Peruvian Rainforest (Amazon - Picture Heavy)

[JeffreH]

Rainforest conservation trip into Manu National Park (Peru). These were all taken with a waterproof coolpix...nothing fancy. Wildlife was very difficult to photograph and I admit I spent more of my time admiring it through my own eyes than through a camera lens. I mostly have scenic shots to share, but there is some wildlife mixed within as well.


I saw over 125 species of bird, a Jaguar, Giant River Otters, 9 species of Monkey (Red Howler, Spider, White-fronted Capuchin, Brown Capuchin, Squirrel, Emperor Tamarin, Saddle-backed Tamarin, Dusky Titi Monkey, and the very rare and endangered Wooly Monkey). Several Amazon Tree Boas, a juvenile BCC in a tall palm, some dendrobates, hylids, caiman... it was absolutely incredible. Most wildlife photos were taken by colleagues and I'll try to get those posted when possible.


Aerial view from out small plane, passing over the Andes from Cusco into Manu forest:

The Amazon:







The Boca Manu Airstrip... it was a rough landing lol:






C. cornuta along a Matsiguanka trail:




Sunset on the River - The sun rises at 530am and sets at 530pm here. There is almost no transition between light and utter darkness.




Succesional Forest:



Pretty Vespid:



Bullet Ant - The worst pain in the entire forest. This one was almost 2" long:



Ficus, a keystone fruiting species in the forest:



Wild Cocoa...note how fruit often grows out of the trunk and bark:



Cecilio and Marco, the boatmen. Cecilio (the elder) does not care about money... he takes researchers into the forest hoping purely so they can appreciate it and make efforts to save it. These are some truly remarkable people. They offer to carry all of your luggage for miles with no tip... and haven't seen family in over 4 weeks.





Termite Nest - Termites build nests high off the ground due to flooding:



Many plants protect themselves with toxins and sharp spines in the forest. This palm has spines that are over 4" long:



Phasmid:

Jaguar - I feel so privledged to have seen this guy. He just hung out on the log overhanging the water as we passed by along the Madre de Dios. Very rare sight.
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Jaguar photo taken by our amazing Guide, Dr. Leo Obelitas. This photo will be removed in 24hrs. Please do not repost this without permission:
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Some Canopy views:
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Oxbow Lake, Cocha Juarez:
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Casa de Matsiguanka - the house of the Matsiguanka tribe. Very fascinating and shy indigenous people. They rarely ventured out of their hut here that houses 8 families... I learned a lot from them
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Guide Leo, talking about the naked tree. It sheds is incredible toxic bark to prevent infestation by ants that dominate the forest. He has a friend who committed suicide by drinking a brew with the bark:
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Jewel Beetle...impossible to capture the beauty of this insect. Incredible rainbow of colors, irridescence, and it was about 3" long:
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Corllalus enhydris enhydris - Amazon Tree Boa
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Hylid - Giant Gladiator Frog (Hypsiboas boans). He was the size of a clenched fist:
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The 2nd worst pain in the forest to the bullet ant. This caterpillar is called "Koi Koi" in Quechua... which translates to "pain pain"
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Sunset:
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White Caiman



Snake bird (I think):



This is the caustic vine I had alluded to that is used to remedy Bullet Ant stings:



Very cool, cryptic frog. Unknown species...anyone want to take a stab at it? Found near Cocha Salvador in detritus, about 250m from the lake in Manu National Park. We didn't have any die-hard frog people with us on this trip and our field guide was for herps was severely limited.




Yellow-footed tortoise crossing the Rio de Madres... unusual behavior. We believe it was due to the very unusual dryness (20 days of no rain) that had been ongoing.






Urania Moth - these guys were pretty abundant along the river and very pretty. Moth species, despite its butterfly-like appearance:

Strangler Fig - a ficus species that is parasitic to other trees. When a primate or similar species eats the seed and defecates on another tree, it begins to grow. It will eventually fuse with the host tree and grow around it; using it as support and for sustenance.



