Darkest Peru at Last ~ Dec. 20-21, 2010

12/20
Everything was so busy with the Christmas rush at El Remanso that Adri and Dani had to work hard to carve out some time to talk with me about the map and trail guide art they want me to do for El Remanso, taken from my journal entries. I am really excited about the project, and have a bunch of ideas for it ~ after I finish blogging my trip.

December 20th was my last day at El Remanso, and it started out with more unseasonal rains ~ global warming has made the weather just about anywhere on earth unpredictable these days. In fact, it had rained so hard one day that week that vehicles couldn't ford one of the rivers between Puerto Jimenez and El Remanso, and guests had to wade across in water up to their thighs to catch a ride on the the lodge side (with a terrific vacation tale to tell when they got home).

I just hoped I would get out in time to catch my plane. As it happened, the rain tapered off and there was no problem. Alternate plans had been to leave early and have a taxi pick me up on the other side if there were a problem. I had dressed this last morning in my prettiest underwear in case I should have occasion to wade. I really didn't want to fly to Peru in wet pants!.

I caught my plane in San José that evening, and flew to Colombia where we were offloaded onto a bus, trotted through the airport, then onto another bus which took us to our next plane ~ a finely orchestrated minuet of people-moving. I had a long layover in Lima in the middle of the night, and I was DELIGHTED with my new hoodie rain jacket which pulled down over my eyes and my blankie-cum-throw which opened out into a nice warm cover so that I could sleep on three chairs in the brightly lit Lima airport (in the photo at left, taken at home, I have unfolded it to show how big it is. Perfect.).

12/21
Then, finally, over the Andes (in the dark) to Iquitos. Next time, I swear I will shedule my flights better so that I cross over land portions in daylight. What a waste of good sight-seeing to travel the red-eye flights in the dark, even if it is cheaper. I mean, I didn't even SEE the Andes! Here's my first sight of the Amazon, coming down into Iquitos shortly after dawn.

I was met by Ivy (pronounced "Evie") from Otorongo Lodge at the Iquitos airport, and after checking into my digs at Hospedaje "La Pascana" and pausing with Ivy for a cup of excellent coffee and a lovely long chat at Dawn on the Amazon Cafe overlooking the Amazon River, I was whirled into my Amazon adventure.

Ivy introduced me to Osmar, who would be my guide during my entire Amazon stay. We looked each other over. Osmar must have seen a middle-aged (or over) gringo woman with a big smile. I saw a Peruvian boy-man about my size with clear eyes and a shy smile. We shook hands with a "Mucho gusto" greeting, and Ivy sent us down to the bank so I could convert my cash to make the final payment for my tour with Otorongo Lodge.

While changing my American dollars to Peruvian nuevos soles, I discovered to my dismay that an American bill with even the slightest tear or wear is not considered legal tender ~ even at a state bank (take a look at this useless $100 bill). So, $100 poorer, since I couldn't use it, we stopped by the Otorongo office to take care of business, then we took off on foot to visit the famous Belén Market at the south end of town.

Iquitos is a fantastic place! The sights, the sounds, and the aromas of life swept around me in a rush of people and motokars, the major form of transportation in this river town without any roads to the outside world. Then we reached the market, which, when the water is high, is navigated by canoe. This wasn't high water season, so we didn't have that pleasure. But it was amazing anyway.

Osmar remarked that Belen Market was especially busy since people were buying Christmas presents, and it was indeed aswirl with people and an incredible variety of things, from dishes and fancy clothing to bananas and pig heads (I almost got sideswiped by a passing pig-half slung over a burly man's shoulder~ Osmar pulled me out of the way). You could buy anything here: food ~ either raw or prepared on plates, dried gourd halves (to hold anything from soup to, well, whatever you'd want to put into a gourd), to powdered bark in cellophane bags for headaches, to lively armored catfish for dinner. And a million things in between.

I really wanted to ride in one of those motokars, so Osmar suggested a trip to Pilpintuwasi, the Butterfly Farm & Amazon Animal Orphanage. The motokar trip was a wild ride, sometimes three-abreast on a two-way street, but with courtesy and skill on the part of the drivers. There were also motorcycles for hire, and the occasional car, truck or bus in the mix. I didn't see a single accident, but the diesel fumes were pretty potent.

