The friaje (a polar blast of cold, wet weather) has finally broken, and all of the researchers at least made it. Yesterday morning, a small hermit (hummingbird) flew by me to get to one of the fancy flowers, and I remember thinking “yay, at least you made it!” There were definitely some times when I had to remind myself that people neither die nor lose digits in 40-50 degree weather, because wet and shivering with no shelter from the rain for days on end kind of feels that way.

The first day it was so bad that we had to cancel all planned research (the wind makes it unsafe to stay in the forest). We grabbed every blanket and warm thing we had between us, including an emergency space blanket, and all 9 of us piled onto the ‘couches’ in the morning and watched 4 hrs of the BBC Sherlock series before the laptops died. The next 2 days were just some VERY chilly follows, and yesterday we resumed trapping. We only had one animal early in the morning, then stayed at the site for another 5 hours after it was released. It was actually very cozy: Amanda and I pushed the lab bench/cot over to the side in the mobile lab/tent and were basically half curled on each other with a pile of thick blankets around us, reading and napping.

Also keep in mind: when you have a corner room with no one in the
rooms beside you, and no roommate, you are the single warmest thing
that all of the cold forest animals can find. There were far too many creatures in my room at nights. Mouse possums are adorable, but I don’t want one keeping my feet warm.

There actually is a significant die-off in the jungle with each
friaje, and many of the animals alter their behavior a lot to deal
with it. The little girl monkey made it through, and we don’t know of any of our monkeys that haven’t. We think that one of the female
dispersing individuals (saddleback tamarin) wound up snuggling up with the titi monkeys.

After I sent my last blog, I noticed that there was unusual rustling at the edge of camp near where I was sitting to get internet. I followed it off to the side, and found 2 tayras (look up a pic!!!) up in a tree, just tearing up this termite mound on the trunk. These giant weaselie things were using claws and teeth to rip it to pieces (slowly, mounds are rather large), one standing over the mound and one half clinging under it as he stuck his entire face into the hole he made. Then a third one found me. He came shuffling up around a bend in the trail, saw me, did a kind of double take and moved up a bit, then he just turned around and trotted back the way he came.

This morning should have been light data and then time off; until one of the monkey groups kind of messed with that. As we were working on the data in the main room, we hear their long calls, and eventually 2 of us went to go and get data while the other 2 continued. What should have been a quick jaunt across the lawn for them got diverted when the female apparently smelled the bananas that we keep for baiting the traps. She and one of the males ran across the lawn, onto the board walk, and the into the lab. From there, they ate the bananas not in the fruit bat-protective mesh, but then they couldn’t figure out how to leave. They eventually made their way into the rafters, where they ran up into the library and through the other labs. I think the plant biochemistry group may actually need to list “small monkeys ran across the lab samples” as a source of error. The monkeys eventually made their way out, then the female went back in to get the banana in the protective mesh!

I found adorable Amazonian dwarf squirrels in a group of miniature cuteness; I don’t even like squirrels much and they were cute.

"Bear Necessities"

Of the 7 trappings that have been done this season, I have been present for 6. I’ve trained people at trapping. The people I trained are training people. I have never been at a trapping when there is an assistant more experienced than me. It’s a really weird feeling. I have even altered some of the trapping protocol. I’ve also been assigned to head up a side project on the pathologies and injuries with the collaborating vet student from the UK, but we’ll see how that pans out.

However, my following skills “have room for improvement." I’m having trouble focusing on the behaviors and actions of the individuals which requires binoculars), while knowing what the rest of the group is doing and moving along relatively silently and safely through the forest (/bamboo/swamp/jumping down the edge of another ravine) fast enough to keep up with the squirrel-sized monkeys without looking where you are going. Which may be why I keep getting assigned to trappings, haha. A few days ago, my team actually had a long and relatively successful follow, only to have so much trouble after it.

 

Two teammates got stuck in a dense glade of spiky bamboo surrounded by tree falls (also know as ‘the inferno’), while I crawled under the tree falls and got separated from them as night fell. It was so frustrating; I could hear them but couldn’t explain to them how to get out, and the GPS said I was 34 M from the trail, but I just couldn’t get there! It was one of those days where you practically collapse with relief at the sight of a simple 2 foot wide half cleared dirt trail.

Haven’t had any more encounters with predators while following the tamarins. One of the little juvenile girl monkeys still seems to be getting her act together, though. Whenever her mom finds a fungus(emperor tamarins LOVE fungus),she snatches it from her mom, even when the fungus is closer to her. Later that day, two of us were counting individuals as the group jumped between two trees above us.

