Mar 25, 2011 Looking for a real Blade Runner city? Visit Kota Kinabalu. High tech, illegal immigrant workers, street life, rain.
Tabin Wildlife Resort. No wi-fi.
Borneo Rainforest Lodge.
Mar 12, 2011 A young Japanese couple is silently staring their open laptop in the lounge of the Borneo Rainforest Lodge. A massive earthquake. It’s raining.
Mar 12, 2011 Night of The Geckos & Flying Ants. Rain persists. The world is black and beautiful, and life is plenty. Good night, Sabah.
Hong Kong
Jul 13, 2012 Chinese women want to have pointed chins, achieved through bone surgery. China Daily.
Jul 13, 2012 Ocean Park has launched a polar adventure w/ over 100 animals from both the Arctic and Antarctic.
Jul 14, 2012 Eyewitnessing from Novotel Citygate: Tung Chung Cable Car runs empty on 7-8 AM. The rest of the day there’s a queue.
Jul 14, 2012 Hotel complimentaries not used: local calls, in-coming fax, local outgoing fax, pressing (2 pieces), shoe shine.
Sabah, Maleysian Borneo
Jul 16, 2012 Since 3/2011, Tabin Wildlife Resort has improved roads, built a suspension bridge over the otter river, and installed wireless.
Jul 17, 2012 Harsh calls from above. Black Hornbills. “It’s like Angry Birds, the cartoon y’know” says Mohammad and flashes an irresistible smile.
Jul 17, 2012 Rich wildlife thanks to fig trees in fruit. Gibbons & Orangutans are many, and both have babies.
Jul 17, 2012 Irrigation channels of palm oil plantations are home to small fish. Much appreciated by Collared Kingfishers.
Jul 17, 2012 The amount of elephant dung on the road raises hopes of seeing the animal outputting it.
Jul 17, 2012 Water Buffalo tracks are fresh. So is the round heap of gleaming excrement. Female w/ a young. Hoofs of F sink more than those of a M.
Jul 17, 2012 July 15th: heavy rain 3:30-6 PM. The amount of water in Lipad rose to flood levels, licking the first River Lodges.
Jul 17, 2012 4-5 different species of Hornbills easily seen. Wonders of nature: awesome shape, mighty aviation skills, top charts sound.
Jul 17, 2012 Tabin soundscape: Green Imperial Pigeons’ deep two-syllable call. Somewhere in the house, a Barking Lizard yelps like a sleepy dog.
Jul 17, 2012 Mammals of last night’s dusk drive: Red Giant Flying Squirrel; Leopard Cat; Yellow-throated Marten; Common Palm Civet.
Jul 18, 2012 A House Gecko drops on the table, curls its tail in slow motion – and is gone. Lunch as usual.
Jul 18, 2012 Malay Weasel is 50 cm of orange speedyness w/ a white head. Inhabits a hole under the restaurant. Fav meal to Jerdon’s Baza.
Jul 18, 2012 Last night in a hammock on the Mud Volcano tower. A nearby fig tree attracts dozens of Hornbills + a Binturong (1pm). Mud: wild pigs.
Jul 19, 2012 Mohamad points to his left leg. “Pig-tailed Macaque bit me when I was a boy. They’re nasty.”
Jul 19, 2012 Macaque families live near the road that runs between Tabin and the plantation. They like oil palm fruits, and eat only the best parts.
Jul 19, 2012 Few things in this world are more touching to watch than an Orangutan mom with her 2yr old baby, swinging high in the canopy.
Jul 19, 2012 Stephen, the father of nature guiding in Lahad Datu, was w/ us in 2011. Age 50+, he still works at Tabin. “I’m an old man”, he claims.
Jul 19, 2012 A Field Guide to the Mammals of Borneo includes 33 species of squirrels. No wonder. Squirrel density is surprisingly high.
Jul 19, 2012 On the cuteness scale, a Plain Pygmy Squirrel has a high position. On the acceleration scale, too.
Jul 19, 2012 Cicadas are underrated as vocalists. That said, the singing marvels of tropical Asia do differ from the high vol ones of the Americas.
Jul 20, 2012 In March, a juvenile Clouded Leopard came to the lodge. Walked the walkway. Gnarled to the startled staff for goodbye. True, saw pics.
Jul 20, 2012 Behind a curb, a slender, light-colored figure emerges, leaps over the road w/ one gracious jump. Yellow Muntjac aka Barking Deer.
Jul 20, 2012 “Sad sky”, says Mohamad. Overcast.
Jul 21, 2012 At 7 PM, behind the HQ of the Wildlife Dept, near Tabin, a big family of Hose’s Langur aka Grey Leaf Monkey. Much awaited!
Jul 21, 2012 Mom is drowsy. The baby in breastfeeding is all white. The greyness increases by the age. A full gradient hops&leaps around.
Jul 21, 2012 The shape of the head and the facial colors of the Langur are striking. Forest fairies as perfect as they can get.
Jul 21, 2012 8 AM we pass the gate of the Rhino Project. Under the fence, the feet of the new (since Dec) female! Feeding time.
Jul 21, 2012 Didn’t know that rhinos speak. This one gives loud, short, high-pitched mows:”Who’s the guest here, eh? Snappy with the freakfast!”
Jul 22, 2012 Deepest night. Then: shrill beeps of a smoke detector. What? Where? Wait – this is not home. It’s a cricket.
Jul 22, 2012 “I know one word in Swedish: hackspett”. Now Mohamad, who speaks multiple languages, knows also one word in Finnish: tikka.
Jul 22, 2012 The Bornean Rhinoceros is a sub-species of the Sumatran Rhino. Only few left because of those that call themselves human beings.
Jul 22, 2012 The rhino couple here will be moved to the core area in 2015. The older female wasn’t fertile. Sadly, she is also blind now.
Jul 22, 2012 It’s proved to be very difficult to get rhinos to breed in captivity. Recently, one Sumatran gave birth at a mainland zoo.
Jul 22, 2012 The color of water in Lipad has changed. After the flood, for four days, it was cafe latte. Now it’s more like green tea.
Jul 22, 2012 8 AM. On top of a tree stump, a Crested Serpent Eagle is eating a King Cobra. Pulls out the guts. The body of the snake crumples.
Jul 22, 2012 Great Argus calls somewhere near the road. “Never seen one”, tells Mohamad. Someone has ‘cos there’s a drawing in the bird book.
Jul 22, 2012 They say that June is the best month to see Gibbons. For a Finn, that’s unfortunate; most beautiful time at home.
Jul 22, 2012 For me, durian ice cream was meat in zero temp. Couldn’t make it. Mohamad smiles. “Tasty. Sometimes we make durian porridge”
Jul 22, 2012 Above the bed on the wall, a dying Barking Lizard clings head down on one foot. On the bed, remains of a cricket. Death by poisoning?
Jul 22, 2012 25 cm, clay-colored, big eyes in a big head, long legs and tail. Handsome. Carefully, we carry the lizard outside on the porch.
Jul 22, 2012 In the morning, the body is limb, eyes half-shut. The suction surface of the toes is still strong, though.
Jul 22, 2012 Ants are already there. With some effort, we pull the toes from the wooden floor, and push the body over the edge.
Jul 22, 2012 No drive without a Monitor Lizard or two, size M or L. “Godzilla”, says Mohamad and tries to keep an earnest face. Can’t.
Jul 22, 2012 Thu-Sat: crisscross dusk driving in the far corner of the palm plantation. Tracks and rumors of an elephant herd of 40 individuals.
Jul 22, 2012 The plantation is surrounded by an electric wire fence, trapped onto wooden poles. To enter, elephants first push down a pole.
Jul 23, 2012 Huge, round tracks in the mud. Stomped grass and bushes. Dung in various phases of decay, pushing tiny white mushrooms.
Jul 23, 2012 No matter how pygmy in elephant measures, the Bornean is still big. Young bulls become easily agitated. A camera flash is a no-no.
Jul 23, 2012 The local elephant has a much longer tail in proportion than its African cousins. The tail almost sweeps the ground.
Jul 23, 2012 When Stephen encounters an elephant, he raises hand to salute&shouts:”Eli!” It works. “I’ve been 6 years in Tabin. They remember me.”
Jul 23, 2012 Like macaques, civets and rats, elephants are after the oil palm fruits. This particular time though, they are somewhere else.
Jul 23, 2012 Colugo is an animal that science has hard times to find the right twig in the tree of species. There’s nothing quite like it.
Jul 23, 2012 The oddest part in Colugo is the mouth. Definitely a non-rodent. Upper jaw: 0 front teeth. Lower: comb-like kind-of front teeth.
Jul 23, 2012 Its gliding membrane is ridiculously big. Yet Colugo weighs less than the heaviest of Giant Flying Squirrels.
Jul 23, 2012 In Sabah forests, Colugo is fairly common. Hard to spot though because it’s mostly nocturnal. Brilliant camouflage unhelps too.
Jul 23, 2012 In the flashlight, Colugo looks like a magician wrapped in an oriental cape. Slowly turning neck, it reveals a pair of big, moist eyes.
Jul 23, 2012 Tropical nights are a playground for flash-o-holics. Novelty in Tabin is light with an aspheric lens. No spill, just spots. Unreal.
Jul 23, 2012 9 AM on the road. Pungent smell of rotten meat. With a lazy lizard gait, five Monitor Lizards approach the target in the bush.
Jul 23, 2012 Jet plane shaped Blue-throated Bee-Eaters abound. In 3/2011, they dug nest holes in the sandy helipad of Borneo Rainforest Lodge.
Jul 23, 2012 The secondary forests in Tabin were logged 40 yrs ago. A reminiscence of the past: tall, pale Menggaris trees. Hollow -> no value -> saved.
Jul 23, 2012 Menggaris is called a honeytree, and for a reason. Protruding from the trunk, high up, just below canopy: sweet yellow swollen cakes.
Jul 23, 2012 Monitor Lizard’s saliva is infectious. Mohamad tells about Swedish research investigating it. Medicine for heart attacks? To check.
Jul 25, 2012 After Tabin, Borneo Rainforest Lodge in Danum Valley said Hi! w/ a downpour. “3 sunny days in July so far”, told Denny.
Jul 25, 2012 6 AM, out of thick mist, the silhouette of the forest starts to become discernible in patches. They seem to hang loose in mid sky.
Jul 25, 2012 Above, curled up around a vine, a motionless pale green Gray-tailed Racer. “When he’s there, the Agama Lizard is not “, laughs Denny.
Jul 25, 2012 Orangutan mom & 2yro baby eating figs. Her 3rd. 6 yrs ago, in the age of 5, the 2nd one was attacked by a Cloud Leopard.
Jul 25, 2012 It happened one night. The cat came and made an attempt, but the baby managed to escape.
Jul 25, 2012 In the morning, it was found on the ground, injured. The vet is in Lahad Datu. 3 hrs. The baby died during the drive.
Jul 25, 2012 Autopsy revealed claw and bite marks in the neck. They matched with Cloud Leopard. The first reported incident of its kind.
Jul 25, 2012 To gather Orangutan research data in the field means e.g. that its morning droppings need to be located and hurried in the fridge.
Jul 25, 2012 One Proboscis monkey was briefly spotted here last week. Danum Valley is not its usual habitat. Prefers swampy areas and mangroves.
Jul 25, 2012 A hawkmoth beauty flew around the lights last night. 10 cm, dark blue head&body, orange wings w/ irregular, big black spots.
Jul 25, 2012 The Original Bugshirt trousers (made in Canada) are 10yro. Only 1 mosquito bite! Now the grotch seam is giving up.
Jul 26, 2012 8 PM. Sambar Deer tiptoe from the outer circle of shadows to the inner. A small group grazes around the riverside cabins.
Jul 26, 2012 Denny explains:”They like young shoots. 2-3 days after trimming.” Can deer count? Maybe they just do a daily status check.
Jul 26, 2012 Denny, the guide on our 2011 visit too, is a great personality. He is also a trained technician. Special field: refrigerators.
Jul 26, 2012 At noon in the Insect Corner, a small tree next to a light pole in the service area. Many green and brown leaves look suspicious.
Jul 26, 2012 Several species of moths, among them an uncommon Moon Moth w/ spurs twice as long as its body.
Jul 26, 2012 Longhorn, Scarab and Rhinoceros beetles; 15 cm Mantis (green & brown); 10 cm, pale tree frog; etc.
Jul 26, 2012 Every morning, Denny checks the tree. “Sometimes the Orchid Mantis is here. It’s either pure white or pink. Green eyes.”
Jul 26, 2012 Long-tailed Macaques do not share. When a bird lands on their branch on a fig tree, they shake the branch to scare it off.
Jul 26, 2012 Binturong (Bearcat) is here. Reason: figs. It’s not a bear nor a cat. Muscular and agile, it rummages through the trees.
Jul 27, 2012 Violin beetle. Jaw-dropping. Body length 10+ cm.
Jul 27, 2012 Like a bow hopping on a string, “tok tok tok tok trtrtrtrtrt” of the Yellow-crowned Barbet adds classy nonstop audio to a day.
Jul 27, 2012 Giant Squirrel IS big. “When moving, the tail is held out horizontally but when sitting it hangs vertically” says the book. True.
Jul 28, 2012 Scorzio. An A/C’ed hide to film butterflies and lizards would be cool.
Jul 28, 2012 In the forest, eating fallen figs, a dark tree shrew. Hind part of a squirrel, front not. Once, tree shrews were classified as primates.
Jul 28, 2012 Canopy walkway. On a branch, a small penguin-like bird in a white collar and pink underparts. Black-and-yellow Broadbill. A Danum dandy.
Jul 28, 2012 Helmeted Hornbill is the Great Macaw of this side of the Pacific. A genuine superstar, it draws all attention. Stupefying.
Jul 28, 2012 Head still spinning, a Bornean Banded-Pitta sits still in the palm of a Danum guide. “Not the first time it flew against the kitchen window”.
Jul 29, 2012 Most of the leeches here are Tiger Leeches. Big and colorful. They hang on vegetation, about 1 m high. Above or under leaves.
Jul 29, 2012 When warm, blood-filled objects pass by, they activate at once like a muscle.
Jul 29, 2012 Denny likes to tease leeches. Waves his hand an inch above a whole colony so that it twists and turns. “Spooooky!”
Jul 29, 2012 As a road block, leech socks, strapped tight under the knee, are a must. Also, the shirt sleeve needs to be tugged into trousers.
Jul 29, 2012 Only 1 bite so far. The leech sat firmly on the throat. Left w/ the help of some balm. A little bleeding for 1-2 hrs.
Jul 30, 2012 1,5 hr standstill up in the Canopy Walkway. The dusk comes closer. Last bird flights, first bat flights. Night shift.
Jul 30, 2012 In torchlight, the ground is a twinkling carpet of tiny diamonds. Lost by a Brunei Sultan? Not these ones. Spiders.
Jul 30, 2012 Soft calls like from a woodwind instrument. Surely a tree frog. “Thought so too. But no, it’s a leafhopper”, says Denny.
Jul 30, 2012 “And what EXACTLY are we looking for?” A teenage boy in Buddy Holly eyeglasses turns his back to Orangutans and yawns.
Jul 31, 2012 Borneo Rainforest Lodge is built on a wooden platform that rests on wooden pillars. Everything wobbles. Like a mild heart failure.
Jul 31, 2012 Hardly any family w/o an iPad or two. eReaders also frequent. Many ppl seem to have a rather bad net addiction.
Jul 31, 2012 A Finn. Earns his living by playing poker. Travels. Knows best Africa and Southern America. This trip: Indonesia & Malaysia.
Jul 31, 2012 “In Indonesia, language is easily a problem. English is rare.”
Jul 31, 2012 For gorilla tours, he recommended Rwanda & Uganda. If time is an issue: Rwanda. The forest is the same in both.
Jul 31, 2012 “Uganda is good, was there for 4 months. Old cultural norms still rule. If you brake them, say you steal, your ppl will punish you.”
Jul 31, 2012 “Kenya is different. Can’t go out after dark. Unsafe.”
Jul 31, 2012 Japanese rubber boots: the leg part is soft, fastened up under the knees w/ laces so boots acts also as leech socks. Clever&stylish.
Jul 31, 2012 7 AM. A long-legged bird runs over the path. Giant Pitta. Denny:”You know the Japanese guy w/ a long lens? He’s looking for this.”
Jul 31, 2012 A big brownish leaf falls down and starts to – fly? Denny runs after it, excited. Atlas Moth! One of the biggest moth species.
Jul 31, 2012 The wingspan must be over 25 cm. “2 yrs ago I saw a female this big”, Denny says, pressing wrists together and opening palms.
Jul 31, 2012 “Dead and without head, but I took a picture after all”, he grins.
Aug 1, 2012 Red Leaf Monkey is a funkier version of the Grey Leaf one in Tabin. Fur of hip orange hue, a face mask of dark rubber.
Aug 1, 2012 The baby is born white. Later it turns yellow, and finally the reddish orange of the parents. A big group is a colorful lot.
Aug 1, 2012 Last year we spotted one yellow grown-up. It’s a morph.
Aug 1, 2012 “150 yrs ago the River People blow-piped them”, tells Denny. Some groups are so scared it’s hard to think they aren’t still hunted.
Aug 1, 2012 Denny shows a scar on his finger. “As a scout boy, I once grabbed a Slow Loris. Easy. But its teeth were sharp and it didn’t let go!”
Aug 1, 2012 After dozens of night drives and walks in 2011-2012 both in Tabin and Danum Valley, still no Slow Loris. Maybe we’ve been out too early.
Aug 1, 2012 This week, the Moon has been full and the sky clear. A semi-day. Night animals prefer no Moon.
Aug 1, 2012 From new leaves, Loris makes a nest the size and shape of a volleyball. It’s for daytime rest, and is in use for a longer time.
Aug 1, 2012 The dry season is definitely here. Much later than normally, they say. Except the heavy downfall of the arrival day, no rain.
Aug 2, 2012 Machetes slash and swoosh. Both sides of the main road are being cleared of vegetation. “To see animals better”, explains Denny.
Aug 2, 2012 A few steps down the hill, cutting has revealed a hidden treasure. Denny stares. “I had NO idea there’s a pond. All these years!”
Aug 2, 2012 The same evening, at the dusk walk, Denny rushes to the pond like Carter to the tomb of Tutankhamon.
Aug 2, 2012 Torchlight sweeps through darkness, cuts slices left and right, stops. “Yes!”
Aug 2, 2012 There are two Wallace’s Flying Frogs. Their limbs are so big and full of web that the frogs seem unsure what to do with them.
Aug 2, 2012 A Field Guide to the Frogs of Borneo declares that this one is “the original ‘Flying Frog of Borneo’ “. Be aware of cheap copies.
Aug 2, 2012 Denny has met the author & his team. “They tried to get a photo of the flight. Well, the frog did fly, but photographing failed.”
Aug 2, 2012 Scientific methods are plenty. “The trick was to gently poke the frog into its stomach. But – it only worked once.”
Aug 2, 2012 From Tree Frogs, Four-lined and File-eared have been the most common ones on this trip.
Aug 2, 2012 A sudden sound blast of “HONK!” by Bornean Horned Frog is there. Unlike March 2011, the frog itself hasn’t shown up.
Aug 2, 2012 2011 Denny guided us to its place: under the massive generator of the lodge.
Aug 2, 2012 There it sat, in constant humming noise, by a tiny pool of water with few grasses as decoration, looking gloomy.
Aug 2, 2012 Orangutan droppings under a fig tree. On&in them, different species of dung beetles. Denny:”In my home village, they still roast these”
Aug 2, 2012 Beetles here don’t transport the dung but eat it on the spot.
Aug 2, 2012 BTW I’m told that in the public M WC, the 1st thing you see, attached on the wall, is a futuristic urinal that glows faintly in blue.
Aug 2, 2012 Small print on the top of the appliance: Electric hand dryer by Mitsubishi.
Aug 2, 2012 A Long-legged Centipede is a marvelously creepy nocturnal insect. Like a langoustine, or a lamp by some hot interior designer.
Aug 2, 2012 The gibbon families here are well known, studied and documented.
Aug 2, 2012 For 10 yrs already, Denny has assisted a Japanese gibbon researcher. Findings will be published in 2013. Congratulations!
Aug 5, 2012 On top of the food chain you can relax, especially if you are young & mom serves you. That’s why we had time to watch them, the cats.
Aug 5, 2012 “Let’s move on to find a Flat-headed Cat”, Denny jokes. The usual 3:30 PM departure time was hot & dry. It’d stay like that until 5.
Aug 5, 2012 Our last dusk walk. Denny had outlined the plan in the sand by the Danum River. The idea: to scan forest edges by small rivers.
Aug 5, 2012 Slow as Loris, we walk the Segama trail. For 1 km, it runs flat along a river. At the end is a bridge. We cross, and turn back.
Aug 5, 2012 On this side, the terrain is undulating. At times, the river bench falls down sharply. Tree roots protrude from the ground.
Aug 5, 2012 6:05 PM. On a tree trunk by the trail, a little higher than eye-level, a 10+ cm cicada makes several modest tries to start the engine.
Aug 5, 2012 “t–tr-trr-trrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRROooRRrrrrrRROOOOOOOOr- -” My ears! The Six O’clock Cicada is a power station on wings.
Aug 5, 2012 When the sky is clear, the cicada is punctual. On cloudy afternoons, it may start up to 2 hrs earlier. On misty mornings, around 7.
Aug 5, 2012 The penetrating, metallic sound was once a sign to field workers: time to go to work; time to return back home.
Aug 5, 2012 For us it says: prepare for darkness. It’ll be here in 30 minutes. Headlights? Torch? Mosquito repellent?
Aug 5, 2012 Night comes. So does the next river. We turn to follow it, towards the Canopy Walkway.
Aug 5, 2012 Denny goes first, I’m in the middle, J behind me. Denny and I spot it roughly the same time. A very clear eye-shine. Low.
Aug 5, 2012 Must be a civet, I think. Funny though that the eyes stay fixed. Civets are usually active and restless.
Aug 5, 2012 We have just climbed a few meters, and come to a gap up on the bench. On the left, the river. On the right, forest. Ahead: a mammal.
Aug 5, 2012 Rule 1: always carry binoculars. My headlight gives just enough lumen. The animal has a roundish face, so it’s definitely not a civet.
Aug 5, 2012 In the dark, reasoning is blurry. I recall having wondered for a painfully long time: what’s an animal with a cat’s face?
Aug 5, 2012 Denny turns to me, pulls away the bigger torch from my hand and darts forward, whipping the light oddly.
Aug 5, 2012 Now, in normal situations Denny is politeness itself. This was serious.
Aug 5, 2012 Imagine a domestic cat w/ exotic patterns and you’ll have a Leopard Cat. In Tabin, a common sight. Hunts rats in the palm plantation.
Aug 5, 2012 Last year in Tabin we met also a bigger, darker and more uncommon feline: a Marbled Cat. Long furry tail. A cool beast.
Aug 5, 2012 So what was left? Flat-headed Cat, Bay Cat, Clouded Leopard. About the first two, very little is known. The last: uncommon to rare.
Aug 5, 2012 This cat turned its head and moved away from the flickering light show made by Denny. It headed towards the river.
Aug 5, 2012 When it left I could see part of the back. Big patterns. The cat was probably the size of a medium-sized dog.
Aug 5, 2012 Hectic moments of was-that-all? And then: another pair of eyes! Even more lower down, on the other side of the gap.
Aug 5, 2012 This cat was lying on the ground, behind a tangle of dead branches.
Aug 5, 2012 It dawns on me why Denny does not hold the light steady. He plays with the cat! Tries to keep it interested, not to leave us.
Aug 5, 2012 The juvenile Sunda Clouded Leopard didn’t leave. We filmed it about 15 min. Had to stop there so as not to disturb it too much.
Aug 5, 2012 Denny whispers:”The mom is probably hunting monkeys.” I hope it was lucky. We didn’t see her.
Aug 5, 2012 Later, Denny tells us that during some night drives, members of the family have been seen. Never the whole family together.
Aug 5, 2012 Wikipedia states that the first documented filming of this animal was done in 2009.
Aug 5, 2012 “Pity I didn’t look carefully when it yawned”, says Denny. In proportion to the skull length, no other living cat has longer teeth.
Jul 18, 2016 The dominant male Broboscis monkey makes a spectacular jump. The entire foliage of the landing tree shakes and shivers.
