By 8:45 AM, we were back on the bus, heading out. After a very brief visit to the large central market, we drove to the Explorama docks on the riverfront. There, we boarded a pair of motor launches. These boats were like sea-going school buses: a row of paired seats on either side of a central aisle. We shoved off about 9:30 AM and headed downstream. Once again, I was cruising on the world's mightiest river!
The Amazon truly is amazing. Over two-thirds of the earth's freshwater lies within its basin. At its peak, the river discharges one-half trillion cubic feet of water per day into the Atlantic Ocean. It would take the people of New York City nine years to use that much water. The force of the discharge is so strong that the ocean stays fresh up to 125 miles from the river's mouth. This power is due solely to volume; the river drops only three-fourths of an inch per mile on its 2300 mile journey from Iquitos to the sea, barely enough gradient to drain a bathtub. As might be expected, such an enormous flow of water carries away huge amounts of topsoil. It is estimated that a quarter million ten-ton trucks would be required to haul away the 100 million cubic feet of sediment that the Amazon spews into the ocean every day.
The inboard engine pushed the launch right along at over 30 mph, creating a most welcome breeze through the open windows. But at the same time, it was much too noisy for much conversation or discussion. At first, we passed quite a few homes and mills. As we got farther from Iquitos, such obvious signs of habitation became fewer and more dispersed. Soon, the banks were dominated by forest, some relatively mature, but much of it successional. I was surprised to see a number of students sleeping through most of the boat trip. How could anyone making their first visit to the Amazon not want to take in every minute of it? I'd been there once before and I was still totally enthralled by it all.
At 11:10 AM, we left the Amazon and turned up the Río Napo, a major tributary which flows southeast out of the Ecuadorean Andes. At the river's mouth is the village of Francisco de Orellana, named in honor of the Spanish explorer (1470-1550) who discovered the Amazon River at this spot in 1542. We paused to look for the two species of freshwater porpoise: the pink (Inia geoffrensis) and the gray (Sotalia fluviatilis). People kept pointing and calling out, but I didn't see anything that I would swear to in court.
At 12:40 PM, we reached the mouth of a small tributary, the Sucusari. Five minutes up this stream and we disembarked at Explorama's ExplorNapo Camp, 95 miles by river from Iquitos. At last, we were in the rainforest! However, this was not our final destination for the day. The next two nights would be spent at the nearby Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research (ACEER). So, after a 15 minute pause to use the restrooms, we set off hiking inland down the narrow muddy trail that leads to ACEER. En route, we saw morpho butterflies (Morpho amathonte) with their gorgeously iridescent blue wings that catch the light as they flutter; black and orange Heliconia butterflies; as well as owl butterflies (Caligo memnon), which are very large and brown with large eye-like wing spots. In half an hour, we had arrived at ACEER.
The ACEER Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides students, teachers, naturalists, and researchers from around the world with the opportunity to experience the astonishing biodiversity and cultural richness of the Amazon region. Over 2000 visitors from North America alone visit their facility in Amazonia each year, often to participate in workshops, such as the Rainforest Pharmacy Workshop, the Children's Rainforest Workshop, and the Educators' Workshop. The Foundation also operates the Peruvian Teachers Training Program, which provides professional development for rural school teachers; an Adopt-a-School program fostering cultural interchange between American and Peruvian children; and a School and Community Library Program that develops educational resources in local schools.
The main building at ACEER is quite long, built of wood, with a high peaked roof of water-tight palm thatch. Mindful of the incredible seasonal fluctuation of river levels, its designers had elevated the building high above ground level on sturdy wood pilings. At its center is the Dining Hall, which is securely screened all around. This holds several long wooden tables, as well as four hammocks hung from the rafters. Most importantly, large bottles of potable water are set up here together with a good supply of drinking glasses. In addition, a small anteroom holds an old refrigerator well stocked with cold bottles of Cristal beer, Coca-Cola, Sprite, and Fanta orange soda. Beer is US$2, soft drinks US$1, available on the honor system. Purchasers keep track of their consumption on a clipboard posted near the wall-mounted bottle opener, and settle their accounts before departure.
Extending out from the Dining Hall on either side are the twenty guest rooms, numbered 1-10 on one side and 11-21 (no 13) on the other. The thatched roof over the Dining Hall extends over these rooms as well, including the balcony fronting them. However, the walls of each room do not extend to the roof; in fact, the back wall is only about waist high, leaving a large open "window" that looks out onto the rainforest. The result is a very open, airy, camp-like feeling.
The rooms are spartan but functional. There is no lock on the door, only a hook inside and out. The beds are wooden platforms bearing a foam mattress and pillow, protected by a rectangular tent of mosquito netting. A small table holds a wash basin and a pitcher of non-potable water for washing. Personal belongings can be stored on a small bookshelf or hung on wall pegs. A pair of small wooden stools complete the accouterments.
