Okay, at least they still have BEAUTIFUL tropical rainforest

The forest was really one of the only good things for me about Explorer’s Inn. They actually have quite a good network of trails there, two oxbow lakes, and beautiful rainforest. In spite of all the ways they’ve gone wrong, they must still be doing something half-way decently, as the forest still appears to be thriving and filled with wildlife, including pale-wing trumpeters, which are supposed to be indicators of pristine, undisturbed forest. So, on one hand, after learning about how they run things there, I didn’t really want to support them with even the little money I was giving them. But then again, would it really be better to watch their business go under and wait for the loggers to move in? Is it better to support ecotourism that does some things right and some things wrong than to not support it at all and watch the oil and logging companies take over? Of course it would be better to just support people like Emma, but for different reasons, I also question the sustainability of Emma’s approach; she has so few tourists and makes so little profit that she has already had to reduce the size of her ecotourism concession.

I spent a lot of time struggling with these issues during my time at Explorer’s. After a while, I pretty much gave up on helping out with the research because there really wasn’t any of it going on there. I did spend two days helping Javier measure trees and talking about plants with him, which was quite cool, although I got mauled by mosquitoes in the process. I spent the rest of my time going on 6 to 7 hr walks by myself everyday and enjoying the lush lowland tropical rainforest all around me. To be fair, they could have let the tourists take over the rainforest even more, but the tourists were generally contained to two main trails. On my many walks, I never once bumped into tourists on any of the other trails. And the forest, like Piedras, is filled with absolutely stunning plants and quite a lot of wildlife.

At the collpa, I saw chestnut-fronted macaws (which you don’t get a Piedras), spix guans, red & green macaws, yellow-crown parrots, orange-cheeked parrots, blue-headed parrots, dusky headed and black-headed parakeets, and caciques. I even saw a giant bird of prey (maybe a falcon?) swoop down from a tree and lunge at two macaws. On the trails, I saw agouti, capybara, brown capuchins, howler monkeys, dusky titi monkeys, deer, lots of blue morpho butterflies, owl butterflies, frogs and toads, toucans, and peccary. The peccaries were particularly cool. One morning I was walking alone on a trail when I smelled something really ripe. After taking a quick sniff at my armpits to make sure it wasn’t coming from me, I realized that peccary must be close by. Then I heard grunting, branches snapping, and suddenly one came crashing through the bushes just 15m away from me. The next thing I knew, a dozen or more peccary emerged, dashing from tree to tree. I looked for a tree to scramble up in case they started running towards me, and the next thing I knew, they had all disappeared! My first agouti sighting was also quite cool. As I was walking, I heard a sound in the bushes. At first, I could only see it from behind and it looked just like a round, furry brown coconut. But then it turned its head and I could see little round ears on the “coconut” before it scurried away. On the oxbow lakes, I also saw giant otter, which was really exciting even though they were just tiny specks off in distance.

One night, we went out searching for caiman. It was really cool to see the caiman, and at least the RN collected some data instead of fishing the caiman out of the water like other jungle lodges do. I was surprised by how their eyes looked at night; they looked just like large, fake googly eyes! It wasn’t quite as exciting as seeing that black caiman during the day on the way to Piedras, but the boat ride at night on the oxbow lake was really great in itself. The lake was so dark and serene. Every once in a while, a bolt of lightning would streak across the sky off in the distance, but it was far away enough from us that it only drizzled for a bit. It was so peaceful out there that it felt surreal. All I could hear was the rhythmic sound of oars dipping in and out of the water and our canoe sliding silkily across the smooth surface of the lake. The night air was so warm and balmy that it felt like we were traveling back into the womb, or sinking softly into a deep and peaceful sleep.

We slept in hammocks in a small hut by the lake, and the next morning we went out again on the water to monitor the otters. Along the banks, we saw lots of anhingas and hoatzins (two types of birds). Hoatzins are such strange creatures. The young birds have claws on their wings, so they can jump into the water when predators approach and then use their claws to clamber back up out of the water once the danger has passed. Danielle said the adults look like electrified drag queens; they have bright blue faces that make them look “made up” and feathers that stick up in all directions from the top of their head. The anhingas are also quite cool birds; they lack oil in their feathers, so after swimming in the water they stand along the banks with their wings outstretched, sunning themselves.

The plants and trees in the forest around Explorer’s Inn were also amazing. Each time I saw a new tree, I was convinced that it had to be the most beautiful tree I had ever seen in my life. There were incredible stranglers reaching down with octopus-like tentacles, giant iron wood trees with bright red bark, even larger kapok trees with spiky trunks, beautiful capirona trees (nicknamed the “gringo tree” because its bark gets red and then peels), stalwart brazil nut trees with their black bark, and spiky bamboo trees. Closer to the river, the forest was filled with 10-ft tall ginger plants with leaves growing in spirals around the stem and heliconia trees with giant oar-like leaves and hot pink and yellow flowers. Like at Piedras, I was completely blown away by the complexity and diversity of trees, flowers, fungi, and lianas in the rainforest. Even the seed pods from some of these trees were incredible!

On my last day there, after hiking for 6 hours, I came across a group of Howler Monkeys in the trees right above me. I stood there for a good half hour or more and just watched them. On the other side, there were oropendulas singing and diving in and out of their hanging nests. It was a perfect farewell from the forest. I was very sad to leave the forest, though I couldn’t wait to leave the lodge behind.

Continuing on a positive note though, another really nice thing about my experience at Explorer’s was getting to know Tim, Ariel, and Danielle more. The four of us already got along really well at Piedras, but we bonded even more over our shared complaints at Explorer’s. Those three improved my opinion of American travelers quite a bit. While I suppose they are not really representative of your typical American traveler (since most Americans do not volunteer or travel for such extended periods of time), I found all three of them really interesting, intelligent people and conscientious travelers. Tim and Ariel are on a 2-year honeymoon, traveling, volunteering, and sailing around Central and South America. Makes me more optimistic too that not all married couples have to be boring and settled!