Amazon: Tahuayo Research Lodge

On our last day at the main lodge we did a zip wire over the forest canopy. Wennie, Mario and Mario’s brother Filipe hauled us up to the top of a Mahogany tree by pulley and then, standing at the edge of the 125ft high ledge we had to jump off. I have no issues with height; however, launching myself off the safe ledge in to the air was not something I was able to do very willingly.

The upshot being that Paddy now has a video containing about 15 minutes of run up with me repeatedly swearing and asking if they were sure it was safe and if they were sure I was secured to the wire properly and about 15 seconds worth of actual jump. On the way back to lodge we saw some pygmy marmosets, who were tiny and watchful.

In the afternoon we went by boat to a local village called Chino. The village looked much like the little villages in asia. Wooden build homes, on stilts, palm thatched rooves. We met some of the local people, watched them make tapioca, ate some of the local fruits, chatted to a particularly noisy parrot and then took off to the Research Lodge, where we would be spending a few days.

Chino Village:

It took about 2 hours by boat and is much deeper in to the jungle, with more abundant primates to see.  I had read on the internet that the Research lodge was more basic than the main lodge, but other than shared toilets I have actually found it even nicer and more peaceful. It even has a resident Caiman called Pepe. There are never any other boats coming past and it is silent other than the nose of the wildlife and the staff laughing. The rooms and other social areas are just as nice as the main lodge. The only thing it is lacking is a swing, but we’ve overlooked that massive omission on this occasion.

Research Lodge. Perfectly still:

I had requested separate rooms here, to try and avoid the snoring situation. They helpfully obliged with this, however, the rooms are built in pairs with open tops which are meshed over and so, it made no difference whatsoever and I could still hear him grunting away next door. My wax earplugs are my life savers.

Mario, the best boat driver in the world:

The American family who we had travelled over from Iquitos with – and whom we had spent each night sitting with at dinner time – were also at the research lodge. The kids were hilarious, telling us funny stories in their LA accents. The highlights being:

“I love sleeping bags, sometimes I sleep in one in my own bed. If you get in one the wrong way around you can pretend to be a worm.” Genius.

And

“You could use a magic 8 ball as a glass eye and people could ask you questions. One answer could be – today you will die.”

We really miss them now they’ve gone; dinners were much more interesting with them around. On our last evening with them, we sat with the family and their guide Christian, who told us all about the various tribes that live in the Amazon; their beliefs and traditions. Each tribe worships a different animal, such a Jaguar, toucan or heron. They then wear costumes of that animal. He had also worked as an interpreter negotiating with petroleum companies who tried to buy land off the local tribes people and he explained all the corruption behind that, which is pretty devastating. In a trade-off for their land, the tribes are promised a ‘better life’, houses and jobs in the city, money, education for their children, TVs, computers etc and asked to sign their lives away. The jobs usually last a year or two before they are fired. They are in cities with no idea how to get another job, no transferable skills. If they want to come back to the Amazon they no longer have land and so have nowhere to go. It’s really sad. It’s absurd to think that western people can just come in to this miraculous place taking land and ruining everything with their greedy corporate ideologies; wanting to build dams and reroute rivers for gain in their own countries, with no consideration for the people and wildlife it effects; trampling out amazing species of animals with their desire to create electricity or petrol from someone else’s resources.

Yesterday we set off at about 7am for what I like to call The Walk of Death. This consisted of a boat trip of about an hour and then a walk through the dry land, which lasted about 5 hours in sweltering heat on half a sandwich. I was beyond exhausted, practically delirious. I didn’t even care about the monkeys anymore, I just needed to get back to the research lodge for a coke to boost my sugar levels. We tramped through sloshy mud to a lake where we saw a couple of monster caiman bobbing about, but they were shy and slunk away in to the long grasses on the opposite side.

Paddy did some fishing with Wennie and Mario but didn’t catch anything. Mario caught a big catfish and it sat out, on the mud, for the full 30 minutes until they finished fishing and it didn’t die. It thrashed about a bit every now and again, taking gulps of air and wasps walked all over it. I felt really sad watching it and just wanted to put it back in the lake. I kept trying to cover it with leaves to protect it from the horridly massive wasps, as a kind of friendly last gesture. In the end they just threw it in a plastic tupperware box and took it back to the lodge for dinner. On the walk back to the boat I looked like a wrung out dishcloth. We saw some ‘Social Spiders’ who make and share a massive, strong web, you could literally yank the thin threads in the photo and they held strong against the weight. We also saw a porcupine, which had the nose of a pig and lives in trees and a sloth, among other creatures.

Paddy went out with Wennie yesterday afternoon to search for more monkeys, while I stayed at the lodge alone. I wasn’t really in the mood for anything except mooning about. It was a strangely emotional day, full of bizarre overwhelming sadness and sudden elated epiphanies and revelations. I can only assume it is this strange, peaceful, noisy, beautiful place.

When Paddy came back we sat in the comfy chairs, looking out over the river and chatting for hours over some coke. I saw something out the corner of my eye and shot out of my chair with a handful of expletives. A fucking massive tarantula, the size of a man’s hand was about 2ft away from us. This was no ordinary spider, this was the spider I had most wanted to see, the Pink Toed Tarantula. It was HUGE. We called Mario who refused to touch it but moved it away with a piece of wood. This was slightly worrying as Mario literally handles everything including the poisonous frogs, so that he wouldn’t touch this spider was quite worrying, considering its proximity – and speed, as we found out. Paddy thought the toes looked rude…

After dinner, at about 8pm we decided to go out on a night trip in the canoes. Mario and I went together, Paddy went with Wennie. We trawled the edges of the river for nocturnal creatures. The added bonus being you’re constantly scared shitless that spiders and snakes are falling out of the trees in to the boat and will kill you any minute. Currently, the moon is quite large and it lights up the sky like a bulb so you can actually see your hand in front of your face, unlike when it is a tiny crescent. Then, it is pitch black.

Today we took the motor boat out and with the 2 canoes tied to the back. Paddy went off with Mario, fishing in one canoe. Wennie took me off animal watching in the other. I laid down in the canoe and read my kindle while he chauffeured me around the little waterways, pointing out monkeys and sloths when they came in to view. I think it has been the highlight of my trip so far, utter bliss. Plus I am reading One Day, which is a great read. I was enjoying it so much that they carried on towing me in my canoe while they all sat in the motor boat on route back to the lodge for lunch.

I don’t think I have ever eaten so much as I have here. The food is constant and abundant. I am overwhelmed every time they put a plate down in front of me as it is piled high. Usually all I have done in between each meal is sit, lethargically, in a little boat and have not exactly worked up an appetite – then another meal is put down in front of me. I expect the American guests love it, what with their love of food. For me, I eat the fruit, maybe a bite of meat and a token gesture of rice and I’m done. Only to be confronted with another huge plate about 3 hours later.

The water for the showers is fed from the lake as so is pretty much ball freezing cold. I have so far gone for 6 days without washing my hair, as the thought of having to be under the water for more than 2 minutes is too much to bear. My hair is so bad it actually looks wet, but is dry. The hat I purchased in Iquitos is doing a good job at covering it from view. As I’m in the rainforest, I guess I don’t need to give a shit. I’ve asked if we can leave an hour earlier tomorrow, so we can stop at the hotel in Iquitos and have a proper warm shower. Can’t bloody wait. It will be very sad to leave here though, cold water and all.

We are leaving the research lodge shortly to head back to the main lodge as it will save us time tomorrow. So we have one more night here and will leave the wonderful amazon at about 7am tomorrow. What a wonderful place.

Click here to read next post