Day 2: Arrival at Explorama Lodge and a Night Hike
By Hannah Cotten
July 25, 2017
We glided along the Amazon River on a motor boat to our first lodging, Explorama. The Amazon River serves as a highway, linking remote areas by water. The Amazon River looked like chocolate milk, filled with sediment from the banks of the river. There is no rock in the Amazon. The bedrock lay deep deep below, with piles of soil on top. So, when the water levels rise, the banks of the river are washed away by weathering and erosion. The banks continue to recede each year, slowly chipping away at the land and soil. Thus, the river is milky brown and constantly growing in size.
As the sunlight hit the water at just the right angel, the water color appeared to change blue. It wasn't actually changing, just an optical illusion, but it was beautiful to see the water suddenly glistening blue and sparkling in the sunlight. A rainbow cast across the sky just to show off. Oh, the Amazon. What a special place!
We arrived at our first destination, Explorama Lodge, after an hour long boat ride. We climbed the steps on the bank of the river and stepped foot in the Amazon Rainforest for the very first time. We hiked through the forest along a pathway through the trees. The height of the trees was breathtaking! As I walked along the path, I absorbed everything using my five senses. I could hear birds chirping all around me. Rustling in the woods, I knew something wasn't far off, perhaps a monkey? The smell of the forest was fresh and clean. The air was slightly moist and a little thicker than back home. As sweat trickled down my back, I realized that I was in fact in a place on the globe that receives a lot of direct sun rays, only about 3 degrees south of the equator. That would explain the heat. But as a native Texan, it didn't bother me at all! As I continued to take it all in, we slowly made our way deeper and deeper into a dense world of green.
The lodge was surprisingly nice. I had prepared myself to "rough it" for the next two weeks, and was impressed that this lodge had modern amenities such as WiFi and personal showers in each room. There was no AC, and you had to sleep under mosquito nets, but that was to be expected. We had a delicious meal, prepared by the Explorama cooking staff. Meals throughout the expedition included chicken, fish or beef prepared a variety of ways and rice, beans, local fruits, and freshly squeezed juices. I was delighted at the variety and quality of the food.
We decided to explore right after dinner. We ventured off in the night for a hike in the rainforest. This was my first time to hike at night! The rainforest didn't disappoint! We strapped on our head lamps and jumped in.
The rainforest was filled with sounds and crawling creatures! It's amazing how we are able to condition ourselves if we can regularly experience things out of our comfort zone. When I first came here, I was not a huge fan of Tarantulas. I didn't mind them, but if I spotted one, I would take heed, and quickly step away, heart pounding just a tad faster. However, after spotting about 20 tarantulas along the night hike, they became quite normal. None of us were even scared of them anymore. Spiders in general became something we sought after instead of something to run away from. I learned then that we need to take more chances, and be open to more unusual things. If we push ourselves just a little bit more, and take those chances and experience the world with open minds, we will be surprised at how often we like what we used to be afraid of! I have also never liked snakes that much before. They make me nervous. However, a tiny striped snake lay atop a board leaf in the rainforest floor and I thought it was the cutest thing ever. Me, like a snake? I didn't think it was possible. But I had already changed from this one night hike. I couldn't wait to see what was around each corner. I wanted to see as much as possible and didn't care at all if the animal or insect looked scary. I just wanted to see it and learn about it! On our night hike we spotted an array of diverse creepy crawlers. It was fascinating! Creatures spotted on our hike included but were not limited to: Tree Frog, Leaf Toad, Poison Dart Frog, Blunt-Headed Tree Snake, Vine Snake, Leaf cutter ants, termites, scorpions, Red Rump Tarantulas, cockroaches, walking sticks, Leaf Mimi Katydid, and Amblypigid (whip scorpion). Much of the rainforest life wakes up at night, so we were constantly turning at each step, taking in another creature of the night. What an excellent hike!
We slept in our beds, with mosquito netting to protect us from mosquito bites in the night. I heard several sounds that made it challenging to sleep. Of course there was the occasional snorer in our group, but outside of human sounds, I also heard a lot of animal activity. Night time is when a lot of animals and insects wake and eat. I heard howling, screeching, cooing, and rustling.
