4am(!) wake up call this morning. After donning our wellies we left the lodge just after 5. We walked down through the jungle to the river where we boarded our boat. After a short journey we disembarked and walked to an oxbow lake where we boarded a catamaran for a cruise around the lake. We didn't get to see the giant otters which we'd been told about, but we did get to see parrots flying above us (well, we were told they were parrots, but we could just see some flying black blobs).

We saw quite a few 'stinker' birds hopping around the lower tree branches - so called because their poo smells really bad (apparently). We also saw some vultures and a kingfisher.

After a while we stopped the boat to try our hands at piranha fishing. There are four different types of piranha in the lake. Other members of our group caught some (we didn't catch any) - we got 1 silver and 2 yellow. Our guide showed us how the piranhas attack a leaf (hint: violently!). We wouldn't want to swim with the piranhas!

We went back to the lodge for a quick break. On the way back we saw a night jar (looked like a small owl) sitting in a tree. Then we headed out to the clay lick to spot some macaws. We saw a small monkey on the walk there. The macaws eat clay to rid themselves of the toxins found in unripened fruit. Andrea briefly saw a couple of them, but after a while it began to rain - the macaws won't eat wet clay. It was very warm inside the little hut. We walked back to the lodge whilst our guide pointed out plants and animals en route.
Andy slept in the hammock in our room until it was time for the optional activies. Our choices were a trip to a medicinal garden to learn about the healing properties of plants from a local shamen or a walk to a large kapok tree. We chose to visit the tree. Our guide William was excellent at pointing out things to us. We learnt about the walking palm tree which grows new roots (above ground) to 'walk' towards the sunlight. By doing this it can walk 15cm per year. We saw a tarantula in its hole and a wild turkey. William handed us a leaf each to grind up in our hands. This produced a red dye on our hands. We walked as far as the 'small' kapok tree - we were both dripping with sweat due to the humidity. The 'small' tree was huge. It had seven large roots and was 200 years old. The local people are able to 'listen' to the tree to work out whether the rain is about to come.

After tea and a few drinks, we went on a night walk. The sounds and sights were amazing. We saw millions of leaf cutter ants on their very own 'motorway' which they'd made for themselves by clearing the ground. We saw a stream of termites running down a tree. We also saw a monkey - we may have woken him up! We went to a pond and spotted tree frogs. Andy found a large one sitting in a tree. Some of the frogs were tiny, but very noisy! In total, Andy spotted 3 frogs - not bad considering it was dark and we'd had a few drinks before heading out!