Jul 18, 2016 To this, his harem produces a short, soft, downward sigh. A unison sign of admire? More like “Take it easy” tells Eric, the guide.
Jul 18, 2016 There are ~20 members in the group. Half a dozen adult females, most of them with a breast-fed, dark-faced baby. Several youngsters.
Jul 18, 2016 The slightly crouched, round-bellied figure of a Broboscis, quietly sitting up on a tree, is surprisingly human.
Jul 18, 2016 Nature documentaries don’t give justice to the slender limbs and elegant colouring of this primate.
Jul 18, 2016 Big males don a dark brown back. Down by the waistline it switches abruptly to light gray. The same up on the shoulders. A furry vest.
Jul 18, 2016 What documentaries modestly frame out is the bright red, constantly erected penis of Broboscis.
Jul 18, 2016 Eric tells how recent research has shown that Broboscis’ diet includes highly toxic leaves that increase the body temperature.
Jul 18, 2016 The theory has it that the penis acts as a cooling mechanism, just like the nose.
Jul 18, 2016 How do females manage then? By urinating frequently, they say.
Jul 18, 2016 The 4 m tall, upright, wooden saltwater crocodile in a Sandakan roundabout was right. Animals of that size swim in Kinabatangan.
Jul 18, 2016 Today, downstream Kinabatangan is 100% muslim.
Jul 18, 2016 Earlier, when animism still prevailed, it was a no-no to wash mosquito nets and aluminium utensils in a croc river, tells Eric.
Jul 18, 2016 Not to splash in water was a practical piece of advice, wrapped in religious dogma to make it sink.
Jul 18, 2016 Only three weeks ago, a croc had snapped a man who was net-fishing while standing on the shore.
Jul 19, 2016 The relationship between villagers and elephants is a mixture of healthy mistrust and respect. “They call them nini, grandmother.”
Jul 19, 2016 Elephant whereabouts are transmitted via a WhatsApp group. A bigger herd is further up, somewhere midstreams, we hear.
Jul 19, 2016 The Kinabatangan River area is divided btw 10 lots/villages. Abai Jungle Lodge, one hr boat ride from Sepilok, is in lot 1, Abai.
Jul 19, 2016 Back from the dinner, a medium-sized figure on the shadowy hand rail of the bungalow.
Jul 19, 2016 Slowly, it rotates its head. Ear-tufts, yellow eyes. Buffy fish owl.
Jul 19, 2016 By night, lodge lights attract insects, particularly moths and beetles.
Jul 19, 2016 One night on the porch floor: 25 beetles of the same species. Black, 1 inch, dung beetle like.
Jul 19, 2016 Next morning: 0 beetles. The fish owl had eaten them all. True story, witnessed it grab one.
Jul 19, 2016 During the night, meowing. The owl? No (house cat) but the occasional, 1-2 sec cry in a feline-like pitch, that’s the Buffy fish owl.
Jul 19, 2016 There are troubled waters around Borneo. In the N, the South China Sea; in the NE, the Sulu Sea.
Jul 19, 2016 The Philippines have a “dormant claim” on N Borneo, as a said successor state of Sultanate of Sulu.
Jul 19, 2016 The southernmost islands of the Philippines are only 50 km away. Steep, misty silhouettes on the horizon.
Jul 19, 2016 The XL size red bill of a Stork-billed kingfisher looks like lipstick gone crazy.
Jul 19, 2016 Within the splendid family of tropical kingfishers, this species stands out also due to its size. Common here.
Jul 19, 2016 “Striking…remarkable” An adult Black-and-red broadbill is hyped also by books. Unforgettable? Dunno yet but oh boy, the colors!
Jul 20, 2016 Eric (Irix) Rolando has worked 14 years as a guide at S I Tours.
Jul 20, 2016 When BBC was filming here the last time, Eric was one of the guides whose duty was to find the animals.
Jul 20, 2016 The toughest one was Clouded leopard. How to get one in front of a camera trap?
Jul 20, 2016 The trick that eventually worked was a rabbit in a cage above the path.
Jul 20, 2016 The rabbit was fed, so eventually it pooped, the poo landed on the ground, the smell brought the cat, and the camera got the cat.
Jul 20, 2016 “However, BBC’s code of conduct doesn’t allow a bait, so the camera trap footage was not used.”
Jul 21, 2016 From Abai, one hour boat drive upstreams on the latte waters of Kinabatangan brings you to lot 2, Sukau village.
Jul 21, 2016 Here, at Sukau Rainforest Lodge, a familiar face: Engeri Stephen Etin Sahya aka Stephen, the father-figure of Sabah naturalist guides.
Jul 21, 2016 In March 2011, we spent 10 d w/ Stephen at Tabin Wildlife Reserve. The highlight of the visit was a Marbled cat.
Jul 21, 2016 In my early days of nature travels, I wouldn’t have the nerves to see the innards of Gomantong (Black) Cave.
Jul 21, 2016 A limestone cave with gothic dimensions, its walls are a tapestry of long-legged centipedes and red cockroaches. Rats skirt by.
Jul 21, 2016 In the animal kingdom, these three rank high on the list of the least adored species.
Jul 21, 2016 Cockroach fobia (I had)? This is the place to get rid of it. Nowhere else will you see them so much & so near (mind the hand rail).
Jul 21, 2016 Around, tens of thousands of small swiftlets fly i/o of the cave while even more numerous bats rest in dark lumps high up.
Jul 21, 2016 The wooden boardwalk is slippery from bird guano, bat droppings, and other unspecified biomaterial delivered from above.
Jul 21, 2016 “They brush it every day”, laughs the guide who escorts us through the cave, pointing to interesting objects with his torch.
Jul 21, 2016 When the sun sets at 6, the bats start to fly out.
Jul 21, 2016 They all use the same hole in the ceiling, so when you stand outside watching, it looks as if the hill was emitting smoke.
Jul 21, 2016 Against the evening sky, the puffs of bats linger like a celestial snake. Here and there, a raptor tries its luck.
Jul 27, 2016 2,5 hr drive from Lahad Datu to Danum Valley. The road was in better condition than in July 2012. Also, more elephant dung.
Jul 27, 2016 “Looks like a lone bull”, says Sayeh and examines the roadside damage including a flattened metal sign. ‘BEWARE OF ELEPHANTS’, maybe.
Jul 27, 2016 Four years ago, a few things were different at Borneo Rainforest Lodge.
Jul 27, 2016 Now, trees w/ ripe fruits are much harder to find. Figs -> animals. “One tree is eaten very fast. Mammals, birds…they all come”
Jul 27, 2016 The rainy season has been drier this year. Pro: less mud, fewer leeches & mosquitoes. Con: vegetation a little less lush.
Jul 27, 2016 In February, one of the backbones of the Canopy Walkway, a tall, white-trunk Menggaris tree, was hit by a lightning.
Jul 27, 2016 The tree was damaged, and cut down. To find a replacement is a project of a big scale, in many ways.
Jul 27, 2016 Denny Alouysius is not here atm. We miss him a great deal, but look forward to days w/ Sayeh.
Jul 27, 2016 Wi-fi has become a scarce resource. Now consumed not only by all guests but also by the staff.
Jul 27, 2016 Back in 2012, every other guest had an e-reader. Now, I’ve seen none.
Jul 27, 2016 Tu-tuk tu-tuk-tuk. In the canopy, a Blue-eared barbet repeats its dry call “with rather mechanical quality” as the book puts it.
Jul 27, 2016 In Kinabatangan, early afternoon rain was a norm. Here, you cannot be sure when it falls. But fall it will.
Jul 27, 2016 6 PM down by the Danum River. Thunder still far, but clouds are already present, looking suspicious.
Jul 27, 2016 In a grandiosely loose formation, a fleet of a dozen Rhinocerous hornbills. One by one, they land on a tree by the shore.
Jul 27, 2016 
Time to turn on the lights, and step into the jungle. 
First
and then 
until past midnight.
Jul 27, 2016 Next morning. A wet, hungry and alert Barred eagle-owl in the mid-storey.
Jul 27, 2016 Compared to our eagle-owl, this one is half the size. Horizontal ear-tufts like eye-brows.
Jul 27, 2016 In daylight, pupils are big, black, bottomless.
Jul 27, 2016 “We don’t see this species every month”, says Sayeh, “so some birding groups leave a bit disappointed.”
Jul 27, 2016 Rain has given an extra boost to Danum. Sound is deeper, rapids livelier. Waves are licking the outskirts of the lodge helipad.
Jul 27, 2016 A 2 m long Monitor lizard steps into the water, swims deeper, switches to a rigid log mode, and drifts down the river.
Jul 27, 2016 In the far corner of the area where the houses of staff & researchers are, behind the football field, grows a durian tree.
Jul 27, 2016 On the second lowest branch, leaning sideways against the trunk, sits a male orangutan.
Jul 27, 2016 In the left hand he holds a spiky, half-eaten, unripe durian fruit. Green outside, pure white inside.
Jul 27, 2016 The right hand is around the trunk. In the right foot, the orangutan grips another fruit. He is prepared.
Jul 28, 2016 An audible CRUNCH. Jaws chew. Slowly, a white lump emerges from between the lips. Without much further ado, the lump drops.
ul 28, 2016 Orangutans appear slow but they move effectively. One swing, and the all-reddish-brown animal is out of sight inside all the green.
Jul 28, 2016 “They are a bit shy”, Sayah whispers. Orangutans try to avoid facing a lens. Few secs is OK, more not so. They just turn around.
Aug 2, 2016 The fig tree trembles. It’s 7 pm, and yet another night walk around the premises to find a Slow loris.
Aug 2, 2016 Loris stays low, in few meters, and the eye shine is big and steady.
Aug 2, 2016 In the flashlight, a black furry head with long white whiskers, small round ears edged with white. Like an arborean seal.
Aug 2, 2016 First, the Binturong just stares the light, temporary blinded, but soon hunger wins.
Aug 2, 2016 Thanks to its prehensile, muscular tail, this “largest living species of the Viverridae” reaches figs on the tip of the branches.
Aug 2, 2016 Later that night, a lone upright figure on a stone by the shore of the Danum River. Motionless, watchful.
Aug 2, 2016 Buffy fish owl is fishing.
Ilmestynyt alun perin Facebookissa.
Eric “Irix” Rolando on yksi S I Toursin oppaita. Nelissäkymmenissä, perheessä vaimo ja kolme poikaa. Korrekti, fiksun oloinen, englanti erinomainen. Takana 14 vuotta luonto-opastusta Sabahissa, Malesian Borneon pohjoisessa maakunnassa.
Irix on sabahilainen tribaalinimi. Eric on annettu myöhemmin, kouluiässä. Käyttökelpoisempi yleisnimi.
“Yes, I have googled”, hän vastaa nopeasti kun ryhdymme vihjaamaan käyttöjärjestelmistä ja Silicon Graphicsista. Emme taida olla ensimmäiset nörttituristit.
Ensimmäisiä hänen tapaamiaan suomalaisiakaan emme ole. Olympia järjestää tänne seuramatkoja. Viimeksi väkeä oli ollut Oulusta. “I respect your citizens. There was a man without legs. We had arranged four people to assist him but he said No, thank you. He even did tough trecking.”
Kinabatangan-joki kiemurtelee – kaikkien jokien oletusverbi – lounais-koillissuunnassa halki itäisen Sabahin ja lopulta pullauttaa ruskean lattekahvivetensä Sulu-mereen. Matkalla on kymmenen kylää, jotka on kätevästi paitsi nimetty myös numeroitu juoksevasti eli asiayhteyteen sopivalla tavalla. Alajuoksusta päin aloitetaan, 1-10.
Virran mukana kulkee paksulehtisiä vesikasveja lauttoina. Niissä paikoissa missä lautat sattuvat pysähtymään, alkaa saman tien juurtumisoperaatio. Tehokkainta se on kuroumajärvissä (oxbow lake), jotka kasvavat hissukseen umpeen.
“All of these are introduced domestic plants gone wild”, sanoo Eric ja putsaa kiikareitaan.
Swarovski sponsoroi S I Toursia niin kuin monia muitakin luontomatkailutoimistoja. Yrityksen webisivulla lähes jokainen opas on kuvattu hymyilevänä, vihreät Swarot kaulalla. Sama rintakuvaformaatti, sama paita, sama tausta. Kuin futaajilla ikään. Eric on niitä joilla ei Swaroja ole, ja ehkä siksi valmistajan merkki onkin jätetty kouran sisään, näkymättömiin.
Ericissä on tekniikkafriikin piirteitä. Kiikarit; kaukoputki jonka okulaarin eteen on viritetty pokkarikamera; järkkäri; Samsungin älypuhelin; putsauskalusto uutta mallia; tukeva reppu.
Tavaralla on hintansa, mutta luonto-oppaat tienaavat kohtuullisen hyvin kaikkialla.
Abai Jungle Lodge on tunnin venematkan päässä Sepilokista, jossa S I Toursin päämaja sijaitsee. Maja on sikäli väärä termi, että tilat ovat veden päällä, paalujen varassa seisovalla laiturimaisella rakennelmalla, jolle en tiedä suomenkielistä sanaa. Jetty englanniksi. Sokkeloinen rykelmä asumuksia ja yrityksiä. Julkinen ja yksityinen lomittuvat.
“This is the oldest water village in Sepilok”, kertoo Eric ja esittelee miten bisneksen kasvu näkyy konkreettisesti. “See that small room there? That’s where it started.” Nyt yrityksellä (joka on samalla toimitusjohtajan koti) on oma telakka erikokoisille moottoriveneille, huoltotilat, keittiö, hulppea ruokala, punttisali, privaattitilat – ja pienen lätkäkaukalon kokoinen ja näköinen allas puolillaan vettä.
Vettä sotketaan jatkuvasti parin kevyen luokan perämoottorin antamalla energialla.
Altaassa ui laiskan oloisesti puoli tusinaa arapaimaa, maailman suurinta makean veden kalaa. Kuin miniatyyrikoon sukellusveneitä. Komeasti punaisena välkehtivä, helttamainen pyrstö, jota kala liikuttaa elegantin laiskasti sivuttain kuin krokotiili. Omintakeinen tylppä pää.
Arapaima on Etelä-Amerikan lahja maailmalle. Lähes loppuun kalastettu, sekin. Guyanan matkalla meille kerrottiin, että paikallisella väestöllä on kalastuskiintiö, muilta se on rauhoitettu. Rauha on kuitenkin suhteellinen käsite.
Se jäi epäselväksi, mitä arapaimat tekevät Borneossa. Muuta kuin uivat S I Toursin altaassa, siis. Eric tosin viittasi johonkin suunnitteilla olevaan paikkaan, jonne ne on tarkoitus vapauttaa. Ehkä jokin uusi liikeidea.
Altaan reunalla on kyltti DON’T PUT YOUR HAND IN THE WATER.
Abai Jungle Lodgella on monta valttikorttia. Yksi on kylän läheisyys. Abain parikymppiset pojat ovat rento ja tehokas henkilökunta. Toki myös edullinen. Viritetyllä pärinäveneellä pääsee minuutissa joen yli kotiin. Tytöt tekevät kotitöitä, Eric kertoo.
Toinen on luonnon läheisyys. Majat on ripoteltu puoliympyrän muotoon metsän keskelle lähelle jokea. Milloin vain voi nähdä mitä vain, koska luonto pääsee liki. Metrin korkeuteen rakennettu puinen boardwalk, joka yhdistää majat ja ravintolan, loiventaa city-ihmisen viidakkostressiä, mutta lisää siihen yllätysmomentin: päivittäisen ukkoskuuron ja tasaisen lämmön yhteisvaikutuksesta lankuille muodostuu tropiikin mustaa jäätä, eloperäistä töhnää joka näyttää vedeltä mutta on liukastetta.
Kolmas on kokki. Ruoka on hyvää, mutta lisämausteena on kokin toimenkuva ja persoona. Hän on aina paikalla auttamassa nuorta henkilökuntaa ja pitämässä mielialaa korkealla. En ole ennen ollut paikassa, missä matkalaukun kantajalla on kokin essu päällä. Lodgella on myös operatiivinen manageri, vaitonainen taustahenkilö joka kulkee paperipinon ja taskulaskimen kanssa.
Neljäs on homman pyöritys. Se toimii. Turisteja tulee ja menee. Monet vain syövät täällä lounaan matkalla seuraavaan kylään, Sukauhun, joka on Kinabatangan-turismin pääpaikkoja. Ne jotka jäävät, viipyvät yleensä vain pari yötä. Trafiikkia piisaa ja varsinkin ruokailut ovat kiireisiä, mutta asiat sujuvat koska tilat ovat avarat ja palvelu pelaa. Ja jos on erikoistilaisuuksia, kylän kundit ja kokki muodostavat pop up -bändin, joka soittaa, laulaa ja tanssittaa yleisöä.
Niiden viiden yön aikana, jonka vietimme Abai Jungle Lodgessa, kolmena iltana oli honeymoonereiden juhlintaa, kahtena jopa tuplat. Tämä tiesi lukuisia ylimääräisiä kakkukahveja.
Tunnin matkan päässä ylävirtaa on em. Sukau. Siellä ollaan jo, mekin.
DUTY FREE! DUTY FREE!
ONE THIRTY-TWO!
Danumin laaksossa aamupäivä on kääntymässä kohti lounasta. Istut hotellin päärakennuksen seinättömässä ravintolakerroksessa, kuuntelet lintujen sanomisia ja yrität päästä verkkoon.
Eteisen lattialla lojuu epälukuinen määrä varvastossuja, sandaaleja, lenkkareita ja bootseja. Joku on liikkeellä hotelleista tutuilla valkoisilla kertakäyttötossuilla.
Saman eteistilan seinien ja katon gekkotiheys on iltaisin noin 3 per neliö. Kaikki ovat vaaleita talogekkoja, mutta kun astuu ulos puiselle kävelysillalle, lajikirjo kasvaa heti; metsän gekot ovat kirjavia, yleisväritys tumma.
Samassa sydänalassa läikähtää. Taas.
Näinkö se alkaa? Tässäkö se nyt sitten oli?
Ei. Ei kammiovärinää, vaan kanta-astuva turisti. Pitkät lattialankut resonoivat jännittävästi. Kokemus on opettanut, mihin ravintolan pöytään ei kannata istua.
Alapuolella, maan tasalla, on meneillään logistinen operaatio.
Vajaan 40 hengen kiinalaisryhmä (tai Taiwanista? Hong Kongista? en ole varma) tekee lähtöä 2,5 tunnin ajomatkalle takaisin Ladah Datuun. Korkeintaan kymmenvuotiaita lapsia puolet, toinen puoli aikuisia, lasten vanhempia lähinnä. Seitsemän 4×4:sta ja kaksi pikkubussia on parkattu sinne minne mahtuu, laukkuja nostellaan sisään. Itse kuljetettavat ovat maksamassa ravintolalaskua, näpsimässä viime hetken kuvia, yrittämässä ottaa kiinni vielä yhtä kovakuoriaista, juoksemassa vielä tämän kerran ravintolan päästä päähän. Oranssiin puolitakkiin ja vaaleisiin housuihin pukeutunutta, paljasjalkaista henkilökuntaa seisoo siellä täällä. THANK YOU THANK YOU BYE BYE.
Sen verran mitä ulkopuolinen ymmärsi ryhmän tekemisistä, oltiin kahden päivän luontoleirillä.
Kiinnostus kaikkeen ympärillä etenevään tai lojuvaan oli aivan valtava. Sitä havainnoinnin, ihmettelyn, jakamisen ja valokuvaamisen määrää! Kohteen ympärille muodostui saman tien tiivis ja äänekäs kimppu katsojia. Eikä innostus suinkaan laantunut yhden valokuvan ottamiseen, vaan se jatkui ja jatkui kunnes pienimmät ja/tai hitaimmatkin pääsivät lähietäisyydelle luonnon ihmeestä.
Ennen illallista käytiin läpi, mitä päivän aikana oli nähty. Show & tell muuten paitsi että oppilas seisoi ujosti hymyillen vieressä kun opettaja näytti siniseen vihkoon tehtyjä lyijykynäpiirroksia ja hauskutti yleisöä. Sitten taputettiin.
Sellainen vanhan tyylin palautesessio. Kaikilla oli elektroniikkaa mukana viimosen päälle, mutta oppitunnin välineistö oli perinteinen, ainakin tällä leirillä.
Ne muutamat piirrokset, jotka näin (kiikarilla baarin puolelta) olivat oikein mainioita: isolla viivalla reippaasti hahmoteltuja kuningaskalastajia ja orankeja.
Niitä ryhmän yhdessä kokemisen huippuhetkiä, joita me muutkin pääsimme todistamaan, olivat 20-senttinen, punajalkainen hepokatti ja kuuluisa kello kuuden kaskas, jolla on kokoa ja näköä. Edellinen lounaalla, jälkimmäinen illallisella.
Kaskas lensi esiin pimeästä. Se päristeli valoista sokaistuneena pöytien ympärillä kunnes törmäsi koristeena olevaan saviruukkuun. Yksi opettajista heitti saman tien lautasliinan sivuun, juoksi kaskaan luo ja otti kiinni.
Tästä alkoi dokumentointirupeama, jota kesti ainakin puoli tuntia.
Taskulamppujen kiilat halkoivat pimeää, kännyköiden ja täppäreiden loistetta, kiljahduksia kun kaskas oli päästä karkuun. Seuraavaksi sitä kuvattiin uusi kierros, tällä kertaa tiedemiestyyliin valkoista lautasliinaa vasten. Sekä ylä- että alapuolelta. Lopuksi kaskasta saivat pitää kädessä kaikki jotka halusivat – jokainen näytti haluavan – ja totta kai tämäkin valokuvattiin.
Kun joskus jäi kuvaamaan jotakin pikku juttua ravintolan seinällä, lattialla tai puutarhassa, välittömästi alkoi selän taakse muodostua jonoa, odottamaan kuvausvuoroa.
Heitä tulee ikävä. BYE BYE NOW.
Oct 23, 2017 At 5:30 am on the NE coast of Madagascar it is already daylight.
Oct 23, 2017 Above the never ending swoosh & splash of the sea, a sudden series of dry, smacking calls nearby.
Oct 23, 2017 The cabins of Masoala Forest Lodge are sturdy tents wrapped in a mosquito net and hoisted on top of two-storey wooden platforms.
Oct 23, 2017 If there is something to hear outside, you hear it but because of the net visibility isn’t that good.
Oct 23, 2017 Must be frogs, my sleepy mind reasons..
Oct 23, 2017 Must be big frogs. I raise my head from the pillow. Clinging vertically on a tree trunk, the shape of an animal.
Oct 23, 2017 Small round head, long narrow-ish tail. A lemur.
Oct 23, 2017 Between the trees, bare legs of a man, walking back and forth. On his right hand the man has a stick. He is chasing the lemur.
Oct 23, 2017 A small group of Eastern Lesser Bamboo Lemurs (Hapalemur griseus) is here. Smacking sounds are their alarm calls. Lemurs are in panic.
Oct 23, 2017 Lemurs try to escape from the open ground to the thicket. Jumps are long & horizontal, similar to those of the Indri or tarsiers.
Oct 23, 2017 I can imagine that it’s the garden and young bamboo shoots that bring the lemurs here.
Oct 23, 2017 Happy coexistence between primates is hard when rules are not mutually agreed on.
Oct 23, 2017 Here, two species got checked from my mental list of Animals I Still Want to See, Please: Helmet Vanga and Lowland Streaked Tenrec.
Oct 23, 2017 Dimensions in the Masoala NP are such that my 1st impression of Helmet Vanga was: not bigger? Yet the bird is almost 30 cm.
Oct 23, 2017 Spectacular blue bill, yellow eye-ring, elegantly black & rufous body & wings. You can admire the bird a long time, it’s not shy.
Oct 23, 2017 Sometimes wildlife comes w/ a bonus. Now it was a pair of Bernier’s Vanga that followed Helmet. Dark, slender, hasty, rare (they say).
Oct 23, 2017 4 pm. You & your cold beer sit in the bar and ponder what nature travelers do by this time: what might they prepare for dinner?
Oct 23, 2017 Was there movement? Your gaze wanders few meters away, towards the area where beach sand gives away to a cultivated patch of shrubs.