Then suddenly, I heard footsteps right outside my room in the woods! I was so frightened! Initially, I thought it was a person. But then I realized it was too quite to be a human. The footsteps were light and quick and pacing outside the back of my room. I could hear the crunching of leaves with each step. I grew more anxious. As the footsteps grew louder, I turned on my light to see if I could see something in my room, but I saw nothing. I was too frightened to look outside the room, for fear it was a wild cat ready to pounce! So, I calmed myself down, remembering that I was safe in my closed room. "It'll be okay" I told myself over and over again. In the morning, I asked around to see if anyone else heard the mystery animal of the night. I was the only one. The local said the footsteps most likely came from the Tapir, a large herbivorous mammal with a long, awkward snout. They have a Tapir that roams the lodge grounds. They also have a dog and he is known for walking around and near the rooms. Maybe he was the one close to my room, pacing back and forth in the leaves. I will never know what animal lay just on the other side of my room that night. It was scary at first, but after awhile, I got used to the night sounds and drifted off to sleep.
July 25, 2017
We glided along the Amazon River on a motor boat to our first lodging, Explorama. The Amazon River serves as a highway, linking remote areas by water. The Amazon River looked like chocolate milk, filled with sediment from the banks of the river. There is no rock in the Amazon. The bedrock lay deep deep below, with piles of soil on top. So, when the water levels rise, the banks of the river are washed away by weathering and erosion. The banks continue to recede each year, slowly chipping away at the land and soil. Thus, the river is milky brown and constantly growing in size.
As the sunlight hit the water at just the right angel, the water color appeared to change blue. It wasn't actually changing, just an optical illusion, but it was beautiful to see the water suddenly glistening blue and sparkling in the sunlight. A rainbow cast across the sky just to show off. Oh, the Amazon. What a special place!
We arrived at our first destination, Explorama Lodge, after an hour long boat ride. We climbed the steps on the bank of the river and stepped foot in the Amazon Rainforest for the very first time. We hiked through the forest along a pathway through the trees. The height of the trees was breathtaking! As I walked along the path, I absorbed everything using my five senses. I could hear birds chirping all around me. Rustling in the woods, I knew something wasn't far off, perhaps a monkey? The smell of the forest was fresh and clean. The air was slightly moist and a little thicker than back home. As sweat trickled down my back, I realized that I was in fact in a place on the globe that receives a lot of direct sun rays, only about 3 degrees south of the equator. That would explain the heat. But as a native Texan, it didn't bother me at all! As I continued to take it all in, we slowly made our way deeper and deeper into a dense world of green.
The lodge was surprisingly nice. I had prepared myself to "rough it" for the next two weeks, and was impressed that this lodge had modern amenities such as WiFi and personal showers in each room. There was no AC, and you had to sleep under mosquito nets, but that was to be expected. We had a delicious meal, prepared by the Explorama cooking staff. Meals throughout the expedition included chicken, fish or beef prepared a variety of ways and rice, beans, local fruits, and freshly squeezed juices. I was delighted at the variety and quality of the food.
We decided to explore right after dinner. We ventured off in the night for a hike in the rainforest. This was my first time to hike at night! The rainforest didn't disappoint! We strapped on our head lamps and jumped in.
The rainforest was filled with sounds and crawling creatures! It's amazing how we are able to condition ourselves if we can regularly experience things out of our comfort zone. When I first came here, I was not a huge fan of Tarantulas. I didn't mind them, but if I spotted one, I would take heed, and quickly step away, heart pounding just a tad faster. However, after spotting about 20 tarantulas along the night hike, they became quite normal. None of us were even scared of them anymore. Spiders in general became something we sought after instead of something to run away from. I learned then that we need to take more chances, and be open to more unusual things. If we push ourselves just a little bit more, and take those chances and experience the world with open minds, we will be surprised at how often we like what we used to be afraid of! I have also never liked snakes that much before. They make me nervous. However, a tiny striped snake lay atop a board leaf in the rainforest floor and I thought it was the cutest thing ever. Me, like a snake? I didn't think it was possible. But I had already changed from this one night hike. I couldn't wait to see what was around each corner. I wanted to see as much as possible and didn't care at all if the animal or insect looked scary. I just wanted to see it and learn about it! On our night hike we spotted an array of diverse creepy crawlers. It was fascinating! Creatures spotted on our hike included but were not limited to: Tree Frog, Leaf Toad, Poison Dart Frog, Blunt-Headed Tree Snake, Vine Snake, Leaf cutter ants, termites, scorpions, Red Rump Tarantulas, cockroaches, walking sticks, Leaf Mimi Katydid, and Amblypigid (whip scorpion). Much of the rainforest life wakes up at night, so we were constantly turning at each step, taking in another creature of the night. What an excellent hike!
We slept in our beds, with mosquito netting to protect us from mosquito bites in the night. I heard several sounds that made it challenging to sleep. Of course there was the occasional snorer in our group, but outside of human sounds, I also heard a lot of animal activity. Night time is when a lot of animals and insects wake and eat. I heard howling, screeching, cooing, and rustling.
