Spying Cayman!

So, this morning we got up nice and early to see if we could spot any hummingbirds by the lodge. We were fortunate enough to spot a couple of them perched on the branch tips, buzzing around every now and then. Attempts to capture them flying on camera failed miserably, they are waaaay to quick! But it did stretch out its wings for us. There were several other birds too including an awesome looking bird we think might have been a woodpecker.

After a 6:30 breakfast we took a boat up the river with another couple to where we would hike to find the lake with the Cayman. The boat trips along this river are still just as incredible and surreal as the first time. Birds, dragon flies and butterflies all darting across the river ahead of us or flying alongside us. The birds appear to hover by the side of your head as they fly by the side of you and the dragon flies skit alongside the ridge of the boat in the slipstream, one or two at a time. And as for the butterflies, they seem to enjoy fluttering around the boat, darting past heads and in-between bodies, round and round...its all so mesmerising and definitely keeps a smile on your face throughout the journey.

On arrival we changed back into our very smelly socks and rubber boots in prep for the short but hot hike to the lake. Here the trees are very spaced apart, unlike our hike on Terra Firma, as the water levels rise every year killing many of the smaller plants. The trees that exist here are huge with great big buttress roots, on show now it is the dry season, and some amazing parasite trees which look like a maze of hundreds of trunks, all making up the one tree. We heard a Horned Screamer as we trekked, a giant bird nicknamed the Donkey Bird because of the noise it makes, very very loud and strange, echoing through the trees.

There was some difficult trekking through swamp like mud which twice almost took off my welly, a loud squelching pop and the release of eggy sulphur smells greeted us whenever you broke free. Thankfully it was suggested we grab sticks to help guide us or else we would have been face first in the mud or stabbed by the trees around us that were covered in needle like spines.

After the mud, we came to a small swamp area where we saw water chickens (jungle chicken) and Richard spotted some blue headed parrots amongst the trees surrounding a lake of water lettuce. The arrival of an eagle soon scared them away.

Next up was the lake, a massive oxbow lake that during the wet season we could have canoed out too (the water level would be metres higher). Here we immediately spotted three Black Cayman sat stationary in the water around the platform we were on. These were only young still and less than 2 metres, but their eyes still looked menacing as they waited for lunch. We also spotted a couple of yellow spotted river turtles, some pencil fish and dragon fish and the signs of catfish as they leap out the surface for air.

The tropical cormorants on the lake were either sunning themselves on branches protruding from the water, wings spread wide, or swimming like jungle ducks on the lake catching fish or wrestling each other for them. We heard the Jungle Donkey again and were lucky enough to see them perched up high in the trees. We also saw several Hoatzin Birds, a special bird which eats only shoots. I was pretty chuffed because they are hard to spot and I was the one to find them. Their babies still have claws on their wings, a bit like bats, and they use them to clamber back to their nest should they leap out if scared. This bird was nicknamed the jungle pig alongside the jungle chicken and jungle donkey, I'm sure you can guess why.

Another hike and boat trip back to the lodge, where we passed some other guests who had caught some fish, and now we have a few hours to chill before the afternoon. We also realised just how stinky we all are and used the time for a much needed scrub. We even attempted to clean some clothes. Fortunately, the scale of the dirt was masked by the colour of the river water used.

Now for some chill time in the Hammock!Read more