Day 22 1st December 2006 - Monkeys, Spiders and Spider Monkeys - Tambopota National Park

This certainly isn't a trip for those who enjoy a good lay in, up at 6am for a 12km trek to an ox bow lake was the order of the day. Being a little cooler at this time of the day some of the animals were out to play including spider monkeys, a tarantula which our guide managed to coax out of its burrow and a very strange but friendly little frog.

Friendly Frog

After lunch at 10am, quickly eaten before it could be carried off by the ants we ventured out into the oxbow lake in a wooden canoe, after of course our guide Hugo had emptied it of water to stop it from sinking.

It wasn't long before we saw two blue and yellow macaw´s keeping a watch full eye on us from their nest, made in the trunk of an old palm tree.

Jungle Jean

The oxbow lake is not just just home to some beautiful birds it also counts as its inhabitants piranhas and anacondas. So when Hugo asked who wanted to go for a swim there was a blank silence, "I can guarantee 100% that there are anacondas and can guarantee 99% that they wont attack you if you stay in the middle of the lake", so all we had to do was disregard the piranhas who kept themselves to themselves if they had been fed recently and we would be ok.

Needless to say everyone stayed dry, preferring to fish for piranhas form the river bank.

On the way back to the lodge we came across a fire ant tree, so called because its inhabited by fire ants who keep an area of about 1m clear around the tree to protect it from competing vines and other trees. A quick tap on the bark and out the troops come looking to bite something. In times gone by, being tied to a fire ant tree was used a punishment by the local tribes for women who strayed from the marital bed. The punishment for men committing the same offence, nothing they were apparently congratulated.

As night fell once more on the jungle we headed off up the river in search of Caymen which are small members of the alligator family and if I remember correctly taste like tough fish flavoured chicken. After seeing a few lurking in the reeds we switched the boat engine off and just drifted for a few minutes in the dark listening to the jungle chorus, very relaxing and inviting.

Highlights: Bugs, buglies and no snakes