En la selva - Part 4 Apu Victor Lake and Goodbye

Day 4 started wih farewells. Not everyone stays for the same length of time at the lodge. Amongst those to go were Jaimy, Gabriella and her niece, and Venka with her Norwegian glamour line up.

The Norwegians had been particularly badly affected by the previous day´s rain getting in to their cabins. They had also travelled light and had no warm clothes.

But new faces appeared and, despite the lodge manager´s rigid rules, got inserted into existing groups. For the fishing and swimming we had been joined by Kat and her boyfriend. Kat was from Cheltenham and was another hockey player. She had played for her county and region, but not for England. This outshone Jaimy´s long career in top level club hockey in Holland.

Today´s new face was Maggie from the New Forest. She had arrived the previous day in the awful weather as the sole independent in a boat with two large groups. So we welcomed her to our troupe.

The morning´s adventure was a hike to Lake Apu Victor. Our guide was Rafael again.

Although the weather was dry, it was still cold. The proof of this was that Rafael wore gloves!

A forest giant. Everyone had to be snapped standing in front of it.

There was one exciting mammal sighting along the trail. Rafael led us off ito the bush to pursue a troupe of monkeys. They were brown capuchins, but we didn´t get a good view of them. Presumably because of the rain there were few butterflies, but some fungi had flourished in the wet.

This toadstool was particularly colourful.

Because our previous jungle walk had been with Guide Victor, Rafael explained a number of things we already knew. But of course Maggie hadn´t been on that trek, so she was interested in everything.


Along the Gaitana River the previous day we had chugged past a large and beautiful spider´s web but it was not possible to photograph it. Luckily we encountered the same species of spider by the trail and she obligingly stayed fast in the centre while I took this picture.

Rafael pointed out a male near the edge of the web, but he took fright and scarpered. The male was less than a quarter the size of the female.

And so we came to Lake Apu Victor. The lake was a small one, with a metal lookout that gave excellent views across the water and the associated marshes.

The undergrowth was home to a number of birds, mostly LBJs (little brown jobs), but some were more colourful. There were flycatchers with bright yellow chests, horned screamers and in the distance two scarlet macaws perched upright as guardsmen on a bare branch. A blue-headed parrot flew across the lake and conveniently perched within binocular range. Directly opposite the lookout was a bush hosting several large, brown birds.

These were hoatzins, one of the species I particularly wanted to see. TICK. They are not rare, but they share some features in common with very primitive birds like archaeopteryx. For example, the chicks have claws on their wings. These are shed as they grow up.

The little jetty proved to be the home of a small colony of bats. Our tramping up and down sent them fluttering in disorder, before settling on a nearby tree. Oddly, they preferred flattening themselves against the trunk rather than dangling from a branch. Rafael said they were fruit-eaters. This surprised me because they were a small bat, and all the small bat species I know about are carnivorous. I take Rafael´s assertion with a large measure of scepticism.

Rafael viewed the lodge´s boat half-sunk in yesterday´s rain with concern. The cup-sized bailer seemed wholly inadequate. But an abandoned older boat contained a bucket and this, vigorously wielded, soon had our vessel ready for passengers.

Once we were all aboard Rafael paddled quietly round the little lake. We approached the hoatzins with great care, but they proved too shy to get near. Well before they came within camera range they would fly clumsily on to the next tree. There were 12 or 13 in the flock.

The bird-shaped blobs in this picture are hoatzins - honestly!

Parts of the lake were well populated with wild water lilies. There were a few buds but no flowers open under the cloudy sky. In the undergrowth nearby there were anis, black birds with strange beaks like swollen noses. A woodpecker flew to a dead trunk and perched there flaunting his brilliant scarlet head. Tick, tick.





The return was along a different trail, which gave me the opportunity to photograph some different fungi.

The rain seemed to have driven the butterflies away. We saw very few this day.






Flowers seemed to be scarce after the rain, too, although I cannot think of a good reason why that should be so. Luckily this particularly attractive example was right by the path.

As we neared the lodge Rafael left us, one by one, to stand alone in the forest. We were simply to relax and listen for 15 minutes. It was lovely - almost a shame to walk on and collect the next individual on the trail.





The afternoon´s schedule had us back in a long boat headed for the Briolo River.

Another group sets off to explore the jungle.

This tributary was a little way downstream on the other side of the river, just beyond monkey island.

Buzzing across the main river was fine, but in the confines of the Briolo our outboard motor proved unreliable. It just didn´t want to operate at low revs. This river was well populated with the yellow flycatchers and I saw my first night heron. Tick.

Eventually Rafael got fed up with the erratic engine and called a halt just beyond one of the farms that were scattered along the river´s edge. He produced the rods once again and, while the boatman dismantled his troublesome engine, we settled down to a peaceful afternoon untroubled by piraña or any other fish. I even dozed off.

Rafael and Maggie were chatting and when Rafael learned that Maggie had not been on the customary expedition to Monkey Island he cast off and we started back. The motor responded to its recent care by changing one tempo of misfiring for another, but as it was mostly being run at full speed it didn´t matter much.

Our unscheduled visit to Monkey Island was fruitless. "It´s too late," Rafael explained. "The monkeys are asleep." So Maggie did not get to see the monkeys.


The end of our last expedition, with the sun low over the Madre de Dios River.

The following day was departure day for everyone remaining. After the rain the river was higher and running faster. At least this meant that the boat hugged the bank to avoid the worst of the current and we could see the birds better. Maggie was fascinated by the snowy egrets. There are several species of white egret. This one distinguishes itself by having a black bill, black legs and unexpectedly yellow feet.

And so to Puerto Maldonado and goodbye to the jungle.