“One, two” the girl makes a running leap for a different branch, falls about ridiculously short, then lands on the ground between us with a massive crash in the leave“…three." And then later in the day, we were following this group to their sleep tree, but they turn on what is actually officially know as ‘ninja mode,' where they suddenly stop calling, change their elevations in the canopy, and double back on their trail to confuse predators as they silently go single file. In the logbook, someone actually wrote “group got away, because it is a group of sneaky tree cats."

Well, I managed to escape unscathed by the ‘dread disease’ going around. Think about it for a moment: an illness that includes vomiting,  fever, and leaves you mostly unable to eat for a few days, with no Gatorade, and no food options besides what is being made for everyone else (although the food did get pretty bland once even the cooks got sick). Only 2 of us were left standing for a while, which meant that 2 of us were doing all of the necessary things for a few days. On the plus side, even our supervisor got hit pretty bad, so we didn’t have a rigorous follow schedule for a while.

Immediately after that, the gold miners (the primary income in this area) went on strike. Instead of a strike of typical workers, the gold miners basically shut down the infrastructure of whatever they could, until the people living there are so inconvenienced that they appeal to the government. It has little effect on us out here, but it does mean that the people coming into the project got delayed a few days because they stopped the road from Puerto Maldonado to Laberinto, so they couldn’t get to the boat. They also block off the large gas stations outside of Laberinto, so that the boat drivers are unable to get gasoline. It was kind of impressive how quickly things dissolved when we realized that our supply boat was unable to come for a few days. I mean, once we ran out of crackers along with meat and produce, people started trying to reason if the high mercury pollution would really make the fish inedible or not (we need another specialist to come here, haha). The boat came a day and a half late, and had almost the normal amount of food, so nothing too drastic happened. Although, it didn’t have crackers, so we trapped from 4 Am-3 PM the next day without snacks.

 

Daily life here isn’t actually all that challenging Yes, it’s kind of like camping. But camping in very mild weather (relative to Florida), with a cook and food, trash service, no beer, power 3 hours a day, and running water. Although the floor of one of the shower stalls fell through yesterday, so we’re all sharing 2 now. And larger interesting things get into the cabin. Cold showers were less appealing last week when we were having a mini-friaje (cold front coming off the Andes) anyway. Oh, and I have a favorite night beverage to make up for not eating sweets: hot anis tea, with some powdered milk, a small amount of partially-refined sugar, and a touch of cocoa powder.

Between work, everyone being ill, and the lack of supplies with the strike, We celebrated by staying up late (almost 10!) to watch No Strings Attached. Because we are the wild and crazy monkey team.

As a note, there are leafcutter ants chewing bits of my notebook off as I’m writing a draft of this.

As another note, as I’m typing a draft of this, a bamboo rat is running around the lab with about a half dozen babies on her back. Yay.

 

So with some of the ‘free’ time that I have finagled through people being sick and putting off some of my data, I’ve finally been able to see a few of the places that I wanted to around camp. Didn’t see any giant otters or caimans at the lake, but there were hoatzins (prehistoric-looking birds)everywhere! And you don’t exactly have to look hard for them; they hang out in family groups at the edge of the lake, and grunt across the lake to other groups. The boat was stuck in the mud when we got there, so my roommate and I paddled the small floating dock around (at least we didn’t have to bail it out), and we saw another paca on our way back after nightfall. Yesterday another teammate and I went to another lake to look for the anaconda that lives there (he wasn’t home, which is somehow more upsetting when you thing of a snake that size just on a jaunt through the jungle). Emily did have to stick her leg in the water when we got stuck on a sunken log, so maybe it’s good that he wasn’t home. We then climbed up the tower, which is like, well, a small cellphone tower. We saw spider monkeys at eye level, and looked down on a flock of bright blue macaws, and an amazing colony of olive oropendula nests (colorful birds that weave these handing teardrop shaped nests that hang from high branches). And we found the largest spider I think I have ever seen. I don’t know the size, but after I realized that I was calling 3 inch spiders ‘cute little things’.

June 27, 2013

Things have gotten quite a bit busier

This is how they look

 Most interesting story first: yesterday we were on a follow (just what it sounds like -- trying to keep up with a group of tamarins)of a new group of monkeys we recently trapped and collared. A few hours in, we get a chance to slow down for a sec; all 7 are spread out but in the general-ish area, we mark a feeding tree, and are actually able to stand still a moment.

Then the noise increases like when there’s a cat in our yard and the blue jays get mad. I look over, and 15 feet above my teammate (one tree away from our squirrel-sized monkeys), there is a rather large bird. Red headed, chest white/black patterned like a red-shouldered hawk, impressive claws; think male golden eagle sized. I’m yelling “look at this giant bird above you! It’s going to eat the monkeys!” One of my teammates is yelling “Quiet, I can’t look away from the monkeys, they’re freaking out for some reason” and the other is just watching everything.

