November 29, 2010

I got up at 5:30 and left at 6am to go fishing with Weninger. He brought Jack, a boat driver, and we spent a couple of hours fishing in various places up the river.

Very little activity. We only caught a small one each. Oh well, I´ve already had my fishing adventure here. You cannot win every time.

We started the day with a jungle hike in the hope of seeing some more wildlife. We had heard many good things about the research center and how there should be more wildlife here. It is impressive how systematic they have been about recording spotting of different species. A large area next to the lodge has a network of trails in a perfect grid with marks on poles showing you where on the grid you  are. Trails are named with numbers in one direction and letters on the other. They have created the jungle equivalent of Manhattan! When an animal is observed they note in which part of the grid it was spotted.

We did not see any mammals or rare birds today. Partly because it was so hot (they often hide in the shade on hot days), and partly because the kids were making too much noise. We still saw some intersting stuff. Here Weninger is showing us a termite nest that has been built at the end of a liana. He told us this is very unusual, normally they are built in trees. The thing was hanging there like a demolishing ball and could be swung back and forth:

Here is a very big termite nest following a tree branch:

We found a wild rubber tree. Adrian is feeling the latex:

A forest which is submerged a large part of the year creates some strange trees:

This one looked like a rocket ready to be launched:

Iseline was allowed to try out Weninger´s machete:

We stayed out for an hour and a half. The heat and humidity is getting tiring now, even for me. We relaxed, had lunch and then relaxed some more.

We were the only guests at the lodge today, and received special treatment for lunch and dinner. Instead of the usual buffet we got ready made plates with lots of good stuff.

The lodge here is really great. View from our room:

Parents´s room:

Lodge pictures:

Viktor did his saxophone practice:

At 3pm we left for a canoe trip:

Weninger is just amazing when it comes to spotting stuff. He spottet these long-nosed bats way before anyone else. The bats were resting on a trunk by the water:

When we got close enough they flew away. A few went over to a nearby tree. Their camouflage is impressive. Can you spot all 6?

We have seen lots of beautiful butterflies here, including the gigantic bright blue ones. The butterflies here are very difficult to photograph since they never seem to sit still. Weninger came to the rescue today when he spotted some butterflies and silent as a mouse managed to navigate us very close to them:

We saw one type of hawk

and then another:

These are catfish “nests.”

The catfish dig these using their bodies and lay their roe in them. They guard them for 8 days until the fry hatch. We could see the holes because the river is so low. Catfiwh spawn around December. Weninger commented that they might have to wait this year. Rainy season is supposed to have started, but the rain does not come.

The boys enjoyed the ride:

Iseline made a self-portrait and sone great photos of her mom:

I spent the last hour of sunlight fishing again. A few bites and only a baby catfish on land. As I made my way along the shore at the end I suddenly saw something long, thin and dark dash for the water before it made a huge splash. It was probably about a meter and 20 cm (4 feet) long. Later Weninger confirmed to me that it could only have been a caiman (crocodile). I did not get any closer, but hurried back to the lodge. This is not completely like the woods around Oslo, after all.

Another very hot day in the jungle. We discussed with the kids that the morning excursion was not very successful because they had been making too much noise. The result was that we agreed to split up tomorrow. Viktor and I will go hiking with Weninger deep into the jungle to spot more wildlife The others will take it easy at the lodge.

Eirik

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