Tiputini

I meant to post this earlier, but my internet here decided to take a break for the past couple of days. Anyway, this past weekend I was in the Ecuadorian rainforest at a research station. It was one of the most amazing experiences ever. The trip there itself was a pretty sweet adventure as well. On Friday morning we took a plane from Quito to an oil town called Coca. From Coca we took a five minute bus ride to a dock. At the dock we took a boat down a huge river where we got a nice view of the amazon. It was kinda like being in an episode of Planet Earth. After 2 to 3 hours on the boat, we got out at an oil checkpoint where we got into an incredibly uncomfortable bus. After a one and a half hour drive, we got onto yet another boat. This was on the river Tiputini which is what the research station is called as well. This river was much smaller and there were chances to see wildlife. I saw turtles. There were also tons of butterflies. After about two hours we got to the station. At this point it was 6 at night. Dinner was at 7 so we got our rooms and explored a little bit. There was a hammock house with a water tower so I climbed the water tower with some other guys. After about five minutes we saw a woolly monkey slowly climbing across the trees. Next thing we knew, there was a group of maybe 20-30 squirrel monkeys climbing all around us. It was incredibly exciting. We then had dinner at 7 and I played a couple of hands of Euchre with some people and went to bed.

Breakfast was at 630, and then we got split into smaller groups to walk through the rainforest with a guide. My guide was a pretty cool guy named Jose, whose first language was Quechua. We saw some crested owls which were really cool. He also found a plant whose seeds have a red dye, so we all gave ourselves war paint. We proceeded to walk until 1130. We saw lots of toads, spiders, birds and monkeys. We also got to a lake where we took a boat around and saw a cayman. I also climbed a tree which was fun. Jose found a vine and let us swing around on it, so that was awesome as well. We ate at twelve and afterwards we swam in the Tiputini river with piranhas and caymans. Caymans are similar to alligators for those who don't know. I swam to the other side with a friend of mine to Yasuni national park. There may or may not be indigenous people who spear intruders on that side, but I'm not completely sure. Around three we went for another walk. The most exciting thing we did on this walk was eat ants that tasted just like lemons. They were really good. Speaking of eating insects, our guide had found a huge beetle and asked who wanted to eat it. When I volunteered, he ended up saying it wasn't possible. I guess he didn't think anyone would actually volunteer. That evening we took a boat along the river at night to look for caymans. It wasn't as exciting as I had hoped. We saw a couple, but it was difficult to see much. The one that we got the best view of was relatively small and missing part of its tail.

The next day I saw a sloth right after breakfast. After that we went on a canopy tour. They had built a huge tower which was about 45 meters high with 144 steps. It was really cool and we got to see a group of three scarlet macaws flying around the canopy. Afterwards Jose asked us if we were tired. He had a plant which was supposed to help. The whole group wanted to try it out, so he ended up smacking us on the arm with these huge leafs. Pretty much they felt like stinging nettles. And then our arms got real tingly. Then we got little white bumps all over our arms. Then the next day the bumps turned red and really itchy. In fact, I still have red spots all over my arm two days later. And I didn't feel any more energy after being smacked with it. Anyway, after that we went to another canopy tower with really shaky wooden bridges above the canopy. It was incredible. There was an aluminum ladder which went higher up to a tiny little platform without rails. I was wearing a harness and I'm not really scared of heights, but climbing up there was terrifying. It was well worth it and awesome though. The bugs were kind of annoying up there though. On our way back to camp Jose gave us some leaves to chew on and then we would get a surprise. The surprise ended up being that our tongues and spit turned blue so that was pretty cool.

After lunch we took a boat further downstream and then we got out of the boat and floated downstream for about two hours. It was incredibly fun. I wished we had more time, but it was great nonetheless. At night I went down to the river with a couple of my friends and we saw a cayman. On the way back to our rooms we saw an army of leafcutter ants at work. They were pretty cool. Much cooler than I thought leafcutter ants could be actually.

We left in the morning in the same fashion as we came only everything backwards obviously. The first boat ride back was much more eventful than the way there. We saw a tapir, capybara, and some mammal that I think was a peccary. I also saw a lot more turtles. When we got back to the dock at Coca there was a type of zoo with free ranging and illegal jungle animals. There was a parrot, toucan, peacocks, guinea pigs, turtles, and monkeys. These squirrel monkeys were somewhat tame and would climb all over you if you stuck your hand out. Naturally I did this. It was really cool. I really want a pet squirrel monkey now. The highlight of getting home was taking a shower. I hadn't showered at all in the jungle. This was mostly because it would have been pointless. It was so hot and humid that five minutes after a shower I would have been soaked in sweat and disgusting again. The air was awesome though. There was so much oxygen, compared to Quito. I felt 100 percent healthy for the first time since I've been in Ecuador. My only real complaint about the rainforest was that I was only there for two whole days.

I'll post pictures later I think, my internet has been off and on (mostly off) since I've been back so I'll wait until its a bit more reliable.