Monday July 28

5:00 AM wake up knock. Yes, it was a knock, not a call. In Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica there are no TVs nor telephones and there is only limited electric light service in your elegantly rustic cabin. Our morning excursion would be to Lake Sandoval where we would hunt for exotic birds, river otters, turtles, and possibly black caymans.

To get to Lake Sandoval we first took the motor boat upstream to Tambopata National Reserve. We then walked approximately 2 kilometers to reach a canoe. Percy and Moises (our guides) rowed us out onto the lake to quietly observe the wildlife. We encountered many "stinky" birds, named so due to the fact they have no gizzard and seem to give off a foul smell. Moises indicated they are considered to be fairly prehistoric animals because the babies are born with claws on their wings. These claws help them to climb back up tree trunks to their nests after having jumped out. I understood they loose the claws as adults.

My favorite bird was the snake bird which slides through the water with just its thin neck and head showing. It will suddenly submerge and reappear with only a slight ripple in the surface of the lake. It was a beautiful tranquil morning on the lake. We were a little disappointed to not observe the river otters but it was important to maintain distance from their den due to the fact this is breeding season. The morning ended with a entertaining jungle show. As we approached the dock for enter to the lodge, Moises observed the backside of a fairly large white cayman stuck in the mud. It was perfectly still and there was some discussion as to it being plastic and a "joke" placed on the river bank. Just as we were all convinced it couldn't be real, it pulled its head out of the mud, whipped around, and slid into the water. Nature at its best.

After lunch we tackled the famous canopy walk. This tour requires one to ascend over 100 meters up a tower to get a great look at the forest from above. It seems the tower was designed and constructed (with the help of the locals) by Chicago engineers. From here our guides pointed out the wide variety of trees found in a tropical forest and told us to keep on the lookout for monkeys and birds. We began our cautious walk across 7 swinging bridges at this height. Fortunately the day wasn't windy and the bridges only gently moved under our feet.

As you can imagine, walking across these narrow swinging bridges produced a case of high anxiety for most of us. Diane confronted this fear with such bravery that we all gave a whooping cheer as she finished the final bridge. The experience was fantastic although no monkey and only a few birds appeared to view the crazy humans walking through their canopy.

Our final activity for the day was a night walk through the jungle with Percy. We began by observing the palm trees next to our cabins. It seems tarantulas enjoy making their nests there. Percy pulled one out and placed the fury black insect on Kim's arm. Brave woman! I was having a heart attack. Throughout this hour walk we were shown many spiders, most being very poisonous. At one point we stood in a circle and extinguished our flashlights. For a few minutes we just listened to the incredible sounds of the night jungle. It was a beautiful symphony of rustling leaves and chirping insects. The walk ended with star gazing and discovering the famed Peruvian llama hidden in the dark spaces of the Milky Way.

The night ended with a delicious light buffet dinner and a cake to celebrate Diane's achievement of the day. Congrats to her perseverance!

Jody