Oct 23, 2017 Although this is my first encounter with a tenrec, the animal feels immediately familiar.
Oct 23, 2017 It is an S size hedgehog (but not related) with a pointy, active nose.
Oct 23, 2017 Long black and white spikes on the body follow an irregular pattern, giving the tenrec a nicely bohemian finish.
Oct 23, 2017 The tenrec is not a super fast runner but it keeps moving, sniffing air with a twitching nose. Is it looking for food? Partner?
Oct 23, 2017 Next morning at breakfast time, another (or perhaps the same) tenrec appears on the beach.
Oct 23, 2017 On this stretch of the Masoala peninsula, the shoreline is scattered with black volcanic rocks, sculpted by the Indian Ocean.
Oct 23, 2017 The water level is packed with clams and seashells. Waves roll and unroll thick kelp with the color of Dijon mustard.
Oct 23, 2017 Here and there dead rock comes alive when mudskippers change places on its surface.
Oct 23, 2017 The tenrec crosses the beach, and heads towards the rocks. Climbs up, and down the seaside.
Oct 23, 2017 There it stops midway, turns around, climbs up, down to the beach, hurries over the sand, and vanishes among litter. Tenrecs 
Oct 23, 2017 Short-legged Ground-Roller is the most filming-friendly bird on this planet except perhaps sleepy owls at daytime.
Oct 23, 2017 This handsome, bulky bird sits on a vine ~3 m from the ground. Now and then it turns its head to check if you are still there.
Oct 23, 2017 Scaly Ground-Roller on the other hand stays on the ground. ”Rarely flies”, like the book says.
Oct 23, 2017 The bird looks uniformly dark when it takes distance from you on the path. Only binoculars reveal its scaly, colorful plumage.
Oct 23, 2017 Back home we have an 1yo Miele washing machine.
Oct 23, 2017 When a program finishes, Miele starts to chirp a four-syllable “tee-woo-tee-woo”, almost identical to the call of Lesser Vasa Parrot.
Oct 23, 2017 Zürich Zoo supports the NP, but it also has ”Le Petit Masoala” of its own, a 90x120x30 m man-made tropical ecosystem, opened in 2003.
Oct 30, 2017 ”If a fossa, no tourists.” In 2008, a guide at Berenty Reserve was sure that Madagascar’s biggest carnivore would ruin the business.
Oct 30, 2017 Today at the Kirindy Forest on the W coast, it’s totally opposite.
Oct 30, 2017 For many of us, fossa is the reason why we take the trouble in getting here in the first place.
Oct 30, 2017 You carry your dusty luggage to the basic but functional cabin nr 10, and put them on the squeaky wooden floor.
Oct 30, 2017 – and you are told that if we don’t mind, a male fossa is seen behind cabin nr 13.
Oct 30, 2017 It’s mating season, and the male is restless.
Oct 30, 2017 Panting, the fossa lies on its back, legs spread, then rolls over, stands up, takes few idle steps, and falls on the ground again.
Oct 30, 2017 Dark brown, slender yet muscular, long tail (almost as long as the body), small head, round ears, strong jaw muscles, long mustaches.
Oct 30, 2017 Latin names are confusing at this point. Fossa fossa is not fossa but fanaloka aka Malagasy civet. Fossa is Cryptoprocta ferox.
Oct 30, 2017 A quick glance is thrown to my direction by a Kirindy guide. “They did the…thing…last week, and now he is tired.”
Oct 30, 2017 A
-
-en code of conduct in the cabin is apt when it explains why you can’t sleep outside:‘There are a ”wild” animals in the forest’.
Oct 30, 2017 It’s an ill-kept secret that fossas stay here because they are fed. There are 3 individuals atm, we are told. 2 males, 1 female.
Oct 30, 2017 During the heat of the day fossas sleep under the cabins. Other times they check the feeding sites, followed by fascinated tourists.
Oct 30, 2017 In the morning, there are footprints on the sandy road that leads to the forest.
Oct 30, 2017 Fast fwd 3 days. Location: Tsingy de Bemaraha NP, <200 km N of Kirindy. In driving hours, incl. lunch in Belo and two ferry trips: 8.
Oct 30, 2017 ”Wait here, I heard something.” Your focus is on a group of white Von der Decken’s sifakas breakfasting up in the canopy.
Oct 30, 2017 Tsiombia ”TV” Tovonasy vanishes behind psychedelic, knife sharp limestone rocks that denote the start of the famous Big Tsingy.
Oct 30, 2017 There is urgency on TV’s face when he rushes back in his plastic sandals. ”Come come, a fossa.”
Oct 30, 2017 The area is a rocky slope w/ few bigger trees. Their thick trunks & branches tilt in an angle that looks just right to born climbers.
Oct 30, 2017 It’s a female. She is midway up on a tree. Short, nasal, cat-like meows. Sniffing of air. Rubbing of scent glands against the branch.
Oct 30, 2017 There is no response. The female fossa descends from the tree, crosses the path, and is gone.
Oct 30, 2017 Except that it is not. But first, after a quarter of an hour of quiet waiting: another fossa above the rocks next to the tree.
Oct 30, 2017 A bigger one, and more grey. A male.
Oct 30, 2017 But the moment is not quite right yet. The male exits, too. Dry leaves on the ground rustle easily so we try not to move much at all.
Oct 30, 2017 Minutes pass. Temperature is rising, hope diminishing. Stingless bees find human sweat irresistible.
Oct 30, 2017 None of us saw when and from where it returned but all of a sudden the female was up on the tree again.
Oct 30, 2017 This time the female climbs higher up, but not the tree where it left its scent but another one next to it.
Oct 30, 2017 From this moment on, time seemed to accelerate.
Oct 30, 2017 As if it had heard the female’s ascent, the male comes back. Maybe it had waited somewhere close by.
Oct 30, 2017 Only 2-3 long, effortless, almost weightless leaps, and the male fossa was high up on the tree with the female.
Oct 30, 2017 The mating act lasted maybe a minute or so. During it, both fossas held a grimace that revealed their impressive canine teeth.
Oct 30, 2017 The male fossa showed also signs of tenderness by licking the female’s back.
Oct 30, 2017 When all was over, the male quickly departs, leaving the female alone. Only after several minutes it came down, too.
Oct 30, 2017 Tough times. The female fossa was limbing. There was fresh blood on its left back paw, so it descended from the tree very carefully.
Oct 31, 2017 Still there, i.e in the Farankaraina Forest, 45min boat ride from Maroantsetra, the busy seaport town in NE, 2 hour flight from Tana.
Oct 31, 2017 The hardest part is camping but when that’s sorted out, there’s a big chance that an aye-aye is close to the main building.
Oct 31, 2017 Night walks in Kirindy Forest are famous and rightly so. Nocturnal lemurs are plenty. In the dry (=leafless) season also easy to see.
Oct 31, 2017 Loud, sharp, nasal calls cut the darkness. ”Fork-marked lemurs”, whispers Nambinina Randriatafitasoa.
Oct 31, 2017 Two of them sit side by side up on a vine, grooming each other.
Oct 31, 2017 ”Most interactions between males and females are conflicts over food – the female wins.”
Oct 31, 2017 I cannot say in what way this couple was related but one thing is certain: the moment was a peaceful one.
Oct 31, 2017 Other species seen: Grey Mouse Lemur; Coquerel’s dwarf lemur; Fat-tailed dwarf lemur; Red-tailed sportive lemur; Berthe’s Mouse Lemur.
Oct 31, 2017 Berthe’s Mouse Lemur (Microcebus berthae) is the world’s smallest primate. Weight: 30g.
Oct 31, 2017 It doesn’t run away from the torchlight so you have time to admire its delicate fingers and huge eyes. So tiny, so endangered.
Oct 31, 2017 If you’d like to see the Giant jumping rat (and who wouldn’t) you need to wait until the Kirindy camp has switched to night gear.
Oct 31, 2017 The generator churns electricity between 6 and 10pm. After that, there is only solar power, if available.
Oct 31, 2017 A good hiding place is the open restaurant. When the lights go off, a lone dim bulb in the ceiling emits just enough lumens.
Oct 31, 2017 It takes a while before Kirindy goes to rest. Headlights travel across the sandy yard. Sleepy flip-flop steps, last showers.
Oct 31, 2017 During the dry season, the camp occupies some 20 staff. In the wet season, the number of ppl increases. Flora and fauna change, too.
Oct 31, 2017 Student groups come to field courses. ”They invent trees, and study frogs and snakes”, explains Nambinina, a 26yro guide from Tana.
Oct 31, 2017 In the restaurant, audible squeaks below the floor and above the ceiling beams. Running in circles over the floor. Rats. A lot.
Oct 31, 2017 10:45pm. Onto the large shadowy area that covers most of the yard is added a new small batch of blackness. It moves.
Oct 31, 2017 The jumping rat runs, in all four, and quickly at that.
Oct 31, 2017 Before we had time to do anything but follow the rodent w/ a torch, it had crossed the yard, and disappeared behind the staff cantine.
Oct 31, 2017 We ran behind, only to see that it was already on the entrance road that runs ruler-straight for 5 km before it reaches the main road.
Oct 31, 2017 But now the Giant jumping rat had stopped. It was sitting in the middle of the road, lifting its small front paws.
Oct 31, 2017 Maybe it was waiting for the others – because others were coming, two of them.
Oct 31, 2017 At Kirindy, Giant jumping rats are often given leftover rice, we heard. This time there wasn’t any, a fact the animals soon found out.
Oct 31, 2017 It is almost surreal that these animals like so many others on Madagascar, have only a single forest left to live. Outside it, 0.
Oct 31, 2017 It is almost surreal that these animals like so many others on Madagascar, have only a single forest left to live. Outside it, 0.
Oct 31, 2017. Slash & burn everywhere. This is inside the Tsingy de Bemaraha NP.
Oct 31, 2017. It started further away but they can’t control fire”, we were told.
Oct 31, 2017. Dunno. Le Soleil des Tsingy Lodge looks towards the NP. From the dinner table we saw several separate fresh flames in that direction.
Oct 31, 2017. (Short-lived) field for eg cassava, but also to get fresh grass for zebus.
Apr 3, 2013 Hotel Pullman 5km from Madrid Barajas (MAD) has got one big pro: you can stretch your legs in Parque Juan Carlos I.
Apr 3, 2013 The park is very Spanish dare I say. Huge artwork bordering surreal. Walkways of royal dimensions. Sporty people with a character.
Apr 3, 2013 All of a sudden, two parrots! My first ever in mainland Europe. Most likely escaped from captivity. Another nice sighting: Green Woodpecker.
Apr 3, 2013 It’s good to have a bottle of rum in the luggage. The concoction of heat, moist & bugs in the rainforest easily overwhelms one’s nerves.
Apr 3, 2013 The rum of Costa Rica is Rum Centenario but it’s hard to come by abroad. At MAD, we bought instead Nicaraguan 12 yro Flor de Caña.
Apr 3, 2013 This time, IBERIA flew us via the coast of Venezuela, the land of lost nature tourism opportunities.
Apr 3, 2013 Costa Rica smells of burning trash and wild coriander.
Apr 3, 2013 You know you are in Costa Rica when in Alajuela, 30 min drive from SJO, you hear the lek song of Long-tailed Manakins while you eat breakfast.
Apr 3, 2013 After Pital, the dirt road via Boca Tapada to Laguna del Lagarto Lodge was bad but better than in 2007. 3.5 hr drive from Alajuela.
Apr 3, 2013 German-born V. Schmack bought this 100+ area in the 80’s for $5K. Son of a farmer, his plan was to use the land for cultivation.
Apr 3, 2013 First he tried pineapple (a success), then black pepper (world trade prize was soaring).
Apr 3, 2013 The trouble with pepper is that you cannot hurry. When the first crop was ready, the price was down again.
Apr 3, 2013 Schmack selected tourism thanks to an advice of a friend. He could’ve just as well cut all trees, and planted cocoa. Luckily not.
Apr 3, 2013 The lodge was opened for the winter season 1992/93. German tourist groups started to check in on a regular basis. Pura vida!
Apr 3, 2013 Then, on the night of 1.1.1996, a group of masked Nicaraguan guerrilla came with machine guns to the lodge.
Apr 3, 2013 They where after money, mostly. Strategy: hostage & ransom. The group took two women, Schmack’s Toyota, and left.
Apr 3, 2013 The drama lasted over 2 months. At the end, the ransom was paid and the women were released.
Apr 3, 2013 All of this was of course a disaster for the business. The lodge was closed for a year. German tourist agencies said they’d never return.
Apr 3, 2013 Schmack is bitter on German media. He was accused for cowardice during the armed incident, and the lodge was described as a hellhole.
Apr 3, 2013 Schmack has recently published his memoirs in German:”Der lange Weg von Oberschlesien nach Costa Rica”. My tweets here are based on it.
Apr 3, 2013 Today, Laguna del Lagarto Lodge is just about the only place in Costa Rica where you can see Great Green Macaws.
Apr 4, 2013 At dinner time, dozens of wood-colored junebugs arrive, circle around the whitest bulb, land on the green tablecloth, and stay put.
Apr 4, 2013 This has been a productive year for horse-flies. Handsomely black and orange. Work between 8 and 16. Bite like little devils.
Apr 4, 2013 Cover song of today: “Me and Pumilio down by the schoolyard”. Dendrobates pumilio aka Strawberry poison-dart frog is common in Costa Rica, like in here.
Apr 4, 2013 The male has an “insectlike buzz-buzz-buzz” as someone has said, but in my ears the sound is more like a tiny engine.
Apr 4, 2013 Wikipedia features an all-red species but local ones don’t have the nickname Blue-jeans frog without a reason.
Apr 4, 2013 Frogs in Costa Rica are usually nocturnal but Pumilios hop on the forest floor and on moss-covered logs and trunks in daylight. Photogenic fellows.
Apr 6, 2013 From my notes 4/2007:”Bats (16) fly out of the restaurant roof at 6:30 pm every day” Now: new roof, no bats. With all due respect – pity.
Apr 6, 2013 “Costa Rica represents 0.03% of the world’s land surface but is home to about 12% of the world’s bat species” https://www.nhbs.com/the-natural-history-of-costa-rican-mammals-book (good book)
Apr 6, 2013 There are bird feeding platforms in front of the restaurant. Every morning, birds find a fresh bunch of bananas. It lasts until lunch.
Apr 6, 2013 Today is an exception. Banana is served all day, and the platforms are decorated w/ twigs. Professional bird photographers are here.
Apr 6, 2013 They’ve been lucky: Brown-hooded Parrot, both Toucan sp, Collared Aracari, many Honeycreeper sp etc. The most spectacular ones.
Apr 6, 2013 Another banana station is located at the entrance to forest trails. That one is on the ground level.
Apr 6, 2013 No surprise that Coati cannot resist a free banana lunch but surprisingly, also Great Curassow tiptoed out from the dark.
Apr 6, 2013 Another flash-rich day has dawned. Whenever Palm Tanagers or Clay-colored Robins land on the bananas, burst shooting goes silent.
Apr 6, 2013 Strategic thinking is not restricted to humans. A nesting Cinnamon Becard has a security deal with Great Kiskadee https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_kiskadee#section_2
Apr 6, 2013 It’s comforting to see that Central American Spider Monkey seems to have it OK here. One reason: a national park on the Nicaraguan side.
Apr 6, 2013 A new verb from the book: to brachiate means “to swing hand to hand beneath branches like a gibbon”.
Apr 6, 2013 Did you know that spider monkeys are next to thumbless? I didn’t (pic from Wainwright p. 146)
Apr 6, 2013 A group of spiders has been several times on top of the tall trees easily visible from the entrance of the lodge. Several youngsters.
Apr 6, 2013 Female w/ a young come often to fruiting trees near the river. It looks like they’d throw fruit down but I guess they just spill a lot.
Apr 8, 2013 The soundscape of the night is cosmic. Frogs, insects, owl. The rest is dark matter that is hard to locate, could be inside my own head.
Apr 8, 2013 Hard to tell apart here: thunder, jet, volcano. All pulsate with a deep echo. Maybe swampy areas have special acoustical qualities.
Apr 8, 2013 It’s unlikely though that you could hear the active Arenal volcano from here. The distance is over 50 km.
Apr 8, 2013 The lodge lagoon houses a number of individuals from the only member of the Alligator family found in Costa Rica, Spectacled caiman.
Apr 8, 2013 Likewise, from the Crocodile family, only one species: American Crocodile. The lodge doesn’t have them on their list.
Apr 8, 2013 If either one swims towards you in some resort, look if it has a curved ridge in front of its eyes, like a bridge on a pair of glasses.
Apr 8, 2013 Also, if the mouth is closed (probably is ‘cos the reptile is swimming) no teeth protruding from the lower jaw? Relax, it’s a caiman.
Apr 8, 2013 Anyway, “only the African Nile crocodile and the Indo-Pacific crocodile are known to include humans in their diet.” (Leenders)
Apr 8, 2013 Chestnut-colored Woodpecker has the trendiest hairdo: chestnut rasta dreadlocks that stay in horizontal position with x-strong gel.
Apr 8, 2013 The only cicada sp I’ve ever identified in Costa Rica by the sound is the Sprinkler. Truly miss the Asian singing cicadas. Beautiful, varied songs.
Apr 8, 2013 A couple of days ago, before noon, a group of German tourists had seen a Tayra up on a tree in the forest.
Apr 8, 2013 Our stats since 2000 is one Tayra / trip (all about 4 weeks in dry season) on average. All but one sightings in Corcovado National Park.
Apr 8, 2013 The book tells how A. Skutch had seen one climb 30m up a clean, vertical trunk to get at a Laughing Falcon nest.
Apr 8, 2013 In January 2004, we were honored to meet Skutch on his farm, Los Cusingos, near San Isidro el General.
Apr 8, 2013 He watched politely the short video we’d filmed in Sirena, Corcovado, feat. an ocelot walking along a river bank at noon.
Apr 8, 2013 Fragile as he was, we didn’t stay long. Sadly, he didn’t see his 100th birthday, the preparations of which were under way.
Apr 8, 2013 The visit was arranged by Pieter Westra, son of the then owner of Talari Mountain Lodge (new mgmnt now).
Apr 8, 2013 Pieter started his own birding tour company shortly after https://www.aratinga-tours.com/ Warmly recommended, Talari too I hope & believe.
Apr 8, 2013 On the 7th, just before dusk: a big, loose flock of migratory raptors heading West. I lost count but easily more than a hundred.
Apr 9, 2013 First encounter with a snake this year. Length ~1m. Frog-eating Snake, maybe?
Apr 9, 2013 Zoologists haven’t been able to fully explain why there seems to be more adult oropendolas coming out of the nests than going in.
Apr 9, 2013 Animals who pay attention to humans: spider monkeys (threatening gestures), howler monkeys (stare), Hermit hummingbirds (hover close).
Apr 9, 2013 “I smell rain”, says the US-Taiwanese guy who volunteers here for some months. Ex-software engineer, and a keen photographer. Nice chap.
Apr 9, 2013 He has been eg to Borneo (Kinabatangan River). From here, he’ll move to Ecuador. I’d expect more people like him follow suit.
Apr 10, 2013 Pasture. On one side, a herd of mooing cows. On the other, howler monkies. In the middle, a lone, tall, white tree w/ macaw nests.
Apr 10, 2013 Standing under a cow shed surrounded of all sides by wet, red mud and fresh cow dung, you cannot avoid some Sunday philosophing.
Apr 10, 2013 During the past 10 nights, we haven’t heard the remarkable, otherworldly call of Great Potoo. In 2007 we did.
Apr 10, 2013 It was full moon, and the bird began to roar at a treetop, few meters from our cabin. I seldom say “awesome” but – double awesome.
Apr 10, 2013The audio file in https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_potoo is uploaded by me – but it gives only a faint idea, unfortunately.
Apr 10, 2013 Another non-seen: Agami Heron, the star on the lodge’s bird list. It dons a suit that would make every colorist green with envy.
Apr 10, 2013 Corcovado Info Center has a new set of shots from Sirena on their Facebook page. Many tapirs again. Sirena is like that, still.
Apr 10, 2013 The Mono forest trail drops momentarily down to a small swamp. Beneath the wooden bridge, old tapir tracks in the mud, filled w/ water.
Apr 10, 2013 We were told that, while canooing on the Second Lagoon (2 km from the lodge), a tourist had seen a tapir’s head on the shore.
Apr 10, 2013 Baird’s Tapir suffers from illegal hunting and deforestation.
Apr 10, 2013 Time to leave Laguna del Lagarto Lodge, the simple yet practical cabin, no-nonsense food and Macaws. Next: La Selva Biological Station.
Apr 11, 2013 Although w/o armed forces, the 11th April is a national holiday to celebrate the war hero “The Porcupine”.
Apr 12, 2013 Early morning in Caribbean lowlands is not far from a Turkish hammam.
Apr 12, 2013 Two-toed Sloths do are slow. One was up on the same tree than six years ago.
Apr 12, 2013 On the 7th, tracks of two jaguars were seen ~2km from the station. Still, herds of Collared Peccaries roam the camp. Too few predators.
Apr 13, 2013 Things happen when you least expect them. Last night, in the dark, while walking back from dinner: eyeshine ~4m above the trail.
Apr 13, 2013 A Central American Woolly Opossum was showing “monkeylike specializations of its arboreal lifestyle” as Wainwright puts it.
Apr 13, 2013 With its delicate fingers and toes, it had a good grip from a twig. The partly naked, prehensile tail hang free. Pink ears, pink nose.
Apr 14, 2013 Guided night walk on the 12th. Highlights: sleeping Casque-headed Lizard; one big Fer-de-Lance (1,5m) and one much smaller, both coiled.
Apr 15, 2013 “Poisonous snakes are relatively abundant” says the La Selva welcome leaflet and doesn’t exaggerate at all.
Apr 15, 2013 In April 2007, during 5 nights, we were lucky to see 2 different venomous snakes: an Eyelash pit viper (yellow) and a big Fer-de-Lance.
Apr 15, 2013 My husband had extra luck. He almost stepped onto them both.
Apr 15, 2013 Cabins are 1 km from the station, at the end of a 1,5 m wide concrete walkway, mossy and partly covered with fallen leaves and twigs.
Apr 15, 2013 It was just before breakfast. A 10 minute walk through a cool tropical forest is the best hors d’œuvre. We were chirping like Manakins.
Apr 15, 2013 After the old iron bridge, the last leg is straight ahead. Good spot for sloths. In the distance, one corner of the soccer field.
Apr 15, 2013 We look back. On his side of the walkway, resting against the edge of concrete, a spear shaped head of a snake.
Apr 15, 2013 He stops, mid-sentence.”What was that?”
Apr 15, 2013 The Fer-de-Lance wasn’t after us. Slowly, it came up to the concrete and slid over it. 1,5 meters. The width of the walkway, exactly.
Apr 15, 2013 It is still 2007. Next day, next concrete walkway (in total, 60 km of it in the park). Guided walk on the other side of the river.
Apr 15, 2013 Midday is approaching, temperature rising. He films a Pumilio. I am half present, in lazy thoughts. The guide is a bit further away.
Apr 15, 2013 “Is that plastic?” On the ground, between his legs and the tripod, something bright yellow. Unusual color on the forest floor.
Apr 16, 2013 Why none of us saw the snake a) coming or b) being there to start with – I honestly cannot comprehend.
Apr 16, 2013 Madventurism and crocodiledandyism are not our cups of tea. I got pretty scared. One side step, and his boots would hit the viper.
Apr 16, 2013 It is in the interest of snakes not to spend the venom in vain. Would this one consider being stomped on a serious threat?
Apr 16, 2013 I signalled him -> he understood at once -> did not panic -> stepped away -> happy end.
Apr 16, 2013 The viper’s stomach was bulging and it moved clumsily, inasmuch snakes can be blamed clumsy.
Apr 16, 2013 Stars were in favourable constellations; the snake was not alert and fast but probably quite drowsy after a good meal.
Apr 16, 2013 The guide was a bit shaken about the incident. So were we. Visitors sign a liability waiver but in the end it’s just a piece of paper.
Apr 16, 2013 “Many changes in La Selva”, answers the guide when we asked about what’s been happening here since our last visit. “Global warming”
Apr 16, 2013 “Draught has become more common. We have seen many starving snakes for example, maybe because rodents are moving to higher elevations.”
pr 16, 2013 Service has improved: free WiFi in cabins; fresh fruit on every meal; restaurant area more comfortable; staff more relaxed.
