11/02/2011
We arrived on Halloween to the Tiputini Biodiversity Station near Yasuní National Park in western Ecuador’s Amazonia. The journey to get here took about 10 hours, and we passed though a checkpoint for Yeopsol, the oil company that’s trying to drill in the area. The humidity level had certainly increased a significant amount by the end of the trip, but it is not unbearable at the station. The climate is totally manageable.
The station sits on the bank of the Tiputini River, and is surrounded by intact rainforest. The Yasuní National Park is just on the other side of the river. In the first few hours of being at camp, I saw river turtles, tons of butterflies, kingfishers, oropendulum, flycatchers, swallows, red howler monkeys, bats, and more insects than I can really recall.
It has only rained once while we have been here, and it was a pretty impressive downpour. Lucky for us, we are here during the dry season. Of course, that means it’s just less wet. Which means it’s still really wet...
The first few days are filled with group activities to orient the group with the surrounding trails and forest. There are about 40 km of trails around the station, and each trail is named after an animal or a plant. After we have visited a trail with a guide, we are allowed to return on our own (with a buddy, of course) to do research or to just visit.
11/03/2011
I went to the canopy walkway system this morning with Fralin (a guide at the station), Eushavia, Alison, and Julie. The tower gives you access to 5 bridges that cross the top of the rainforest canopy, and has an amazing view of the top of the rainforest. This is a place that most people don’t usually get to visit in the rainforest because it’s difficult to access. We didn’t see many animals (a common piping guan and a nun bird), but it was fascinating to see the way trees and plants grow at the canopy level. It’s very buggy up there, which makes it difficult to stick around for more than a half hour.
During lunch, I felt something on my finger. Stupidly, I grabbed it without looking at it. I immediately felt that it was larger and harder than a mosquito, and a slew of profanities went though my mind. Then the wasp stung me. Ouch! I looked down, and saw the stinger, and asked the cook if he would kindly remove it from my finger.
Lovely swim in the river with Eushavia. There is a calm whirlpool that we can swim in without getting swept downriver by the current.
11/04/2011
My lips are experiencing a pretty bad case of heat rash. They are super bumpy and it’s uncomfortable to say the least. The rest of my face has also exploded in heat rash. Oh goody! I remind myself that it will go away with time. Good thing I have a month for my face to go back to normal!
I went with Eushavia, Julie, and Ali to the canopy tower this morning. We saw 3 Salvin’s curassows on the trail to the tower. Up at the top, we saw a fork-tailed woodnymph (hummingbird), blue-and-yellow macaws, and euphonias; and we heard some toucans yipping like puppies.
UPDATES FROM TODAY (11/7)
It seems as though I am allergic to the climate. Unfortunately, my limited time at this wonderful place has been defined by an ever-irritating heat/humidity rash. Today, I went with Eushavia to the medical clinic at the oil camp about three hours away from Tiputini. I saw the doctor and he gave me yet another anti-histamine and Caladryl lotion to put on the rash. He told me to stay out of the sun and to avoid sweating for 4-5 days or until my face goes back to normal...
I took the pill and put the lotion on my face as soon as I could. My swollen lip has already gone down, and my itching has be temporarily tamed.
But the day hasn't been all bad. We saw a great black hawk, a great blue heron, a tyra, and a capibara from the river. Tyras and capibaras are mammals, which are rarely seen in the Amazon. And we saw a rainbow!!!
We shall see how it all plays out--hopefully, it will be quick.
Updates to come in a week or so...
No comments:
Post a Comment