Hi! Greetings from the one and only Amazon Rain Forest. This is a really cool place. We're staying at the Tiputini Biodiversity Station, a place set up by the university that I went to in Quito. It's pretty hot and humid down here, but it could be a lot worse. Yeah, there's rain. Mostly during the night, however my friends and I got caught in a rainstorm this afternoon while walking around on the trails. It was pretty incredible to look out from little gaps in the jungle to see how much it was pouring outside while within a lot of the forest it felt like a sprinkle. The rain was actually pretty warm, so we didn't mind walking through it at all, it was a nice way to cool off.
Here in the station there are two periods a day that we get electricity. The showers aren't heated, but that can feel really good. The surprising thing is that as opposed to Quito, here in the middle of the jungle, we can drink the water coming out of the tap. All the water we get is from the Tiputini river, which is right here. It's all filtered and everything to make it yummy and not full of things that could make you miserable.
Yesterday, we went on 2 long hikes throughout the place, guided by very knowledgeable men, who pointed out many cool plants, several of them with surprising medicinal properties. As far as animals go, I've seen 4 species of monkey (wooly, tamarin, saki and dusky titi), and can often hear howler monkeys from a distance. They make a deep wooo wooo wooo sound that can sound like a heavy wind. Also in a town that we stopped by on our way here, we saw squirrel monkeys. They were really cute and not afraid of people. I took a video of this one woman who was holding food and had at least 3 squirrel monkeys climbing all over her to get it.
I've also seen a lot of birds, like a collared trogon. There have also been some manequins and a raptor that squawks really loud if you come close. They call it the alarm of the jungle. I've seen tapir footprints, another group actually saw a tapir. Also jaguars and a very deadly snake called the bushmaster can be found here. Luckily jaguars avoid people and bushmasters are only dangerous at night. Last night we went on a boat ride under a clear moonlit sky to look for caimans, a slender relative of crocodiles. We actually saw a few.
I'm taking tons of pictures and will make sure to post another blog... at some point.
Take care everyone, and I'll make sure to do the same.
~Joey
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Hey. This post explains the whole electricity thing. I was wondering about that. Wow. So cool, Joey. I love the imagery of just being sprinkled upon under the canopy while it's really pouring. I'm glad the tap water can't "make you miserable." I'm sure drinking a lot in a rain forest is a good thing. You realize that you told us that the bush-thinger snakes are only dangerous at night and then the very next sentence proceeded to tell us how you went on a night boat ride. That's ok. I know you're taking good care of yourself. I'm glad you're taking pictures and videos too! Thanks for the post. Have a blast!
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