Apr 16, 2013 The amount of wild life here is still staggering, changes or not. You only need to take a few steps away from the A/C-ed reception.
Apr 16, 2013 Abundant right now: Motmot (both sp found here), Great Curassow, Crested Guan, Mantled Howler Monkey.
Apr 16, 2013 Talking about reptiles, in the scope right now: a hunting Bird-eating Snake.
Apr 16, 2013 Again, it crossed the walkway very close. Below dark yellow, green above with yellow spots, > 1m (wifi courtesy of one of the labs)
Apr 16, 2013 Actually, >2 m.
Apr 16, 2013 A Snowy Cotinga! All-white with big dark eyes. Always at tallest treetops.
Apr 16, 2013 Taxi is coming soon. This is the hardest time; I want to stay here! But – next: Monteverde via San Jose.
Apr 18, 2013 Only it wasn’t via San Jose but the scenic, winding Arenal route.
Apr 18, 2013 Rd 4 ->San Miguel, 140 ->Fortuna, 142 ->Tilarán, and gravel road via another San Miguel and Turin to Santa Elena. 5 hrs.
Apr 18, 2013 The top of Volcán Arenal was in clouds, water level in Laguna de Arenal very low.
Apr 18, 2013 The souvenir shop that shares premises with Aroma Tico in Tilarán, sells local art. One oil painting features a wind turbine.
Apr 18, 2013 This is windy area. On the other side of lake Arenal is a wind farm of several dozen mills.
Apr 18, 2013 All the way from Fortuna, Toad Hall has sprinkled rd 142 with well over 100 signs of WORLD FAMOUS and MUST SEE.
Apr 18, 2013 When the target is behind, a subtle change in tone: YOU JUST MISSED TOAD HALL
Apr 18, 2013 A piece of personal nostalgia: Villa Decary some km’s before the town of Arenal.
Apr 18, 2013 In year 2000, on our first trip to Costa Rica, we spent there some nights. Back then, all was new (not any more) and wonderful (still is).
Apr 18, 2013 Alex, the driver from Costa Rica Anywhere, lives in Tamarindo, one of the beach hot spots on the Pacific side.
Apr 18, 2013 Before St Elena, Alex starts to wave to ppl. A sunglassed look in the rear mirror. “My mother, father and brother live in Monteverde”.
Apr 18, 2013 Costa Rica is constantly on four wheels. People, cattle and goods are transported from coast to coast. There is no railroad.
Apr 18, 2013 A set of mountain ranges runs from N to S through the country. It splits the country in two slices.
Apr 18, 2013 At dawn in La Selva, you hear heavy trucks change gear on rd 32 that climbs up to Parque Nacional Braulio Carrillo.
Apr 18, 2013 When Alex turns off the engine of the van at the entrance of Casa Hiro Rosa, we immediately hear two familiar bird calls.
Apr 18, 2013 Three-wattled Bellbird belongs to that avifauna that migrates latitudinally. In April, it moves up here.
Apr 18, 2013 As its name implies, Black-faced Solitaire is relatively hard to see, except in springtime.
Apr 18, 2013 If you haven’t heard the song/call of these birds, google and do.
Apr 18, 2013 Monteverde has a cute phone directory. 14 pages of the size A5.
Apr 18, 2013 Browsing the directory, you wouldn’t guess the US Quaker background of this area; a clear majority of surnames are Spanish.
Apr 19, 2013 Here, biting the dust is not yet another saying. Roads are unpaved, and in heavy use.
Apr 19, 2013 Monteverde is a top tourist attraction. Letting roads be on gravel, the Quaker community balances between income and sustainability.
Apr 19, 2013 On the premises of the Casa nests a Blue-crowned Motmot. Favorite spot: electric power cable in front of the living room window.
Apr 19, 2013 At the moment, this is the only house in Monteverde which you can rent for a couple of days. All other accommodation is hotels.
Apr 19, 2013 Sonia, the owner, is a friendly lady. Elegantly gray-haired, she must have been a ravishing beauty.
Apr 19, 2013 How many kilos fudge am I allowed to import tax free to EU, I wonder. The brand made by Monteverde cheese factory is delicious.
Apr 19, 2013 Another noteworthy product of the factory: guava cheese.
Apr 21, 2013 The wooden electric pylon number G-6 in a dusty curve, 2 km before the Reserva Biológica Bosque Nuboso Monteverde, has a resident.
Apr 21, 2013 The middle-elevation cousin to lowland toucans, Emerald Toucanet, has got all the characteristics of a cover bird.
Apr 21, 2013 The size of the bill is in perfect proportion to the body, and the guacamole feathering looks very nice in every lighting.
Apr 21, 2013 The nesting tree isn’t much but it comes w/ a view: a wide valley w/ a blanket of forest and its broccoli canopy in all shades of green.
Apr 21, 2013 For a long time, the Toucanet peaks out of the hole, just like woodpeckers do. I don’t know what’s the point, but it looks funny.
Apr 21, 2013 Is a cloud “a cloud” if it crawls towards you on ground level? Aerosolic rain. Metronomic, never-ending call of Highland Tinamou.
Apr 21, 2013 Every naturalist guide can imitate the call of a Resplendent Quetzal, a short nasal yapping. A bit irritating, if I may say so.
Apr 21, 2013 In Guatemala, Quetzal is an icon: the national bird, and the name of local currency.
Apr 21, 2013 In Costa Rica, the bird is a genuine object of attention (and source of tourism income). Quetzals mostly eat wild avocados.
Apr 21, 2013 A fair amount of plastic waste in tropical forests are caps of water bottles. They’re also useless; fall of in 5 secs from the opening.
Apr 21, 2013 Sometimes changes in nature happen as we speak, and can even be a bit symbolic if you like.
Apr 21, 2013 The Monteverde area – from about 1400 to 1800 m above sea level – was free from venomous snakes until about 10 years ago.
Apr 21, 2013 The info leaflet of the hotel Monteverde Lodge & Gardens (where we checked in yesterday) has a matter-of-fact section about snakes.
Apr 21, 2013 “Probably due to global warming,we are seeing Eyelash Vipers around the lodge. They’re leaf green, and in vegetation about shoulder level”
Apr 21, 2013 Other fairly recent comers are spider monkies. In 2007, only few had been seen. Tomorrow we’ll hear more news; a tour w/ Ricky Guindon.
Apr 24, 2013 On a clear day like this,when you stand at the Continental Divide and look W, what you see in the hazy horizon, is the Nicoya Peninsula.
Apr 24, 2013 On 5th September 2012, at 08:42, Nicoya was the epicenter of the 2nd heaviest earthquake ever recorded in Costa Rica.
Apr 24, 2013 “It lasted maybe 30 seconds but felt like forever”. Ricardo Guindon stands on the brink of a vertical slope in the Curi-Cancha Reserve.
Apr 24, 2013 “I stood right here when it started. Because I was afraid there’d be a landslide, I moved here”. He takes few steps away, and looks up.
Apr 24, 2013 “Those big trees were shaking wildly above my head (grimace) and I thought, well, there is nothing I can do.”
Apr 24, 2013 Curi-Cancha is recently been opened for public. Earlier, it was there only for the guests of the now ex-hotel El Sapo Dorado.
Apr 24, 2013 “Last Friday, on Monteverde Day, we celebrated here the 60th anniversary of buying the 5000 ha from a gold mining company.”
Apr 24, 2013 We are looking for Bellbirds. In Monteverde, there are few (you can hear them) but hard to see because they stay up in the canopy.
Apr 24, 2013 We were told that most of the Bellbirds are one ecozone lower – here, roughly 100 m. “You’ll see them everywhere in Curi-Chanca.”
Apr 24, 2013 Some claim that Bellbirds can learn their song.
Apr 24, 2013 Fact or not, one thing is clear: there are different calls.
Apr 24, 2013 A QUACK! from above. Ricky shows his ambient smile. “That’s the Talamancan dialect”, he whispers.
Apr 24, 2013 “The one on the George Powell trail in Monteverede Reserve is bilingual I think. It knows also the Monteverdian BONK!”
Apr 24, 2013 In fall 2010, one special wild avocado tree species was fruiting here like never before – and brought Oilbirds http://birdingcraft.com/wordpress/2010/08/23/oilbirds-in-costa-rica/
Apr 24, 2013 “It was such a big event that they named this trail after the Spanish name of the bird, Guácharo”
Apr 24, 2013 In her best novel so far, Sand (1986), Ulla-Lena Lundberg describes a homecoming from the wild.
Apr 24, 2013 Shower, clean clothes, a cold beer from the fridge. Everything is nice, easy, urban.
Apr 24, 2013 “Then, after two weeks or so, I started to miss back to the desert again”, she writes. I know what she means.
Apr 24, 2013 Onboard, IBERIA doesn’t offer newspapers nor a private entertainment console. So, for this return flight I’m better prepared.
Apr 24, 2013Sonia, I promise to bring back The Tailor of Panama by John Le Carré you had on the bookshelf. Gracias!
Jan 28, 2017 Green and black poison dart frog by the Camino Experimental Norte, La Selva Biological Station.
Jan 28, 2017 The previous time here was in April 2013. If you are interested, read tweets from my archive http://tuijasonkkila.fi/blog/2022/10/costa-rica-2013/
Jan 28, 2017 La Selva is shipshape. New signs, kitchen renovated, tasty meals, ultra speed laundry service.
Jan 28, 2017 Yahaira, the guide, comments on Otto, the southernmost hurricane on record to hit C America: “No big deal here”
Jan 29, 2017 What La Selva cannot do is noice-cancel Sarapiqui traffic. 
& 
gain more horsepower. Airplanes roar over 
fields, spraying pesticide.
Jan 29, 2017 It is silent only during wee hours. Luckily, that coincides with owls calling.
Jan 29, 2017 On the 23rd, 2-4am, a Mottled owl near the family house 3. On two subsequent nights after that, the popping call of a Spectacled owl.
Jan 29, 2017 Toucans (both Yellow-throated and Keel-billed), Collared aracaris, Rufous motmots, Slaty-tailed trogons, and Great tinamous are aplenty.
Jan 29, 2017 During the last 7 days, several Swedish birding groups have been unloaded from the archetypal Costa Rican tourist vehicle, a white minivan.
Jan 29, 2017 Later on this trip, a revisit to Mirador de Quetzales. In Jan2004, s/he was there (quetzals too). At that time, Jorge was the manager.
Jan 29, 2017 The page of La Selva mammals lists 4 species of primates.
Jan 29, 2017 However, Aotus lemurinus (Gray-bellied night monkey) has been seen here only 3 times, all in the 80’s.
Jan 29, 2017 The only time I’ve seen a night monkey species was in Oct 2007 in Peru. Few huddled together above the boat dock of Sandoval Lake Lodge.
Jan 29, 2017 Smallish groups of howler monkeys are common at La Selva and many of them stay near the station.
Jan 29, 2017 By contrast, in 7 days, only 3-4 busy spider monkeys, and a single capuchin. Lack of fruit trees? For howlers, there are always leaves.
Jan 31, 2017 Initially, after La Selva, the plan was to spend 4 nights at the Sirena station in Corcovado NP, where wildlife watching is at its best.
Jan 31, 2017 But things have changed since the last time there (April 2007). In Costa Rica too, there are new financing models for public services.
Jan 31, 2017 The station is now run (at least for three years) by an Osa Peninsula -based community organization, ADI.
Jan 31, 2017 This has brought a number of visible improvements, e.g. facilities have been renovated.
Jan 31, 2017 Earlier, eating was a slightly austere operation in a cantine. Now there’s a new restaurant where you can pay with a credit card.
Jan 31, 2017 The old plain, wooden platform for tents and hammocks is extended, and furnished with mosquito net hooded two-storey beds to rent.
Jan 31, 2017 On the other hand, new regulations are in place (e.g. no own food), and what once was free (e.g. canoeing) carries now a price tag.
Jan 31, 2017 However, the most challenging thing for a Costa Rica nature tourist these days is to get an entrance ticket to Sirena to start with.
Jan 31, 2017 We were told that a limited amount of tickets is on sale w/in a narrow time window at a time. This creates two markets for the tickets.
Jan 31, 2017 I guess hotels in the Drake Bay area and leading tour operators make a deal w/ ADI, and buy tickets in big quantities, just in case.
Jan 31, 2017 Smaller players and independent tourists have to enter the laborious “black” ticket market. Know somebody who might have spare tickets?
Jan 31, 2017 In our times when tax funding carries (sadly) a bad reputation, financing national parks and other top nature sites is a tough nut.
Jan 31, 2017 Our contact, a naturalist guide & good friend, failed to get tickets. Alas, no Sirena. Anyway, do (try to) visit Corcovado! It’s a gem.
Feb 3, 2017 If the Caribbean Lowlands featured only one Capuchin monkey, the welcome in the Osa Peninsula on the Pacific side was overwhelming.
Feb 3, 2017 The tiled roof of cabin nr 10 at Copa De Arbol Beach & Rainforest Resort in Drake Bay is enhanced by slabs of corrugated iron.
Feb 3, 2017 Around 5pm when daylight is getting old and tired, a group of a dozen Capuchins heads to their overnight tree top by the beach.
Feb 3, 2017 Their route goes via nr 10. You’re wildly shaken up from the late afternoon doze. What the…falling coconuts?
Feb 3, 2017 It’s peak season. Drake Bay aka Bahia Drake is buzzing with tourists hiking, snorkeling, horseback riding, fishing, pool-dwelling.
Feb 3, 2017 To the cooler spectrum of activities belongs a flight on a superlight, open, helicopter-type thingy. Like two bathtubs chained together.
Feb 3, 2017 Some bring their own toys. On the spacious sandy shore of the nearby Corcovado Adventures Tent Camp, a woman is operating a drone.
Feb 3, 2017 After few minutes of tap-tapping, she takes few steps back. Swiftly, the 4 rotors gain full speed, and the white quadcopter takes off.
Feb 3, 2017 At the same time, a V-shaped fleet of twenty Brown pelicans approaches. The vehicle whizzes by, but the birds show no reaction.
Feb 3, 2017 “Just taking some video from the scenery”, she explains in US English. On the tablet, surprisingly sharp live footage.
Feb 3, 2017 “In theory, it can fly up to 6 miles, but batteries may not last that long.” Her aircraft has disappeared from view.
Feb 3, 2017 Two mid-size passenger ships are anchored further away.
Feb 3, 2017 National Geographic Sea Lion, “the closest thing to Cousteau’s Calypso”, is on an 8d cruise. Start: Panama.
Feb 3, 2017 The other ship is Star Breeze. On 5 Nov 2005 at 5:50 am, on the coast of Somalia, it was attacked by pirates.
Feb 3, 2017 Here, Star Breeze is on her zigzag cruise along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.
Feb 3, 2017 The Drake Bay area has also local residents. How many, I don’t know. Often the only witness of their houses in the woods are dogs.
Feb 3, 2017 What’s odd here compared to La Selva, is lack of mosquitoes. La Selva was swarming of them. Here, none, not even in the forest.
Feb 4, 2017 5:51 am at Drake Bay Getaway.
Feb 4, 2017 Looking back, one of the unplanned themes of the visit to La Selva was ants.
Feb 4, 2017 First, the cabin of the latter part of the stay was Zompopa (=ant)
Feb 4, 2017 Second, on two consecutive days, I was startled to find a Bullet ant walking up on my sleeve.
Feb 4, 2017 Third, a colony of army ants passed by. This happened twice, both on the same trail, Sendero Tres Rios (STR).
Feb 4, 2017 Unlike in Corcovado NP where the number one bird family following army ants is antbirds, in La Selva it’s woodcreepers.
Feb 4, 2017 Northern barred-, and Plain-brown were the most numerous species, but few Ruddy woodcreepers were also there.
Feb 4, 2017 La Selva’s main trails like STR are 1,5 m wide concrete walkways. They make a good stage to watch the movements of the ant colony.
Feb 4, 2017 Part of it flowed in narrow streams (up) while others formed short-lived dense heaps (down).
Feb 6, 2017 Night of a Half Moon in Drake Bay as seen by Sony RX100 IV. I like this idea by the Drake Bay Getaway to put up hammocks for stargazing.
Feb 6, 2017 Cocoa woodcreeper repeats its song over and over again. On the bay, boats are returning from today’s tours. Drake Bay breaths tourism.
Feb 6, 2017 There are no docks. Boats are hooked on a buoy a few 100 m from the shore. In the morning, captains paddle or SUP to their vessels.
Feb 7, 2017 On top of the steep hill where the cabins of the hotel face the bay in the N, and Corcovado NP in the SE, blooms a balsa tree.
Feb 7, 2017 The flowers are an animal magnet. Scarlet macaws, Red-legged honeycreepers, Golden-naped woodpeckers, Red-tailed squirrels…
Feb 7, 2017 You might think that wildlife is scarce here, far from the NP, but that’s not true.
Feb 7, 2017 “We have seen tapir footprints”, tells Yens Jimenez Steller, one of the two owners of the lodge, “both those of an adult – and a baby!”
Feb 7, 2017 Many striking bird species visit the garden, e.g. Orange-collared manakin, Bay-headed and Golden-hooded tanager, and Barred antshrike.
Feb 7, 2017 Yesterday, down by the lodge’s café/restaurant, a pair of Slaty-tailed trogons was picking up termites from a nest eye level on a tree.
Feb 8, 2017 Mirador de Quetzales at Cerro de la Muerte. 2,5 km above sea level.
Feb 9, 2017 As a traveller, I appreciate an active, everyday presence of hotel owners. No big bosses, no “just working here” middle management.
Feb 9, 2017 Of course this does not scale. But if you ask me, time is running out of corporations in tourism anyway.
Feb 9, 2017 Around 20 local people are hired by Drake Bay Getaway but Yens and Patrick are its face and soul.
Feb 9, 2017 I still see them standing there side by side behind the counter, one laptop each, like Kraftwerk.
Feb 9, 2017 They route meals and drinks from kitchen to tables, and chat with guests. The total area of 5×3 m makes it all easy and intimate.
Feb 9, 2017 And when transportation is needed, Patrick starts the legendary red Toyota Land Cruiser (1980) and roars up and down the hill.
Feb 9, 2017 Some of that same authenticity that makes service stand out, is still left also here, at Mirador de Quetzales aka Cabinas Eddie Serrano.
Feb 9, 2017 On the wall, a weathered 1995 article from Costa Rica Today. The then Finca was still new. Eddie Serrano had settled here in 1950.
Feb 9, 2017 Luckily, the deforestation law was soon reverted. Much of Eddie’s beautiful cloud forest is said to be intact even today.
Feb 9, 2017 We saw the place in 2002. Eddie was already dead by then, and Jorge, one of his four sons, was in charge.
Feb 9, 2017 Jorge is a bit of an artist. After dinner, he carved wooden bird miniatures, explaining characteristics of different species to his son.
Feb 9, 2017 Today, Jorge has his own lodge downhill, Paraiso Quetzal Lodge. Lawns, jacuzzis etc. The lodge seems to draw US overnighters.
Feb 9, 2017 The main attractions of the original Mirador property however, are still the many wild avocado trees, and Resplendent quetzals.
Feb 9, 2017 Mirador is now run by the family of Jorge’s brother, Oscar. 2002, there were 8 cabins. Now, 15. But ppl seem to prefer day tours.
Feb 9, 2017 If time permits, we might visit Paradise to see if Jorge is present. His dry humor, love of nature, and artwork are fond memories.
Feb 9, 2017 At 5:30 am, in your simple wooden cabin, under four blankets, you wake up to cheerful calls of a Rufous-collared sparrow.
Feb 9, 2017 The thermometer shows +8 degrees Celsius. Inside.
Feb 9, 2017 Cloths are damp, feel terrible at first. The 1st night I went to bed w/ all cloths on. This way, they stayed dry but sleep was patchy.
Feb 9, 2017 After few hours, the morning chill is long forgotten. Sunny days are gourgeous. In left, front and right: Talamanca Mountain Range.
Feb 9, 2017 Some time during early afternoon, clouds start creeping in from SW, often accompanied with gusts of wind.
Feb 9, 2017 Clouds feel like aerosol when they surround you. Visibility is zero. Temperature falls sharply.
Feb 9, 2017 Before the sun sets, clouds slowly depart again. During the night, all heat of the day is sucked up to the clear starry sky.
Feb 10, 2017 The long tail feathers of a male quetzal are a genius adaptation.
Feb 10, 2017 Cloud forest trees are full of moss the size & shape of the quetzal, with some vegetation hanging from it, swaying in the wind.
Feb 11, 2017 Also, the red of the promeliads is close to that of the quetzal, especially when seen against the sky from below (which is always).
Feb 11, 2017 So how do you search for a quetzal? One option is to find a wild avocado tree, and wait.
Feb 11, 2017 Another (better) option is to follow Oscar Serrano and a selection of his dogs on a 6-8 am walk along the 4 km trail in the forest.
Feb 11, 2017 This time of the year, male quetzals start to show off, so they are relatively easy to film. Females, on the other hand, are shy.
Feb 11, 2017 Higher altitudes in neotropics are home to many hummingbirds species. On Mirador’s list there are half a dozen.
Feb 11, 2017 To most memorable experience this time up at Mirador de Quetzales is shared between stupefying sunsets, and flocks of Barret parakeets.
Feb 12, 2017 High up on the sky, in tight formation, a very big flock of birds is approaching at astonishing speed.
Feb 12, 2017 The flock reduces height, and passes you with a loud SWOOSH, almost reaching the sound barrier.
Feb 13, 2017 The 2,5 hr drive down from Cerro de la Muerte and then NW towards Quepos brings you first to San Isidro del General.
Feb 13, 2017 Some sources describe it as a “bustling metropolis” which is silly, but San Isidro do emits urban, Latin life that feels compelling.
Feb 13, 2017 “I have lived my whole life here”. Eric, a twenty-something Morpho Vans driver, wears sunglasses, a smartwatch and impeccable haircut.
Feb 13, 2017 Near San Isidro del General is Los Cusingos, a home-cum-museum of Alexander Skutch, the father of the first definitive book of Costa Rican birds.
Feb 13, 2017 ICYMI we were honoured to shake hands with Dr. Skutch there in 2004. He was 99 yro.
Feb 13, 2017 Anyway, this time the target was further up, one of the few NPs yet to be conquered, Manuel Antonio.
Feb 14, 2017 The last half an hour before Quepos is miles after miles nothing but oil palm plantations, on both sides of a perfectly straight road.
Feb 14, 2017 Top 5 Costa Rican export: 1) needles, catheters etc; 2) bananas; 3) pineapples; 4) medical instruments; 5) other food preparations by https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/CRI/Year/2015/Summary
Feb 14, 2017 You can be sure that what you eat is not a whimsical product. The banana handbook comes in two volumes: theory, and praxis.
Feb 14, 2017 Manuel Antonio is small and extremely crowded, but thanks to the top-notch guiding by Johan Chaves, the 7-12 tour was very good.
Feb 14, 2017 Some highlights: Helmeted iguana, Common potoo (two), Lesser nighthawk.
Feb 14, 2017 Crowdedness was partly due to Sunday, and the fact that Star Breeze (familiar from Drake Bay) was in town.
Feb 14, 2017 The picturesque beaches of the park are famous, accessible via the park itself.
Feb 14, 2017 Big groups of busy cruise guests, local families on their way to the beach with ice coolers – a bit confusing and noisy, but vibrant.
Feb 14, 2017 At the park entrance, the toilets are closed, wrapped w/ a yellow tape. Johan looks worried. “They have given only 3 days to fix this.”
Feb 14, 2017 The septic tank system is broken. Few portable toilets acts as a substitute. “In the worst scenario, authorities close the park.”
Feb 14, 2017 “But three days is not enough. Now they have appealed for deadline extension.” In peak season, closing the park would be a catastrophe.
Feb 14, 2017 There is also another looming problem in Manuel Antonio, both in the park and in local hotel gardens: Capuchin monkeys.
Feb 14, 2017 Clever and omnivore, Capuchins raid birds’ nests. That happens in the wild too, but these rather closed ecosystems are more vulnerable.
Feb 14, 2017 Capuchins love hammocks. They hop & swing & play in them. Show me a human who wouldn’t laugh and feel joy watching it all. That’s it.