Then suddenly, I heard footsteps right outside my room in the woods! I was so frightened! Initially, I thought it was a person. But then I realized it was too quite to be a human. The footsteps were light and quick and pacing outside the back of my room. I could hear the crunching of leaves with each step. I grew more anxious. As the footsteps grew louder, I turned on my light to see if I could see something in my room, but I saw nothing. I was too frightened to look outside the room, for fear it was a wild cat ready to pounce! So, I calmed myself down, remembering that I was safe in my closed room. "It'll be okay" I told myself over and over again. In the morning, I asked around to see if anyone else heard the mystery animal of the night. I was the only one. The local said the footsteps most likely came from the Tapir, a large herbivorous mammal with a long, awkward snout. They have a Tapir that roams the lodge grounds. They also have a dog and he is known for walking around and near the rooms. Maybe he was the one close to my room, pacing back and forth in the leaves. I will never know what animal lay just on the other side of my room that night. It was scary at first, but after awhile, I got used to the night sounds and drifted off to sleep.
Day 3: Bird watching and the Yagua Tribe
By Hannah Cotten
July 26, 2017
Today we woke up nice and early, around 5am, to go bird watching. I used to always think that bird watching was an "old person" hobby. Well, I'm a changed woman! I am now an amature bird watcher! Look out birds, I'm coming to find you and stare at your beauty!
We saw a variety of birds on our comfortable morning stroll: Turkey Vulture, Blue-crowned Trogon, White-necked Puffbird, White-Throated Toucan, Crowned Slaty Flycatcher, Blue Headed Parrot, and Paradise Tanager.
I also loved the giant lilly pads! We came upon a pond with large lilly pads. They have a very interesting adaptation in order to prevent predators from feeding on their stems. The lilly pad stem and underbelly has thorns covering its surface to prevent any nibbles from taking place. I touched one and it's sharp! The flowers were beautiful and large.
After our bird watching, we had breakfast and then a short break. I took a nap in a hammock. Wow. I had forgotten how pleasant hammocks are. I will definitely need to invest in one! The gentle sway of the hammock and the soft chirps in the distance were the perfect combination for a nice, peaceful nap. What a delight.
The rest of the day we spent absorbing the culture of the Yagua tribe. This is a local tribe walking distance from our lodge. They taught us how to weave baskets and make thatch roofs out of Irapie Palm leaves. We even got to blow a dart from a blow gun! I wasn't half bad! The Yaguas are a tribe that is in transition of modernization. They are adapting to the new age and love t-shirts, flipflops, spoons, bowls, and fishing hooks. We traded with them and I gave children books to read, jewelry, t-shirts and scarfs. They loved all their new found prize possesions. I traded several University of Texas t-shirts with one man who in turn gave me a blow dart gun. It had pirhana teeth on it to sharpen the darts. Pretty cool!
July 26, 2017
Today we woke up nice and early, around 5am, to go bird watching. I used to always think that bird watching was an "old person" hobby. Well, I'm a changed woman! I am now an amature bird watcher! Look out birds, I'm coming to find you and stare at your beauty!
We saw a variety of birds on our comfortable morning stroll: Turkey Vulture, Blue-crowned Trogon, White-necked Puffbird, White-Throated Toucan, Crowned Slaty Flycatcher, Blue Headed Parrot, and Paradise Tanager.
I also loved the giant lilly pads! We came upon a pond with large lilly pads. They have a very interesting adaptation in order to prevent predators from feeding on their stems. The lilly pad stem and underbelly has thorns covering its surface to prevent any nibbles from taking place. I touched one and it's sharp! The flowers were beautiful and large.
After our bird watching, we had breakfast and then a short break. I took a nap in a hammock. Wow. I had forgotten how pleasant hammocks are. I will definitely need to invest in one! The gentle sway of the hammock and the soft chirps in the distance were the perfect combination for a nice, peaceful nap. What a delight.
The rest of the day we spent absorbing the culture of the Yagua tribe. This is a local tribe walking distance from our lodge. They taught us how to weave baskets and make thatch roofs out of Irapie Palm leaves. We even got to blow a dart from a blow gun! I wasn't half bad! The Yaguas are a tribe that is in transition of modernization. They are adapting to the new age and love t-shirts, flipflops, spoons, bowls, and fishing hooks. We traded with them and I gave children books to read, jewelry, t-shirts and scarfs. They loved all their new found prize possesions. I traded several University of Texas t-shirts with one man who in turn gave me a blow dart gun. It had pirhana teeth on it to sharpen the darts. Pretty cool!
