Carina and the Lost Lake

• Gregjul's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Puerto Maldonado

Trip Start Aug 10, 2007 Previous
Entry Trip End Dec 27, 2007 Next
Entry

  Puerto Maldonado, Peru
Friday, October 19, 2007

Friday morning came much to soon with a 5am wake up call.  5:30 we were having breakfast and then we were ready at the boat by 6am.  We were going to Coche Perdida, the "lost lake".  My usual morning grumpiness, if waking up early, was nowhere to be seen as we were going into the jungle!

We traveled 15 minutes on the long canoe before jumping onto land and heading into the jungle.

Our guide showed us Tarantula almost immediately.  He used a longish stick and prodded inside a nest of leaves, at the bottom of a tree trunk.  It was at this point that the camera battery went flat.  No worries, I have 2 spare batteries - except they were back in our Strong room!  I was very pissed off, this was our big trip and I had brought spare batteries etc

A butterfly gives me the eye

. But now they were useless as they were back in the lodge!

There was nothing I could do, so I took out the video camera and decided today was video day and I would concentrate on video for a change.  We did have Jule's camera, so all was not lost.

I filmed the Tarantula and started walking into the jungle.  We stopped to discuss the medicinal properties of trees and plants and then we came upon a long canoe alongside the reeds in a narrow stream.

Our guide spent 10 minutes scooping out water with a plastic bucket, before it was ready for our journey.  We climbed carefully on board and then we started moving down the narrow river.

Alex, Fred and the guide used the big wooden paddles to propel us along the water.  We moved along slowly, enjoying the jungle.  We saw many different types of butterflies and birds flying over, around and with us.  We saw a biggish Toucan as well as many Macaws along the way.

The boat was a 2km ride and near the end Bridgett, Geoff and myself pitched in with a bit of rowing

A butterfly rests on a turtle

.  My shoulders and arms still felt a bit heavy from the river rafting, so it was quite hard going, and with the sun beating down, it was no picnic.  Alex and Fred did exceptionally well to paddle almost the entire way.

We came to the end of the narrow river and jumped off the boat, and deeper into the jungle we went.

We did a short walk on a boardwalk of about 500m before coming to the "Lost Lake".  We had no idea, but this was to be our most exciting moment of the walk.  It all started innocently with Jules saying she needed a slash. 

She headed back along the boardwalk while the guide emptied the canoe of some water and everyone began climbing onboard.  Jules did her thing, explaining to me she had peed a bit on the boardwalk as well as off it - this is key to what was to happen later!

We all sat quietly as the guide gently paddled around the lost lake.  The sounds of insects were exceptionally loud and they were accompanied by the screams of birds.  We moved silently among the reeds and saw numerous turtles

A tarantula comes out of his nest

. 

The turtles looked for broken tree branches in the lake and then climbed on to bake themselves in the sun.  We saw a number of baby turtles, but we did see a couple of big boys as well.

We kept hearing sounds which sounded like things being dropped into the lake.  Upon closer inspection we realised the sounds came from fish who were gulping down surface insects.  We could see the water ripples and bubbles after each noise.  I tried to film a fish in "action", but it was almost impossible to determine where they would strike next.

We watched birds screeching at us and when we looked over the side, we could only see dirty brown water.  We could not see what was moving below!

Our guide moved us back to the boardwalk and quietly climbed off the boat.  Deborah, Jules and I climbed off the boat and were told to stand quietly and wait for him.

He disappeared around a bend and then came back 30 seconds later, very excited and insisting again we remain quiet

Anaconda`s slimy head is behind the green stalk

.  We were very excited now and slowly inched forward around the bend in the boardwalk.  There was excitement in the air as I peered through the video lens, trying to focus on what he was pointing to ....... and then I saw a purplish eye ........ And then a flickering tongue!

I kept filming and zoomed out to see more ...... a very thick slimy body ..... it was the king of the Amazon - the Anaconda!  It was coming out of the ground, through a pile of leaves and wet sand.  We found out later that it was not emerging from a nest etc. it was in fact coming out of the lost lake, through the swampy bank. 

After feeding for weeks or sometimes months, the anaconda comes out of the lake and finds a sunny spot to lie and digest it's food.  It needs the sun's warmth to digest properly.  The digesting time varies in accordance with what the anaconda has eaten.

Apparently anacondas are territorial and there will only be 1 anaconda in each lake, except during mating season.  The anacondas in the Amazon jungle eat monkeys, small cats (jaguars, otorongas etc.), alligators, birds etc.  When these animals come to the lakes edge to drink water, the anaconda will strike from the depths of the lake, biting the animal and dragging it into the water

Anaconda´s slimy torso comes into view

.  The animal is then constricted and squashed until it can be swallowed by the anaconda. 

The anaconda is most vulnerable when lying on the land as it is not fast on land.  If filled with undigested food, it makes easier prey for jaguars and otters.  Apparently otter's will attack the anaconda in a pack and rip it apart with their sharp teeth!

So the anaconda we were staring at was keeping a close watch on us while it continued to pull its body onto dry land.  It was as thick as a large football and the guide said it was about 9/10m long.  I zoomed in closely on it's body to see if i could see the outline of animals it had swallowed, but no cigar, i couldn't make out a monkey shape!

Julie was excited to tell me it was all up to her that we were witnessing this very seldom seen snake.  The guide explained that it was very rare to see anacondas as they stayed underwater, or on land carefully hidden while digesting their prey.  Julie had her own theory for why the anaconda was so close to us on the boardwalk - her pee!  Yes, the anaconda had appeared very close to where she had perpetrated this  cunningly act, by luring the anaconda to us with her urine!