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Squirrel Monkeys




Red and Green Macaws – I hate to say this, but by the end of the stay in the forest you’d see macaws and think “meh, just another macaw.” They were quite common.



Heliconia



The Manu Lodge…and incredible place



Orb Weaving species that I’m told has a silk that is essentially the strongest material in the world. The web was so strong that I would wager small bats could easily become trapped.





Pretty roach



Coca Tea… not even remotely on the same scale as Cocaine. Comparing the two would be like comparing coffee to meth, but it was some pretty dank tea! Coca is common in the highland culture and encouraged to be chewed or made into a tea for altitude sickness amongst other things.



Boca Manu Children



Butterflies are attracted to urine…and apparently…turtles. You’d see side-necked turtles basking along the shore and on logs just being swarmed by a diversity of butterflies. The butterflies would give away the turtle’s location ; )

Juvenile T?

Juvie black caiman

Sustainable boat building – they go out and find trees that have fallen by natural causes (i.e. fallen into the river by erosion) and use this wood to make boats rather than cutting trees to do it. They are particularly fond of red cedar. A single boat will take a few months to make but can sell for $3k, which is a LOT of money for these people.



Very cool tree



Small line of Army Ants. These guys will raid and destroy everything in their path.



Some Deondrobate? Maybe?



Blood of the Dragon (Croton sp.). This tree has immense pharmaceutical properties within the sap... it is used to relieve ulcers, gastrointestinal ailments, seal and protect open wounds, and can help revert the effects of diabetes




Black Vultures. These three were always on the rooftop every single day...probably waiting for someone to die, lol. I named them Ed, Edd, and Eddy. Fun fact: many vultures in the world are becoming very threatened, particularly in Asia where the introduction of Ibuprofen into cattle meat is killing any scavengers who feed on dead cattle. There are turkey vultures down there too (same species as the states) and they have the best smell of any animal in the world (so I've been told).




Bolivian Bleating Frog (?)



Garlic Tree - you could smell these as you approached as a strong garlic smell. I’m told the bark can be boiled down to relieve sore throats and sinus infections, and stomach ulcers.



Hoatzin - a bird that cannot fly very well. These guys were once thought to be a link between lizard/dinosaur ancestors and avians, because juveniles have claws on their wings. They are always over water, and juvies will fall into the water and use the claws on their wings to climb back out onto the bank. When they molt into adult plummage, they lose the claws. Hoatzins are leaf-eaters, and have few predators because they small putrid... they ferment the leaves in their crop prior to digestion which makes their meat very foul.
Sorry for the crappy photo quality. These are super cool looking birds, look em up online.



Big Bee



Macaw Clay Lick - you may notice there are no Macaws ; ) it hadn't rained in 20 days which threw off a lot of the normal routines of the wildlife, but these licks are usually filled with hundreds of parrots, macaws, and other bird species. In addition, there was a great black hawk perched off in the distance which made other birds nervous so they refused to land on the lick and give us a show... The birds utilize the clay to neutralize toxins in the seeds they eat (i.e. cyanide)



Hanging out in the top of a Ceiba Tree at night, nothing too much to see but the epiphyte growth is cool



Saddle-backed Taramin and Emperor Tamarin (he has a super impressive mustache). I'm told the tamrarins always have identical twins, and the males carry the babies around on their backs. If you look closely at the 2nd pic (Emperor Tamarin) you can see the babies on his back :3 .
Again, sorry the quality.

[SCF]

Simply awesome Jeff.

[Mentat]

Looks like a great trip; thanks for the share Jeff !

[GrifTheGreat]

Fantastic Jeff!!!!! I'm actually quite envious of you! I would have loved to takena trip to the Amazon. Lots of wildlife! Especially love the fact that you got to see a Ceratophrys cornuta in it's natural habitat. Simply amazing!

[numpty]

Nice post! I went to this part of Peru a long time ago but never made it into the park proper (naively thinking I could just turn up at the park in a canoe ferry and bypass the usual park waiting list regulations!) Looks like you had a great time with some good people.