Day 3 Continued: Visit to Local Medical Clinic and an Adorable Baby sloth
After interacting with the locals, we walked to the medical clinic run by Dr. Linnea Smith, an American doctor who fell in love with the Amazon Rainforest and its underserved people. She deals with all kinds of medical emergencies and care.
Then the most unexpected and exciting thing happened! A little girl walked up to our group holding a BABY SLOTH! I love sloths and have always wanted to see one. I had been looking in the Cecropia trees, where they tend to eat and sleep, to find one up high in the treetops and here was one right in front of my eyes! I was gushing the entire time, unable to listen to our guide whatsoever. He moved very slowly, just like I expected. Sloths move so slowly that they grow algea on their fur. When I pet him, he was surprisingly soft, but didn't have any algea on him yet, probably because he was too young, or potentially because he is domesticated (not recommended).
Here's a fun sloth fact- sloths climb down to the forest floor to go to the bathroom. Studies have been done to discover why they don't just tinkle and poo from the treetops. Scientists have discovered that they go to the bathroom on the forest floor because they have a symbiotic relationship with moths.
According to the Smithsonian, "Jonathan Pauli, a mammalian ecologist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and his colleagues propose a new explanation in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: sloths have mutually beneficial relationships with algae and moths living in their fur, and these relationships require the lumbering beasts to trek to the forest floor to defecate.
A surprising array of critters—beetles, moths, bacteria, and fungi—make their home in a sloth’s fur coat. Scientists have always thought that the relationship is mostly one-sided. “They just kind of haul [the critters] around and clearly the organisms that live in the fur benefit. They receive a safe haven,” says Pauli. But Pauli and colleagues noticed that green algae (Trichophilus spp.) and poo-eating sloth moths (Cryptoses spp.) represent the most prevalent inhabitants of sloth fur. Algae can be taxonomically and geographically specific, while moths use sloth fur as mating grounds. When sloths descend, moths lay their eggs in their host’s poop. When the eggs hatch, larvae eat the poo and hop on a sloth directly above them.
To learn more, the UW team captured 14 two-toed sloths (Choloepus hoffmanni) and 19 three-toed sloths (Bradypus variegates) on a cacao farm in Costa Rica. The scientists collected hair samples, stomach contents, and moths amid the fur. From the hair samples, they could estimate the amount of nutrients such as nitrogen available in what's best described as the "fur ecosystem."
The researchers found that sloths with higher levels of nitrogen in their fur had more moths and algae on them. These sloths tended to be the three-toed variety, which typically stick to a rigid schedule of descending to the forest to poop and then climbing back up—by contrast, two-toed sloths have been known to sometimes do their business while remaining in the canopy. Members of both sloth species also had evidence of Trichophilus algae from their fur in their stomach—these algae were found to be rich in lipids.
The scientists' results point to linked mutualisms between the sloths, the algae, and the moths: the sloth climbs down the tree to poop and, because the ground around the tree is littered with poop from previous descents, moth larvae growing in the poop can hitch a ride on the sloth's back. The moths find shelter and thrive in the fur ecosystem. They also bring nutrients to their new home from the poop they were born in and when they die and decompose. Those nutrients fuel algae growth in the fur, and the algae supplement sloths’ foliage diets with lipids that the scientists speculate could serve as a high-energy snack. Then, when the sloths go down to do their business again, moths hop on their back and the cycle starts over again.
Such mutually beneficial life cycles are not uncommon in the animal kingdom. Leaf cutter ants similarly harvest leaves to feed fungi that live on their abdomen--the fungi is ultimately eaten by the ants. The ants also carry a Streptomyces bacteria on their cuticles, which produces an antiboitic fungi-killing mold. Another example comes from Yellowstone National Park where tropical panic grass (Dichanthelium lanuginosum) subsists at very high soil temperatures with help from a fungus living at its roots. The fungus in turn gets its heat tolerance from a virus infection.
Three toed-sloths in particular only frequent specific tree species, and individual sloths themselves have particular trees that serve as their home base and primary leaf source. When organisms face such habitat constraints, they have to get creative and work together, according to Pauli. “It’s fun to think about how organisms with highly constrained lifestyles like that are able to maybe get around it, kind of cheat on the margins by supplementing their diet with things like algae to be able to successfully exploit those resources,” says Pauli.
It's possible that the algae also helps camoflage sloths from one of their key predators in the canopy, the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja). But the researchers think this is secondary to algae's nutritional benefit. And so life in the sloth's fur ecosystem and in it's own ecosystem goes on, fueled by poo."
Enough about deification. Bottom line, I love sloths and they are quite fascinating, even their bathroom habits. And they are ADORABLE!