The bird zeros in on a tamarin, and this black fan of feathers on top of its head pops up! The 7 monkeys scatter in 3 directions, the 3 of us go off in 2, and the bird vanishes. We spent the next 5 hours trying to catch up with as many tamarins as possible.(The leaders did go and check on the group later, and confirmed that all 7 were still alive.)Turned out that bird was an ornate eagle hawk, so not a harpy eagle but still pretty impressive.

I really enjoy trapping, although we’re working in the field from 4:30 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon and then have hours of data to do afterwards. I’m pretty nervous about the follows, especially when we start doing all-day ones every day. The leaders say that once we get quieter and the monkeys get used to us it's not too bad, but 2 of the 3 groups spend the entire time leading us up and down ravines. The other day, we had to do army crawls up a muddy 50 degree inclined ravine with tracking gear in the rain, then back down the other side after them. I think the little guys just enjoy watching that.

We now are 7 field assistants total, so internet use may decrease as we are more people sharing one modem, with less free time.

I had my camera out yesterday to take pictures of some squirrel monkeys passing through camp, so I decided to follow one of the strange bird calls that I hear all the time to see what it was. The answer was toucans; I have been constantly hearing toucans in the forest, and there was a flock right at the edge of camp. I’m in a place where toucans are just around, and a squirrel is a bigger deal than monkeys.  

Welcome to the Jungle

 
Hours from nearest town by boat: 5-12
4am wakeup call: day 1, alarm clock. Day 2, bat to the face*
*Avoid a bat to any part of your body unless you’ve been vaccinated for rabies
Power: 3 hours a day
Clothes necessary: knee high rubber boots, pants, neutral colored tank top, long sleeve button up shirt, binoculars, braid, bandana, and necklace
Animal  Log:
Bugs
•    Leaf cutter ants
•    Yellow banded army ants
•    Bullet ants
•    Morpho butterflies
•    Foot-long earthworm
Reptiles
•    Common house gecko
•    Yellow-footed Amazonian tortoise
•    Caiman
•    Amazon racerunner
Birds
•    Lettered aricari
•    Crested Oropendola
•    Blue-and-white swallow
•    Coti heron
•    Pauraque (like a nightjar)
•    Undulated tinamou
•    Long tailed hermit (a hummingbird)
•    Fork-tailed woodnymph
•    Black vulture
•    Yellow-tufted woodpecker
Amphibians
•    Basin white-lipped frog
•    Bolivian bleating frog
•    Warty toad

Mammals
•    Saddle-backed tamarins
•    Emperor tamarins
•    Titi monkeys
•    Spider monkeys
•    Squirrel monkeys
•    Saki monkeys
•    Light-faced capuchins
•    Amazon bamboo rat
•    Peccaries
•    White-lined Sac-winged bat (3rd roommate)
•    Tapir tracks
•    Black agouti
Agouti - something like this needs a name to match
Living in the Amazonian rainforest is a lot like staying at summer camp; if campers went out in the forest at 4 am, there was only power from 6-9 pm, the bathroom was mixed gender, and the swimming lake had caimans and giant river otters.  The camp is located on the top of what appears to be the largest hill in view, with the Madre de Dios river curving around on 3 sides and the daunting Andes in the distance on clear days. Showers are cold, the food is hot, drinking water is pumped from a stream and boiled, and the workday starts at 4:30 am.

I felt better about the living quarters when I confirmed that the bat in my closet is not actually a vampire bat, but a helpful insectivore. All the same, he spends his days there, and barks and squeals if anyone in the room is too noisy or uses a light; it’s like having a very small, constantly hung-over roommate. Without regular internet or power, one must find other means of recreation. Popular options include swapping “One time I saw/got bit by/ran screaming from a  _” stories, and shining a flashlight into the jungle at night, to see what's looking back at you (usually, nightjars and spiders.)

During the pre-dawn morning, as I was checking to make sure that a jaguar was not following me, I had the realization that I have somehow made choices that have led to a ‘bored jaguar’ becoming a semi-legitimate concern in life.

