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
Amazon and Lima
December 22, 2023 - January 1, 2024
The little town of Puerto Maldonado before heading to the Amazon.
Trip to Tambopata
Total Distance: 108.14km
Duration: —
1703324820 1703343420Elevation: 184.80m – 246.60m
Total ascent: 348.60m
Total descent: 323.60m
Some dubious burrowing owls watching us make our way into the Amazon
Getting onto the boats to head up the Tambopata River to the lodge.
Lots of animals along the river as we head upstream. This is a capped heron.
Much less common than in Argentina, if you look closely this capybara has a bird on its head
A cocoi heron
It isn't long before we come across some macaws.
The blue and yellow macaws are quite impressive
Red and green macaws
The scarlet macaws are spectacular though
This red and green macaw was just beside the lodge in a natural nest hollow. There were also lots of nest boxes around for them.
Birding can be particularly tiring.
One of the many little antbirds around – a plumbeous antbird… much harder to photograph than the macaws!
Night walk
Total Distance: 1.94km
Duration: —
1703361480 1703453400Elevation: 206.83m – 223.75m
Total ascent: 30.17m
Total descent: 29.27m
Ready
And one of the most difficult to see birds in the area – a type of manakin. This one is sleeping at night time. They are quite common but hard to see.
A whiptail scorpion – not a scorpion or spider, but they are enormous (more on that later)
The biggest tarantula I have ever seen. This was literally the size of a hand.
Really big
Smooth-fronted caiman
A monkey frog. This is quite a small one, similar to our tree frogs, but they get to the size of a large rat.
Boat ride to clay lick
Total Distance: 52.06km
Duration: —
1703391300 1703412600Elevation: 183.31m – 299.16m
Total ascent: 70.62m
Total descent: 147.94m
Fast internet on the boat in the middle of the jungle!
Chestnut fronted macaws on one of the clay licks. They lick and eat clay to get minerals and salts.
Very noisy Mealy parrots (plus a few chestnut-fronted macaws)
The macaws sit back in the trees waiting to be sure that the clay lick is safe and free of predators.
While we were waiting, a couple of white-throated toucans showed up.
The macaws finally come down onto the clay for their turn.
At the peak, there must have been up to 50 macaws of different types hanging around.
Mostly scarlets (the rainbow-coloured ones) and red-and-green (no yellow on their wings)
There were still some blue-and-yellow macaws around. This one was eating mud.
Monkey walk
Total Distance: 4.03km
Duration: —
1703431020 1703442120Elevation: 197.94m – 271.43m
Total ascent: 28.69m
Total descent: 102.18m
A spider monkey. These were quite common but normally high up in the trees and hard to photograph. Great fun to watch though.
Heading out on some of the trails with our guide.
One of the locals around the lodge – this guy was probably about 15cm long
This guy was named Tabasco… completely wild but grew up around the lodge so very comfortable around humans.
A little too comfortable… this was Christmas day. He went hunting for panatone, found a chunk and proceeded to pull the sultanas out of it while leaving the rest in a big mess.
Bamboo forest
Total Distance: 4.90km
Duration: —
1703491500 1703503320Elevation: 192.77m – 257.34m
Total ascent: 138.22m
Total descent: 73.65m
We spotted a couple of snakes around. Pretty sure this is a type of whipsnake.
And one of the more common locals – a red howler monkey
Less common and much more weird, a boat-billed heron
The forest is really thick
If you can find the little green parrot, this is the Amazonian parrotlet… a little less common. How the guide spotted these guys so far away I don't know.
We only saw these guys once – a tiny little titi monkey
The most common type of lizard around the lodge
This is actually a moth!
Sunset cruise
Total Distance: 23.74km
Duration: —
1703519580 1703528220Elevation: 200.25m – 218.20m
Total ascent: 30.53m
Total descent: 34.16m
A razor-billed curassow – apparently a sought-after sighting by bird lovers.
The punk-rockers of the bird world – Hoatzins (pronounced hoh-AT-sin). This is the only bird which ferments vegetation in its stomach like a cow and can regurgitate a pungent mess as a defence mechani…
It is the last member of an old genus of birds which split off around 65 million years ago, around the same time that dinosaurs became extinct.
A black caracara
Some of the many swallows
Seems that ospreys are everywhere
One of the larger birds of prey – a great black hawk.
And the first jaguar while cruising along the river. We were very lucky to see it and we watched it for about 5 minutes.
Note the starlink internet receivers on the back of two of the boats… 70Mpbs internet in the middle of nowhere.
We went and helped catch moths for science one night.
If one of our catches is a new species, we get to name it.
Lots of moths.
Lodge walk
Total Distance: 3.11km
Duration: —
1703581800 1703590980Elevation: 215.94m – 252.58m
Total ascent: 32.27m
Total descent: 62.62m
The little squirrel monkeys were fun too.
The various monkey species often had babies with them. This is a squirrel monkey again.
A brown capuchin
Fluffy caterpillar
Masked trogon
Big trees
Total Distance: 3.32km
Duration: —
1703604240 1703612520Elevation: 124.63m – 237.39m
Total ascent: 33.80m
Total descent: 132.15m
A very little brilliant-thighed poison frog
One of the bigger birds in the forest – a trumpeter – there were about 10 of these marching across the trail
After a night of serious rain, most of the trails were flooded, but gumboots solved that.
