En la selva - Part 2b

The expedition to the "lost" lake had started at dawn and finished with a late lunch, so we were given the afternoon off to relax and explore the amenities of the lodge.

The central space was dominated by two big trees that had been selected by the local oropendulas as nesting sites. These are quite striking birds, larger than blackbirds and decked out in an eye-catching combination of black and yellow. The nests are woven to hang down from the branches. They take about a month to build and were all works-in-prgress while I was there.

Under the trees was an appealing swimming pool. From a sample of one, I have discovered that Dutch people are apprehensive about cold water. Venka (Norway) was first to the pool and first in. Jaimy (Holland) and I arrived together and Jaimy, who plays hockey in goal and thinks nothing of getting in the way of a hurtling missile, dithered for quite a while on the edge of the unheated pool. I´m used to jumping into the sea from a boat, so it was child´s play to leap into a tropical pool. Like the unheated shower in our cabin, it was merely refreshing, as Jaimy admitted when he finally climbed in.

The grounds also contained a large bird table, where fruit was offered to our feathered friends. It was dominated by a pair of scarlet macaws, who announced ther ownership with loud, harsh cries.

A scarlet macaw on the ground.

They were present for much of the time, but occasionally vanished, so they may have been wild. Macaws can crack brazil nuts, so we didn´t offer them a finger to chew on.


Other pets were a white-winged trumpeter and a pair of Spinx´s guans. These turkey-like birds allowed themselves to be photographed and then decided that I had occupied their territory for long enough. The hen started to peck my leg, which was amusing at first, but she wouldn´t stop until I moved away.

A Spinx´s guan deciding which leg hair to attack next.

Then her mate raised his crest and started to advance. We didn´t want to harm lodge pets and the only strategy Jaimy and I could think of was to retreat. This encouraged both guans to advance, giving the humiliating impression that two grown men were running away from a couple of fowls. Later we saw how the lodge staff dealt with the pests. They would make as if to pat them on the back, at which the guans ran smartly out of range.


A tree in the staff area was home to two blue and yellow macaws, a species we did not see in the wild. I´m pretty sure they had their wings clipped because they were always there, accompanied by a mealy amazon (a green parrot), that was incredibly difficult to see if it sat still. This bird could "talk" and would respond to a shouted "Hola" in kind.

For some evening entertainment, Victor took us on a tour of the garden. An elderly retainer cultivates a range of food and medicinal plants.



Before we got to the garden another of the pets turned up; this time the young tapir, Karina. She was absurdly tame and fell to the ground in ecstasy when Victor scrated a particular spot on her back.

She is free to wander into the jungle. This, explained Victor, was why there was no point in treating her ticks. Every time she went back to the jungle she would collect another infestation. However, they didn´t seem to be bothering her.

Karina was very sociable as long as someone in the group was willing to feed her grass or leaves, but when we tired of this she wandered off and we were free to learn about the plants.

There were quite a few, including one that Victor described as "Peruvian viagara". He offered to cut a sample so that we could test its effectiveness but no-one took up his offer.

You always wanted to know what a pineapple plant looks like, didn´t you?

An ordinary-looking vine was attributed hallucinogenic properties. Victor cautioned that it should only be used under the supervision of a shaman. Oddly eough, no-one wanted to try this one, either.

And a nice surprise as we made our way back to the ´front´of the lodge was two oven birds´nests. They were neat footballs of mud perched on a beam. They are entered by a passage that coils inwards like a snail´s shell. Interestingly, one curved to the left and the other to the right.

And so to our dinner and socialising in the bar.