Yarina, the Finale: Blurry Bird Pictures for Bob and Tri-lingual Tours

Captain's log, Day 27: The first chapter of the journey has now come to pass. Unfortunately, on our last day at Yarina my companions and I got to fully appreciate the moniker "rainforest"...sacrificing two cameras to the Amazon rain gods. This means that I did not get to take any pictures from my two day trip to Mindo, Ecuador with the residents of Manna Project International, but no matter: I must go back. Cuenca and Bioparque Amaru this weekend. 

Yarina Ecolodge. We had quite the mix of tourists and guides coming through the last two weeks, with some serious dry-season rain to boot. The water level in the lagoon crept a full eighteen or so inches forestward, bringing our canoes a bit closer to the dock. I've gotta say: the cross-section of international politics and travel I'm getting from all of the Europeans coming through has taught me a lot, and the arrival of two lovely Italian ladies really pushed my language skills to a whole new level. In the same vein, I met a new guide who knew all the bird calls of the area, which elevated my birding to dizzying heights. Starting to learn calls with Bob Mulvihill and Matt Webb during Nestwatch this summer was one thing, but the Amazon...what a crazy game.

Some photos from my Canon Powershot, 2005-2013. RIP. 

A long overdue introduction: meet Fernando, boss of Yuturi Conservation Group. He manages Hotel Oasis, the launching point of boats to Delphin and Yarina Ecolodge. He visits the lodge often. 

More about Yuturi Conservation Group here. 

For those of you who don't know my notekeeping style, an example: these are some field notes and observations from my first trip to Yarina. I tend to bring a few pieces of paper and a pen when I go on long hikes, instead of my journal. 

Back to guiding tours after my time in Coca! This was a crazy day: 

Another incredibly important introduction: meet Jaima Grefa, self-proclaimed and insanely knowledgeable naturalist and ornithologist. He was around for Gill and Ridgely's journeys through Yuturi Lodge and much of the Amazon back in the day, and studied with them. He knew calls of most of the birds, insects, frogs and monkeys in the Eastern Lowlands. Beyond impressive, and an awesome learning opportunity. My birdlist grew significantly. 

Jaima had a bunch of tricks...like drumming on empty tree-trunks to check for owls and nocturnal monkeys. This blurry (sorry, Bob! I tried) photo is of a confused Tawny-bellied Screech Owl. 

It was pretty sunny for our first two days back...

So we took our hikes pretty slowly, learning more about local lore from Jaima, who is Quechua and knows many Waorani tribesman. He pulled a Milton (Ms.Waz!) and made a bag to carry some "rainfruits" out of palm fronds. 

One of the Italian tourists modelling the bag. 

Everyone decided I should keep my journal in it for the remainder of the hike. Perfect fit. 

The scent of this particular palm fruit was amazing; violet and lychee, sharp like eucalyptus at first. See the purple tinge of the mesocarp? Jaima says toucans and squirrels really like this one. 

Fungi are incredible here. This one is particularly coveted: called Pig's Ear fungus, it is penicillin-rich and often used to treat skin infections or dry burns. 

More fungus! This one is symbiotic with a particular species of tree, covering the trunk so it appears white. The fungus keeps off insects, epiphylls, and vines to the tree's benefit. 

Another blurry through-binoculars picture: White-fronted nunbird. 

This was a crazy cocoon of some type. Beautiful, delicate orange mesh and the exoskeletal remains of whoever was inside...super strong, and flexible, too! I could squeeze it until the walls were touching, no problem. 

More exoskeletons!

Leaf-borers, fungi, and general degradation of organic matter are all artists here in the jungle. I loved the way these melastomes were patterned with white.  

An "88" butterfly from the birdwatching tower in the lagoon. 

I realized I haven't posted pictures of things I got really used to seeing in Costa Rica, like hanging Oropendola nests. See the elongated basket-like forms hanging from the top of these two palms? One Oropendola male will be "the boss" of one of these trees, charged with the protection of his females while they raise his chicks. 

We got to see some different frogs this week, too! Jaima mostly knew the Quechua or Spanish names for them. Taxonomy, anybody?

Pointy nose you got there, little fella. 

Yet another view of Crusespe, forest contraception. 

Speaking of forest medicine, Maria spent one rainy afternoon cooking up two magnificent things: an infusion for back and foot pain for manual laborers, and a warm and sweetened green plantain drink. 

She explained to me that by boiling the bark of the unguragua cat tree (bad spanish translations) and cow hoof plant leaves, you could make an infusion that was perfect for foot pains. Here she's showing me how to peel the bark apart, and the medicinal powers of the thick reddish-brown color it leaks. 

After running around in the rain and swimming in the lagoon, I retired to talk Waorani legend with Jaima (Maria's delicious green-plantain drink at the bottom right corner). Fredi had mentioned previously that Quechua, Waorani, Taegeri, and Taromenanae people were all originally of the same tribe, and that they split up when the first of the Europeans came into the Amazon, but Jaima told me that this wasn't true. He explained the creation myths of many of the tribes, including the Waorani belief that men and women come from one part of an anaconda each; torn in half by a Harpy Eagle hunting on Amazon sandbars. 

We talked more about their gods and the more famous legends. A Jaguar, Fire, Water, the Sun, the Eagle, and the Anaconda. The same story I saw on a plaque in the center of Coca about the Nighthawk and the Moon is a part of Waorani legend, too. 