In the marina at the north end of town we hired a peka-peka (a thatch-roofed boat with a motor that goes "peka-peka-peka" ~ at the dock in the image above) to take us up the Nanay River to the Butterfly Farm landing ~ a pleasant ten-minute ride ~ and at the landing we caught another motokar up to the farm. They raise butterflies there for release, and we were shown eggs, caterpillars, pupae and recently hatched butterflies.

Here are some scenes from there, and I hope you'll excuse my fuzzy photo of the pink uakari monkey ~ it was running free and grabbing things, like that mosquito repellent bottle in its hand, from the visitors, and we were not interested in sticking around to be vandalized! Osmar was responsible for seeing that I remained in one piece, a responsibility he took very seriously. BTW, that's a capybara in the center picture, a rodent the size of a spaniel. After an hour or two, we hailed a motokar to return to Iquitos.

Osmar and I started to get acquainted on our motokar rides, exchanging information and Osmar pointing out interesting things to me and sharing his knowledge of Iquitos. He showed me the street up which his family lives, and with his fair English and my poor Spanish I think we managed to understand most of what we tried to say. He said he was 22 and lives at home between guiding stints at Otorongo Lodge, where we'd head the next morning.

Now he delivered me to my room at La Pascana, and I went back out by myself onto the Boulevard above the Amazon to see the sights for the afternoon and evening. It was a great experience, and I met and talked with vendors and people I met on the street, bought a macrame bottle holder for 6 nuevos soles (the equivalent of $2), purchased some spare batteries and a snack in a corner store, admired the colonial architecture, and ate dinner at a restaurant overlooking the Amazon. The Iquitos people are the friendliest people I have ever met. Many speak a little English, and I speak a little Spanish, and it was fun to try to make myself understood.

For instance, I was examining a large beetle I had found on the sidewalk when an Iquitos man came over and explained in fairly good English that this was edible in its pupal form, and that its larvae could be found on a nearby tree. The discussion shifted to other Peruvian customs, and he showed me his portfolio which he was carrying. We must have chatted for half an hour. He took the photo of me holding the beetle, above.

Over dinner I got into conversations with an ex-pat at the next table and with an old lady vendor selling kekes (cakes) up and down the Boulevard. I had a wonderful time experimenting with the few Spanish words and phrases I know. Finally, exhausted and filled to overflowing with new sights, sounds and experiences, I walked back to my hostel and crawled into bed.

What a fine collection of experiences on my first Peruvian day!

To Costa Rica, -- Dec. 17&18, 2010

12/17
Today was the first ever designated Audubon Christmas Bird Count Day for this part of the Osa Peninsula -- history in the making, and I was part of it. What an honor! Actually, anyone with binoculars who wanted to participate was invited, so off we went with Gerardo (pronounced Hair-ardo), the naturalist, up El Remanso's Ridge Trail to see what we could see.

Gera is the BEST naturalist ever, and I count him as a special friend, having first met him in 2007 on his first day at El Remanso. He can answer almost any question put to him, and if he doesn't know, he'll say so. He's an excellent guide to the mysteries of the tropical forest. Here he's holding an anole lizard, having just shown us how it flips out a colorful flag on its chin to warn off intruders or impress the ladies (lady anole lizards, that is).

We saw many wonders, from sloths to trogons (and numerous other birds) to squirrels and a coati nestled on a branch overhead. Gera cut open a tiny fig fruit and we were able to observe the tiny fig wasps which pollinate it (be sure to look at it close-up ~ there's one near the tip of my thumb).

Later that afternoon we took one of the Lodge trucks with seats along the sides of the bed and bounced off down the road to find more birds, including this toucan I photographed through Gera's spotting scope.

We kept getting distracted by monkeys, though, actually seeing all four species that live here along the road to our specified birding site, a large open meadow with a fringe of trees. Which monkeys? Well, there were howlers, spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys (with at least one baby in the troop) and capuchin monkeys. I never have much luck photographing monkeys in the dark trees, but at least this howler is recognizable as a monkey....

During this day ~ along Ridge Trail, the road to the Lodge and in the meadow ~ we spied about 79 species, including Smooth-billed Anis, White-necked Puffbird, Crested Caracara, Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Mangrove Cuckoo, Mangrove Black Hawk, and many others. We likely would have tallied more if we hadn't kept being distracted by other fascinating things, but I guess I'd be pretty stupid to complain about such a "dreadful" circumstance!

