Yes, this spider is as big as it looks (size of your fist) - basic stuff
in the jungle.
| "Welcome to the Jungle", a line from a great song (Guns and
Roses) that we couldn't get out of our heads. Why? When you're there, everywhere
you look there are creatures from the jungle.
Yes, this spider is as big as it looks (size of your fist) - basic stuff
in the jungle.
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Luckily, one can also find real beauty. There are many types of butterflies,
and lots of them everywhere.
We found out that the jungle we were living in was not the type you
see on the Discovery Channel filled with anacondas, leopards, boas, large
alligators, etc. Today to get to that type of jungle you need to travel
several more days up the river and live and sleep in the trees - hard core
stuff. NOOOOO thanks.
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| Because the jungle is like a huge greenhouse - the conditions are perfect for vegetations - everything is 10 times the size of stuff we see in the city. Never thought that plants and trees could be this interesting. |  |
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Modern day yuppie Tarzan. Jean shirt from the Gap, microfiber pants from Liz Clairborne, Polo baseball hat, Nike sneakers. Not quite the jungle attire of a real Tarzan. Seems kind of funny, we forgot to bring rustic jungle clothes - so we had to wear our everyday stuff. A big bummer considering the conditions. |
| Our guide wanted us to have a full jungle survival experience so he told us to drink the water from this vine. Hans says, "ok"... Mr. Robust, never gets sick from anything he eats or drinks. |  |
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Me, well, I should really learn to trust my instincts and realize I
could never survive a day in the jungle so why try. I was sick the next
two days from drinking jungle vine water. Where is my evian?
The amount of water those vines pump up to the top of those trees is pretty interesting. |
| This is the size of the tarantulas roaming the neighborhood. Luckly we never came across one that size - live that is. We did see a live one half that size in a jar at the lodge. Wonder where the maid found it, hmmmm... |  |
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That large mound behind Tiffany is an anthill. It was as tall as she is. Imagine how many ants there are that made it. Apparently the larger ants are less dangerous than the smaller ones. |
| We passed this wasp next on the way into the jungle on our tour. Unfortunately, we did not notice it on the way back and Tiff and got stung by one of the nasty blue/black wasps. Major pain for poor Tiffy for the rest of the afternoon. |  |
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One of the young boys, in a neighboring community found this very dangerous scorpion hanging out in the street. He caught it gave it to his Dad who embalmed it and made this souvenir. |
| Believe it or not this is the type of jungle creatures Tiff actually likes. This one is a beautiful young Boa Constricter. They can grow to 20 times the size of this one. The locals who are almost all Indian decendents are very scared of snakes. They would not play with one the way we did, no matter how much we assured them it was cool. Our guide mentioned how fiesty this one was. When he passed it on to Hans he said, "hold its head firmly." Then after he gave it to Hans, he said, "please be careful not to strangle it." |  |
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Tiff thought she would give it a little kiss. She actually had one as a roomate in college. (It was her roommates pet). They are not poisonous. They kill their prey by strangling them - though they have very tiny razor sharp teeth. This so-called pet, in college, bit her once, when it had not been fed in a month or so. It was lurking the apartment, underneath the couch, and attacked her when I walked by. After that she didn't want to play with it anymore. I wonder why ...... |