To accompany all the folklore about Nenki Wenga, a famous Waorani hunter who brought the knowledge of how to make stronger blowguns to the tribes, we got to practice some serious Amazon-style hunting. The container of darts around Carmen's neck has both a dried-fruit container of kapok cotton, for winding around the end of palm wood fronds. Most Waorani blowguns are 3-4 meters long...this one was sawed-off so we could wield it. 

Jaima showed us how it was done. 

You can guess which shot is his. 

The coolest thing? The Pirhana teeth Jaima kept attached to the bamboo container for sharpening darts. That must have been one big Pirhana. 

Mating butterflies! 

Eduardo came back a day after I arrived with Jaima and the Italian women. The swamp hike was significantly wetter after the rains, which was a lot of fun. 

Rain fruits! 

Plica plica, an Iguanid, chilling on a tree at the base of the birdwatching tower. 

And another view. Hey there!

Just because I don't believe I've put any pictures of Dendrobates genus frogs up yet, here is a Ruby Poison Dart Frog. Sorry for the blurriness! This was from one of our night hikes. 

Many species of hunting or walking spiders come alive at night. These are spiders that don't build webs, but hunt for their prey instead. Pretty awesome. 

For those of you unfamiliar, this horror is known as the Bullet Ant. Found throughout Central and South America, the bite of these ants is supposed to feel like getting shot, with the pain lasting up to twelve hours after the bite. One girl on my tropical ecology program in Costa Rica was unlucky enough to get bitten by one of the flying female bullet ants, setting out to start a new colony. Totally unfair. 

Owl-eye butterflies really look like owls in the dark sometimes. 

The cacophony rising from the lagoon near the lodge was INCREDIBLE after two afternoons and evenings of solid rain. We found a ton of this one species of tree frog. 

On the walkways, railings, palm leaves, tree trunks....everything. 

Looking really photogenic on marsh plant stems, too! What a cutie. 

This is the White Capuchin Spider. Eduardo told me to watch out snapping a picture: they're known to be a bit aggressive, being mobile night hunters and all. 

Birdwatching with Jaima was an incredible experience. He was particularly skilled at calling antwrens closer to where we were walking in the understory, which means I added quite a few names to my list in the last week. I'm always fascinated by the binoculars my bird mentors choose to carry around most regularly, and the stories they tell. The wear on the polish of the brand nameplate on Jaima's was a nice touch. 

Think about how many birds have been seen through these lenses. So many stories. 

More bad pictures! Look at the base of the larger palm in the upper left: that's one of the Capybaras living in the Nature Preserve!

Hoatzin silhouette, too. 

As I mentioned earlier, leaf borers do some pretty cool things in the understory. 

As do leaf-cutter ants. They never get old for me. I remember watching National Geographic documentaries when I was younger about how they farm a type of fungus on the leaves they collect, which they then eat. Seeing them in the wild is always wonderful. 

Forest onion flower. 

A mere twenty minutes before our cameras and notebooks were wrecked by the biggest downpour I'd yet experienced at Yarina, Jaima showed us how the traditional palm roofing was made. The stems of this particular palm are actually more flexible when dried. 

The young fronds are also what many indigenous groups use to make crowns and ornaments for celebration...or for visiting, honeymooning Spainards. Hehe. 

Thus ended the life of my camera. The river rose significantly that day, and we had to wade through some deeper spots...needless to say, by the end of our three and a half hours in the rain, even our dry bags were not so dry. It was great to just jump in the river fully clothed at the end, though. Probably worth it.

The end of my time at Yarina was a mix of recording Spanish and English bird names for some of the guides who wanted to learn, meeting a visiting National Tourism volunteer named Marieya who would develop a new marketing plan for the Yuturi group over the next eight months (Also 22 and learning conservation. Super sad we didn't overlap for more time!), and playing a lot of Solo le Pido a Dios so me, Juan, and Wilson (other workers) could serenade the boat on my last sure ride down the Napo. So many feelings about the Amazon. I hope I can return soon...

A few more things before I head off to pick up my passport from where the Brazilian Embassy has processed my tourist visa downtown.

The Manna Project International House welcomed a new member last night: Lunita, an adorable and completely cuddly brindle lab-terrier-something. She just wants to be held all the time. A serious bath and $30 vaccinations, flea meds, and a collar this morning, and she's part of their family.

Waking up in Sangloqui this morning was incredible, too, after the rains over the mountains yesterday. Cold air through the third-floor window, and some SNOW on the far-off peaks. 

A few common Quito birds for your pleasure, too: this is a Great Thrush, common to paramo and in and around montane cities (image from BirdQuest Tours).


 Another common visitor: the Rufous-collared Sparrow. I remember these guys from Costa Rica!

Ecuador is truly magnificent. Can't believe I'm in the tropics on mornings like this...Cuenca is in the mountains, too. I can't wait to explore it!

Computers being cranky about rotating pictures, but you get the idea. This is the morning paper. There's a ton of news coverage on the protests of Yasuni exploitation, which is good, but oil activity is progressing as it has been. 

       We spoke a lot about the exploitation and different environmental programs in Spain, Bolivia, Peru and Brazil in our last week at Yarina. Many of the tourists who come through are just looking to be awed and entertained by the Amazon, it seems, and don't leave with a real understanding of what's going on inside the park, or how the ecology has changed in the Orellana basin over the last decade. With Eduardo's help, I was able to write up some really good information about Yasuni conservation for tourists that will visit Yarina, and I hope that Marieya will continue with Yasuni education projects in the next year! It's an interesting time to be in Ecuador, for sure.

Onward! Time to pack my things and head to Cuenca. I have a serious bird post coming up soon with my updated list...stay tuned!

-The bird girl