Tuesday, 2 Mar 2004
PUERTO MALDONADO, Peru
Yesterday afternoon, after climbing a 35-meter tower into the canopy of the Amazon rainforest, I really knew I had arrived. We looked down on the winding Tambopata River and watched parrots and parakeets fly by at eye level. We also saw our first glorious glimpse of two of the three macaw species that will be our focus for the next 12 days. Hans, our guide, was careful to distinguish their raucous calls: "You'll need to know this."
Hans and our other guide, Sophia, had met us at the airport in Puerto Maldonado, a town of 40,000 and the entry point for the Tambopata River. We bounced out of town in a thatch-roofed bus while the guides produced tasty local snacks -- plantain chips and locally bottled juice from a Brazilian fruit, copazua. So far, so good! From the bus, we got on a boat for the two-hour trip upriver to Posada Amazonas, our first destination.
The Tambopata River.
Photo: Christopher Jonas.
This morning I continued my short stint as an ecotourist before our macaw work began. Posada Amazonas may be the quintessential ecotourist experience. Start with the fact that we are in the area of greatest biodiversity of the Amazon basin, which is one of the areas of highest biodiversity in the world. Posada Amazonas is owned jointly by the native Ese-eja community and Rainforest Expeditions (and at the end of 20 years, ownership will transfer 100 percent to the community). The jobs and profits that ecotourism provides to the local community are helping change attitudes toward land use on the 25,000-acre reserve where it is located. The open, airy rooms (with one wall open to the rainforest), the delicious food from locally grown ingredients, and the high-quality service make the experience as a guest a delightful one. At the same time, we are all stewards of the rainforest, using only the biodegradable shampoo provided and reading by kerosene lanterns and candles.
We -- myself and two other Earthwatch volunteers, Tanya and Rhonda -- were up early this morning for a 5:30 departure to a nearby oxbow lake where we hoped to see, among other things, giant river otters. Hans, who is from the cloud forest of Peru and studied tourism in college in Lima, wakes us. He'll be with us throughout our stay here, rather like our personal camp counselor -- combining his significant knowledge of the rainforest with concern for our well-being. He'll accompany the Earthwatch group to the Tambopata Research Center as well.
We didn't see the river otters -- and it seemed OK that they did not perform on command, especially because we had a much more real wildlife experience as we were walking in to the lake. Suddenly, Christian, the Posada employee who'd come along to help with the boat and lead the procession, came running back with eyes like saucers. As we rounded the bend, we saw the middle section of a four-meter anaconda crossing the trail. His belly was about 12 inches in diameter and it was clear from his lethargic pace that he had just ingested an agouti or some other significant mammal.
You know it's an unusual sighting when even your guide and a local look shocked. It was the talk of the lodge as all of the staff pored over the minute image on Tanya's digital camera. It was also the substance of our introductory conversation with Donald Brightsmith, the principal investigator for the Earthwatch research, who'd just arrived from Tambopata Research Center to train us up.
The better part of the rest of the day was spent learning how to record the data we will be gathering and filling them in from written examples and tests. But first, we had the "Earthwatch-required" speech about the various hazards we'd face: the river (it gets wilder from here), dehydration (drink constantly and check the color of your pee), insect-borne diseases (Leishmaniasis isn't fun and the treatment is worse, so tuck in your trousers and shirts). How about poisonous snakes, someone asks -- visions of fer-de-lances slithering in all our heads. Not to worry, Donald assures us. "They are pretty low density." Based on the events of my day, not reassuring!
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