Dinner that night was so gorgeous I couldn't help taking a photo of it. All dinners in the restaurant are served by candlelight to keep electricity use to a minimum ~ in keeping with El Remanso's efforts to maintain a low footprint in the ecosystem. The presentation of all the meals is exquisite, and this braised fish was no exception.

I didn't get much sketching today. It was all images "in" and few images "out" although I managed a little drawing of a Slaty-tailed Trogon which I watched for several minutes from the railing of the restaurant. You can see the trogon in the image at right, in the center along the main trunk if you look at it close-up. Since the restaurant is high above the ground, you can look DOWN into the trees for lots of great sightings.

12/18 (my dad's birthday ~ he would have been 109 today!)
After yesterday's birding activity, I was all set for some solo adventuring and major sketching, so I took the trail down to the beach, pausing frequently to appreciate the flora along the way.

I'd been hoping to find an Ojo de Buey, which is the Ox-eye seed that grows on a vine along the trail. Imagine my delight to find the vine producing huge, fresh seedpods. I reached up to touch the fuzzy surface and immediatly got a handful of tiny spines! It took me ten minutes to pull them all out. Glad I had my binoculars ~ looking at the stickers through the wrong end magnified them enormously and I was able to get all those little buggers out. Ouch!

Looking around, I was able to find two seeds from last year along the trail. What beauties! One was to be for Daniel. Sure wish he had been able to come along ~ but I was having a blast nevertheless.

Continuing down the hill and out onto the sand, I was met in the very first minute by a scarlet macaw gleaning almonds in the beach almond tree at the foot of the trail. Beach almond trees almost always have some red and yellow leaves, so the macaw was amazingly difficult to see. I was able to get a quick outline sketch of another one I saw further down the beach, then I was delighted to find a bedraggled-but-beautiful macaw feather washed up by the waves.

I came across what for a brief moment I took to be a set of tractor tracks in the sand ~ but then remembering that there are no tractors around, I realized it was the trail of a sea turtle coming from the ocean to lay her eggs, then returning to sea. I sketched the tracks and the nest site, then continued on down the beach, picking up seedpods and fallen tree flowers to sketch as I went.

Snuggling into my favorite sketching spot in the shade of a huge black rock just yards from the surf, I sketched until my bum was numb (good thing I brought that little sitting pad, or I wouldn't have lasted as long!). Here's part of one sketch page ~ the end of the feather crossed over onto the facing page. I really like this drawing.

After a break I sketched other things I'd found on the sand, discovered some ocelot tracks (they look like big house-cat tracks), then headed back up the trail for lunch. But I almost missed lunch when I got seriously sidetracked by an amazing thing I hadn't seen on my trip down earlier...

At first glance, it was obviously a clump of mushrooms. But these "mushrooms" had evenly spaced bumps on them (no mushroom has those), and the oldest, wilted-looking one had actual flowers poking up out of each bump! Gera later identified it for me as Helosis cayennensis (it IS cayenne-colored) and not all that commonly seen. What a thrill!

During happy hour in the restaurant lounge, I decided to try drawing by the light of my battery-powered book-light (remember, it gets dark on the equator by 6pm), and I am happy to report that it works extraordinarily well. Here's a balsa pod I drew and painted with watercolor pencils solely by the light of the booklight (plus a candle, delivered by the waiter, Eljer, unasked, to light the pod). It worked perfectly!

That meant I'd have evenings to draw and sketch both here and later on the Amazon (I packed extra batteries, just in case). With this realization, I grinned, put up my feet, and relaxed with my Margarita. The perfect end to a great day.

To Costa Rica, Then The Amazon 12-15&16-2010

My computer has been in the shop for the last week being exorcised of a whole slew of viruses, so I've had lots of time to think, but no chance to get my blog started. At last, here we go!

December 15 - Aloft! Finally, after months of planning, map examining, and googling such things as dugout canoes, the Amazon River and pink river dolphins, then spending hours weighing, packing and repacking my carry-on luggage, getting yellow fever shots and visiting travel sites.....I was at last on my way.

The first part of the trip felt familiar, the journey to El Remanso Wildlife Lodge in Costa Rica is, by now, a part of my beaten track since I've been there many times. But it never loses its allure, and I was so glad to be headed to the warm perfume of the tropics from 20°F., blustery, wintery, Oregon.

The first image above, taken from my plane window, is Mt. Hood (Oregon) from the southwest, shrouded with clouds but with its telltale lenticular (lens-shaped) cloud floating above like a halo.

