Anakonda Day 2:
After a great nights sleep, we started with a most unique wake up call. For those of you who have been to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, imagine the music one hears as they enter the park. No, imagine if you can, singular themed music with a background of running water gradually waking you up, but this time you are on the Anakonda River Boat on the Napo River in the Amazon Basin.
I was up early and hit the coffee station for a couple of cups and then we had breakfast. After breakfast we boarded our motorized canoes and started off to find the tributary which would lead us to Panacoche, or piranha lake. We wove our way in the tributaries till we came to the lake. Along the way we saw a lot of birdlife and insect life and heard the call of many birds. We did observe several macaws, woodpeckers, anhingas, black and yellow headed vultures. We passed many residences where local people lived and passed some school kids taking the canoe to school. The lake we are traveling to is a private reserve, so along the way we stopped to pay a toll.
This journey took us a couple of hours and we only got stuck once, the water levels were low and many snags were present.
We soon arrived at the Dolphin Lodge. Here we prepared for a nice walk in the rain forest. We made our way into the canopy as a light rain began to fall. Soon we were learning about leaf cutter ants, and medicinal plants found in the rain forest. We were also shown the curare vine and how to make a quick batch to place on your blow darts for hunting. I was allowed to try this mixture and placed a bit on my tongue. It had a rather bitter taste and my tongue and roof of my mouth became numb. We also learned of the Dragons Blood Sap which has many many uses, such as curing insect bites.
Then came lunch of a ceviche , with popcorn mix, a kabob of chicken, beef and a sausage, baked potato and salad. desert was a fruit salad. After lunch we had about 30 minutes to relax before we started our trip back to the Anakonda. We were fortunate to see Black Headed Parrots, and a Potoo The Potoo is a night feeder and rests during the day as he perches on a tree. Their plumage blends in amazingly well.
On the return to the Anakonda we stopped and Alex an Anakonda Naturalist Guide did some Piranha fishing. He was able to catch a Red Belly and a Silver Piranha.
Arriving back at the on the Anakonda, we stored our boots and ponchos and made our way to clean up. While writing this days activities some local kids brought a baby Tapir on board. Pretty kewl to see this creature. We understand the kids who brought this on board traded the visit for staples for their family.
At 1900 we had a briefing as to our activities for the next day. The plan is to visit a local village and learn more of the indigenous culture. We then will come back for lunch and then make a journey to a tower where we can view the canopy.
The knowledge of the guides is excellent and we are learning so much it is hard to absorb the wealth of information imparted to us.
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