Madidi National Park Day 2

Today we had 3 different walks at 3 different times of day.

Our first walk was about 2 and a half hours along the Tuichi Trail after breakfast. Breakfast was really nice. We had banana bread, slices of roll, potato pancake, a small omelette, and some fruit. The walk in the morning was to try and see some different birds. Despite being quite hard to see at times, we managed to spot a few different birds. Early on in the walk we heard the pale tail trumpeter. We crouched down on the path, and waited. Then, walking across the path further in front of us were 7 of them! They looked like mini ostriches.

At a small lagoon we saw a colorful bird with spiky feathers coming out of its head. We also saw a purple jay here. This lookout point was absolutely crawling with caterpillars, they were everywhere including dangling out of trees. Not far from the lookout point we managed to see the white eyed parakeet. We'd heard it a few times on the walk, so it was great to be able to spot the pair we saw. Continuing with the walk we also spotted some jackamars. They were mostly black with colorful bellies. On our way back to the lodge, we went a different way. We stopped and looked out to a huge tree and saw two red and green macaws, the same ones we briefly saw fly over us yesterday. They were high up in their nest. With the binoculars, you could really see all of the colors. It was amazing 🤩.

Back at the lodge, we had quick showers and then some lunch of chicken and beetroot. On the way to lunch, at the lodge, there were a bunch of small tamarind monkeys! It was so cool and they came super close to me while on their hunt for insects. It was perfect timing.

After lunch, during our downtime, we had a bit of an infestation. All of a sudden there were some ants making a trail towards our building, 10 minutes later, they had surrounded it and managed to climb inside and cover the back wall of the bathroom in pursuit of a cockroach that was about 5-6 cm long. It was awful. We went to find someone to help us, but by the time we had done that, the ants had completely surrounded the cabin and were crawling on every wall. We quickly packed our things and moved while the staff sprayed bug spray to try and get rid of the ants.

While our new room got out together, we headed out on our next walk along the Mapajo Trail. This was a shorter walk, and we saw some really big trees here with some super cool vines. We also saw some more birds, like a tiny black hummingbird and the trumpeters again. Unfortunately, all of the monkeys in this part of the jungle were hiding. It was probably our most uneventful walk yet animal-wise. However, between this morning and the afternoon, we saw a ton of new mushrooms and some beautiful butterflies like a big blue one and a black one that was pink on the inside. It moved too fast to get a picture, but it was super special.

Back at our new cabin, we had showers before dinner. Allan, and the other guests, were given a special catfish meal that was cooked traditionally that the guides caught earlier in the afternoon. He said it was very good, and huge! Then, it was time to prepare for the night hike. I was feeling apprehensive about it, because I know there are scary things and big bugs that come out at night, but I also wanted the chance to see some of the animals. We bug sprayed, layered, and covered as best as possible before meeting the guide. Our walk took us a similar route to this afternoon, just the reverse. We saw some spiders, including a scorpion spider that reminded me of the spider Mad Eye Moody tortures in Harry Potter, huge bullet ants, and possibly a baby alligator. In the distance at the salt lick we also saw a nocturnal Niger bird. Other than that, we heard a lot of critters like bugs, frogs, and birds, but we didn't see them. I didn't know how to feel after the 45 minute walk.

Before bed, we showered off the deet, killed a cockroach in the bathroom (thankfully not as big as this afternoon), and then crawled into bed. Tomorrow morning we have a long hike so hopefully we see lots of things like we did the first day.Læs mere