Feb 14, 2017 Ecotourism has its own wicked problems. How to find a balance between healthy nature and income is one of them.
Feb 14, 2017 Here, I realized that nature guides benefit a lot from mini tablets. With offline photos and vids they can show & tell so much more.
Feb 14, 2017 Breakfast on the balcony of a Tulemar villa. A lowland rainforest species, Chestnut-backed antbird, walks by, singing its 3-tone song.
Feb 14, 2017 Despite the secluded property (or perhaps thanks to it), the resort is home to a big number of wild sloths.
Feb 14, 2017 Today’s sport fishing armadas disappeared to the South [x]. Capuchins arrived [x]. Squirrel monkies too [x]. Luggage closed [x]. 
Ilmestynyt alun perin Facebookissa.
21.1 illalla Iberian Boeing laskeutuu hieman töksähtäen Miamin kentälle. Ehkä miehistö oli väsynyt; lennon viimeiset tunnit alas USA:n itärannikkoa olivat jatkuvaa turbulenssia.
Vaikutelmaa keventää kaiuttimista virtaava John Lennonin, Plastic Ono Bandin ja Harlem Community Choir’in
“And so happy Christmas / For black and for white / For yellow and red ones / Let’s stop all the fight”
Vai oliko musiikkivalinta sittenkin lentoyhtiön puolisarkastinen ennuste alkaneelle vuodelle?
Muuten, en ole koskaan kuu(nne)llut sinkun b-puolta “Listen, the snow is falling”. Oletteko te?
Liput oli ostettu Finnairin lennolle, mutta kun check in -aika raksahti käyntiin, tulleessa viestissä oli maininta, että Miamin reitti lennetään koko kevään Iberian koneilla. Tämän katsottiin olevan sen verran järeä muutos, että liput olisi halutessaan voinut peruuttaa ja saada rahat takaisin.
No. Iberia on lentänyt ennenkin, kone oli vain pari vuotta vanha ja kielipuolituristeja varten mukana oli varmuuden vuoksi myös suomalainen lentoemäntä. Mielenkiintoista kyllä, kun turbulenssi uhkasi sitoa matkustajat liian pitkäksi ajaksi tuoleihinsa, suomeksi annettiin tiedote:
-Tällä Iberian lennolla teillä on mahdollisuus liikkua koneessa, vaikka turvavyövalo on päällä.
Okei?
Miamista Karibian yli Costa Ricaan.
-The flight will be choppy but we will do our best to fly you safely to San José. Please relax and enjoy your flight.
Tämä saattoi olla uutta, ovelaa psykologiaa American Airlinesilta. Ei ainuttakaan ilmakuoppaa koko matkalla. Sileää kuin photoshopattu selfieposki. Matkustajalle jäi joko se mielikuva, että ohjaamossa istui henkilöilmailuliikenteen paras kokoonpano ikinä tai sitten American is simply the best.
Kahdeksas matka tähän Viron kokoiseen maahan, joka on toistuvasti ykkösenä niissä ehdottoman tieteellisesti pätevissä kyselyissä, joissa haetaan maailman onnellisinta kansaa.
Eipä silti, eivät surveyt ihan pielessäkään ole. Jos nyt verrataan vaikka merentakaiseen naapuriin Haitiin, niin onhan Costan Rican asiat tosi mallikkaasti. Sää, esimerkiksi. Aina kun Karibian yli pyyhältää hirmumyrsky, sillä on poikkeuksetta välilasku Haitilla. Viimeisen 50 vuoden aikana Costa Ricaa on koetellut ainoastaan yksi hurrikaani. Se onkin tuore tapaus, marraskuulta 2016.
Costa Rican onni on sijainti. Se on juuri riittävän kaukana Atlantin hurrikaanivyöhykkeeltä.
Marraskuinen Otto vaati muutaman kuolonuhrin Costa Rican pohjoisosassa, lähellä maan toista kansainvälistä lentokenttää, Liberiaa. Otto mökelsi idästä länteen pitkin pohjoisen rajanaapurin, Nicaraguan, rajaa.
Siitä puheenollen, yksi asia Nicaraguasta on helppo nähdä lentokoneesta: valtava Lake Nicaragua. Etelässä se viistää Costa Rican rajaa, lännessä järven ja valtameren välissä on vain kapea kannas.
Kova Otto-tuuli aiheutti tietysti kaikenlaista ongelmaa yli koko maan.
– It was just awful. We were out of electricity for five days.
Tyynen [sic] valtameren puolella, Osan niemimaalla, Drake Bay -lahden rannalla, alueella josta kirkkaana päivänä voi kuvitella näkevänsä Panaman rannikon ja melkein näkeekin, Drake Bay Gateaway Resortin toinen omistaja Yens Jimenez Steller pyörittelee silmiään.
– We had to rent a generator!
Yens on niitä harvoja, joiden LinkedIn endorsement-lista sisältää mainesanat Virtualization, Linux ja Honeymoons. Hän ja partnerinsa Patrick Ludwig muuttivat tänne Seattlesta, perustivat Drake Bay’hyn ensin kahvilan ja vuonna 2014 hotellin. Alku on ollut mairitteleva: palkintoja ja taputuksia satelee. En ihmettele. Yens ja Patrick ovat ahkeria ja sosiaalisia ihmisiä, näköala mökeiltä on huima ja ruoka on herkullista.
– The only food that we repeat is the breakfast fruit plate. All others portions are different during your stay.
Erikoista sinänsä, mutta Yens on takaisin kotikulmillaan.
-See that red roof there? That’s the house where my family lived.
Yensin isoisä muutti tänne 1970-luvulla Costa Rican pohjoisosista kasvattamaan karjaa. Vaikka niistä ajoista tuntuu olevan vain muutama hassu teinivuosi, täällä se tarkoittaa historiaa, joka ei toistu. Sademetsään lähteneille pioneereille jaettiin maata käytännössä ilmaiseksi. Heidän katsottiin tekevän valtiolle palveluksen kesyttämällä villi luonto ihmisen hyötykäyttöön.
Hotelli on sustainability-luokan mallioppilas. Ei kertakäyttötavaraa, ei energiasyöppöä ilmastointia, minimivalaistus, lähiruokaa jne.
Sähköä sinänsä toki kuluu paljon. Omistajapari itsekin seisoo päivittäin tuntikausia ravintolatiskin takana ja näpyttelee läppäriä samalla kun seurustelee asiakkaiden kanssa, kantaa keittiöluukulle asetetut annokset pöytiin, ottaa vastaan smoothie-tilauksia ja suristelee erilaisia kahviannoksia kromatulla masiinalla. Kahvilan lattiaan on asennettu sähköpistokkeita puolen metrin välein.
Kahvin ja mansikoiden suhteen Yens on periaatteen miehiä.
– We don’t use strawberries.
Yens rytmittää nopeaa puhettaan horisontaalisilla, täsmällisillä kädenliikkeillä, kyynärpäät lähellä vartaloa, seisoo ryhdikkäästi, katsekontakti ei hellitä. Kaikesta huomaa että hän on tehnyt uraa yritysmaailmassa.
Kaikki tuntevat Costa Rican kahvimaana, mutta mansikka on tuntemattomampi suuruus. Pääkasvatusalue on Poás-tulivuoren rinteet. Kaikkialla on mustalla verkkokankaalla peitettyjä kasvitarhoja, ja ohikulkijoille kaupitellaan tien varresta mansikoita kilometrien matkalla. Mansikkamarkkinat läpi koko vuoden. Vapise, Suonenjoki!
Jos Yensiltä kysytään, niin paras kahvi tulee sekin Poásilta. Hotellissa käytetään vain sitä. Jos oikein keskittyy, kahvissa on havaitsevinaan tuliperäisen maan rikin aromin.
Syy mansikkaboikottiin ei käy täysin selväksi. Arvelen että taustalla on sekä halua erottautua massamarkkinoista että puoltoääni kahvinviljelyn puolesta ylipäänsä. Mansikat näyttävät vallanneen alaa kahvilta, ja tämä on pieni maa. Vaikka en asiantuntija olekaan, luulen että kahvin on tarkoitus pärjätä minimi-interventiolla – samaan tapaan kuin viiniköynnös – onhan kahvi täällä kotonaan. “Vieraslajina” mansikka taas vaatii jatkuvaa paapomista.
Toisin kuin viimeksi tässä maassa (huhtikuussa 2013), wifiä on nyt tarjolla about kaikkialla. Hotelleissa myös huoneissa/mökeissä. Ensimmäisenä wifiä tarjosi kännykkänsä hot spotin kautta Morpho Van -taksifirman kuljettaja. Kuten sovittu oli, hän odotti meitä San Josén kentällä Alajuelassa pahvilapun kanssa, ja sitten ajettiin vuorten yli Karibian puolelle, La Selvan biologiselle asemalle. Viikon kuluttua hän haki meidät takaisin. Seuraavana aamuna 12-paikkaisella koneella etelään, Osaan.
La Selvan salaateissa oli mansikkalohkoja.
Elintaso on noussut. Kuljettajalla oli Applen älykello, auto uusi, mukava ja äänetön, vuoristotiet hyvässä kunnossa.
Kuluneen Osa-viikon piti mennä toisin. Pääkohde oli Corcovadon kansallispuisto, Sirenan asema. Ei onnistunut, joten oli pakko turvautua plan-B:hen ja varata Drake Bay’sta hotelli neljäksi yöksi. Onneksi wifi! Jos kiinnostaa, mikä suunnitelmissa mätti, niin olen puhunut siitä jo tarpeeksi Twitterin puolella. Lyhyesti: sen jälkeen kun puiston majoitus- ja ruokailupalvelut ulkoistettiin jokin aika sitten, sinne on ollut todella vaikea saada sisäänpääsylippuja. Kenenkään. Lisäksi sinne ei enää saa viedä omia eväitä. Kuten Yens asian ilmaisi:
– We don’t know any more what’s going on!
Viimeksi eilen illalla Drake Bay’n hotelleilla oli ollut yhteiskokous, jossa oli pohdittu painostustoimia. Toivon hartaasti, että Costa Rica ei mene samaan jekkuun kuin eräät muut maat, joissa kansallispuistot ollaan ajamassa alas, “koska ei ole varaa”.
Rant over.
Fregattilintujen aaltosulkufiguurit taivaalla; lahdelle parkattuja veneitä siivotaan päivän snorklaus-, kalastus-, delfiininkatselu- ja tavarankuljetusretkiltä; pihan Lantana-suvun kukkapensaissa asioi suklaanruskeapäisiä, vihreäselkäisiä, sinivatsaisia (Bay-headed) tangaroita; (Rufus-tailed) kolibrit zingahtelevat viivana pisteestä toiseen; ihan kohta (Chestnut-mandibled) tukaanit lentävät korkeimmille puunoksille ja aloittavat kaikkialle kantautuvan illansuukieunnan.
Mitähän keittiölabra on tänään kehittänyt illalliseksi?
Julkaistu alun perin Instragramissa ja Facebookissa.
8.7
The first night behind, and already two wolves (too far for my snapshot gear), 7-8 bears, 50+ ravens, and a bunch of gulls. This particular hideout site is at the edge of a big swamp. The distance from the hut to the feeding place is about 50 m. The bears know you are there but don’t care because of the food (pig or salmon, depending on what’s available). Wolverines haven’t shown up yet, perhaps because of wolves. Soon to today’s/tonight’s trip in another site. The agenda: late lunch at 4pm, stay in hide 5pm-8am, breakfast, sleep. #wildlifefinland #kuikkacamp
9.7
The second hideout was on the shore of an oval-shaped, dark-watered bog pond with water lilies. Most of the bear traffic was over at 9 pm already. I lost count of individuals but I’d say not more than 10. The width of the pond was maybe 30 m at most, which was kind of thrilling. Other sightings were birds. Besides the usual suspects of ravens and gulls: a goldeneye, a juvenile white-tailed eagle, and a peregrine falcon who tried to catch a sandpiper but failed.
During these still long midsummery days with hardly any night I begin to realize that the day versus night thing is also a social construct of the modern man. You need sleep but not 8 hours straight unless you have a daytime work inside four walls or something similar. Outside, it feels natural to split the day in 1-2 hour bursts of activity, followed by a nap. Not on top of the foodchain, humans better be prepared. #wildlifefinland #kuikkacamp
10.7
The third hideout is by a beautifully rugged old boreal forest. Irregular terrain with big rocks, trees both alive and dead, shrubs of blueberry, crowberry and lingonberry, moss. A perfect place to play geocaching by modified rules: food is welcomed, and finders keepers.
None knows how to perform an unexpected arrival to the stage like the wolverine. Now it isn’t there, now it is. With the no-nonsense determinism of an intelligent, curious and agile mammal who has a superb sense of smell, it checks every possible nook and corner, whether low or high. And the wolverine doesn’t give up easily; if it suspects that some odd place was still left unchecked, it returns. One individual (recognizable from a scar over its right eye) kept coming back the whole night, once escorted by a red fox. The fox was screaming loudly, perhaps warning its cubs somewhere nearby. #wildlifefinland #kuikkacamp
11.7
Because of the topsy-turvy agenda here, one really should be sleeping when at the camp. However, it isn’t that simple. Local dogs for example need their daily attention. Note how the German wirehaired pointer can also be trained to find edible mushrooms. #wildlifefinland #kuikkacamp
13.7
The last night at the swamp was dramatic although nothing actually happened as such. The bears acted quite differently than on the previous two nights. They seemed shy, even suspicious. Bolted away for no (for us) obvious reason, and stayed away for hours. Maybe there was a new smell, an unknown visitor.
Bears are said to reveal their emotions and are therefore easier to understand whereas wolves for example are unpredictable. Maybe so but there is always the slippery slope of anthropomorphism. Anyway, wolves are 100% predators so to survive they need to have capabilities that let them attack the target. Bears on the other hand are all-eaters.
There is only one known pack of wolves around this area. A ”pack” in this case is only two, an alpha male and its new female. The old alpha female has died, and all the offspring has moved elsewhere. The male wolf is a handsomely pale individual, almost white. We had zero luck in filming/photographing it. An example of the unpredictability of the wolf if you like was that it seemed to visit the area during the wee hours of the day, around 2 am, except when it did not.
The last morning was rainy. The wind blew harshly over the swamp from the North, making every loose part of the small hideout to flap. The camera lens needs protection from the rain, so we had pulled all our stuff in. It was time to leave anyway, we would be picked up in fifteen minutes. It was precisely at that point when the male wolf appeared from the right. Very close to the hideouts for some reason, or for no particular reason. I had just enough time to see how the long pale fur waved in the wind, how light the gait was. There it was, the canine that is both passion and hate embodied for so many humans.
We were not the only ones who suddendly saw the animal. When several long lenses hastely returned to the peeping holes and turned towards the wolf it stopped, turned on its heels and ran as hell back where it came from.
Instead of a snapshot featuring a wolf at close range, here is Antti Silen spreading some dogfood for the bears. He and other staff had interesting stories to tell about the life here at the border zone. Respect.
14.7
The distance between Kuhmo and Suomussalmi is a 2 hr drive. In theory. It took us 4 but then again we stopped twice: first at Tokmanni Kuhmo to buy SD cards and warm long johns for both of us, and later on at the Mäkeläisen Pojat village grocery store in Ala-Vuokki.
The store isn’t just for food. In 2000, the owner Saku Mäkeläinen started an online shop of Pioneer electronics. Today, the selection is much wider. To enter his store is a Doctor Who type of experience. Outside, the building looks a regular K market with a small post office at the other end. Inside, it is something completely different. Surreal. Warmly recommended.
Back to bears. Martinselkonen Wilds Centre is famous and it’s easy to see why. There. Are. Many. Bears. And then there are cubs.
The first hideout place was in the corner of a swamp. A small area nicely framed by a forest. Bears walked closer the hides than ever in Kuhmo.
These cubs are 1,5 year old. Baby cuteness is taken over by teenage looks and behaviour.
15.4
Just like at Wildlife Finland in Kuhmo, the second night was at a lake. The scenery was wide, wild, wonderful.
BTW here’s one thing: pro nature photographers like water because it reflects, generates fog, is swimmable etc. In a word: action. A cliché, you might say, but surely water is a versatile element.
No bears from 4:30 pm until 7:45 pm. Then, a more or less constant flow of them until almost midnight. Several families of mom and 2-3 young ones. Lone males in all ages, some deep brown, some with a silvery coating. Somewhere between 10 and 15 different individuals in total I think.
Although no open aggressions, there were few mild confrontations between the males. These were displayed by standing in a majestic posture on two feet against a dead tree and shaking it; rubbing the butt against a well-grown pine tree so that it sways, not much but just enough; blowing and teeth-clattering.
What a show.
19.7
The last night at Martinselkonen was in the forest. They call this site their main one, and no wonder. After a ten minute drive and a brisk 15 minute walk on the mosquito-rich forest path up and down small hills, past big dead tree trunks and over numerous roots, you arrive to a clearing – and it is full of bears! They just sit and stand there, waiting for us (well, food). We were told not to stop for photographs but to continue to our respective hideouts a bit further away.
It looked absolutely crazy. True but so abnormal. A bit like in classic Disney animations were all the animals of the forest are gathered together to help Cinderella. Wild bears for sure but used to come here for supper.
Later that night, a mother with three cubs loitered past our hut few times. Our position was not the best one perhaps but still, good to see members of the youngest generation. Cubs are not made for photos but film. They just don’t stop but wrestle, climb, and run.
Bears are no early birds. Next morning we left at 7. Not a single bear was visible.
Suomussalmi is within the reindeer herding area. This means that well before the opening of the bear hunting season on August the 20th, Martinselkonen is closing down, and bears wander wherever bears wander when they need to be on their own. Many of these individuals are wise enough to head East.
Bye bye, brown bears. Take care and prosper.
The hideouts are special movable constructions big enough for two normal size adults to sit and sleep. Basketball players might feel uncomfortable I think. You need to stay in for ~14 hours so there’s also a pot. The tall chimneys are for ventilation. They produce a peculiar, wind instrument like deep humming sound.
Back in the camp it’s time to relax, take a hot shower, eat, and cuddle the setter.
If not for the bears, visit Martinselkonen for their jam made of strawberries, blueberries, and apples. Dark blue with an elegant taste that resembles black currant. Five stars.
19.7
The 4 hour drive from Suomussalmi to Lieksa is also a journey between two Finnish regions. You leave Kainuu behind, and enter North Karelia. I fell in love with the vast uninhabited distances in Lieksa. Miles after miles without anything else in sight than green hills, and swamps with the most beautiful palette of colors. I tried my best not to see the frequent clearcuttings, and the shortage of (for me) real forests; the majority is cultivated tree parks.
The last few kilometers before the destination you drive along a stunning high ridge of sand. The gravel road makes pleasant turns left and right, sometimes tilting horizontally. An awesome stretch of road!
At Erä-Eero you feel welcomed immediately. The camp site is like from a fairytale, or LOTR. Cozy old buildings, friendly atmosphere, and one of the best sauna experiences I’ve ever had in Finland. Saunaseura’s services in Lauttasaari are nr 1 but then again, that’s their core business.
Erä-Eero himself is a delight to listen to. He has tons of amusing backstage stories about the various international film groups that are frequently seen here, the top site in the world to film wolverines.
Whatever nature documentary you watch featuring wolverines, the chances are that they are filmed here at Erä-Eero, no matter which country the doc is said to represent.
Julkaistu alun perin Facebookissa.
1.2
Safarilinkin 12-paikkaisen Cessnan kapteenilla on pitkät, kapeat, taipuisat sormet. Niillä hän sulkee kaasuvivun vaakasuoran nupin huolellisesti oikean käden kämmenen sisään, tukee ranteen kaasuohjainlaatikon reunaan, avaa kertaalleen sormet ääriasentoon, sulkee. Käden asento on kuin modernin tanssin ohjelmistosta; luonnottoman kulmikas, liikkumaton, täynnä ladattua energiaa. Kohta lähtee!
Amerikkalaisvalmisteinen Cessna Caravan C208B on yrityksen esitteen mukaan rugged workhorse. Tämä tarkoittaa sitä, että malli on omiaan olosuhteissa, joita Wikipedia kuvailee sanoin jungle clearings and desert strips of third-world countries. Markkinoilla koneen hinta on reilut miljoona dollaria. Haluat sittenkin paineistetun ja 50% nopeamman kyydin thank you? Silloin valintasi on kanadalainen Bombardier Dash. Hinta nousee noin viisinkertaiseksi ja voit unohtaa laskeutumiset muulle kuin asfaltille.
Safarilinkin laivueessa on 10 Caravania ja kolme Dashia. Näillä hoituvat sekä Maasai Maran tapaiset luonnonkentät että urbaanimmat kohteet kuten Intian valtameren rannikon Mombasa tai pohjoisessa, lähellä Turkana-järveä sijaitseva Lodwar – tuttuja mm. John le Carrén romaanista Constant Gardener.
Maan sisäiset lennot lähtevät Wilsonilta, jonne ajaa kansainväliseltä lentokentältä puolessa tunnissa, ainakin näin sunnuntaiaamuisin. Kuljettaja muistuttaa, että Nairobissa on yli neljä miljoonaa asukasta. Monella heistä on auto.
Kenian liikennetilastot eivät näytä hyvältä eivätkä sitä olekaan. Maasai Maraan voisi siirtyä myös maitse, mutta Basecamp Explorerin edustaja ei varsinaisesti suositellut kuuden tunnin ajomatkaa. ”You take a flight”.
Täyspilvistä, ripsoo sadetta.
Sunnuntaiaja(tteli)ja voi päätellä yhtä ja toista kansakunnasta, kun katsoo julkista taidetta.
Läntisessä naapurimaassa Ugandassa liikenneympyrän keskellä on usein koroke, johon on nostettu liioitellun suuri ja psykedeelisen värikäs näköispatsas. Jonkin tunnetun eläinlajin edustaja on jähmetetty valtiomiesmäiseen poseerausasentoon.
Jomo Kenyattalta ajetaan Wilsonille pitkin Nairobin bisneskeskustan ohittavaa moottoritietä. Sumuisessa horisontissa erottuu rykelmä pilvenpiirtäjiä.
Moottoritien ruohikkoiselle keskialueelle on sommiteltu lähes luonnollisen kokoisia, tummia, metallisia eläinhahmoja. Afrikan elefantteja perhekunnittain, aikuisten massiivisten tolppajalkojen alla vilkkaita pikkuronsuja kärsät mutkalla. Perässä, sopivan välimatkan päässä, yksinäinen iso uros seuraa laumaa korvalehdet lepattaen. Gnuantilooppeja hajalaumana. Tutun parrakas, liehuvahäntäinen, kulmikkaan tumma olemus, kuin suoraan graafikon piirustuspöydältä, aina valmiina keinuvaan juoksuun.
Eläimet suuntaavat kohti kansainvälistä lentokenttää. Taiteilijan kannanotto? Todennäköisempää on, että maahan juuri saapuneille ei näytetä etääntyviä takalistoja vaan etupää.
Wilsonin modernissa terminaalissa on aluksi hiljaista, mutta parin tunnin odottelun aikana sali täyttyy. Koko seinän peittävistä lasi-ikkunoista näkee kompaktille kentälle, jossa koneita tankataan ja huolletaan. Konepellinkin alle vilkaistaan, mutta erityisen monta kertaa pyöritetään käsin etunokan potkuria. Lavoissa ei saisi olla sinkoutuneiden kivien aiheuttamia koloja.
Sade yltyy. Lentomekaanikot ja matkatavaroiden kantajat yrittävät hoitaa hommiaan iso, avattu sateenvarjo toisessa kädessä.
Lähtöportteja on vain yksi. Lähtöjä on silti lyhyen ajan sisällä eri puolelle maata. Mikkiin pikaisesti hönkäisty swahilinkielinen paikannimi ei kuulosta miltään tutulta. Palvelumuotoilija on ratkaissut ongelman: boarding passit ovat kirjanmerkkiä muistuttavia, tanakoita pahvisuikaleita, joissa kaikissa on samat logot ja mainostekstit, mutta pohjaväri vaihtelee. Niinpä kuulutukset sujuvat tähän tyyliin:”Attention! Flight to Olo’aloala is ready to board. Yellow boarding pass, please.”
