Coming to Infierno is a big change for Tamandua, for the past five years we have worked primarily from a single location on the river Las Pidras. Coming to a new location on the Tambopata River means a new setting, new wildlife, and a new mission. It also means that we have much to learn about the territory surrounding our new research station.
On January 16th of this year expedition leaders Paul Rosolie and Juan Julio Duran began a week-long survey of this new swath of jungle. Knowing that the area had been subject to poaching and wood-harvesting we were concerned about the health of the ecosystem as well as hopeful that it would contain a variety of wildlife that would satisfy the hopes of our prospective volunteers. Little did we know that we were going to be more than reassured.
On our first day of exploring we left the tranquility of the research station and set out on a five hour trek through the old, narrow hunting trails and animal pathways that snake through the jungle at Infierno. Beginning in secondary forest we traveled deeper into the forest which quickly transformed into pristine, primary forest. With massive old growth trees rising all around us, we weaved through a land of giants. The first significant find of the day came in the form of a tremendous kapok tree that towered about the rest of the canopy. With a lifespan easily upwards of 800 years old, this towering pillar of the Amazon must have begun growing long before the arrival of of Europeans on the South American continent.
Continuing on we began to uncover a multitude of mammal colpas hidden in the forest. Colpas are places where salt deposits in the ground's clay attract a variety of herbivores seeking to consume vital minerals that aid their survival. Monkeys, tapir, peccary, agouti, macaws, sloth, and many other species are attracted to these areas where they eat the clay and socialize. We found evidence of two species of peccary, newly laid howler monkey tracks, and more than one tapir visit. We observed a troop of Amazon coati descending from mid canopy to feed, a very rare sight. Amidst the calls of toucans, macaws, and spix's guan (a species which is an indicator of healthy ecosystems), we began to track a heard of collared peccary. Following the heard, we silently weaved through a wonderland of tropical life. Our hunt brought us to the edge of a small cliff, at the base of which was a small stream; we had reached another colpa. This appeared to be an active colpa; it bore recent footprints from dozens of animal visitors. Further investigation of the site revealed a tremendous find: a blue morpho butterfly. Perched on the red clay of the colpa's floor it was gently fluttering its massive wings as it's proboscis lapped salt.
It had been a long hike and we were ready to turn back, the forest seemed to be in excellent condition and we had had a good first day of investigating. As we began to leave however the blue morpho we had been watching took flight, flashing its wicked blue wings through the shadowy green. As we watched in awe, our vision landed on a sight which took everyone's breath away. Coiled in the gentle flowing stream that ran at the colpa's base, was a tremendous anaconda, in its grip lay the body of a recently constricted pig.
Below: The anaconda with her prey:
The peccary herd we had been following had crossed the colpa and narrow stream, this anaconda had been lying in wait in exactly the right spot.
The anaconda measured just under fifteen feet long, a giant female.
We returned to base filled with enthusiasm, our first exploration of our new location had been an overwhelming success. The following days did not disappoint either. Also sighted were puma tracks, a blue faced motmot, blue and yellow macaws, one giant armadillo burrow, giant anteater tracks, and a very healthy population of the legendary blue morpho.
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