A relative of the cane toad
Remains of a porcupine after a harpy eagle attack a few weeks back
Porcupine skull
Night walk
Total Distance: 2.10km
Duration: —
1703620620 1703713260Elevation: 220.13m – 312.05m
Total ascent: 6.47m
Total descent: 97.88m
Another frog… too hard to identify
This is the size of the whiptail scorpion… really massive
Another type of snake – Catesby's Snail-eater
A scorpion lit up with UV light
Boat ride to clay lick
Total Distance: 49.23km
Duration: —
1703652360 1703669460Elevation: 187.73m – 255.54m
Total ascent: 61.78m
Total descent: 102.33m
Cruising up the river early in the morning
Back to the clay lick – in the middle of the photo two macaws which are more rare – the blue-headed macaw
Blue-headed macaws
Macaws and mealy parrots on the clay lick with some little orange-faced parrots
The main site for seeing the clay lick – people come here from several lodges
Orinoco geese
And who would have thought that there were squirrels in the Amazon!
Island walk
Total Distance: 7.12km
Duration: —
1703688720 1703700300Elevation: 160.12m – 221.27m
Total ascent: 102.39m
Total descent: 41.85m
Yes, those are all mosquitoes!
Not a hummingbird but a jacamar
Muscovy duck
A nice little kingfisher
Roadside hawk definitely not near a road
One of the harder to spot parrots – white-bellied parrots
Family of aracaris (a type of toucan)
Fancy jungle cocktails
Island clay lick
Total Distance: 5.90km
Duration: —
1703738700 1703748180Elevation: 198.89m – 269.87m
Total ascent: 24.90m
Total descent: 89.64m
LIttle dusky-billed parrotlets
Silver-eyed parrot
Blue-headed parrot
Lodge walk
Total Distance: 4.18km
Duration: —
1703752500 1703762160Elevation: 214.05m – 245.27m
Total ascent: 34.25m
Total descent: 55.67m
This spider monkey was making a bridge for the younger ones to cross between trees.
Leaf-cutter ants
Sunset cruise
Total Distance: 13.19km
Duration: —
1703778960 1703788200Elevation: 209.45m – 235.61m
Total ascent: 35.25m
Total descent: 43.59m
The second jaguar. Both were males, but different individuals (different patterns)
Yellow-faced vulture
You might have to search for the jaguar
Big cat energy
Lodge walk
Total Distance: 4.23km
Duration: —
1703824920 1703834040Elevation: 213.11m – 237.98m
Total ascent: 67.67m
Total descent: 64.49m
Red necked woodpecker
Return boat and bus trip
Total Distance: 121.54km
Duration: —
1703841540 1703866320Elevation: 182.00m – 262.20m
Total ascent: 539.40m
Total descent: 540.00m
Heading out of the forest… some small scale mining (I assume gold) just outside the reserve.
Miraflores
Total Distance: 13.11km
Duration: —
1703931180 1703951640Elevation: 76.40m – 136.00m
Total ascent: 169.00m
Total descent: 163.60m
This is in Lima… the pre-Incan site of Huaca Pucllana – from around 200AD-700AD
The adobe bricks are all hand-formed and dried in the sun. They are a mix of local clay with ground shells.
Originally the structure was rendered and yellow as in the middle of the photo.
Right in the middle of suburban Lima.
The site was buried under dirt and excavation started in the 1980's
This shows where they are up to with the excavation, with the right side still covered.
Some of the ceramics found on site.
Exciting fruits
Lima old town
Total Distance: 7.82km
Duration: —
1704021180 1704033900Elevation: 160.40m – 192.20m
Total ascent: 78.40m
Total descent: 70.20m
New Years Eve in Lima and 2024 marks the 200th anniversary of independence from Spain, so there was a parade starting in the main square.
Plaza Mayor in Lima – I think the President is standing on the steps (in the blue dress).
Streets around the main plaza in Peru
Chinatown in Lima on New Years Eve is a busy place
Cliff sunset
Total Distance: 4.18km
Duration: —
1704043380 1704054660Elevation: 80.20m – 126.20m
Total ascent: 85.40m
Total descent: 91.80m
Lima's coastline on New Year's Eve…
Caral
Total Distance: 5.45km
Duration: —
1704110220 1704121860Elevation: 363.80m – 408.60m
Total ascent: 157.20m
Total descent: 158.60m
On New Year's Day we went about 3 hours north of Lima to another pre-Incan site… with a few animals on the way. This is a female Vermillion Flycatcher
And the male… much more showy
A little cuckoo
Funky little guy
The Amazilia hummingbird
The site (and civilisation) of Caral. This is the oldest city in the Americas and one of the oldest in the world… from around 5000 years ago.
The site is a collection of pyramids and plazas.
It was actually covered completely for thousands of years. People lived here for around 1200 years, but it seems that it was buried in around 2000BC
It is actually right beside an agricultural area and amazing that it was only discovered in 1994
Most of coastal Peru looks like this… just a sandy desert, so there is every chance that there are more sites like Caral
On the way back to Lima and we dropped past a wetland.
Lots and lots of birds.
One of Kate's favourites – the white-cheeked pintail
Finally got some skimmers skimming
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