Army ants at work

!

The entire group owed Jules a their thanks, but she did not want me to let them know it was all down to her - being the shy, introverted heroine she is, she wished her brave act to remain unknown ..... what a women!  I did point out that had the anaconda responded to her cunning plan a little quicker, she would have had to let everyone know, as a 9m anaconda hanging from your naked butt would have been hard to hide!

We were sitting under a massive lookout tree, having walked to the end of the boardwalk, having a healthy lunch snack of popcorn, when we suddenly realised that the anaconda must have swam under our boat to reach the bank!  It was a sobering thought.

The massive lookout tree is 30m high with wooden planks nailed around the trunk for stairs.  I looked at the tree and just started walking up it quickly, trying my best not to look down! 

4 people a time are allowed on the tree and when we reached the top, the view was above the tree line and very very hot.  I had a very quick look and ran (well walked quickly) down, while Jules had a longer look

Carina .................. laid back

.

After the whole group had had a look, we started off on the final bit of our jungle walk, a 7.5km walk to base camp.  It was tough.  The humidity was 100% and it was hell hot, also there was the small irritation of mosquitoes.  We had insect repellent on, but the mosquito buzzing sounds in our ears was irritating.  I did manage to leave a spot here and there unprotected by insect repellent, and the little shits found these spots and had a good bite!

The walk was punishing in the thick jungle.  The guide did not stop to chat, it was just walk steadily.  Jules, Geoff and I hung back a little to assist Deborah who had some leg injury.  We had another snack break and finished our warm water and popcorn before setting out on the last 4km to home.

The walk was tough in the heat.  Bridgette had a problem with her leg and so Jules and I walked a bit slower to see if Fred would need any help, but all was OK.

We finally got back to the lodge and headed straight for lunch.

Carina on the prowl for some Greg

After lunch we spent a long time lying in the swimming pool and enjoying the coolness of the water.  At 4pm there was a botanical garden walk.  At first we were going to give it a miss, but then decided to go, and just as well or we would have not encounted ................. CARINA! 

Just the name is enough to send shivers down your spine.  But I am getting ahead of myself, let me start at 4pm.   We followed our guide into the botanical guide and I did have a good laugh as the botanical "garden" was really a large field of dirt, with the odd tree here and there.

We moved from tree to tree and it was very informative.  We saw Peruvian chillies, which look like berries, we saw a coco tree, a coffee tree and various trees used for medicinal purposes.  We saw some tropical fruits and we were soon reminiscing about home as the pineapple and banana trees looked so much like the ones in Granny´s backyard.

We managed to get ourselves a pineapple when the guide inadvertently broke off a big boy.  Jules quickly volunteered to take it and we enjoyed it later, delicious!

Carina rests

As we were strolling along we noticed a weird creature following us.  It was a tapir.  She had been found as a baby and the staff had looked after her ever since, so now she roamed the botanical gardens, calling it home.

All was fine, she smiled as we took photographs and even lay on her side so we could tickle her back.  She felt much like a wild pig.  The guide said they had named her Catrina.  Then things got a bit strange.  The guide went up a tree to pick some fruit and as I was standing there Julie started screaming at me ....................... Catrina was lumbering towards me!  She came in slow motion with her snout swinging from side to side, spit flying about.  I jumped when Jules screamed and ran behind a bush as Carina got closer.  She stopped, looked at me and then started running at me again.  It was comical as I was running around the bush with a tapir running after me.  Well I thought it was funny, but Jules is convinced Carina had her teeth out and was trying to bit me.  I did not think so.  She was slobbering everywhere, and I wasn´t going to hang around to find out so I kept trying to move away.

The guide came down the tree and pushed, kicked and slapped Carina until she kept her distance a bit

Carina sniffs me out

.  As we finished our walk, Carina followed us all the way back to the lodge.  In fact while we were eating, we saw the manager of the lodge chasing her off the reception boardwalk.  Everyone was having fun with this, saying that Carina was following me and would be waiting at our bungalow later.  Yeah sure ................. but the joke was on me!!  When Jules and I were going back to our bungalow after supper, telling the Carina story to Bridgette and Fred, who should be standing outside our bungalow .................. yes, Carina.  While Fred and Bridg patted her etc. Jules and I did a quick duck into the bungalow and that was the last we saw of Carina.

I do have a look behind me every now and then to ensure she is not following me!!

We had a brilliant day in the jungle and had enjoyed the food, staff and people we met at Eco Amazonia.  Too soon we knew we would be heading home, so we lay in our hammocks and enjoyed the sounds of the jungle before going to sleep.
 

 

 

 

 


 

 


 

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Carina takes a bite!	Chilli plant	Cocha Perdida - the lost lake ....... a lost boat	Cocoa plant
Coffee bean tree	Colourful fungi growing on a tree trunk	Eco Amazonia	Greg swings from a vine ...... well about to!
Indiana Jones and Lara Croft	Indiana Jones?........ no, just Greg	Jules above the treeline	Jules on the boardwalk ....... near 'THE' spot!!
Julie in jungle jail	Julie takes a break!	Local snake bite remedy tree	Macau
Massive, old roots	The jungle as seen from our canoe	The lost Lake	The view above the treeline
We set off for our canoe ride in the anaconda lake	Weird creepy twisty vine	Windy staircase to the treeline

Slideshow Print this entry Share Puerto Maldonado hotels

Previous Entry Next Entry