit in terms of spotting animals – the river’s high level meant that animals did not need to converge on the river to find water. It wasn’t really our main goal to be photographed with wild animals - we just wanted to experience the rainforest.
That said we still had an itching desire to see some animals, so we visited a sanctuary for orphaned animals to check out some jungle beasts after we returned to Iquitos. Here are some of the pics!
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| Sloth |
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| Toucan |
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| Anaconda |
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| Anaconda |
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