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T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 7 8<br />
being a view of the jungle about 10 metres away! There was a<br />
mosquito net over the bed and a hammock in the room. My<br />
guide was Yuri and he was looking after 2 elderly Americans<br />
and me. On a trip like this you get to meet people from all<br />
over the world. Amongst the 13 others are a couple from<br />
Downham Market and a family of 4 from Northampton.<br />
Our 1st expedition was a walk to an 80 feet canopy tower.<br />
From the top you could look down on the trees but it's the<br />
middle of the afternoon so not much activity. Then we walked<br />
further on to an oxbow lake. Yuri paddled us slowly round the<br />
lake. We just missed the Peru cricket team; at least I assume<br />
that's why there were 11 bats on a tree trunk! There was a<br />
variety of birds and by cheating (throwing food into the<br />
water) we got a close up of some fish. The yellow ones<br />
jumping out of the water were piranhas, according to Yuri.<br />
After dinner we took a night-time boat trip to see a couple of<br />
pairs of caiman eyes (part of the croc/alligator family). On the<br />
way back we all got good photos of a pink-toed tarantula. It's<br />
blue other than the toes.<br />
THuRSDAY<br />
Only 1 night here so another boat journey ahead. This one<br />
will be 4 hours to the Tombapata Research Centre (TRC).<br />
There are very few tributaries to this river but it does change<br />
to the Rio Tombapata. The scenery was mile after mile of<br />
rainforest but was fascinating as it is ever changing. It's early<br />
in the dry season and the river was wide, often not very deep,<br />
but seemingly endless. The only other river traffic was<br />
returning tourists. Everyone/everything gets to the TRC by<br />
boat or not at all. After another "rice in banana leaves" lunch<br />
we arrived at "the side of the river". There was virtually<br />
nothing to indicate any form of habitation.<br />
However, a 10 minute walk took us to the TRC, which<br />
included our lodgings. Again the 4th wall of my room was a<br />
view of the jungle 10 metres away. Monkeys, macaws and wild<br />
boar (you always meet some on holiday, but, at least these<br />
weren't British!) could be seen close up at different times.<br />
There were 18 rooms so less than 40 tourists at a time.<br />
The "research" is into the lives, and particularly the feeding<br />
habits, of parrots and macaws. The birds eat clay! The<br />
researchers are trying to establish whether this is because they<br />
don't get enough sodium from their natural diet or because<br />
the other minerals in the clay aid digestion. The answer may<br />
well be both so they might be here for a while! The profits<br />
from tourists helps to finance the project.<br />
FRiDAY<br />
At 5.20 am the next morning, shortly before dawn, a group of<br />
a dozen or more congregated at the entrance to the Lodge.<br />
Then the world started to come to an end! At least that's what<br />
it sounded like. An echoey sort of roar, a bit like being outside<br />
a terminal at Heathrow, started and grew louder and louder.<br />
Yuri explained that it is a howler monkey. "How many?" he<br />
was asked. "Only one" he responded. It seemed unbelievable<br />
that anyone creature can make that much noise. The monkey<br />
must have been very close because each time I heard it again<br />
it was a tremendous din but not quite like that first time.<br />
We walked down to the boat and after a short ride disembarked<br />
onto an island. After a short walk we sat down (on picnic<br />
chairs we brought with us) to wait, quietly. There was a water<br />
channel in front of us and rainforest on the opposite bank. To<br />
either side of the trees there were short steep banks of clay.<br />
These were probably 100+ metres from us. At about 6 am, as<br />
it got light, a parrot flew by. Then 2 more. Then a parrot<br />
squawked and so it went on. Over the next hour more and<br />
more birds congregated and the noise level rose continuously,<br />
such that, for the 2nd time this morning, noise became one of<br />
the abiding memories. The macaws in particular were<br />
spectacularly colourful. Eventually a few parrots flew to the<br />
"clay lick" and started to eat the clay. These were followed by<br />
many more parrots and macaws. I could see what's happening<br />
through my binoculars but my poor camera didn't show much.<br />
Until, that is, one of the research staff put my camera lens into<br />
the eye piece of his telescope - and then pressed "video". I got<br />
2 minutes of the most spectacular action.<br />
Late morning and late afternoon we took 2 more walks to<br />
subtly different parts of the rainforest. One led to the top<br />
ofthe only higher ground around and gave a beautiful view<br />
across vast areas of forest. It started to get dark around 5.30pm<br />
at ground level but above the tree tops it was still clearly<br />
daylight. There are profusions of butterflies too and they also<br />
seem to like eating clay Being in this environment is what I<br />
wanted to experience.<br />
Yuri was excellent; his English was good and he knew his<br />
stuff. He'd been here before and knew how to tickle a<br />
tarantula (without pink toes) from its lair and only "local<br />
knowledge" enabled us to get a (rather dark) photo of a<br />
porcupine in a tree. Yuri really was "Dr Doolittle" as the noises<br />
he made were often responded to by various birds and animals.<br />
On our return to the Lodge I casually asked Yuri when Peru<br />
was to play Ecuador (in a World Cup qualifier). Kick off is<br />
9.15 tonight after the talk from a volunteer with the research<br />
staff. "Is there a TV here?" I asked "and surely the generator<br />
goes off at 9.30pm". "There is, and not when Peru play" was<br />
his response. So I became the only tourist to join the Peruvian<br />
staff at TRC to watch Peru win 1-0. Yuri was happy!<br />
SATuRDAY<br />
It's just Yuri and me for the rest of my stay. In the morning we<br />
visited a swamp area of the rainforest. Yuri recommended<br />
wellies and he was right to as the mud reached just below the<br />
top of them. It was tough going as most of the mud was pretty<br />
thick. For the afternoon Yuri arranged for the TRC volunteer<br />
and a Peruvian member of the team to take me with them. We<br />
went by boat to an island not visited by tourists. They were<br />
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