I’m Leaving on a Jet Plane

June 3rd 2013

Time in transit: 18 hours by air, 1 hour by car, 6 hours by motorized canoe, and travel within Puerto Maldonado on the back of taxi motorcycles

Items forgotten: hairbrush, pen, bug spray, Spanish-English dictionary

Time luggage was lost: 42 hours

Items stolen from luggage: laptop charger, camera battery, charger and memory cards, the water-tight container that kept then all safe from:
 

Damage incurred to luggage: left out in Miami rain for apparently the entire time it was lost, soaked in a combination of shampoo,deodorant, and watercolor pencils. The books didn’t fare well,but I have some remarkably colorful socks. At 4:30 AM, approximately halfway to my destination, I realized that my luggage had not reached the country with me. When I got it back over  a day and a half later, I realized it had been left on the rainy Miami tarmac. There is something part humility, part hysteria that one feels when the belongings that you need to survive in the jungle are lost, you don’t remember the name of your hotel, your phone doesn’t work internationally to check the name of your hotel, and you don’t have the dictionary you need to express this to anyone of authority. That’s before you're asked to sign a Spanish document with seemingly important details left blank. On the plus side, the airline did give us a full dinner at 2 AM.
 

After the overnight flight, the helmet-less motorcycle taxis seemed

like a relaxing ride as they sped over dirt roads. And I tried to take the time to appreciate my first stay at a hostel, although next time I think I’ll spring for the $20 room with a private bathroom; I’ll be spending enough time soon sharing one shower with a dozen strangers. It was worth every nuevo sole for the unpublished perk: a fuzzy lab mix puppy newly adopted by the owner. Loopey Puppies: treat travel stress even more than a few pisco sours. I shared an odd half-van vehicle with 7 day workers to the next town, feeling every bit the out-of-place American tourist that I was.

 

Puerto Maldonado: not where I am. Where I am: 5 hours away. 

 

And then, as I approached the canoe ‘dock’, the Rio Madre de Dios came into view. Across the rushing muddy water, and on either side of the small town, there were shallow banks and reaching trees and, at understory, there were familiar herons, egrets and wood storks, and dense flocks of multicolor butterflies hovering around mineral-dense patches on the banks. I’m actually in the AMAZON JUNGLE!

Animals seen:
2 hummingbird species
Toad
Black vulture and turkey vulture

It's the End of the World (as we know it)

T-minus 5 days until I leave the civilized world as I know it! While this is causing a mix of nerves and a few profound realizations (I've never gone that long without milk!), the focus for the past month has been on preparing for 2.5 months without medical care, mail, or a building with real walls.

One of the requirements of the program is that assistants be graduates of college. I'm proud to put a big CHECK by that! I now hold a college degree, complete with minor, which is primarily useful for applying to graduate school and traveling to Spanish speaking countries with high biodiviersity!
 The university hasn't sent out the diplomas yet, but they did hand out classy "Alumni" drink coozies, which seems just as valid.

Since graduation, I've scoured two cities and the internet for the various supplies on needs in the middle of a

Not Sufficient

jungle. Apparently, my plan for international travel packing isn't going to be sufficient this time.

Every soap-like item needs to be scentless and biodegradable, while everything else needs it's own air-tight case and packet of silica gel ("US passports are especially known to mold withing a few weeks").

For when the other options is 'cut off the bitten limb and pray"

Incidentally, when your're living hours upriver of the nearest road, you are also hours upriver from the nearest medical facility of any form. In additions to a normal super-duty first aid kit, I had to get 5 shots, 3 rounds of antibiotics, 2 epi-pens (in case you're allergic to bullet ants, or really any other South American bug that you haven't had chance to rule out allergies through trial and error yet), and one terrifying-looking device called The Extractor. It is now my primary goal of the trip, and life, to never need to use it.

I think I almost have all (or half) the supplies I'll need. Unfortunately, half of my living room is covered in  masses of medical supplies, unscented deodorant, field guides, clean socks, and "Zote: the pink bar laundry soap", all of which need to fit in one checked bag light enough to carry through the muddy streets of Puerto Maldonado. It may be time to start lifting weights.

How It All Began

In the beginning, there was Amazon Trail:

Well, first there were versions 1 and 2, and I think Oregon Trail really came before all of them. But I'm not going anywhere in a covered wagon, so none of that matters. What does matter are the hours I spent playing this game, marveling at the pixelated wildlife, and setting the foundations for my most enduring childhood dream.

the illusive Loggus Floatica

There have been other influences driving me to visit the jungle since then, nature shows and classes discussing rare animals, but it was while playing this game 14 years ago that I resolved to go there.

Well, I'm not going there. As far as I remember, the game is set in the Brazilian Amazon basin, and I don't speak Portuguese.  I AM going to Peru in a few short weeks after graduation! After months of searching wildlife boards and ecology sites, I was accepted as a (volunteer) research assistant for an established project. I'll be living at the field site, remote but accessible by boat from Puerto Maldonado, luckily with the comforts of power (3hrs a day), running water, and cell phone service!
The study I'll be working on is a combined anthropology/biology study of small primates

umm...