TBS...Welcome to the Jungle!

Welcome to the jungle we've got fun and games...we take it day by day...If you want it you're gonna bleed but it's the price to pay...Ya learn to live like an animal in the jungle where we play...And when you're high you never ever want to come down...You're down in the jungle baby.


This past week we tropical ecology students went to USFQ's Biodiversity Station in Tiputini in...you guessed it. The Amazonian Jungle. Tiputini is located in Yasuni National Park, which has the highest level of biodiversity for birds, plants, and amphibians. Sounds awesome, right? Until, of course, a tarantula the size of your fist is sitting on a tree right next to your head. Yasuni is also sitting on top of a large amount of oil that the oil companies are  trying to build roads are tear up the jungle to get to, while the local tribes are desperately trying to protect the the land that they live on.

The trip to Tiputini is approximately 6.5-8 hours, depending on numerous variables. Getting there involves a 30 minute flight from Quito to Coca, Orellana; a 2 hour boat ride down the Napo River; a 2hour open jeep ride along Respo's (an oil company) road; and then another 2 hour boat ride along the Tiputini River, upon which the Research Station is located. In order to arrive at TBS (Tiputini Biodiversity Station) before dark, we have to leave Quito very early in the morning.

The trip to Tiputini is approximately 6.5-8 hours, depending on numerous variables. Getting there involves a 30 minute flight from Quito to Coca, Orellana; a 2 hour boat ride down the Napo River; a 2hour open jeep ride along Respo's (an oil company) road; and then another 2 hour boat ride along the Tiputini River, upon which the Research Station is located. In order to arrive at TBS (Tiputini Biodiversity Station) before dark, we have to leave Quito very early in the morning.


Meeting at USFQ at 5am monday morning, we took a bus to Quito's airport for a 7am flight. I got through security and on the plane, along with 8 other classmates. Unfortunately, due to a communication issue between USFQ and airport security, the remaining 10 classmates did not get through security because they didn't bring their passports, only copies. At one point American students used to be able to take domestic flights within Ecuador without original documents. No more. Here is where things get interesting, and I have great respect for the Tame airline. They let our professor, Esteban, get on the plane to get the 9 of us that made it on, only to get back on the bus with the others and return to Cumbaya so everyone could get an original document. As it was only 9am and we didn't have to return to USFQ until 2pm to try the while airport thing again, we had 5 hours to burn. A few of us decided to try all the Chilean sauvignon blanc at the University's restaurant. Let's just say this made getting back on the bus and returning to the airport a whole lot more interesting.

Because it was so late in the afternoon it was decided by USFQ that we would remain in Coca for the night, and they set us up in a hotel with multiple pools, water slides, a gym that sounded more like a discotek, and a plethora of animals. Pretty sure the animals were for the tourists, of course, haha.

 This guy was chillin' outside our room. He moved much faster than I thought he would, had to chase him a little.

 My Aussie girl :-)

Yeah, besides cute little albino bunnies the hotel also had parrots, peacocks, and squirrel monkeys!

 Boat Ride #1: The Napo River

 Shooting practice for the locals

 Locals fishing

 Initial construction for a bridge that began but never finished. Now just a lonely structure.

 Jeep ride along Respo road. Upon arriving to the oil company's property we had to go through security, very similar to an airport, except there were guards with very large guns. We were't allowed to take pictures throughout the property or along the road, but I snuck a few. Not sure what would have happened if I'd been caught.

 Arriving at the Tiputini River, we boarded another boat for ride #2!

 The Tiputini River. Along the river we saw multiple birds, including macaws and toucans, many river turtles, and river dolphins! Two adults and two babies were feeding, and surfaced just long enough for us to get a good glimpse.

 Welcome to TBS!!

 Massive tree along the path to the student cabins. To give you an idea on the size of the tree, these roots are taller than I am. Everything is larger in the jungle!!

 Monkey Comb. Literally. You can use it to brush your hair. Cool right? It's actually the seed from a fruit. I'm pretty sure someone used it to brush their hair.

 Our guide the first day, Freulon (?). Still trying to figure out how to spell his name. One of the awesome guides that live at Tiputini. These guides can find the smallest amphibian that's blended into the dried leaves on the ground. They call to monkeys and birds. Definitely made our experience more exciting. In this photo he's telling us about the dragon blood tree that has heart shaped leaves and looks like it's bleeding if its bark is cut.

 Heart-shaped dragon blood leaves.

Ant nest built into a plant. These little guys are pretty small compared to the bullet ants.

