TIPUTINI: aka The Jungle Book has a new protagonist and her name is Katie OR There’s cool stuff everywhere!

Katie has returned from the inner depths of the rainforest back to civilization, however, with much sadness. Tiputini was beyond amazing. I can’t even describe it, but definitely some of the best 2 weeks of my life. I am so lucky that I had the opportunity to go to such an amazing place. It’s funny, because lots of other people say Tiputini is a dream come true, and for me it literally was! I have wanted to go to the Amazon since I learned what it was when I was 5 and in kindergarten! I finally fulfilled my dream to live in the jungle and see all the animals I’ve always wanted to see in the wild! Needless to say, I was in heaven for two weeks.
I was surrounded, rather, engulfed by nature and it was fabulous. Our cabins had no walls, but screens instead. Thank god for that, because wearing clothes in itself was undesirable most times (waaay too humid for clothes) although covering up as much as possible was our field strategy for avoiding all the bugs everywhere. It didn’t always work, as I still emerged 2 weeks later looking like an infected Chicken-pox victim of come sort.


Jungle Revelation: Nature is LOUD.
What does it say about our society today when we arrive in a pristine jungle environment and one of the first things we notice is the sound? I never realized nature could get so loud! The constant calls of birds, frogs, the buzzing of insects everywhere, monkeys howling, wind blowing, and all the sound waves carrying for miles through the dense vegetation. It was also interesting for me to get used to the sound of bugs flying around and realizing that they were not all coming to me, but sometimes just passing through (although those insects also had the uncanny ability to crash into my face constantly). I realized that I associate the sound of a large buzzing insect or simply a loud buzzing sound as “bad! gross! watch out!” when in reality, sometimes there really were just big bugs flying a few meters away and couldn’t care less about me.
The sounds of the forest also change, depending on the climate, as I noticed when things got hot and dry versus immediately before and during a rainstorm. The dominance levels, as in more birds versus more frogs, vary constantly, oscillating as much as the calls themselves.
Upon returning to Quito, I noticed how very quiet our cities are in comparison. Even Quito, where there are always cars honking, busses going, and discoteques blaring, seemed so much less alive than when I was lying in my bed, hoping to god the smokey jungle frogs (aka South American Bullfrogs?) would shut up so I could sleep, but enjoying it all the same.


Favorite Spot #1: Tiputini has a canopy tower, a tall metal structure that ascends through the vertical levels of the forest and gives you the opportunity to do observations from a platform embedded in a tree, to see the jungle from the perspective of most creatures instead of the floor where humans are usually restricted to. I have realized that I really like big wide open spaces (cue Dixie Chicks) and as much as I love being in the forest, to go up and see for miles and miles just felt so releasing for me. From here, we could also lots of the birds and creatures we usually had to strain our necks just to glimpse. I went up to the tower at sunrise on two different days and it was so great to watch the jungle come to life, slowly waking with the sun. I have always loved dawn hiking, and this time it was cool to observe the changes in sound and activity as the birds and bugs woke up and became more audible and visible as time passed.

Animals Everywhere! (Common things I saw on numerous occasions)

• caimans
• snakes
• monkeys (saki, wooley, spider, howler, squirrel)
• frogs (incl. poison dart variety dendrobatidae, this picture is of Dendrobatidae bilingus)
  
• fish
• parrots
• flycatchers
• vultures
• ani birds
• hoatzins

Cool stuff I saw that were really special:

• Tapir (super rare)
  
• baby coati (cuchucho! ohmygodsocute)
• scarlet macaws
• cicadas that are huge and eat lizards/frogs

Favorite Spot #2: Sitting on the dock after a long day in the field, sipping tea of manzanilla con miel (chamomile and honey), watching the sun set over the trees and a light fog begin to form above the trees and slowly engulf the distant parts of the river. The aging rays of sun would reflect off the river, shining silver and gold and sending the gentle afternoon sunlight en todos partes. Dusk is also prime bird watching time, and the flycatchers are out in full representation, accompanied by ani birds, vultures and numerous other species I can never remember the names of. As the hour progresses, the birds retreat with the sun and the bats begin to emerge, swooping with their amazing wings, chasing the lingering insects the fill the air. Neither birds nor bats ever hit anything, despite their amazing aerial acrobatics. The combination of the sunset, open area, and especially the river made sitting on the dock almost a daily visit for me while we waited on dinner, soaking in all the glorious beauty of the Tiputini River and the jungle.