Lounaanjälkeiset tupluurit katkaisee klassinen ääni: bensakäyttöinen ruohonleikkuri karahtaa kiveen.
Siunattu asia sinänsä, ettei siimaleikkuri ole vielä täällä. Toivottavasti se pysäytetään rajalla.
Basecampin vanhin telttaleiri on Talek-joen mutkassa (ei siis Dalek), lähellä samannimistä kylää. Puistomainen, istutettu alue. Keskusaukion reunoilla, Talekin töyräällä, on parikymmentä erikokoista telttaa. Teltan puuverannalta pilkottaa Maasai Maran luonnonpuisto.
Meidän teltaltamme joki ei näy. Töyräälle on matkaa kymmenisen metriä, ja siitä on pudotusta viitisen metriä.
Kolmantena yönä herään pilkkopimeässä. Unensekaiset aivot yrittävät rekonstruoida, mitä on meneillään. Voimakas, tasainen suhina. Kuin lojuisi valtameren maininkien äärellä. Vai tuultako tämä on? Teltan ikkunana toimii karkeasilmäinen verkko, jonka läpi silmä fokusoi hankalasti. Lähipensaiden lehdet eivät liiku. Teltan päädyssä on heikko yövalo, joka heittää kelmeää valoa puuverannalle. Mitään ei näy, kohisee vain.
Aamu sarastaa puoli seitsemän maissa.
Veden pinta joessa on noussut ällistyttävästi. Kohina oli ollut silkkaa virtauksen voimaa kasvillisuuden läpi. Ruskea vesimassa pyyhkii yhä ohitse vuolaana, paikoin akanvirtaisena. Näyttää siltä, kuin joen keskellä vesi olisi korkeammalla kuin sen laitamilla. Teltan edustalla ruohikko on laossa. Sulan suklaan värinen, märkä savi ulottuu puisen platformin alle. Vesi on siis jo laskemaan päin.
Ravintolarakennus on aivan joen rannassa. Vesi on yltänyt yöllä sinne asti. Henkilökunta kuivaa lattioita ja kertoo, että Talek-joen pinta on ollut näin korkealla viimeksi vuonna 2006.
Sääennusteet osuivat kohdalleen: sadetta on tullut taajaan ja runsaasti, yleensä ukkosen kera. Useimmiten illansuussa jatkuen myöhään yöhön. Pilvestä toiseen lyövät salamat valaisevat taivaan maksimissaan lähes viideksi sekunniksi. Kaukana häämöttävät vuoret saavat osansa sateista ja juoksuttavat sitten vedet jokia pitkin ensin Talekin sivujokiin, sitä kautta Talekiin ja lopulta Maraan, joka laskee Victoria-järveen.
Kenia-käsikirjan mukaan maassa on kaksi sadekautta, lyhyt ja pitkä. Lyhyt alkaa loppusyksystä ja kestää muutaman viikon. Talvi on kuivaa kautta. Pitkä sade hallitsee kevättä.
Nyt ei mennä by the book.
Lyhyt sadekausi on venynyt usealla kuukaudella. Kuiva kausi uhkaa jäädä kokonaan pois välistä.
Kolmen yön jälkeen siirrytään Basecampin seuraavaan leiriin Eagle View. Se sijaitsee 30 x 30 kilometrin kokoisella Naboisho-suojelualueella, jossa on hieman rennommat säännöt kuin Maasai Maran kansallispuistossa. Siinä missä Maasaissa puistosta pitää poistua iltakuudelta, Naboishossa saa ajella kuinka myöhään tahansa.
Eagle View’n apulaisjohtaja Christine seisoo lähellä, katsoo tiukasti silmiin.
– Rain is a blessing. And also, we cannot do anything about it.
Tämän voi tulkita joko niin, että jotkut turistit ovat jo ehtineet valittaa olosuhteista tai sitten se on varotoimi mahdollisten negatiivisten TripAdvisor-päivitysten varalta. Onhan tunnettua, että siellä itketään jopa siitä, jos ulkoa kuuluu eläinten ääniä.
Savanni alkaa täälläkin paikoitellen muistuttaa suota. Savipitoinen maa on heikko imemään. Sekä varsinaisilla teillä että safariajelujen tuloksena ruohomaahan sinne tänne syntyneillä ajourilla valuu, lilluu ja kuravelliytyy vettä. Sammakot kurnuttavat. Niillä ei ole hätäpäivää.
Nelivetojeepit ovat sitkeitä, mutta kuljettajan on silti syytä olla huolellinen.
Kello on kahdeksan aamulla. Öinen sade on vaimennut puoli seitsemältä, juuri sopivasti jotta ehditään siirtyä autoon ja lähteä aamuajelulle. Täyspilvistä. Aurinko on nousemassa, mutta tänään sitä ei huomaa.
Eläinrintamalla on hiljaista. Yksinäinen gnu seisoo hievahtamatta keskellä puutonta maisemaa. Harmaasävyinen, härkämäinen siluetti taivasta vasten. Kauempana joukko thomsoningaselleja näykkii yhteistuumin ruohoa. Lyhyt häntä vipattaa taukoamatta puolelta toiselle.
Älykännykkä tyytähtää etupenkillä. Puhelin kuuluu Johnille, paikalliseen maasai-heimoon kuuluvalle opas-kuljettajalle. Jos olisin ollut fiksu ja opiskellut varuiksi swahilia (en ole), oppi olisi mennyt hukkaan. John puhuu tuttujen kanssa maa-kieltä, jolla on luultavasti juuret siellä missä maasaillakin, Niilin yläjuoksun tietämillä.
Puhelu päätty. John kääntyy etupenkillä, pidättelee naurua. Yksi hotellin jeepeistä oli jäänyt jumiin savannilla. Kuljettaja oli soittanut työkaverin apuun. Kuinkas sitten kävikään?
– He got stuck too! I will bring you now to the lodge and go help them.
Sadejeremiadista huolimatta Maasai Mara ja Naboisho ovat olleet hieno kohde. Kaikkia isoja kissoja on päästy näkemään läheltä, esimerkiksi.
3.2
Kävelysafari aamuisella savannilla kuulostaa yksinkertaiselta toimitukselta—you know, kävellään—mutta turvajärjestelyt tekevät siitä ison numeron. Varman päälle pelaaminen syö luontokokemusta, mutta paha mennä sanomaan missä kohtaa voisi löysätä.
Jeeppi on eläinten näkökulmasta iso, ajoittain örisevä, enimmäkseen harmiton otus. Se joko väistää tai on hiljaa. Kaksijalkainen ihminen sen sijaan on jotakin, mihin pitää ottaa kantaa.
Mukaan lähtee oppaan lisäksi kolme muuta maasaita. Kaksi kulkee edellä tähystämässä ja kolmas tulee ryhmän viimeisenä. Kaikilla on mukana pitkä keihäs; osalla se on kokonaan metallia, toisilla varsi on puusta.
Ennen kuin lähdetään pidemmälle, John tuikkaa keihään maahan pystyyn, ottaa esitelmöintiasennon ja pitää briiffin. Käydään läpi mahdolliset mutta epätodennäköiset vaaratilanteet.
Isot villieläimet eivät yleensä piittaa ihmisestä, ellei ihminen häiritse niitä, käyttäydy uhkaavasti tai asetu emon ja pennun väliin. Vahingoittunut eläin on luonnollisesti arvaamaton myös. Lisäksi—asia jonka John jättää mainitsematta, koska tietää sen olevan hankala—koska eläimet ovat yksilöitä, niillä saattaa olla muuten vaan huono päivä. Niin tai näin, ykkösasia on pitää niihin kaikkiin etäisyyttä. Jos etäisyys syystä tai toisesta supistuu, pysytellään tuulen yläpuolella. Vai oliko se alapuolella… anyway paikassa jossa tuuli ei tuo hajuasi eläimen sieraimiin.
”Ne” ovat ruohosavannin olosuhteissa leijona, kafferipuhveli eli afrikanpuhveli ja elefantti. Virtahepo on yleisissä kuolemansyytilastoissa fataalein, mutta hipot liikkuvat ruohotasangolla vain öisin syömässä ruohoa (kop kop).
Ironista sinänsä, että nykyihmisen oman toiminnan tuloksena isoista nisäkäslajeista ovat jäljellä enää suurimmat ja agressiivisimmat. Ihminen tappoi nopeasti sukupuuttoon kaikki pienemmät ja helpommin metsästettävät. Virtahepojakin on aikanaan ollut vähintään kahdeksaa eri lajia.
Leijonan metsästysvietti on vahva kuten kissoilla yleensä, joten leijona on riistalle tai sitä muistuttavalle riski myös päivällä, vaikka varsinaista ruuanetsintäaikaa onkin yö. Mitä pienempi olet, sitä ikävämpi tilanne. Jos kaiken lisäksi käännyt ja pinkaiset juoksuun, selässäsi lukee kissankorkuisin kirjaimin OTA MINUT KIINNI.
Neuvo kuuluu, että leijonan edessä ihmisryhmän on tiivistyttävä näyttääkseen isommalta, ja peräännyttävä sitten vähitellen selkä edellä. Tiedä sitten, onko kenestäkään neuvoa noudattaneesta myöhemmin kuultu. Vältä paikkoja, missä leijonien tiedetään viettävän päiväsiestaa. Kierrä puskat kaukaa. Pysy keskellä aukeaa.
Puhveli ja elefantti ovat kasvissyöjiä thank god mutta ihminen on inisevä hyttynen kummankin rinnalla.
Kafferipuhveli on agressiivinen laumaeläin, mikä on epäsuotuisa lähtökohta tapaamiselle. Yllättävää kyllä, puhvelipalaverista voi selvitä hengissä, jos a) on puita mihin kiivetä tai b) jos a on negatiivinen, heittäydyt vatsallesi maahan.
Puhvelin heikko kohta ovat sen massiivisten sarvien kärjet; ne kääntyvät ulospäin. Sisäelimesi saattavat välttyä kuolettavilta pistoilta. Loukkaannut vaikeasti, mutta elämisen kannalta se on kaikki kotiinpäin.
Afrikanelefantti. Ei. Älä. No can do.
Summa summarum: kävelysafarilla liikutaan keskellä ruohotasankoa, jossa ei aamuisin tapahdu juuri mitään. Puoliksi hajonneita gnun kalloja, topi-antiloopin sorkanjälkiä savessa. Aamukasteesta ja kaikesta sateesta märkää ruohoa, joka kastelee jalkasi polvia myöten.
Vali vali. Jänskää, kivaa ja kaunista kaikki on. Sitä paitsi: korvaketun (bat-eared fox) pesäkolo, josta pilkistää rivi aktiivisia, mustia korvapareja!
5.2
Mainitsiko joku kävelysafarin turvapykälistä? Pysy aukealla? Njäää, mennään puskan läpi. Säilytä etäisyys eläimeen? Hmm, yritetääs päästäänkö lähemmäs.
Basecamp Explorerin leiri Leopard Hill on rakennettu Naboishon lounaisrajalle. Täällä ollaan matalalla. Muualta laskee alueelle vettä tasaiseen tahtiin kuin kastelujärjestelmästä. Sen ansiosta uutta ruohoa pukkaa jatkuvasti, seikka jota monikymmenpäinen seepralauma osaa arvostaa.
Manageri Belinda tekee kädellään täysmittaisen panoraamaliikkeen. Sen sisään mahtuu koko itään aukeava näkymä. Etualalla kasvaa superpitkää ruohoa ja kolme isoa viikunapuuta, taustan täyttävät matalat akaasiapuut niin kauas kuin näkee. Joukko kirahveja näykkii niiden latvoja kaula hankalasti 90 asteen kulmassa.
Belindalla on äänessä tervettä ammattiylpeyttä.
– There was a lot of water here in the beginning. We built ponds and things, a whole watering system. Now we have no floods here and never a draught.
Naboisho on yksi noin paristakymmenestä maasaiden maille perustetusta suojelualueesta (conservancy). Naboisholla on noin 500 omistajaperhettä. Luontoturisteilta veloitetaan päiväkohtainen käyntimaksu. Järjestely vaikutta onnistuneelta. Koko yhteisö saa rahaa kouluihin, sairaaloihin ja muuhun infraan, villieläimet säästyvät, ja lisäksi maasait voivat laiduntaa nautakarjaansa sovituilla puskurivyöhykkeillä. Satunnaiset petoeläinten aiheuttamat kotieläinhävikit korvataan yhteisestä rahastosta; raadellun tilalle annetaan 1-2 elävää. Salametsästystä yritetää hillitä partioinnilla ja kirjaamalla ylös kaikkien alueelle tulevien autojen rekisterinumerot.
Ihmisluontoon kuuluu tylsä tapa hypettää omalla tai toisten sotaisuudella ja raaoilla perinteillä. Maasaiden brutaalit initiaatiomenot, sukuelinten silpomiset, säännöistä poikenneiden jättäminen hyeenojen saaliiksi savannille—forget all of it and do it quickly please.
Vauraus on tuonut maasainuorille uusia mahdollisuuksia elämään ja kaikille pääsyn Instaan ja Tubeen. Arvostan.
Toinen ja tämän matkan viimeinen kävely käynnistyy aamuseitsemältä.
Kypsän mangon värinen aurinko on juuri noussut. Afrikanpöllöpari (African Wood Owl) vetäisee viimeisen matalan dueton, sammakkolammen yökonsertti on tauonnut jo aiemmin.
John odottaa meitä ravintolateltan luona.
Kuten aina töissä, tänäänkin päällä on maasaimiehen virkapuku: yhdestä kangaspalasta leikattu polvipituinen, hihaton kietaisuasu, swahiliksi kanga (Wettenhovi-Aspa: ”Jes!”) Punaista skottiruutukangaa näkee paljon. Paljaissa jaloissa on mustat muovisandaalit. Lanteilla roikkuu helmipunoksesta ja pienistä, kiiltävistä metallipelleteistä kokoonpantu vyö, joka helisee vienosti kävellessä. Kaulakoru samaa tyyliä. Värikkäästi helmikirjailtu ranneke kummassakin kädessä.
Tämä on korujen normisetti, joka täydentyy tarvittaessa lisämateriaalilla.
Monella on näkynyt myös korvakoruja. Johninkin korvalehtien päällä on isot reiät, mutta ainakaan meidän nähden hän ei ole pitänyt niissä mitään. Epäilen, että pitkät, metalliset helistimet suoraan korvakäytävän edessä haittaavat pahasti kuulemista.
Lämpötila ei ole vielä noussut 20:een. Perinteinen apu kylmyyttä vastaan on iso mutta ohut villahuivi. Maasait käärivät ja solmivat siitä monenlaisia variaatioita yläkropan suojaksi. Kätevä kuin mikä. Punaista väriä suositaan siinäkin. Modernimpi lämmike on vetoketjullinen fleece. Johnilla on molemmat.
Vapaa-ajalla kanga vaihtuu shortseihin ja t-paitaan.
Kävelyseurueeseen liittyy tällä kertaa peräti neljä muuta maasaita. Tulee ihan VIP-olo.
Läntinen osa Leopard Hillin aluetta on tiheästi kasvavaa pusikkoa, idässä sen sijaan aukeaa ruohikkoinen kaistale. Sinne.
Hyeenan ja virtahevon jälkiä. Liukkaita saviläntäreitä.
Maasait puhuvat keskenään lähes tauotta. Kieli on nopeaa, rullaavaa, vokaalipainotteista.
Pahkasian pesue saa ainakin minut hätkähtämään. Emo ja possut pärähtävät esiin maakuopasta ja säntäävät häntä pystyssä kohti pensaikon reunaa.
Iso lauma hirviantilooppeja (eland) väistää heti kun huomaa meidät, kiirehtii ylös kivikkoista rinnettä. Suurin nykyään elävä antilooppi on paljon säikympi kuin pienemmät serkkunsa.
John pysähtyy, ottaa Nikon-kiikarit esiin ja ryhtyy tuijottamaan kasvillisuuden peittämää kukkulaa muutaman kilometrin päässä. Meidän ja kukkulan välissä on soinen alue. Puita harvassa ja nekin pieniä, vetisiä silmäkkeitä siellä täällä.
Kukkulan rinteellä erottuu kaistale paljasta kalliota. Sen laella, juuri ja juuri kiikarietäisyyden päässä, lepää leopardi. Näin kaukaa ei näe kuin pään muodon ja yleisvärin (ruskehtava). Turkin tyylikästä täplitystä ei pysty erottamaan.
– They told me that it has been seen here for the last five days.
Lähdetään etsimään paikkaa, josta sen näkisi paremmin. Kahlataan kahden reippaasti virtaavan pikkujoen yli, noustaan elandien jäljissä viereiselle kukkulalle, puserrutaan puskien läpi, väistellään piikkisiä akaasioita, loikitaan kiveltä toiselle. Tulee hiki.
Sillä välin leopardi on vaihtanut paikkaa, siirtynyt enemmän varjoon. Nyt siitä näkyy vain hännän vaalea pää ja toinen korva.
Hiki sumentaa silmälasit, kädet tärräävät.
Puoli tuntia seistään ja kiikaroidaan. Lopulta leopardi nousee ylös, venyttelee ja katoaa. Mutta hei—kallion takaa tulee saman tien esiin kaksi muuta, pienempää hahmoa. Pentuja!
Expedition Leopard Hill oli menestys. Tutkimusmatkailijat palasivat hengissä leiriin.
Tämä oli jo toinen leopardihavainto tällä matkalla. Maasai Marassa meillä oli onnea heti ensimmäisenä iltana: emo ja pentu tapasivat toisensa päivän päätteeksi ruohosavannilla, leikkivät yhdessä ja viettivät muutenkin laatuaikaa. Valo oli silloin jo vähissä. Kuvista tuli pehmeitä ja rakeisia.
6.2
Kenian ihmeitten joukosta valitsen paluumatkalle muistoksi viirupääskyn (Lesser striped swallow). Yleinen telttaleirien lähellä. Lämpimää ruskeaa, yönsinistä, vahvasti viiruinen vatsa. Ja—laululintu! Kolmen askeleen pärisevä, laskeva sarja, kuin entisajan modeemin numerovalinta. Hymyilyttää joka kerta. Pariskunta seisoo vierekkäin puuverannan kaiteella ja laulaa vuorovedoin.
Julkaistu alun perin Facebookissa ja Twitterissä. Tässä versiossa poistettu toimimattomia linkkejä yms.
9.8
Place: Hotel Fazenda Baia das Pedras (-19.2568653384, -55.7862468326)
Address: Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
Aamupäivän autokierros sillä osaa tiluksia, joka on tulvan alla. “This is the fourth year when rainy season and dry season are kind of mixed”, sanoo luonto-opas Stefan joka tuli samalla Cessna-kyydillä Campo Grandesta. “It’s been raining quite a lot in a few weeks”.
Sitä en tiennyt, että suurin osa tätä Pantanalin suistoaluetta on yksityisomistuksessa. Kaikki yhtä suurta ulkoilmaeläintarhaa; samalla tulvaniityllä nautoja, hevosia, kapybaroja, kaimaaneja ja sikoja. Viimeksi mainittuja on sekä kesyjä että villiintyneitä (feral pigs).
Doio ja Rita Coelho Liman tilalla on kokoa 17 000 hehtaaria. Parikymmentä kilometriä suuntaansa.
Kylmä säärintama on päällä, ja näkyvyyttä muutama sata metriä aina kello kymmeneen asti.
13.8 Tweets
The fan bolted to the wall has the same sound as the 4-seat Cessna we flew with from Campo Grande in here, Baia das Pedras, Pantanal. The skyline of Campo Grande is surprisingly grand. “Cow money”, says Stefan, a naturalist guide who came to Brazil five years ago. The city has got one of the biggest slaughterhouses in South America.
The wifi of the lodge is aptly named ‘INTERNET’. No password. Here, the nearest neighbour is more than 20 km away.
The cattle ranch of Doio and Rita Coelho Lima is 17 000 hectars, twice the size of the metropolitan area of São Paulo. Everything is XL incl. the Giant Armadillos, the main reason why we stay here.
Pantanal is privately owned, give or take some smaller patches of land. For research, this is not necessarily a bad thing.
14.8
On the far end of the sandy courtyard is the tent camp of the research team. Under a low shelter nearby is the cage of Gaja. Gaja is trained to become an armadillo tracker. “She also finds bat guano”, explains her owner, a biologist-cum-dog entrepreneur. The dog already masters the various flavors of the armadillo scent. Next lesson: how to stay put when a nesting burrow is found.
Dr. Arnaud Desbiez locks his dark eyes on you and fires a series of sarcastic comments. “In-the-resting’? So British. Field work is boooring”. Arnaud knows the ins and outs of his field of research. It’s also obvious that in him the team has a leader who is fun to work with.
Mating frenzy of Yellow Armadillos 4-5 PM. Much running on a sandy road, digging reddish soil, pushing & hissing. 1 female, 4 males.
The ranch has nearly 6000 cows. Last year, pumas killed 50 calves. Rita raises seven fingers. “Jaguar kills.”
On one side of the main building: 75 yro mango trees, a perfect shade for a herd of domestic pigs in all sizes & color combinations.
The late Michael Jackson would be green with envy. This is a vast private zoo where rare wildlife wanders together with livestock.
9-11 AM, Gabriel Massocato plays (well) a double role: polite host serving water and crackers & serious scientist doing field work.
We are at the Cerrado, sitting quietly under a lone tree. 20 meters ahead of us, underground, is a Southern Naked-tailed Armadillo. This is nature geocaching with high stakes. The animal (it’s a she) has got a GPS chip. The battery lasts for about 8 months.
Gabriel takes a light, hand-held antenna (familiar from nature documentaries), clicks the receiver to channel 6, and concentrates. Faint, steady PINGs among electrical cacophony. Gabriel nods. “Still there.” When the armadillo moves, the sound begins to oscillate.
She was found by the Giant Armadillo Project. “By accident”, Gabriel smiles behind his sunglasses. He observes her from time to time.
The armadillo comes up few times a day between 9 and 15, and stays out in the open from a few minutes up to half an hour. We wait. Gabriel tiptoes forward, listens, and draws a circle in the air ~5m from the hole the animal had dug, went into, and covered. “I heard it brake a root, it’s on a move”. Cameras, ready.
The script said that she’d first put out her nose, sniff the air ~5 min, and when all clear, start walking about.
What she did however, was that she basically popped up at once, and scurried behind a hump of ground at the back of the stage. Maybe she was extra hungry. During the ~10 min she was up, she started to dig in several places, looking for ants and termites. Big ears, that was my first impression of the armadillo. Didn’t really have the chance to see its big claws, nor the famous tail.
The most common avian predator is Southern Crested Caracara. I don’t fancy acts of chase, but this time couldn’t help watching one.
We were filming the nest of a Jabiru, 100 m from the main building. The nest is on a massive dead tree overlooking a sheep pen. Enter Caracara, chaising a Cattle Egret, which is roughly its size. Such a dumb idea of the egret to land inside the cramped pen! Sheep are not the smartest of animals, but the way they totally ignored what was going on around them, was odd. Caracara hops from sheep to sheep, trying to catch the egret that zigzags in the dense jungle of feet. When it all starts to look desperate, a miracle: the egret gets enough space and flies over the wire fence. There, it finds allies.
Nesting Southern Lapwings patrol the wet fields, chasing away all suspicious creatures, in which they include everyone. What lapwings do not tolerate a second are raptors. The caracara doesn’t take any risks of loosing tail feathers, and gives up.
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In the dusk, few dozen Nacunda Nighthawks lay on the ground near water, purring. Then, in a white flash of fluttering wings, they all take off at the same time.
Although this is dry season, it’s been raining so much that low areas are flooding. Capybaras, caimans, frogs & waterfowl everywhere.
All big parrots are fantastic, but Hyacint Macaws are stupendous in so many ways. When you see them on the ground, breaking nuts with their huge bill, you start to suspect that wordly scales are somehow distorted.
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On a shelf in the corner of the cabin is a small gadget. Every 15 min it emits repellent w/ a loud sneeze as if it’d have a bad cold.
Ipê-amarelos are in full bloom. The yellow is so – yellow
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Place: Hotel Mohave (-20.46708, -54.63005)
Address: Avenida Afonso Pena, 602, 79005-001 Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
Eilen: kuusi tuntia Pantanalista tänne poliisin kyydissä.
