Manu, part 3

After spending a week in this part of the country, I had tons of pictures, and some more stories...

We were "fortunate" to experience some weather extremes while there - on our 3rd day there, we were pretty uncomfortable when hiking through the jungle (read sweat running down our backs and legs under the long sleeves and pants we needed to wear against mosquitoes), but I just thought it was because we were gringos and not used to it.  However, our guide (who has been leading tours for 8 years) says it was one of the hottest days he had experienced.  We got back to our cabin and found:

The candle in our bathroom literally melted in the heat

This was our boat (before the crash), and it was the first 3 roof supports on the right that were taken out by the log.  As you can see, they always travel with a spare outboard up front!  (the light on the front of the roof doesn't work)  It was in this same boat that we were travelling on, the day after the hottest day, that I experienced a new definition of personal misery:

speeding down the river in a continuous driving cold rain... for 7 hours

That's me, huddled under a blanket on my legs, hiding behind the life preserver, and tucked into my rain jacket - trying to avoid the worst of the soaking.  Our clothes really didn't get dry for days, and they weren't the sweetest smelling either!

After the rain quit that afternoon, we were treated to some beautiful macaws at a clay lick just behind the lodge.

These are scarlet macaws, and 1 blue & yellow (you should click on the picture, so you can magnify and get better details) 

We were also treated to a sighting of 1 toucan - I'm guessing they're pretty rare in that area, because we never saw another one.

At a larger clay lick the next day, our guide counted 99 macaws that we waited for, for 4 hours, until they decided to come down to the lick (so we could get good photos).  They eat clay about 3 times a week, to neutralize any poisons that they ingest from plant material.

These are red & green macaws, with 1 blue headed parrot

Until tomorrow...