I didn't want to leave the baby sloth, but we had to move on, so I took a couple pictures to immortalize the experience, and headed back to the lodge for dinner. What a day!!!
Then the most unexpected and exciting thing happened! A little girl walked up to our group holding a BABY SLOTH! I love sloths and have always wanted to see one. I had been looking in the Cecropia trees, where they tend to eat and sleep, to find one up high in the treetops and here was one right in front of my eyes! I was gushing the entire time, unable to listen to our guide whatsoever. He moved very slowly, just like I expected. Sloths move so slowly that they grow algea on their fur. When I pet him, he was surprisingly soft, but didn't have any algea on him yet, probably because he was too young, or potentially because he is domesticated (not recommended).
Here's a fun sloth fact- sloths climb down to the forest floor to go to the bathroom. Studies have been done to discover why they don't just tinkle and poo from the treetops. Scientists have discovered that they go to the bathroom on the forest floor because they have a symbiotic relationship with moths.
According to the Smithsonian, "Jonathan Pauli, a mammalian ecologist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and his colleagues propose a new explanation in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: sloths have mutually beneficial relationships with algae and moths living in their fur, and these relationships require the lumbering beasts to trek to the forest floor to defecate.
A surprising array of critters—beetles, moths, bacteria, and fungi—make their home in a sloth’s fur coat. Scientists have always thought that the relationship is mostly one-sided. “They just kind of haul [the critters] around and clearly the organisms that live in the fur benefit. They receive a safe haven,” says Pauli. But Pauli and colleagues noticed that green algae (Trichophilus spp.) and poo-eating sloth moths (Cryptoses spp.) represent the most prevalent inhabitants of sloth fur. Algae can be taxonomically and geographically specific, while moths use sloth fur as mating grounds. When sloths descend, moths lay their eggs in their host’s poop. When the eggs hatch, larvae eat the poo and hop on a sloth directly above them.
To learn more, the UW team captured 14 two-toed sloths (Choloepus hoffmanni) and 19 three-toed sloths (Bradypus variegates) on a cacao farm in Costa Rica. The scientists collected hair samples, stomach contents, and moths amid the fur. From the hair samples, they could estimate the amount of nutrients such as nitrogen available in what's best described as the "fur ecosystem."
The researchers found that sloths with higher levels of nitrogen in their fur had more moths and algae on them. These sloths tended to be the three-toed variety, which typically stick to a rigid schedule of descending to the forest to poop and then climbing back up—by contrast, two-toed sloths have been known to sometimes do their business while remaining in the canopy. Members of both sloth species also had evidence of Trichophilus algae from their fur in their stomach—these algae were found to be rich in lipids.
The scientists' results point to linked mutualisms between the sloths, the algae, and the moths: the sloth climbs down the tree to poop and, because the ground around the tree is littered with poop from previous descents, moth larvae growing in the poop can hitch a ride on the sloth's back. The moths find shelter and thrive in the fur ecosystem. They also bring nutrients to their new home from the poop they were born in and when they die and decompose. Those nutrients fuel algae growth in the fur, and the algae supplement sloths’ foliage diets with lipids that the scientists speculate could serve as a high-energy snack. Then, when the sloths go down to do their business again, moths hop on their back and the cycle starts over again.
Such mutually beneficial life cycles are not uncommon in the animal kingdom. Leaf cutter ants similarly harvest leaves to feed fungi that live on their abdomen--the fungi is ultimately eaten by the ants. The ants also carry a Streptomyces bacteria on their cuticles, which produces an antiboitic fungi-killing mold. Another example comes from Yellowstone National Park where tropical panic grass (Dichanthelium lanuginosum) subsists at very high soil temperatures with help from a fungus living at its roots. The fungus in turn gets its heat tolerance from a virus infection.
Three toed-sloths in particular only frequent specific tree species, and individual sloths themselves have particular trees that serve as their home base and primary leaf source. When organisms face such habitat constraints, they have to get creative and work together, according to Pauli. “It’s fun to think about how organisms with highly constrained lifestyles like that are able to maybe get around it, kind of cheat on the margins by supplementing their diet with things like algae to be able to successfully exploit those resources,” says Pauli.
It's possible that the algae also helps camoflage sloths from one of their key predators in the canopy, the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja). But the researchers think this is secondary to algae's nutritional benefit. And so life in the sloth's fur ecosystem and in it's own ecosystem goes on, fueled by poo."
Enough about deification. Bottom line, I love sloths and they are quite fascinating, even their bathroom habits. And they are ADORABLE!
I didn't want to leave the baby sloth, but we had to move on, so I took a couple pictures to immortalize the experience, and headed back to the lodge for dinner. What a day!!!