 Welcome to Blue Ocean Studios  Around the World
The jungle was hot and humid - we were sweating within seconds. It's so humid that sweat doesn't do it's normal function - evaporation and making you cooler that is. It just sits on your arm, trying to attract mosquitos. We were covered in deet before we left, and it seemed to be working well. At times, we were surrounded by mosquitos, but we did pretty well to not get bit (I got bit just a few times at the very end).
Anthony explained a lot of the variety of trees to us - showing the differences between the primary and secondary forrests. Along the way, we discussed the incredibly poor soil with high iron content (orange/red), trees adaptations to keep the roots very close to the surface, and the tree killing termites all over the jungle - with their huge nests. He showed us trees which had fallen a hundred years ago, but due to their very dense structure, along with the acidity of the wood, no organisms will break it down. He even showed us 1200 year old trees. One of the most frustrating parts of the journey was the ability for everything on the ground to look like a snake. The roots, fallen sticks, etc. And then there were the falling nuts - a lot of them! Every minute or two, a large nut would fall a few feet from where we were standing - and it sounded like something rattling in the bush! Scary - but - we obviously made it out alive!
Anthony found some bats on a tree along the trail. The night before, a silouette of a bird/bat swooped in front of me, right next to Jaimie - and Jaimie said she felt the wind of something. Yikes!
The heat and humidity was starting to become unbearable, so I was excited to head back on the trail at 2:30 pm to make it back. We spent the next 2 hours going over more plant life, etc. We frequently encountered army ants along the ground, and Jaimie had a few crawling up her leg at one point, when Anthony kindly grabbed one off of her and got bit (he wasn't too happy about it i think). He had told us previously that it stings for 24 hours, and it did. We even came across some army ants trekking across a green and brown log - fitting for ARMY ants :).
We got back around 4:30 pm. Unfortunately, we were told that the eco-lodge had internet (you know, one of the bare necessities). However, the satellite connection was down - so no luck on posting our stuff :(. We relaxed, and grabbed dinner at 7:30. We then prepared for our overnight stay in the Jungle. We just brought our hammock, flashlights, long sleeve shirts and pants, and water (along with a major dousing of deet). Our hike took us 45 minutes into the Jungle - by flashlight (as it was dark by now). It was a little more scary just the three of us, and now knowing the deadly snakes that are really out there. Again, we heard nuts/berries dropping from trees making loud noises near us the entire walk. Damp piles of leaves, roots, fallen branches lie on and all around the trail, making it very difficult to see where we were walking (or what we were walking on). We arrived at our camp without any snake sightings (thankfully). Over the next hour, we setup our hammocks and prepared for the evening. The jungle was very alive at night - crickets, frogs, possibly a paca (we heard an animal near the bushes as we arrived), many different birds, all singing to us as we got into bed in the Amazon Jungle. View Amazon Jungle Photo Gallery Day 48 - Amazon Jungle < | Index | Photo Galleries | > Day 50 - Amazon River © 2007 Blue Ocean Studios, LTD. All rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Services | About | Contact Prints | Return Policy | View Cart World Travel Galleries | World Travel Blog | Links |
We slept pretty well last night - surrounded by the sounds of the jungle - some rain, crickets, frogs, nuts falling from trees, cercadas, etc. We had breakfast a 7:30 am - eggs, bread, cheese, and fried banana - great way to start the day! We then had a relaxing hour to get ready for our day in the jungle. At 9:00 am, we were off with our new tour guide, Anthony. Anthony is a Marine Biologist, who previously served in the Brazilian special forces, spending months in the jungle with only a machete (wow). Our day was spent with Anthony (just the 3 of us), with Anthony walking us through the jungle - describing various flora, insects, answering a lot of our questions (especially about snakes :)). 
Just a few minutes into the trail, Anthony spotted a poisonous viper - but it scurried away pretty quickly (no pic :)). We heard and then spotted another very large Toucan - I'm not a big bird spotting fan with my camera though - as I'm not as fast as the birds (thus the underexposed pic to the right :). Another item Anthony spotted very quickly, was the very sharp plants along the trail - some called fire plants - because their razor sharp, and will leave "fire" streak scar on your skin should they cut you. Important safety note - DON"T TOUCH ANYTHING! And that went for basically everything - if you don't know what it is - it could cut you, poison you, bite you, etc. It was like walking through a museum - that bites!
We saw many butterflies, including the Monarch (although it was too quick to photograph well). Our guide detailed about the bio-diversity, and talked about surviving in the jungle. 
We came across many mushrooms - all of which (in the Amazon) are unedible - either poisonous or toxic. We once again found a Tarantula hole, and Anthony enticed the spider our with a stick. It was a lot less scary in the daytime, although their poison still is something to respect regardless of the amount of light available. 
At one point, Anthony put his hands up to a ant nest along a tree - where ants covered his hands within seconds. He let them cover for about 15 seconds, and then smashed them against his hands. The smell of the dead ants was bitter-sweet. The natives use this scent (and technique) when hunting, to mask their odor from their prey. 
He showed us plant life that the natives use for many medicinal purposes, going into detail how and what they use them for. The picture here shows Anthony detailing the Vick plant - it smelled like spearmint - it's used in Vick's vapor rub. 
He showed us a sandbox tree - which can be used as an SOS signal. When smacked with a machete, the vibrations travel up the tree and resonate for 6 miles in all directions. The local natives do not come on to this site, as they know this is just the guides demonstrating - but when Anthony was lost a few years back, he used this to get help! 
We stopped at our campsite to have lunch and get acquainted with the site before we would come back in the dark for the night! Lunch was great - grilled marinated chicken, rice, a salad, and bananas! Not bad :), although the mosquitos and flies were a bit bothersome.
We finally arrived back to the lodge's lake side - it looked beautiful, now that we were back under the sun and away from the forrest's canopy. I was so hot I put away my camera. Just passing the side of the lake, we heard something in the bushes. Anthony kept walking - he thought it was a lizard. Just then, a (poisonous) Viper snake dashes on the trail behind us (~6 ft). Thankfully, it seemed afraid of us, and ran off - but it was a bit scary since we didn't have our brave guide between us and the snake :).