Day 15: TBS

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Woke up at 6am today and had French toast for breakfast. After that we headed out to the trails to collect data for our experiment. Tomás was our guide; he took us to the Guacayamo and Chorongo trails and we were gone for about 2.5 hours. It took a long time to collect all the data, but we did get to see some really cool fungi. I only freaked out once when I ran into a spider web that I hadn’t seen…

We tried to come analyze data and put together a power point presentation, but there was only 1 computer and 3 groups – plus, the time the computer actually works is limited by the generator…we all came to the conclusion that we should have to do the project at home and get to go out and explore more of TBS, but unfortunately that wasn’t an option. After lunch I came back to the cabin to rest for a bit before working on the project. I took a nap, but it wasn’t very good and I woke up in a massive sweat after just sleeping in a bra and underwear!

My group went to the lab to work on the project; luckily we had power for the computer because Rene ran an extension cord down from upstairs. It took us forever to complete the presentation, and then we had to load pictures from Sam’s camera to David’s computer…basically, 4 hours later our power point was finally done, and just in time for our talk with the Huaroni and Kichwa.

Juan Carlos (Kichwa), Maller (Huaroni raised Kichwa), and Tomas (Huaroni) all talked about how oil has impacted their lives. It was really sad because Tomas knows so little about his indigenous culture and has pretty much grown up embracing the western world slowly creeping into the Amazon basin. After the talk came dinner: chicken, rice, and cabbage. Dessert was tres leche cake I think (?). Dinner ended and everyone boarded the boat to go on a night float to look for caiman! We ended up seeing tons, including all three species: Black, White, and Dwarf. The boat got super close to one Dwarf caiman; the caiman just sat there for about 5 minutes looking at us, but close enough that I could have stuck my hand in its mouth. Luckily I brought my camera and got some really cool pictures. There was also a huge red spider on the boat that I got some pictures of, but then had to move away rapidly because it was freaking me out.

David had the engine shut off for a couple minutes, and we just floated for about 2 minutes in total silence. It was amazing the sounds we were able to hear, and the stars were the most beautiful I have ever seen in my life. Being on the equator meant we could see constellations from both hemispheres too, and the sky was just littered with sparkling bright lights. I even saw a shooting star. The whole experience was almost surreal…

We arrived back at the station just in time for me to take a shower before the lights went out. It was icy cold and felt great. Only 2 more nights left in the rain forest – as much as I love it here in the day, I don’t really like the nights. They are filled with noises and absolutely penetrating darkness, and sleeping is nearly impossible because everything is always wet…Good night from the Amazon!