[deranged chipmunk]

awesome pics Jeff!! thanks for sharing!! looks like it was incredible journey.

[maxQ]

Wow, great post and awesome pictures, thanks for sharing. I got to do a conservation trip to Kenya years ago, these are things you will never forget.

[JeffreH]

Thank you guys! It was definitely the most incredible experience of my life = )

I'm going to take a moment to share some grim news by encouraging anyone who has an opportunity like this to seize it. The rainforests are dying, and I'm skeptical about their persistence for my children and grandchildren, which is why I'm trying to make as many people aware of this as possible so that we can try to help. I've been told that Madagascar's forests will be completely erradicated within 10yrs, Borneo and much of SE Asia within the next 30yrs, and the Amazon is uncertain. Apparently the previous president of Peru tried to build a logging highway straight through the National Park! Gold Mining is also incredibly prevalent and we even found a couple of illegal camps that were built into the park... The Gold mining involves using methyl mercury to isolate gold from sediment, and the workers and children muddle through it with bare hands and dump the waste directly into the Amazon... thousands of metric tons annually. A look at what gold mining is doing:
Futurity.org – Gold rush stripping Peruvian Amazon

On a more Positive note! There are amazing people helping, including this man who has single-handedly planted over 30,000 trees following sustainable agriculture with the rainforest. This is a great video that is only 5mins long and just won an award from the United Nations. It highlights conservation efforts we saw in the park, and while it starts off kind of slow, it really picks up and is totally worth watching (plus its super short).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnOTbVxOPZw

Especially love the fact that you got to see a Ceratophrys cornuta in it's natural habitat. Simply amazing!

Haha Grif, the first thing I thought when that C. cornuta was found was "I need a photo of that guy for FrogForum!" ; )

Nice post! I went to this part of Peru a long time ago but never made it into the park proper (naively thinking I could just turn up at the park in a canoe ferry and bypass the usual park waiting list regulations!) Looks like you had a great time with some good people.

It was absolutely amazing - we went through the CREES foundation with the university; I'm honestly not sure if they only support researchers or if their ecotourism is open to anyone, but they're worth looking into if you want access into the park. Everything was planned very well, we had food brought in for us... great people to work with and most funding goes to conservation efforts.

Thanks again guys! I probably have some more pictures I can post later if I sift through enough stuff...

[Gorgonopsia]

Wow!! I feel jealous!!

[Heatheranne]

Jeff, this is absolutely fabulous!

I hope one day I can travel to the rain forest. I wish we could all go as a group.

It's true...humans unfortunately destroy nearly everything in our paths. We need to work together to preserve these beautiful habitats and the wildlife that call it home.

What a great experience! Thanks so much for sharing!

[flybyferns]

Hi Jeff,
Wow ....what a trip.
Thank you, so much, for sharing all these photos!

Super !

[earthtiger]

Juvenile T?

That is not a tarantula, but a huntsmanspider.

[JeffreH]

That is not a tarantula, but a huntsmanspider.

Thank you for the correction earthtiger, I'm honestly not all that well-versed in my arachnid fauna. They were easy to spot at night in the forest with a headlamp due to their eye shine. Felt like the entire forest was watching you due to the density of wolf spiders and other species.

[Akro]

Fantastic images, I visited the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve 4 years ago and you have brought back some fond memories with your photos! Brilliant!

[NialR35]

I love Peru!

[AKFROG]

Great photos, thanks for the show.

[Buck Rogers]

Incredible. This is my dream holiday since I was a child!

[joshwholivesinperu]

Awesome post! I will be living in the Madre de Dios area in about a month. Right now I am in Lima... It sucks hahaha!

[joshwholivesinperu]

That is not a tarantula, but a huntsmanspider.

This is also not a huntsman spider, but it is a wandering spider in the Ctenid family... Phoneutria fera. This species is highly toxic. Cool find!