“On the road”, sanoi Stefan ja piirsi virtuaalihipsut. Ensin ranchilta kaksi tuntia tietöntä savannia, sitten järjettömän pölyinen suora kohti Campo Grandea. Toisessa suunnassa tie päättyy toiseen farmiin; tie on olemassa jotta karjankuljetusautot pääsevät tänne osaa Pantanalia hakemaan eläimet Campo Grandeen teurastettaviksi.
Jefferson, vähäpuheinen kolmekymppinen on ammatiltaan poliisi mutta tekee myös ajokeikkaa Pantanaliin. Eikä siinä kaikki, ammattilentäjäopinnot ovat puolivälissä.
Taajamasta toiseen. Aamiaisen jälkeen taksi kentälle ja Gol-koneen nokka kohti Cuiabáa, pohjoisen Mato Grosson pääkaupunkia.
Campo Grande on toffeen ystävien salainen kokoontumispaikka. Tästä ja muusta ensi kerralla.
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Traffic around the airport of Cuiabá, the capital of Mato Grosso, is slightly chaotic. A tram line is under construction. Tracks are there already, and the site is buzzing with workforce. On the horizon, Cuiabás skyscrapers. This is the town of Varzéa Grande.
To see some wildlife, you only need to drive 30 minutes, pass 50 roundabouts and cross 100 speed bumps. And not just “some” wildlife but Black-tailed Marmosets, living in a tiny protected area of 4 hectars.
The marmosets are so used to people (and bananas they usually bring) that it doesn’t take long before the group is there. We people are different in that a) no bananas and b) we climbed over the fence to get in. Unlike agreed, the gate was closed. Anyway, marmosets were fun to watch. Sadly, all man-made noise almost drowned their very high-pitched, birdlike communication.
Next: on Transpantaneira as long as it lasts, which is Porto Jofre.
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Transpantaneira is a dirt road. Before it reaches Porto Jofre, you’ve crossed 145 wooden bridges (says the driver, Wikipedia: 122). Before long, roadsides begin to be marked by motionless, gleaming, 1-2 m long items that seem to be casted out of metal. The number of Spectacled Caimans is staggering. In the late morning sun, these crocodilian reptiles look like seals. On top of electric power poles: bulky, multichambered nests of Monk Parakeet colonies. The power line ends hrs before the 6 hr ride.
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‘ONE JAGUAR PER LINE, PLS.’ Onboard the Jaguar Flotel operated by SouthWild, on a white felt pen board, is a jag log. The flotel is anchored on the Cuiabá river bank, 30 min boat ride from Porto Jofre. Jaguar data is a table. Sightings in rows, variables in columns: date, name, relation, time, where, behaviors. The oldest date on the board is 13th August. “On average, we see 2.5 jaguars per day”, says Dr. Charles A. Munn. Data confirms his words. 14 rows in the last 7 days.
Munn is a known figure in nature tourism of S America. Tall, dreamy-eyed and courteous, he is a successful businessman personified. Finnish names incl. ours are notoriously difficult to pronounce. Not to him. Busy, Munn is only on a short visit to the flotel.
Arms race also in Pantanal. The bigger engine on the boat, the quicker you arrive to the jag; the longer lens, the closer close-ups. When the walkie-talkie shouts “onça!”, big guys & girls vanish behind the next bend, leaving us put-putting in their foamy waves. Then again, we are here longer than most, six nights. Average on this flotel seems to be 2.
“Very large and heavy, built for power, not for speed” as Louise H. Emmons puts it. The first wild jaguar I see in my life walks languidly along a river bank. It’s 4 PM, and the heat of the day is slowly cooling down. In today’s beauty standards, the cat might perhaps lose some pounds. Still, a handsome animal. “In Amazon, jaguars weigh up to 120 kg, here to 150”, says Oscar who is guiding us. He is a lowland Peruvian w/ experience on both. The patterns on the body resemble the city block structure of Barcelona from above. The rest is more plotty. People in SouthWild know the local population. 20+ different individuals are identified.
During the daily agenda of 5+3 hrs on the boat, slowly going up and down the small tributaries of Cuiabá, your mind starts to wander. Water has the color of liquid cream fudge. The riverbed looks convex. Filming here is nerve-wrecking. Photographers can shoot from the boat but for the tripod we need solid ground, often N/A. Also, no chance of natural sound. Engines, walkie-talkie blabber and human OOH!’s fill the audio track. Understandable, unavoidable. Rant over. In 4 days, good footage of 9 different big cats, one found by us (=captain). You become spoiled so easily, and want more.
The flotel creates a small watery ecosystem between it and the shore. In its fauna: Amazon Kingfisher, Rufescent Tiger Heron, Rufous-Tailed Jacamar, Yellow-billed Cardinal, capybara (w/ 2 cubs), caiman.
On the same (!) side of the river but 100 m away, under the shade of a tree, a female jaguar named Patricia. Patricia had a sore left front paw. When she finally stood up and walked away, she limped.
22.8
Jaguar Flotellin peltikatto laajenee rämähtäen keskipäivän auringossa.
Ollaan Cuiabá-joella, puolen tunnin venematkan päässä Porto Jofresta.
Joen rantapenkasta kuuluu Rufous-tailed Jacamarin kireitä, yksittäisiä kirkaisuja.
Siinä parin metrin levyisessä, muutama kymmenen metriä pitkässä vesiekosysteemissä, jonka SouthWild-firman asuntolaiva muodostaa penkan puolelle, muutama Amazon Kingfisher kisaa strategisesti parhaista oksista puussa. Puu on joskus kaatunut jokeen mutta toistaiseksi jäänyt paikalleen, koska juuristo haraa vielä vastaan. Kuningaskalastajalle on a ja o saada hyvä paikka mistä tuijottaa pikkukaloja.
Capybara on täsmälleen saman värinen kuin penkan savi. Ruskea, mutainen ja auringon kilon juovittama. Sen kaksi pientä poikasta – normaali lapsiperheen koko täällä – erottuvat juuri ja juuri, niin tiukasti ne painautuvat emon takaliston suojaan. Penkkaa ei tällä kohtaa ole nimeksikään.
Silmälasikaimaani on liikkumattomana pysymisen ammattilainen. Vaatii melkoisia lihaksia olla tekemättä mitään, vaikka paksu panssari ehkä jeesaakin. Tässä paikassa se on yksin, mutta pienillä sivujoilla niitä on niin paljon, että vaikka moottoriveneen kuljettaja yrittää väistellä, aina johonkin kopsahtaa. Kaimaaniurosten tyyliin kuuluu kellua keskellä jokea osoittamassa missä menee veteen piirrettynä viivana niiden reviiri. Isoimpia lukuun ottamatta kaikki lopulta väistävät. Isot kihot eivät liikahda vaan alkavat uhittelemaan veneelle; matalat, äänekkäät urahdukset kuulostavat matelijaksi harvinaisen nisäkäsmäisiltä.
Flotellin capybara on sekin poikkeus. Yleensä nämä isot jyrsijät ovat pieninä perhekuntina avarilla paikoilla jokien vihreillä rantatörmillä tai hiekkasärkillä. Ne erottaa jo kaukaa. Kuono on tutun neliskanttinen ja koko olemus pönäkkä vertikaalinen möntti horisontaalisessa maisemassa. “Unmistakable” kuten tavataan sanoa eläimestä, jota ei hevillä voi luulla muuksi. Etelä-Pantanalin puolella, Baia das Pedraksen tulvaniityillä, villiintyneitä isoja sikoja saattoi erehtyä pitämään capybaroina ja päinvastoin, koska korkea heinä esti näkyvyyttä ja aakeaa laakeaa oli kilometritolkulla. Täällä pohjoisen suistoalueella näkee sivusuunnassa vain joen leveydeltä, eteen ja taakse sen verran kun joessa on suoraa pätkää, mikä ei yleensä ole paljon. Eipä silti, vedessä veneessä mittasuhteet ovat vaikeita, tottumattomalle.
Kahdeksan tuntia päivässä, viisi päivää putkeen. Veneessä ei ole katosta. Vielä ei auringonpistosta ole tullut, vaikka sitä tarmokkaasti nenästä kaivetaankin.
Perämoottorin heppamäärä on niin vaatimaton, että kuljettaja on peittänyt koko hoidon hupulla. Täällä jylläävät vähintään 100-hevosvoimaiset. Sen todella huomaa kun tulee kiire. Hetki vain, ja muut veneet kaartavat näkymättömiin. Me putputamme perässä, isoja jälkimaininkeja väistellen.
Eipä silti, meillä on aikaa. Kuusi yötä, kun muut ovat flotellilla keskimäärin noin kaksi.
Kiireen aloittaa radiopuhelimen yhtäkkinen, säröinen metakka.
“Onça?” Perusta kotoisin oleva luonto-opas Oscar, joka istuu etutuhdolla, kääntyy kuljettajaan päin. Moottorin pärinältä ei kuule mitään, mutta Oscarin huulilta pystyy lukemaan. Tämä, “Otra onça?” ja “Vamos” muodostavat oppaan ja kuljettajan välisen keskeisen, yhteisen sanavaraston. Oscar puhuu espanjaa ja vähän englantia, kuljettaja vain portugalia. Me istumme keskellä ja viittilöimme millä kielellä vaan.
Kun jaguaarihavainto on varmistunut, nupit kaakkoon! Se lisää volyymiä, ei juurikaan vauhtia.
Välimatkojen taittaminen kestää yleensä puolesta tunnista tuntiin. Aina ei ehditä paikalle ajoissa. Finder’s keepers tuntuu olevan vallalla, eli ne jotka jaguaarin äkkäävät, saavat kuvata jonkun aikaa ennen kuin ilmoittavat muille. Jos ilmoittavat. Täällä pelataan kaikenlaista peliä.
Oscar on kriittinen Brasilian ja eritoten Pantanalin menolle. “No rules, no national park. In Manú, we have rules.” Manún kansallispuistosta Perussa on juteltu sen mitä keskustelemaan on pystytty, koska 2007 syys-lokakuussa olimme siellä, ja paikka on myös Oscarille tuttu.
Tämä osa Pantanalia on valtion omistamaa, mutta kukaan muu ei valvo mitä täällä tehdään ja miten, kuin turismia pyörittävät yritykset itse. Kansallispuisto toisi sisäänpääsymaksun, jolla palkata valvojia. Ei se tietysti ainoa ratkaisu ole. Myös neighbour watch voi toimia, mutta vain jos kaikilla on yhteinen eettinen säännöstö kirkkaana mielessä ja sitä noudatetaan. Näin ei ole. Houkutukset ovat liian suuret. Tänään nähtiin esimerkki.
Jättiläisjokisaukkoja ei tapaa usein, vaikka ne eivät varsinaisesti harvinaisia olekaan. Kaikki toki haluavat niistä kuvia. Hurjia, isoja, kuvauksellisia eläimiä.
Pantanal Eco Explorer oli paikalla kahdella veneellä. Toisessa oli kuljettajan lisäksi joukko vanhempia naisia, toisessa yksinäinen mies. Kaikilla isot putket kameroissa ja muutkin välineet viimeistä huutoa. Ammattikuvaajia tai kunnianhimoisia amatöörejä.
Naisten vene ohjattiin jatkuvasti kaikkien muitten eteen, aivan saukkojen viereen. Muut veneet pitivät etäisyyttä vähintään 5-10 metriä, mikä on virtapaikoissa inhimillistä (tai eläimellistä, miltä kantilta sen nyt ottaa).
Miehen veneen annettiin vapaasti ajautua kiinni saukkoihin niin, että niiden oli pakko sukeltaa viime hetkellä turvaan. Kun osa saukkoryhmästä siirtyi pienelle lammelle, sama vene ohjattiin sen suulle. Näin saukot jäivät nalkkiin veneen eri puolille. Saukkojen ääntely on voimakasta ja vaikkei sen sanomaa voi tietysti tajutakaan, vaistonvaraisesti ymmärsi että ne olivat hädissään. Ryhmän integriteettiä oli uhattu.
Valokuvaajalle huudettiin useasta muustakin veneestä, mutta tyypin ilme ei värähtänytkään. Puistattavaa. Hän voi tietysti aina sanoa, että so what, hän vaan kuvaa ja venettä hoitaa joku muu, niin kuin tekikin. Isoin syyttävä sormi osoittaa firmaan, mutta kyllä kuvaajallakin oli osansa. Hän olisi voinut kieltää moisen toiminnan.
Luontomatkailussa on aina mukana nurja puoli. Sitä pitää yrittää minimoida, ei maksimoida. Toivottavasti kukaan ei osta näitä valokuvia, on äärihurskas toive. Firman nimen voi aina yrittää nostaa kuivumaan, mutta kuvaajasta ei ole tietoa.
Jaguaareja? Kyllä! 4,5 vuorokauden ja 35 tunnin (5 tuntia jäljellä) jokikruisailun tuloksena on muisti-, valo- ja videokuvaa yhdeksästä eri jaguaarista. Se on vajaa kolmasosa siitä kissapopulaatiosta, jonka täkäläiset tunnistavat, lähinnä pään täplityksen perusteella.
Ensimmäinen vaikutelma: aika paksu jaguaariksi. Tanakka. Kaunis eläin! Kellertävä pohjaväri. Vartalon kuviot tuovat mieleen Barcelonan korttelirakenteen ilmasta katsottuna; kaupungin matkamuistoista tuttu. Pää, jalat ja vatsa täpläisiä, hännässä paljon mustaa. Iso pää.
Eräät tahot väittävät, että jaguaareja syötetään täällä. Että niitä ei muuten olisi näin paljon ja useimmiten “hot spoteissa”, tiettyjen Cuiabá-joen sivuhaarojen yläjuoksulla. Toiset tahot sanovat että bullshit. Oma vaatimaton vaikutelmani on, että ei syötetä. Jokainen näyttäytyminen on ollut erilainen ja eri paikassa. Kolme kertaa jaguaari on ollut metsästämässä, kävellyt tarmokkaasti rantapenkkaa eteenpäin. Kahdessa näistä se sai lopulta kiinni kaimaanin – mikä ei liene vaikea homma, mutta riskinsä saattaa siinäkin olla. Muut kissat ovat torkkuneet, istuskelleet, käveleskelleet.
Muita nisäkkäitä onkin sitten vähemmän tässä osassa Pantanalia. Mustia mölyapinoita (tyypillistä nimipolitiikkaa, sillä vain koiras on musta, naaras on täysin vaalea) on näkynyt muutamia. Tapiiri on harvinainen toisin kuin Etelä-Pantanalin puolella. Siellä me näimme kolme, kaikki puolen tunnin sisään.
Yksi iltakeikka jäljellä, pari tuntia huomisaamuna. Sitten takaisin Porto Jofreen, Transpantanalia jonkun matkaa ja yöpyminen SouthWild-firman lodgessa. Mutta se onkin sitten jo aivan toinen juttu.
Vamos!
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I stand corrected about (at least) two things about jaguars. First, the one that our crew found, has the name Bianca, not Patricia. Secondly, the number of identified cats THIS YEAR is 20+. Over the years, they’ve recognized up to 80.
Two hours of Transpantaneira towards Poconé, sitting up on an open truck, is a multi-sense experience. There is not much traffic but every vehicle produces a frightening, yellowish cloud of dust that lasts a small eternity. Patience is Oscar’s 2nd name. He arrived from Peru by bus. “Three days”, he shouts over the wind, flashing a wide but narrow smile. A stereotypic Finn isn’t a cocktail party hot-shot, but I’m sure Oscar could stay silent for weeks.
Our 2 ppl (hobby) filming team is a toy project compared to what Oscar has been contributing to. In 2012, Luc Jacquet (eg ‘March of the Penguins’) filmed ‘Il était une forêt’ in Peru. Oscar & co took part in pre-production.
Back in the land of gates. Wandering on dry land of Pantanal means that you frequently depart one cow pasture and arrive in another.
SouthWild Pantanal Lodge along the Pixaim River is a former cattle ranch, now a relaxed overnight hotel.
At 5:15 you wake up to a peculiar sound. Like after heavy rain, when wather is still pouring out of drainpipes in irregular splashes. A herd of capybaras is munching grass in front of the cabin. Fresh, muddy footprints on the pale concrete terrace floor.
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Along rivers, you often see jabirus standing alone on the shore. A tall, long-legged, silent figure. Body wrapped in a big white cape, it stands still.
The black head continues as a black peak. Vis-à-vis body, the structure makes jabiru a muscular eighth note. I try to avoid anthropomorphism, but a lone jabiru, staring at horizon, is a character from an Ingmar Bergman film.
Many young jabirus grow up in an almost uninterrupted, loud chatter of Monk Parakeets. These middle-sized parrots like to build their community dwellings underneath jabiru’s bulgy nest. The roof part they can skip.
Jabiru families are in different stages. Many nests are occupied & repaired but without any sign yet of incubation activity. In quite many other nests, hairy juveniles (often 2) half the size of an adult. Their bill looks like carved from old driftwood. An iconic bird – closely followed by the Toco toucan – jabiru waits for you already at international airports. Looking for a wooden jabiru with cool, dark sunglasses? Or a guitar playing jaguar? No problem.
The rainy season is approaching. Dryness cannot get much drier, hot hotter. On Tuesday afternoon, thermometer hits 37°C. Farmers have already started seasonal burnings. Sunsets are extra-red and smoky.
For a reason only known by the two Tegu lizards themselves, they walk around the yard of Pouso Alegre Lodge only counterclockwise. The older one has a broken tail. Despite this, the ranking order is clear: age rules. Depends on whom you ask, of course. Tegu looks like a hybrid of iguana and monitor lizard. Iguana’s flshy neck. Body and walking style of monitor.
They are at the right place. The owner, Luiz Vicente Campos, is a part-time herpetologist.
“But nowadayz, no time to anything”. His English is perfect, decorated with the musical s’s of local Portuguese. In a 6-yr research project at the lodge, they’ve listed 40 species of snakes. “When we started, I was aware of 15. My guess is we’ll find 50.” Luiz himself has done field work by traps: a few meter of green net strategically placed on the ground leads to a plastic can.
The only snake so far: a motionless Yellow-tailed Cribo, eye-level, on top of vegetation on Cuiabá River.
Wasp nests can be perplexingly elaborate. 30 min walking distance from the lodge, ~3 m up on a tree trunk, was one such. This one was not yet finished but the shape was there already: Synoeca Big, dark, elegant wasps.
A group of 5+ Long-tailed Marmosets in an island of dry forest. Fur&tail in much better shape than on those in Cuiabá. Which is nice.
Lodges w/ all the food are lucrative for wildlife, and ppl love to see animals. We too. But there’s a tradeoff. “Coatis, they are worst.” Danilo Kluyber shakes his head. He works as a vet in the Giant Armadillo Project. “Teeth like chisels.” All is well as long as food is served as usual. But if not, the cuddly South American Coati can turn mean.
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Insect life has been quiet. This one was up on the wall during lunch time.
The Bare-faced Curassow is “shy in most areas, but due to reduced hunting pressure now much tamer along Transpantaneira.” True. The 1st thing we see when we sign in to Araras Eco Lodge at noon: 3 curassow’s (female, 2 males) wander in the outdoor lunch area. Several Chaco Chachalacas and Purplish Jays plus countless Yellow-billed Cardinals are present, too. In a man-made multi-level fountain, a Narrow-billed Woodcreeper takes a bath by first dipping its tail. Sayaca Tanager just drinks. So much avian fauna so close to food keeps staff busy. Every item has to be under cover, and cleaning takes time.
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A Brown Capuchin Monkey takes a firm position, and bangs a palm nut four times against a thick horizontal branch. It is left-handed. Two more vigorous hits, and the nut cracks open.
Do you see gray, 1-2 m tall, pointy or tombstone kind of termite mounds? If yes, you’re in the Northern Pantanal. If mounds are of reddish soil, max 1 m tall, and of roundish shape like blown inside, that’s the South style. Point anyone in S/N at this or other difference that a tourist notices, and you’ll hear:”Oh, but we do have them here also!” In S you’ll see Burrowing Owls, Red-legged Seriemas and armadillos, not in the N. Maybe soil in S is more sandy, easier to dig, and more of clay in N? “No no, we have sandy areas here too”, Luiz’s answer is quick. “There were armadillos when I waz a child. More flooding here I suppose.”
“We are like the UN here. So many nationalities. Nice!” An explosive laughter cuts the soundscape of the A/C’ed dining room. Like all ranch/lodge owners we’ve met on this trip, also Andre Thuronyi spends quite some time w/ his guests, especially the meals. The size of his property, Araras Ecolodge, divided by Transplantaneira in two slices, is 1/10 of that of Baia das Pedras. Faded jeans, loose white shirt, wild hair, barefoot. Thuronyi’s slim figure is that of a well-matured rock star. “I don’t speak Hungarian”, he says. Over a plate of grilled fish, mashed pumpkin, rice, beans & salad, few words on Uralic languages.
Looking back, It was the “tittarfilm” competition of SVT Natur about 10 years ago that made me aware of Pantanal. I wonder what places here the lucky winner visited, and what they were like. I didn’t know how much is not known. Take savanna, for instance. Preservation today is a Q of attention value. It’s been said that savannas and dry forests are far less glamorous ecosystems than rainforests, which is probably true.
After few weeks in Brazil, I cannot get rid of the silly feeling that all of this is some film by Werner Herzog. The spirit of adventure and unexplored wilderness is there. Yet, Brazil is a booming industrial nation with e.g. car manufacturing. VW 4×4 is a common sight.
At the overnight hotel in Campo Grande, I flipped through the TV channels. You know you are in an agricultural power land when you switch over to Canal Rural. The channel is owned by JBS S.A., a food processing giant.
In the program that was on, a slideshow was presented, visualizing some statistics.
Days with the same, previously unknown, private naturalist guide follow roughly the Hype Cycle. With Aynore, we are now on the Plateau of Productivity. BTW, I’ve no idea if guides in turn experience mood changes towards their clients. Guiding is their job, after all. Of all guides I’ve met, Aynore is among the most pro ones. Specialized in birds, but tracking mammals belongs to his assets too.
Frankly, I didn’t realize that Pantanal would be this hot. Yesterday 40°C. Today, at least the same. Rainforests stay cool-ish. Open land like this, not. During the night, temperature drops slowly to 25 or so.
1.9
Place: Araras Eco Lodge, Pantanal, Brazil (-16.512013551896, -56.711254119873)
Address: Rodovia Transpantaneira, km 32, 78175-000 Poconé, MT, Brazil
Kello on 5:30. Hetki, jolloin ei ole enää pimeää mutta valostakaan ei voi vielä puhua. Aurinko nousee kuuden maissa.
Betonisen kävelytien mutkassa seisoo Aynore Soares. Hänet erottaa juuri ja juuri. “Had a good rest?” Tummasta hahmosta irtoaa käsi. Se heilahtaa kohti Araras Ecolodgen pihan nurkasta alkavaa pitkää puista kävelysiltaa. “This way. Let’s go.”
Jos joku on täsmällinen liikkeissään, se on Aynore. Kun valoa tulee muutama lumen lisää, näkee mitä hänellä on yllään. Eikä se olekaan mikä tahansa lenkkeilyasu vaan täydellinen sotisopa jolla villi luonto otetaan haltuun.
Farkut; maastokengät; vihreä kauluspaita hihat viikattuna hauiksen alapuolelle; maastokuvioinen lierihattu nyöri kireänä takaraivon kohouman alla; harun lierin päällä aurinkolasit; harmaat liivit, joiden etumuksessa on useita erikokoisia, läpällisiä taskuja välineille joita en osaa kuvitellakaan saati selostaa; henkselit, joilla maastokuvioitu kiikari pysyy heilumatta rintalastan päällä; lanteilla vihreä vyö, josta roikkuu, vartalon eri puolilla, viidakkoveitsikotelo ja musta vyölaukku (jossa laserosoitin ja MP3-soitin linnunäänineen), molemmat nyöritettynä reiden ympäri etteivät ne hakkaa kävellessä reittä vasten; housunkauluksessa, takataskun seutuvilla, klipillä radiopuhelin; selässä iso reppu jonka painoa jakaa rinnan yli kiinnitetty hihna; kädessä monopodi kameralle.
Aynore kävelee hallitun ripeästi ja tasapainoisesti, selkä suorana, kyynärpäät hieman koholla. Kääntelee samalla päätään puolelta toiselle ja skannaa tiukasti ympäristöä kapean lierin alta.
