Rain Forest Photos

I now have  time to organize some of the photos from our summer adventure...  This week's photos focus on the Kapawi rain forest eco lodge...

There were three blogs posted at the time... the first of the 3 is here: http://johnzlatnik.blogspot.com/2013/07/untitled.html

Our welcoming committee upon arrival at our landing strip in the eastern "Selva" of Ecuador

We had to fly  for over an hour over dense rain forest like this to reach the location of our eco lodge

The lodge is maintained and managed by the Achuar people - the local indigenous group

Here is our guide... incredible knowledgable about the plants of the forest, and their uses

We woke early at 6 each morning to travel by canoe to look for wild life... Then back for breakfast... then off on a 4 hour hike in the forest...

River "traffic"

It is called rain forest for good reason... We were provided with high boots  that usually protected us from the mud... but not always...

Our two guides located and identified birds, plants, insects... and explained their uses to us.

The forest had many game trails and it would be very easy to get lost without a guide.

Our house... Beneath us was a bog with the loudest frogs that serenaded us each night.

The fish in the bog controlled the mosquitos, of which we saw few!

Also the temperatures were never super hot and humid...

Leaf cutter ants - cut pieces of leaves, carry them underground, to grow fungus!

Three large monkeys overhead!

The motor canoe that took us to our hike locations, early morning sightings, village visits...

Shaman holding a bowl of the manioc beer that was offered to us - and its bad manners to refuse...

Open air Achuar home - we visited two villages and were invited into two homes for formal visits 

On the wall of the village school - student work in the Ashuar language...

Me with my face painted in traditional Achuar "jaguar" markings