 Grande ants...these suckers are bullet ants. If you see one you run from it. One bite could land you in the hospital.

 Amazonian wine glass. You won't get very far with this.

 Palm with stilt roots! Now, I know hispanic men are considered to be on the shorter, but these stilt roots are taller than me as well. Just sayin.

 Bat house. The bats bite the leaf in such a way to cause it to bend to create a home-like environment. Pretty creative.

 These ants are really cool! They build nests in the smaller trees, and it is hypothesized that the ants kill the surrounding flora with formic acid to prevent growth. Why they do this has yet to be determined. What's really interesting is that the ants taste like citrus...I'm pretty sure you can guess how I know this ;-)

 Liana, aka swinging vine. Ever seen Tarzan? This is what he used. Liana's are very flexible and can be found in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

 My group!

Day two: Coffee overlooking the Tiputini river while listening to the Howler Monkeys declare their territory. You can hear them on the way to breakfast and again in the mid-afternoon. This is around 7am. It's an early to bed, early to rise thing going on in the jungle. In reality, what can you do when the generators shut off at 9:30pm and you don't have electricity?

 Up in the canopy for bird/monkey watching! My group is at 30 meters, so guess how high I am? Fear of heights no longer applies in the jungle. You suck it up and climb the ladder, otherwise you miss out on something super cool. 

 Conquering my fear of heights with a big smile. Of course, seeing monkeys and parrots helps, too.

Woolly Monkey

                                                                                                                       Canopy Bridge

 Ladder apparatus to the observation deck. The observation deck is located in a Ceibo, which is an emergent tree (i.e, one that grows above the canopy...meaning you can see everything!).

In from of the roots of the Ceibo tree. It's height is just amazing. 

The observation deck. Here we were about 48 meters, or 150 ft up! You're above everything!! 

While on the observation deck we watched a group of woolly monkeys eating in a distant tree. We also saw a king vulture eating something indistinguishable, a toucan, and multiple other small birds. We were thinking about returning to the ground when we heard loud rustling in the trees not too far from us. Spider monkeys! They swung through the trees right below us, one carrying a baby monkey on its back. 

The ground is down there somewhere....

Freulon is scrapping the bark off a tree that is used by the indigenous Quichuas as poison for hunting. It literally tastes like poison. Yeah...

I got this from a medicinal plant that is used as a muscle relaxant. The under leaf of the plant contains spikes that when stabbed into your hand (just a tad painful), create a reaction such as this. One hour later I couldn't feel the top of my hand, but two days later....

 My hand blistered and was very painful to the touch. The blisters are going away now, although it just itches like mad.

 These squirrel monkeys were eating the fruit in the trees just above us as we walked along a path to the dining hall.There were many 8 or 9 in total. This is the monkey species you see in most movies. Of the 10 monkey species in the Ecuadorian amazon, I saw 5, including Howlers, Woollys, Spider, Squirrel, and the Pygmy Marmoset (the smallest monkey on the planet!!). 

 The student cabins. Each cabins has two bedrooms with two sets of bunk beds. When the other person moves in the bed it kind of feels like a carnival ride.

Leaf-cutter ants

 Black Lagoon. The Black Caimans in here camp be as long as 10 ft. You're never to swim in a black lagoon for obvious reasons. 

 Night boating means dwarf caimans!! This one's maybe 4 feet long.

During the boat ride we got a chance to check out the stars...mostly blue, I also saw a few red stars, and the milky way was very clear in the dark sky. It was breathtaking.

 Hahaha...yeah. She's a lot bigger than she looks.

 Tree frog

 This month was infected with a fungus that attacked its brain, killing the insect. The fungus then grows and projects outward, usually from the insects head. Another grow found an insect graveyard. Because these fungi are highly contagious infected individuals will be removed from the colony and left to die.

My days in the amazon revolved around meals (6:30am, 12pm, 7pm) involving a lot of hiking along trails while running through the forest for a glimpse of monkeys. We did two long activities each day during the hikes, one after breakfast and one after lunch. Also included in our activities were a boat ride for caimans and a night hike in search of all the frightening things in the jungle that come out at night. Large spiders, anyone? The greatest experience was cruising down the Tiputini River in a life vest for an hour, just letting the current carry you and watching the wildlife. Two bright red macaws flew right over us. Of course, when we got back into the boat we went piranha fishing in the same river. 

 Back on the Napo River

Back in Coca in a shop with Huaorani-made jewelry, among other things. Apparently they make fettish wear as well.