Sunday, August 17

Location: Manu Wildlife Centre, Peru

Today's weather: 27°C.

This morning we got up at 6am. This would be our last full day in the jungle, so we planned to make the most of it – doing as much as possible.

After breakfast, we went for a short walk through the forest until we reached a giant saber tree with thick buttresses stretching out around it. The tree was HUGE – I guessed that it was about 50 metres tall. About three-quarters of the way up the tree there was a viewing platform used by birdwatchers to view birds living in the forest canopy (these include species of birds that you mightn't see when watching from the ground). At the bottom of the tree was a set of rope and pulleys, used for raising people up to the platform. Operating these ropes and pulleys was done manually – which was the reason that Walter had also brought along a a group of workers from the lodge. There were seven people pulling at the ropes (and a safety brake to stop the rope falling if any of them slipped), meaning that the ascent to the platform was quick and smooth.

Most of us looked up nervously, seeing how high the platform was above us. But Walter led the way – putting on a harness and the being raised up to the platform on the ropes, to show us how easy and safe it was. In fact, it looked like fun. We followed Walter up, having the harnesses wrapped around us and raising up on the ropes one-by-one. Rick went first, then me, and then there were the four members of the German family that was now travelling with us. Once the ropes had lifted us up close to the platform, we had to grab hold of some steps then climb the final metre up onto the platform – I think that this was the point where I was most nervous because the steps looked a little precarious and there was a huge drop below me (although I was still attached to the ropes which would hold me if anything went wrong). Once (finally) at the top, Walter took off my harness and connected me to some other safety ropes – I briefly wondered if they were made of bungy cord, but didn't volunteer to test them out. The German family came up, one-by-one, behind me. The mother was the most nervous of anyone, but bravely managed to overcome her fear – although she sat down immediately and didn't move from her spot for all the time that we were up there.

The view from the platform was terrific – we could look down on the tops of all the other trees, watching any birds or other animals feeding in them. This is how wildlife photographers get their amazing photographs of birds and monkeys (or wildlife films for television) – they go up to a platform in the trees close to where the animals are likely to come to eat. Then they stay very quiet and wait for any animals to appear. Often, they have to wait for a very long time. Fortunately, our platform was very solid. It had two decks, and even had comfortable deckchairs so that there was somewhere to sit while waiting (although I found a very comfortable spot perched on a tree branch). We saw lots of different birds, including hummingbirds feeding on nectar, and some macaws. I also watched the ants crawling along some of the tree branches – Walter said that scientists had discovered up to 42 species of ants living in a single tree in the Amazon rainforest. And there were certainly many different types of ants in THIS tree.

After an hour spent up on the platform it was time for us to go down. The German mother was the first to go down – and I imagine that she was very relieved. The rest of the German family followed, then Rick, and then me. Walter came down after everyone else. Going down the tree was much the same as going up. The hardest bit for me was climbing down the ladder, reaching the last step, then having to let go – trusting that the ropes would hold me. The rest was easy. I watched a bright orange butterfly perched on the rope on the other side of the pulley – as I went down, the butterfly was catching a free ride up into the forest canopy.

We then went on another short walk, until we reached a tower which had been build in amongst the forest. The purpose of the tower was pretty much the same as for the tree platform – it was another good place for viewing birds and other wildlife. The tower, itself, was really just construction scaffolding with small concrete foundations. There was no hoist – so we just attached ourselves to safety ropes and climbed to the top of the tower (40 or 50 metres above the ground) using a ladder at the side of the tower. It seemed like a long climb up and I fell very hot and tired by the time I reached the top – even though the climb only took two or three minutes. Not everyone went this time, two of the German family (including the mother who'd been the most nervous before) opted not to climb up.

Once at the top of the tower, I sat down to rest from my climb up. I was a little nervous to discover that the tower was swaying in the wind – my brain told me that this was normal for towers, but body and emotions reacted differently. I held on tightly and tried very hard not to think about the the movement. I especially avoided looking at the trees closest to me because they were also swaying – but in directions opposite to the movement of the tower. This made it seem as if we were moving lots more than we really were. Instead, I just tried to concentrate on the birds, butterflies, and other animals around us. Walter looked very much at ease – he opened up his small snack bag and started munching on chocolate, and then an orange. I guessed that he'd been up here many times so was used to the height and the swaying. After 20 minutes at the top of the tower, we climbed back down – and I was very relieved to be back on solid ground. We walked back to the Wildlife Centre for lunch.