Near the end of each bank of rooms, connected by a thatch-covered walkway, are the sanitary facilities. The latrines are outhouses of the standard pit type. Two for each gender sit at each end of the building, for a total of eight commodes. Between the outhouses and the main building are the showers, two at each end for a total of four. Each holds a single nozzle over a square plastic tub set into the slatted wood floor. The water is pumped directly from the river, unheated, and was quite refreshing. There are other buildings on the grounds, including the kitchen and a large screened Meeting Room connected to the main building by a covered walkway, but we seldom saw these.
A limited amount of electricity is provided by a generator and solar panels. This is devoted to essential refrigeration of foodstuffs and a few small fluorescent lights in the Dining Hall. The rest of the premises is illuminated after dark by old-fashion hurricane lamps. Apparently, one staff member's sole duty is the maintenance of these numerous lamps, filling them with oil, trimming wicks, lighting them each evening, and so forth. Unfortunately, the light cast by these lamps just wasn't adequate for comfortable reading, which greatly limited my ability to study and work in the evening.
On our arrival at ACEER, we found our luggage waiting for us in the Dining Hall. It had not been carried over the trail we used, but rather brought up from the ExplorNapo dock by small boat on a shallow creek behind the main building. Once we had been assigned rooms and unpacked, lunch was served. I was surprised by the excellent quality and ample quantity of the offerings. I had expected beans and rice to be a staple here, and indeed, they were served at nearly every meal. But there was also meat, bread, a couple vegetable or salad choices, and fresh fruit. That first meal, for example, featured a roasted chicken quarter as the entrée.
With only a week to spend, we wasted no time in getting instruction underway. At 3 PM, half the students set out with Larry Wilson on a generalized ecological hike, while the remainder hiked the Useful Plant Trail with Hardy, Jim, and me. This trail was about 1¼ miles long and, like many in the area, made somewhat more passable by the placement of rough-hewn chunks of wood as stepping stones. The initial portion was through a more highly disturbed area, where many of the useful plants were intentionally grown. Farther on, the trail ran through good quality primary forest.
One of the most useful plant families in the tropics is the Palm Family (Arecaceae). Among the first that Hardy pointed out was chambira (Astrocaryum chambira), with a prominently thorny trunk and edible seeds. Fibers from this tree are commonly woven into rope, baskets, bags, and hammocks by the Yagua and other indigenous peoples. Another useful species was huacrapona (Iriartea deltoidea), characterized by the very dense cluster of stilt roots at the base of its trunk. The wood of this palm is much used for flooring and walls by home builders in the rainforest. Cachapona (Socratea exorrhiza) is used in a similar fashion, but is readily distinguished by its much more open cluster of stilt roots. Cinamillo (Oenocarpus minor) provides the thatch used to roof homes here.
Another very useful family worldwide is Solanaceae, to which belong potato, tomato, and many important drug plants. A very common member of the family around ACEER was cocona (Solanum sessiliflorum), a coarse spiny herb with large cream-colored flowers and red-orange berries the size of a plum. This is essentially a lowland relative of naranjilla (S. quitense), a fruit popular in the Andes. Like its montane relative, cocona is often squeezed for breakfast juice. In fact, we enjoyed it several mornings while in Peru. Another member of the family that we saw here was a chili pepper (Capsicum chinense), a group which Hardy has studied extensively for many years.
A very distinctive herb along the trail was cañagre (Costus scaber), a member of the Ginger Family (Zingiberaceae). The leaves all arise on one side of the stem, which curves spirally upward, fanning the leaves out in a most distinctive fashion. In Amazonia, juice squeezed from the stem is mixed with lemon or lime juice and used to treat colds, coughs, laryngitis, and similar maladies. Another distinctive herb was jergón sacha (Dracontium loretense), a member of the Jack-in-the-Pulpit Family (Araceae). Because of its dark-mottled stem, the tuber of this plant is used to treat snakebite, by slicing it and applying it directly to the bite.
I found that I was having a hard time getting acclimated to tropical conditions. Being catapulted from a Chicago winter, even a mild one such as this had been, into tropical heat and humidity was really hard on me that first day. My clothes were soon saturated with perspiration. In point of fact, it wasn't that warm; I don't believe it ever exceed 87ºF while we there. But the >90% relative humidity and lack of any breeze made keeping cool difficult.
About halfway through the hike, it began to rain - hard! Out came our ponchos and into the ziplocs went our camera gear. A portion of the trail along a small stream flooded and we had to wade through several inches of water to get back to the lodge. It was 6 PM by the time we returned and I was able to change into dry clothes. Dinner was served an hour later, by which time the rain had more-or-less ceased. The menu was similar to lunch, with very tasty fish filets replacing the chicken.
That evening, a staff member gave a 20-minute slide-illustrated introduction to ACEER in the Meeting Room. Afterwards, most of the group went on a hike to observe nocturnal animals. Given my poor night-vision, it didn't seem worth the effort for me. Instead, I spent the evening catching up on my journal entries, an eye-straining task with only an oil lamp for light. Before turning in, I spent some time swinging in one of the hammocks. This, I discovered, was about the only way to generate enough breeze to actually cool off.
| Introduction | Monday |