Only twenty minutes on the lake – and you can see so many species as you would see walking in the jungle for hours. Majestic herons, curious squirrel-monkeys,
self-confident hoatzins, snakes, standing in the water as lifeless sticks, turtles, warming themselves on the logs and jumping in the lake so suddenly and funny,
and countless numbers of birds of all sizes and colors - all of them are listening to the fascinating lecture together with us.
- ‘Do you know that the forest arises right from the bog? These trees take roots in the ground and start to raise it, so with time each of them become surrounded by a small island. These islets grow, connect to each other and so the mire turn into a forest. And there are walking palms - they have to fight their way to the sun through the other branches, and for this they grow new roots. So the main trunk might be moved up to half a meter from its original place.’
My today's guide Esaud is a mine of information and a tireless oarsman at the same time: almost all the day he is sculling and talking continuously, just with a little break for a lunch. He is about 40, and all his life he has worked as an eco-guide. His family is living in town, but he spends most the time on his work - and it is undeniable that he is in love with his job.
- ‘I know you came here to see the giant otters’ - Esaud continues his story. – ‘So, you should be aware that one otter family usually owns one lake. The size of the family might be different: for example, the local family in 1992 consisted of eleven animals, and now there is the only family of five. When the young otter starts to feel a grown-up and independent, he leaves his family and goes to find his own lake. This task is difficult and dangerous: sometimes the otter has to travel by land and face a lot of enemies. Moreover, finding the lake takes time and power: it is known that one young otter had to swim for 270 miles before he found a proper lake! The problem is that the lake needs to be large enough to accommodate a big fish, and also it must not be occupied by another otter of the same sex. In this regard Sandoval is the perfect lake - the Catfish living here are sometimes up to three meters in their length!
To my great regret, I didn't see the otters that time: vainly Esaud was sculling through the length and breadth of the lake about six or seven hours in total. We even came as close as possible to the protected area, trying to see the otters with our binoculars. Esaud told us that they probably went up the river for some of their business, and nobody can tell when they will be back. But after the lunch we have watched a very interesting film about Sandoval family of otters - at least something!
Accommodation in the Manaka Lodge is quite simple, even in compare with Wasai lodge: they don't have towels and bed-linen or any similar "luxury goods". The fans and sockets are not very useful things there since electricity is switching on just in the evenings. There are so many colorful geckos playing around instead, indeed!
The sunset in the lake is impressive, and after that starts the best time to see the caimans. They are the largest and the most powerfull predators in Amazonia - can you believe in it looking at this cute, curious one-month-old guy?
His mother remains aside; she is quite indifferent, thinking that either we are not dangerous or that his baby is grown-up enough to survive.
- ‘The head of the caiman is seven times less in its length when compared to its body. So you can imagine the size of this one!’ - Esaud commented this encounter. Luckily, we were more interested in the crocodile than she was in us.
Needless to say that the unpleasant recollections of the muddy road have been entirely overlapped by our many unforgettable impressions of the wildlife that inhabits Sandoval - even without been away busy otters!
16.03.2015
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