Reilut 180 senttiä urheilullista, parransänkistä, tummasilmäistä, matalaäänistä, noin kolmekymppistä brasilialaista miestä. Ei ole vaikea kuvitella elokuvaa/peliä/kirjaa/leluvalikoimaa, jossa hänenlaisensa eco-warrior taistelee hyvien puolella ahneita luonnontuhoajapahiksia vastaan.
“Excuse me, I have to take my medicine”. Aynore poistuu illallispöydästä varhain. Sen ajan minkä hän pöydässä viettää, hän on hiljaa ja syö nopeasti.
Vielä joitakin vuosia sitten tämä luonto-oppaamme oli lupaava ratsastuksenopettaja. “I have been riding horses since I was four”, kertoo hänen LinkedIn-profiilinsa. Sitten, onnettomuus. Mikä, sitä hän ei ole tarkentanut emmekä ole viitsineet udella enempää. Veikkauksia: hevosen selästä putoaminen, hevosen potku, autokolari. Oli mikä oli, leukaluu murtui. “Eating hurts.”
Naurettavuuden rajoja hipovan täsmävarustelun selittää neljä vuotta armeijan palveluksessa.
Matkan kolme luonto-opasta (Stefan, Oscar, Aynore) olivat kaikki erikoistuneet lintuihin, mitä emme olleet suinkaan toivoneet. Linnut ovat jees ja niitä on helppo seurata, mutta luonto on niin paljon enemmän kuin ne. Hyvät yleisluonto-oppaat ovat harvassa. Erikoistumisen ymmärtää kun näkee, miten isoimmat rahat liikkuvat juurikin lintuturismissa, edelleen. Voisin joskus avautua tästä asiasta enemmänkin mutta en nyt, viimeisenä päivänä Pantanalissa.
Stefan on ainoa tapaamani ihminen, jolla on kolmen maan passi: Brasilia, USA ja Hollanti. “That’s difficult to say”, hän nauroi kun ensi kertaa kysyin mistä hän on kotoisin. Syntynyt Rio de Janeirossa, äiti Kaliforniasta, isä Hollannista. Vuoden ikäisenä Englantiin, jossa asui n. 30 vuotta. Kielitieteen yliopisto-opinnot Edinburgissa, Skotlannissa. Ala-asteen opettajana. Viimeiset viisi vuotta Brasiliassa, Pantanalin tietämillä. Isällä oli sielä karjatila, joka harjoitti myös luontomatkailua. Yleinen konsepti täällä. Itseoppinut freelancer luonto-opas, jonka kanssa oli mukava jutella mistä vaan mm. koska englanti.
Huomenna kamat kassiin, aamulla pari tuntia autolla Cuiabáan ja sieltä sitten lentokenttähyppelyllä lopulta Helsinki-Vantaalle.
Jo on aikakin. Päivä päivältä kuumempaa ja kuivempaa. Ei jaksa kävellä, ja suolainen hiki valuu silmiin.
Tää Pantanal on niin nähty.
2.9. Tweets
Marshy area at the back of the lodge. From there, repeated whines of an immature Black-collared Hawk. Mom isn’t much bigger. Similar family scenes 1: A couple of Plumbeous Ibis feeds their twins. Long decurved bills mean laborious I/O syncing. 2: The immature Southern Crested Caracara is still a crybaby. When a frog escapes, the wanna-be mighty predator starts to weep.
This. Cuiabá River just after sunset. First big bats fly around the boat, near water. Sky, still bright, shines through their wings.
Julkaistu alun perin Instagramissa.
8.7
Carretera a Manu, the Manu Road, is sometimes so hairy that the same dust that your vehicle generates is sucked in when you drive around the bend. The dry season is still young but the amount of fine-grained, yellowish dust is already epic.
The road begins after Paucartambo, a three hour ride from Cusco. Today, this first leg, Carretera a Cusco, is paved, which means potentially (and also actually) faster driving. Your stomach switches to alert mode if you are me and sit on the back.
The Manu Road ends in Atalaya, by the shore of the river Alto Madre de Dios. In 2007 the only option from Atalaya onwards, from the department of Cusco to the department of Madre de Dios, was by boat. Now there is also a road. It follows Alto Madre de Dios on its Southern side until Boca Manu, the local traffic hub with an airstrip. Google maps don’t show the last leg from Shintuya to Boca Manu but it’s there. We will not use the road though but will embark on a boat. First to Boca Manu. Then, sharp right, and we sail on Madre de Dios the rest of this journey.
In September 2007 all roads were still gravel. Many a thing has changed in 15 years but one remains. David Fuerte was our guide then, and he is our guide now. It must be Cusco’s altitude of 3000 meters where David lives or his frequent guiding trips through the humid montane forests of the Andes down to the lowland Peruvian Amazon or maybe both, but he doesn’t look a day older.
Estación Biológica Wayqecha sits right next to the Manu Road, on a scenic, steep slope of the Kosñipata River valley. That said, slopes here belong to only two categories: A. steep or B. really steep. Both are scenic.
Here, bordering Manu National Park, just below 3000 m, you are saved of the inescapable headache of Cusco, but any physical activity like sliding into bed after 9 pm when the 6-to-9 generator is turned off and blackness is turned on, results in serious panting.
Stars! As if someone had wiped clean the big celestial window from all accumulated dirt. Venus shines boldly in low East until a quarter to 6 am when the last Broad-eared bats return from their nocturnal shift and fly underneath the cabin roof as effortlessly as only bats can do.
[Identification of the bat species thanks to the Echo Meter Touch 2 Pro ultrasonic module by Wildlife Acoustics Inc.]
Wayqecha is one of three lodges operated by ACCA (La Asociatión para la Conservatión de la Cuenca Amazónica). The main object of research at the moment is the Spectacled bear, a small photogenic bear with distinctive white face markings. “So far we have identified nine different individuals from camera trap photos”, tells Ruthmery Pillco Huarcaya, the science coordinator at Wayqecha.
Camera traps are in heavy use. 60+ are in operation in any given time. One can only imagine what it takes to install and maintain the lot. In normal conditions, the battery lasts roughly one year. Wayqecha is not normal in that sense. For one thing, it’s cold and humid. Secondly, bears. Curious and strong, they are famous of bringing havoc to the camera world. One of the items on the donation wish list of ACCA is a camera trap, 250 US dollars. “My team checks all cameras every other month.” The cost of one of these field research trips is 1000 USD.
Radio collars are another state-of-the-art technology in the field of biological sciences. Here, the team is moving at that direction too.
The mascot of Wayqecha is Ukuku, a rescue dog trained to find bear excrement.
10.7
After a rainy day, colors are left hanging in the sky to dry.
Andean Guan #penelopemontagnii climbs on the top branch of a lichen-and-moss-laden tree to catch the most of the early morning sun. Other common birds are Hooded Mountain Tanager #buthraupismontana, Masked Flowerpiercer #diglossopiscyanea, Great Trush #turdusfuscater, Rufous-collared Sparrow #zonotrichiacapensis, Grass-green Tanager #Chlorornisriefferii and of course numerous hummingbird species. Follow tags for photos.
One must appreciate the way the small kitchen was able to deliver three meals a day in six days without repeating the dishes once.
Potato is a core ingredient, followed closely by rice, and chicken. Tofu is a newcomer. Every dinner starts with a hot soup, often accompanied by a lingering scent of coriander. Desserts are light and delicious.
11.7
To descend from the mountains to the level of 700 m of Pillcopata and the next research station-cum-lodge of ACCA, Villa Carmen, is like moving fast forward to another season. Everything changes in one way or other: temperature, humidity, vegetation, animals – you included. The more tropical it gets, the more you, a traveller, begin to be aware of your inevitable place in the big picture. No longer are you just a cool observer, capable of making your own decisions as you please. From now on you have to admit that there is fairly little you can do just by reasoning; you must adapt.
At daytime, Wayqecha was almost empty of insects give or take few smallish butterflies at high noon, sand flies, bees, some small spiders, and one stubborn shield bug that kept crawling back into the cabin underneath the door. Zero ants, for instance. No mosquitos whining into your ear.
After 6 pm though, moths in various sizes began to bounce against the glass windows, distracted by the temptingly bright artificial light inside. Beyond 1000 m, beetles and allies. 700 m, ants, and bigger butterflies. Moths increase in size and color palette. Mosquitos.
12.7
Villa Carmen used to be a hacienda, a farm. Now it is returning to its more natural state. A slow process.
The former owner, Abel Muñiz, was a man of visions and passionate about improvements in agriculture, sharing his knowledge with locals, we are told. Then, during the first decade of the 21st century, he decided to move on.
In the forest trails, you are surrounded by bamboos. They are a dominant “evergreen perennial flowering plant” (Wikipedia). You need to mentally pinch yourself that hello! this is South America, not Asia. Zigzagging the canopy with their long, green stem that, when bent enough by the wind, age or whatever, bamboos start to produce vertical shoots from its nodes.
Unburnable, bamboo has unique uses. David tells that Peruvians cook fish in bamboo stalks. Google with ‘Pacamoto’.
Bamboo forest floor is covered with pale bamboo leaves. Suddenly, you encounter a rolling swarm of black caterpillars.
Abel Muñiz didn’t operate on land only. In 1990 he started the region’s first cargo airline, Aero Manu. The fleet of 7 biplane Antonov An-2 Russian airplanes traded forest goods across the Peruvian Amazon and into Brazil.
Aero Manu was short-lived. Three non-fatal aircraft accidents resulted in law suits which put an end to the business in 1991.
When you come out of the bamboo forest into a big open field with waist-high grass and a few scattered trees, it’s like walking straight into a Werner Herzog movie. The field is a former airstrip. In the far corner, barely noticable due to all vegetation and debris, is one An-2.
It is a philosophical sight.
An-2 was – and is – sort of a dream machine. “Its remarkable durability, high lifting power, and ability to take off and land from poor runways have given it a long service life.” (Wikipedia).
I know nothing about airplanes but this is crazy:”The slow stall speed [the minimum speed needed for an airplane to produce lift, 48 km/h for
An-2} makes it possible for the aircraft to fly backwards relative to the ground: if the aircraft is pointed into a headwind of roughly 56 km/h, it will travel backwards at 8 km/h whilst under full control.”
The cave-like fuselage is now home to Seba’s short-tailed bats #carolliaperscipillata, and Pallas’s Long-tongued bats #glossophagasoricina
Reptiles are masters of surprise.
There you walk in your rubber boots, heading for the cabin to catch some Zs after lunch. The gravel path runs first along the restaurant building, and then takes a sharp dip down the hill. The hillside is supported by a stone wall, so tall that your eyes are on the level of the lawn that spreads from the top of the wall until the back side of the restaurant where the kitchen is.
You glance up, and look into a black eye that sits in a yellow-green, raised head.
The Yellow-bellied puffing snake #Pseustessulphureus is venomous, and can grow up to 3 meters. This individual looked full grown. The snake eats small mammals, and birds. The theory is that this one was after rats.
13.7
It’s been raining now for almost two days in a row. While rain reduces activity, extra water is welcomed. The local Piñi-Piñi River feeds Alto Madre de Dios, our waterway tomorrow. Two weeks ago, David told, the water level was so low that they had to push the boat every now and then.
The plan is to land before dark to the next stay, Manu Wildlife Center on the bank of Madre de Dios. David’s educated guess is that the boat ride will take 8 hours.
Measuring the distance with Google Maps by dropping several pins along the meandering rivers, I came up to the rough figure of 91 miles (145 km) between Atalaya and MWC. That’d mean a whopping speed of 18 km/h. Probably an underestimation. Still, we are not talking about speed boats here, and then there is the unknown pushing factor.
Our car driver, Bruno Lora Moreno, will drop us to Atalaya and return to Cusco where he lives. Incidentally, tomorrow is also the day when thousands of Peruvians start to flock in and around Paucartambo, a city you cannot avoid. Fiesta de la Virgen del Carmen de Paucartambo #paucartambofiestavirgendelcarmen is a yearly Catholic festival but with strong party vibes. Traffic will be catastrophic.
The little I’ve come to know Bruno during these last 10 days, he seems to be an easy-going person. He’ll survive the fiesta chaos. When not driving tourist vans, Bruno plays trombone in a popular music band. A nice combination I think.
18.7
Halfway from Atalaya to Manu Wildlife Center, overlooking Madre De Dios River, is Boca Manu.
We hoped that we’d meet again the pet Mealy Parrot in the village shop just next to the river bank. In 2007, the parrot gave the best laughs of the whole trip, also literally. The parrot giggled just like ladies are supposed to. And we giggled back. Etc. I cannot fathom why some parrot species are able to imitate the human voice so well. Is there a Turing test for parrots?
The parrot was gone. Much of what used to be the village of Boca Manu in the past was gone too.
Every year, particularly in this area, Madre de Dios flushes its banks with 5 meters a pop. Since 2007, land of the size of a football field has disappeared. The village is constantly backing up away from the river.
On the Southern side of Madre de Dios is a parking area of several trucks, cars, and other vehicles. Scattered around the sandy beach, they are waiting for stuff from the village to be delivered to Cusco.
The new road is changing life here. David predicts that the number of families in Boca Manu will increase. In 2007, it was around 60.
Around 6,5 hours from Atalaya to MWC. No difficulties on the way except the last mile. In the small tributary to Madre de Dios, just before the lodge, the water level was so low that the captain’s helper Rafael had to stand in front, and push the boat forward with a five meter long pole. Samuel, the captain, and Rafael are members of the Diamante community that lives by the river. They know their Madre de Dios. And to know you must; the river is filled with logs from upstreams.
18.7
To return to some place years after is risky. Changes happen, and not always for the better. Fifteen years ago, Manu Wildlife Center was a bustling lodge. Elegant wooden cabins surrounded by a garden of fruit trees and flowers. Saddleback Tamarins were having siesta near the restaurant, and Vanessa the Tapir who was a wild animal but oddly enough appeared regularly to get some care. It must be one of the strangest things I’ve ever done when I pulled huge ticks from her skin.
Three years ago, because of COVID-19, the lodge was shut down. There were changes in the ownership structure, and part of the property was sold.
In this climate, buildings need constant care. The shutdown was devastating.
Now there is family who lives in the premises, fixes the 20+ cabins as best they can, one by one, and serves the tourists that happen to find themselves here. We came for three nights because we needed to split the long boat trip to our last destination in the Amazonian lowlands, Los Amigos Biological Station. Except for us, there were two photographers who stay in MWC for four weeks.
The restaurant is a big building with separate areas for the restaurant itself, a bar, an annex with hammocks, and quiet corners to discuss day’s adventures in a comfy chair, over a glass of pisco sour. Enough place at least for 50 people.
Eerie. Just emptiness. Also, no light bulbs. All the meager amount of electricity the generator produces in the evening, goes to a tired ceiling fan, and a small battery charging station. Some candles here and there, making the blackness even blacker.
The garden is left unkept, which is understandable. Priorities. The garden floor is littered with rotten oranges, mandarins, and grapes. Wasps build nests in the bigger fruits. At night, your sleep is broken when an orange falls on the roof with a thump.
Despite of the nagging feeling that you are a witness to an apocalypse, Manu Wildlife Centre still has a few things to offer. One of them is two very tall looking towers, the older one owned by the lodge itself.
The basic idea is the same: a wooden platform is built in the canopy of a kapok tree #ceibapentandra. You ascend there via a cable-supported, metallic staircase that stands close to the tree, and looks like a tower.
The one at MWC was built around 1995. Height: 43 m. The staircase is cylindrical in shape, so you just walk round and round the central pole. The newer one is dated 1999. Height: 50 m. Here you walk back and forth inside a rectangular construction.
A 400-500 old kapok tree is a masterpiece of Neotropics. The canopy spreads far in all directions. Branches are thicker than regular tree trunks. Even though you stand so high up with nothing much between you and the ground 50 meters down, the stoic presence of the tree feels very comforting.
The much more famous attraction, a 40 minute boat ride from Manu Wildlife Lodge, is the Macaw clay lick of Blanco Blanquillo Private Reserve.
In September 2007, the number of different parrot species and the total number of birds was staggering. David told that the month of June is totally dead. Zero birds. In July, when the dry season is in its infancy, the activity is slowly increasing, peaking in September.
This time it was clear why smaller parrots like parakeets were not around. Roadside Hawks #buteomagnirostris and Black Caracaras #daptriusater patrolled the area.
Birds come to the lick to eat clay. Clay acts as an antidote to all the toxic stuff they eat. If some species are missing like the iconic Scarlet Macaws #aramacao this time, it can be an indication that birds nearby are eating more non-toxic food. Birds can of course choose among several natural licks. From their point of view, there’s nothing special in this particular one.
Red-and-green Macaws #arachloropterus were present. The only other parrot species during the 6-hour long stay in the hide, 70 meters from the vertical clay lick, was Blue-headed Parrot #pionusmenstruus.
One animal species is thriving around the lick hide, and it’s the honey bee. Every group carries a box breakfast with pancakes, maple syrup and other wonderful, yummy stuff.
19.7
The 6 hour boat drive down Madre de Dios from Manu Wildlife Centre to Los Amigos Biological Station is also a short introduction to the recent history of mankind.
Halfway, at Boca Colorado, we stop to buy fuel for the 60 hp outboard engine.
Boca Colorado, the way you see it from the boat, is a busy gas station on wheels. On the shore, several Land Roys motorcycle cargo taxis wait for customers. The gas station proper is more inland in the city. Our crew hops in one taxi, and returns with a full barrel on the back.
The reason why the business runs so well in Boca Colorado, is illegal gold mining and logging. Miners and loggers come here to buy supplies.
From now on, downstream Madre de Dios, you pass by mining stations on both sides of the river. They come in all sizes and level of quality, to an unexperienced eye anyway. Puffing and smoking, they leave behind conical heaps of sand, like dunes in Sahara.
They say that you can learn the mining technics in half an hour. What happens next is, depending on whom you ask, either an exciting, independent, nomadic job with prospects of earning a buck, or a questionable job for outlaws, a job that destroys the health of both them and the river.
The big bad thing is mercury. “Mercury and gold settle and combine together to form an amalgam. Gold is then extracted by vaporizing the mercury.”
The Peruvian government has several times tried to put an end to mining, even with military inventions, without much result. As the saying goes, it is a whac-a-mole game. Also, all parties do not necessarily share the opinion that miners should vanish. Ask any business owner in Boca Colorado, for example.
20.7
Los Amigos welcomes you with an eye-popping ~300 step stairway. The other end vanishes uphill into all the green.
Rotschild’s silk moth #rothschildiaerycina
The station sits on a high terrace on the Northern bank of the Madre de Dios River. The edge is a popular spot for watching the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon. Also, the best place for mobile reception.
21.7
A window screen is great because it does not block the soundscape.
If you ask me, there is no better wake-up call than an early morning concert of a group of Bolivian red howlers #alouattasara Unlike their Northern cousins Mantled howlers #alouattapalliata the red ones don’t as much as howl, they produce a wall of sound that is mechanical. Like a distant tram, or gurgling drains.
Titi monkeys #callicebinae are astonishingly avid singers. Small, all-brown, furry, and not moving very much, titis are hard to see through the foliage, but their song has volume and pondus. The way they end their song is hilarious. Howlers dwindle and fade away, but titis use an abrupt full stop.
A short rant. Titis are a good example of how scientific classification can become silly in everyday use. The number of known species of titis has doubled in recent years, mostly thanks to DNA sequencing. Fine, but I cannot any longer find a name to this local species; it will certainly be “wrong”.
Anyway, every new species asks for a new name. One option is to auction it off, and to give the funds to some nonprofit organization. The winner of a recent auction was the online casino GoldenPalace.com, hence the titi was named P. aureipalatii.
From the two lowland and thus window screen ACCA stations, Villa Carmen is a clear winner though. The number of bird species you could hear in any given time was impressive. In addition, there was no man-made noise, whereas Los Amigos is suffering a bit from gold mining clatter and bang down by the river.
During the first night in Villa Carmen, we were happy to hear even the spectacular Great Potoo. If you feel inclined, check it’s Wikipedia page – and the birdsong file. It is recorded and uploaded by me! For much better quality, go to xeno-canto.org
This colourful, moth-like, clear-winged butterfly didn’t want to leave the sweet scent and salt of the boots.
23.7
Real estate news.
One hour drive down on the Manu Road from the Estación Biológica Wayqecha towards Pillcopata, on the pleasant altitude of ~1000 m, is what remains of Manu Cloud Forest Lodge and Private Reserve. The gate by the road is locked so you cannot see inside the premises. What is visible though when you stand on the road, is one corner of the restaurant building with a roof of corrugated iron. A picturesque place by a lively mountain stream.
The size of the reserve is 1400 hectars, 14 km², which corresponds to the size of Los Angeles International Airport LAX. The owner, we were told, abandoned the place when he decided to start a new career in politics. The rumour has it that he keeps the price so high that potential buyers have lost interest.
Blanco Blanquillo Private Reserve, the one with a Macaw clay lick, is on sale too. And it is not just the lick with the spacious hide. There is also a lodge, two lakes, and the 50 meter tall observation tower built in 1999. The price is not known but the estimate is 2-3 million USD. That’s roughly equivalent to, say, a new 200 m² apartment in the Telakkaranta/Nosturi block in Hietalahti, downtown Helsinki. However, the purchase price is just a start. Maintenance costs will be substantial.
24.7
Los Amigos is close to the size of Kulosaari, my home neighbourhood in the city of Helsinki. It is a small reserve but an important one, one of the last remaining pockets of wildlife around here really. The fact becomes clear when you have seen the monkeys.
There are 11 species of New World monkeys recorded in Los Amigos, of which we saw 10. Except of Sakis they are relatively easy to spot.
The most abundant around the lodge is Bolivian Red Howler #alouattasara, Toppin’s Titi #plecturocebustoppini and Bolivian Squirrel Monkey #saimiriboliviensis.
Guiana Brown Capuchin #Sapajusapellaapella and Humboldt’s white-fronted capuchin #Cebusalbifrons often roam the trees, and Emperor Tamarin #saguinusimperator and Saddle-backed Tamarin #saguinusfuscicollis make breaf (and fast) visits in a mixed group.
Peruvian Spider Monkey #ateleschamek stays in the tall forest. Black-headed Night Monkey #aotusnigriceps is hiding at daytime.
It took us several days and multiple trips to the trails to eventually find Gray’s Bald-faced (Ryland’s) Saki #sakipitheciairrorata What a personality!
The 11th species, Goeldi’s Monkey #Callimicogoeldii is rare and seldom seen. @jorge.mendozasilva who works at the station as a scientific advisor, has a recent photo in his feed, please have a look. Jorge was kind enough to assist us to find the Sakis.
My photos feature a Titi, and a Saki. The latter is a shot from the monitor of my husband’s video camera.
Malachite #Siproetastelenes is named after the mineral malachite. Black and brilliant green on the upperside, light brown and olive green on the underside. “Adults feed on flower nectar, rotting fruit, dead animals, and bat dung.” Charming.
26.7
This week, Peru celebrates Fiestas Patrias de Perú, or Peruvian National Holidays. 28th is the Independence Day, and July 29 is held in honor of the Armed Forces and the National Police. A big annual two-day fiesta, comparable only to Christmas.
In the Amazon area, even some gold miners had put up the Peruvian red and white flag. We wondered why they do that, but Wikipedia explains: “During the whole month of July, homes, office buildings, public and private institutions, schools, and restaurants display the national flag. It is obligatory and it is rare to see any of these places without a flag.”
The name Miraflores might ring a bell if you are into Peruvian history (I’m not). In January 15, 1881, during the so-called War of the Pacific, the district was the scene of the Battle of Miraflores. Two thousand people died. A terrible figure.
The War of the Pacific is also known as Saltpeter War, which tells about the root cause. It was a war between Chile and a Bolivian–Peruvian alliance over Chilean claims on coastal Bolivian territory in the Atacama Desert. The war ended with a Chilean victory. It gained a significant amount of resource-rich territory from both Peru and Bolivia. Bolivia became landlocked. Not a minor issue. Today, Bolivia is the largest landlocked country in the Southern Hemisphere.
Miraflores of the present day is an upscale residential and hotel district south of downtown Lima. Large waves of the South Pacific Ocean collapse onto the shore in both directions as far as the eye can see. Surfing must be fantastic here.