The journey started at 1am in the Medford, Oregon airport, when Dan'l delivered me to the near-empty airport for the first leg of my trip: Medford-Portland-Dallas/Ft.Worth-San José, Costa Rica. The plane wouldn't leave Medford until 5am, but that meant I had to be there by 3am (for international flights you're supposed to appear 2 hours before the flight) and I didn't want Dan missing sleep because he had to work the next day. So I slept as best I could through the every-four-minutes-I-timed-them announcements to tell me to Watch My Bags, Ask My Airline What Should Be In Carry-on Luggage, Pack My Own Luggage, and other Embecilic Messages offered for midnight consideration while people are trying to sleep. Egad!

But enough complaining. The rest of the flight went just great, with time for sketching and lots of cloud-watching. One of the best things that happened was the $35 I splurged on a massage in a little concourse spa in Dallas/Ft.Worth. I recommend it highly.

I arrived in San José well after dark, but I had arranged for my hotel, Dunn Inn, to send a car for me, and the driver was waiting with a sign that said "Irene" on it, so I could relax and let the driver do all the work. That cost me $25, and was well worth it. Parlaying with taxi drivers in Espanol (mi Espanol es mal) is pretty tricky.

Dunn Inn a good little hotel, clean, with a pleasant staff, and not expensive. Here's my room from the hall, and my two carry-on pieces, sketchbook and camera, plus a suitcase full of goodies for Adriana and Daniel at El Remanso.

The next morning after a quick breakfast, I snapped a photo of the front of the hotel (it looks much like an ordinary house except for the hanging sign) as my hotel driver took me to the Sansa airport. That's my plane in distant center. I didn't count, but I'd estimate there are 16-20 seats in it. I love flying in small planes, and it was an unusually smooth trip. I was sketching a good part of the way.

Upon arriving at Puerto Jimenez, I noticed a pair of toucans gobbling up ripe papayas in a tree right next to the Lodge's airport office. I sketched and photographed them while waiting for my ride to El Remanso, about half an hour. Can you see the toucan? The orange oval in the clump of papayas is the stem of a papaya that was entirely consumed.

Adri had warned me that the rains had left the road to El Remanso a morass, but I had no IDEA! We were hub deep in mud a couple of times, and had to cross two rivers with water high enough to make the engine steam. It was exhilarating, and we arrived safely, having spotted lots of birds, this capuchin monkey in a palm tree, and great curassows in the treetops (more about them later).

After warm greetings, Adri showed me to my room, the spare bedroom in their house (we're distantly related ~ not everyone is so royally treated) which I was pleased to discover had an airy deck with table and chair that I could use while sketching and painting.

In the two years since I'd been there, they've been busy making the place look fabulous, with a new cabina perched out over a jungly ravine and lots of beautiful landscaping. I couldn't stop admiring the gorgeous flowers, hibiscuses, heliconias, palms, and hundreds of things I couldn't even come close to identifying.

And as always, the tree-top jungle view from the restaurant railing was absolutely stunning, with trogons, blue-throated golden-tail hummingbirds, toucans, squirrel cuckoos, scarlet-rumped caciques and many other birds, butterflies, and other creatures flying through or perching on branches just a few feet away.

Right away I started sketching: a lovely soft brown tiger moth they'd saved for me, and a huge paper wasp nest hanging over the Observation Point chairs (nice wasps, not stingers). And then, the turkey-sized Great Curassows wandered past (see the image at right)! My tropical journal sketching adventure was well and truly launched.

In past blogs I have included all the sketch pages I did on the journey. This time, though, I'll illustrate this blog mostly with my photos (plus a few journal pages to give it flavor), but I'll save the majority of the sketches for my upcoming e-journal Journey to the Osa and the Amazon, which I'll offer for download on my sketch journal site. Hmmmm...... I may give it a different name. Like, Daring Journey to Darkest Peru, or something dramatic like that.

I plan to make a tutorial for it, too, showing the scenes I was sketching, decisions I made to create the pages, design problems I ran into, the mistakes I managed to gloss over, and photos of the marvels I didn't get a chance to sketch ~ which were legion! And since the second part of the journal covers my trip to the Amazon (an amazing journey of discovery), there will be lots of new stuff.

I can hardly wait to get to it, but I have vowed to take things in the proper order, so we'll start with my delightful stay at El Remanso on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. And I'll try to do a day or two of the two-week trek every day, so stay tuned! You can check the box in the right column if you want to be advised when a new blog entry goes up.