After lunch, we went on another rainforest walk to the colpa (claylick) where we'd been several nights before to see the tapirs. Returning during the day, we hope to see parrots and other animals gathered there. Along the way, we stopped to look at birds in the forest and saw several species of monkeys including dusky titi monkeys, tamarins, and capuchin monkeys. We waited at the claylick for 40 minutes, but no animals bothered to appear – it was the middle of the day and probably too hot for them to be doing anything. On the walk back to the lodge, Walter stopped to show us some huge mahogany trees of the type that are most popular for logging. By the time that it is cut down and processed, the wood from a single tree can fetch as much as $US30,000 in the United States or Europe. Of this, the local people get only about $US1,000 per tree – which is why the loggers need to chop down lots of trees to earn a good income. Walter told us that the trees don't really need to be logged – there are lots of mahogany trees that fall down naturally within the Manu Reserve area. During the highwater season these trees wash out onto the rivers and are carried downstream where they can be collected. Walter suggested that if local people were able to set up their own transportation and marketing contacts in the US and Europe (enabling local people to collect a bigger percentage of the trees' total value) then it would be possible for them to earn a good living without logging the surrounding rainforest. I thought this was a good idea – especially if the people buying the wood knew that it was obtained naturally without destroying the forest. Walter is also collecting seeds to plant more mahogany trees – they take 80 years to reach maturity, but planting a plantation of them today on an area of already-cleared land might be a good investment for the future of Walter's children and (eventually) grandchildren.

On our return to the Wildlife Centre, we jumped into the canoe and headed off for the oxbow lake which we had visited the previous day. We hoped that we would finally get to see some giant otters (for Rick and me, this was our FOURTH attempt!). We reached the lake and hopped into the catamaran (this time I had to paddle on one side), and travelled out into the centre of the lake. Tino pointed at something at the far-end of the lake, checking it with his telescope – it was a group of otters.

The otters were swimming home from their day spent fishing at one end of the lake. We paddled to a good viewing condition, though still keeping our distance so as not to disturb the otters – then we watched the otters as the swum back. A giant otter is as big as a full grown man! When they swim they seemed to be "dog-paddling" since there was just their head sticking out of the water. The heads were brown, with big black eyes and whiskers – and, strangely enough, they seemed almost human (but cuter). Because we were still quite far away, most of our viewing was done through binoculars – but we still had a good view. At one point the otters stopped, looked directly at us, and started screeching at one another. Perhaps they thought WE looked strange! Then the otters continued swimming just as before, heading along the length of the lake to return home to their den.

Having (finally) successfully seen the otters, we returned again to the Centre – where a shower and dinner were waiting. Then, after dinner, we headed out on our final expedition – another attempt to see the tapirs. Rick and I walked through the rainforest by torchlight, with Walter about five minutes behind us (the German family had opted not to come). Rick was walking in front, and I was behind him. I kept nervously checking around behind me with my torch – I kept thinking about a story that Walter had told about how a friend of his had been stalked at night a couple of times by a Puma in this part of the forest (Pumas are one of the few animals which don't seem to be scared of attacking humans). Hence, my frequent glances behind me were to make sure that I wasn't part of any Puma's dinner plans. Fortunately, no Pumas appeared – just trotting along with his torch when he finally caught up with us.

Eventually we reached the hide – we climbed up the steps, then sat down on the mattresses waiting for the tapirs to make an appearance. While waiting for the tapirs we had to be very quiet so as not to scare off any approaching animals. It was dark, and since we were stretched out on comfortable mattresses it was very easy to fall asleep (also helped by the fact that we were a little tired after the long walk from the Wildlife Centre). Rick fell asleep and started snoring loudly. If any tapirs were approaching, they'd probably need earplugs! So I threw a cushion at Rick – which didn't wake him up, but it stopped his snoring. I had to repeat this procedure every five minutes, throwing various other projectiles conveniently onhand. Although I eventually fell asleep, too, and Rick complained about MY snoring.

After an hour and a half, we heard noises from down below on the claylick. The sound was a banging of logs and the squelching of mud – the sound of a big heavy tapir approached. The sound was then followed by snorting as the tapir began to eat the clay at the claylick. Walter shone down his torch to reveal the tapir standing in front of us. The tapir didn't seem to mind the light, it just kept eating, and we kept watching. There were sounds from the opposite direction about 15 minutes later. The tapir heard these sounds, and quickly disappeared – tapirs are solitary animals and don't like to be around each other. The other tapir, a small female, soon came into view and began to eat the clay. This tapir stayed for a very long time, almost an hour. I wondered how an animal could eat so much clay and if it was actually very good for it (despite the mineral content).

Finally, the tapir left. When the tapir was gone, Walter, Rick, and I then descended the platform and began the long walk back to the Centre. I was feeling very happy because I'd finally gotten to see a tapir.