second day in the rainforest

There is more chirping. From somewhere on the left come a few isolated croaks, answered from the right by a whole burst of croaking. From the other side of the river it looks as if someone is playing with a flashlight, but it’s likely some kind of fireflies.
Breakfast at half past six. Then straight into the forest. This time we walk along the other bank of the river, where there are butterflies, toucans, hummingbirds, spiders armed with yellow spikes, large trees, and a couple of tiny frogs. Every leaf or twig might suddenly sprout legs. Because of that we move with dignified slowness so we can stare at everything properly. We see tracks of jaguars and deer, and a grasshopper laying eggs. It has already covered an entire tree trunk with its bumps. Here there are hundreds of ways to live and hundreds of ways to die. A great number of creatures pretend to be someone else. Farther away, a lone howler monkey is making a racket.
Back at the camp we have a couple of hours of free time, which we fill by dozing. Then lunch, which we cannot finish. The food is very tasty, but three courses twice a day is a bit much even for me in this enervating heat. Then we sleep again for an hour. When the surroundings are so drowsy.
The birds that had stopped shouting in the midday heat wake from their daytime torpor, start flying back and forth and chattering. Our favorite is the oropendola with a call that sounds like a drop of water falling. It weaves club-shaped nests of grass that hang in groups high on tree branches. Oropendolas like to nest in colonies. I manage to photograph a sunbittern strolling between the huts.
In the afternoon we take a boat ride upstream, hoping to see birds and to retrieve Ramiro’s lost luggage. A kingfisher teases us by flying ahead just when we reach the perfect distance for a photo. An anhinga, on the other hand, is not bothered at all and shows what astonishing positions it can twist its neck into.
We reach a homestead just outside the park, where on solitary trees we see a yellow flycatcher, a pale caracara, and two kinds of parrots. The boys are dangling in a tree picking jungle grapes. They take down an entire bunch, even though only a couple of berries are ripe. They still have some work to do with impulse control. The yard is clean, except for a small garbage pile behind the corner. At the other end of the clearing a couple of domestic pigs are wandering around. The lost luggage arrives on a motorcycle and we head back.
To end the day there is a walk planned in the dark forest. It’s a little unsettling not knowing how to dodge bullet ants in the dark. First there is a frog high up in a tree. We inform Ramiro that our frogs never climb trees. Then there are someone’s eyes high above us. Some kind of bear. All sorts of insects have come out onto the leaves, mainly spiders and grasshoppers, but also stick insects (Phasmatodea) and one praying mantis. In the end it isn’t very frightening after all, but it’s still good to make it back into the yard.
The frog that came onto our balcony is still there, and two gigantic cockroaches have appeared in the bathroom. One is trying to hide under the baseboard; the other, larger one, runs around the sink. Now we truly have a bugs-in-the-room situation.