The wider jungle – Macaw clay lick and canopy viewing platform

We left the reserved and cultural zone to go down stream to a privately owned part of the jungle. I know, its weird to comprehend that people can own parts of the jungle like any othe real estate, but a particular European bought a remarkable part of the jungle. What is interesting to note though, is that we didn't see any monkeys in this area – for everything it has to offer, there is something to be said for Manu Biosphere (ie the reserved and cultural zone). Manu has been protected for over 30 years, and as such the animals clearly know terrain where they can co-exist peacefully with humans.

In this other part of the jungle we went Piranha fishing (Bernard caught 2) on a lovely lake and admired the sights and sounds of many birds. At dusk we went to a viewing platform approximately 70m tall. We saw a very rare “The Great Patoo” owl which looked like part of the branch. It didn't flinch the entire time were we in the tree until we started to leave and then we saw it spread its wings and fly off into the darkness. Viewing the jungle from those hights was fairly awesome. Walking back to camp made Bernard slightly uncomfortable. We spotted many species of spider – most of which were the size of your hand or bigger and hairier. No snakes thankfully. Horrible accommodation – we were bitten alive by bugs. But the next day made it worth it.

Every year as the wet season ends the Macaws and parrots need to eat seeds and other sources of food besides fruit. As a consequence these birds eat particular type of clay to filter the toxins of these food sources. The Clay Lick we visited is an impressive sight – during the height of the dry season, many hundreds of parrots and Mackaws visit the Lick. As we were on the beginning of the dry season we were lucky with our viewing as those who turned up a week ago saw nothing. Each species takes its own turn on the clay lick – the parrots first thing in the morning, and the Macaws later on. We saw over 100 parrots on the clay lick at around 6.30am. They left in a heart-stopping flurry of feathers that brought tears to my eyes - spooked by the Titi monkeys a few metres away. We then waited over three hours for the tentative Macaws to reach sufficient numbers to nibble at the Lick. Watching the Macaws was fascinating bird behaviour. They went down two by two, ever so cautious, always listening for preditors and communicating with each other. There were maybe 20-30 birds in the area, but they averaged only 12-14 on the Lick at any one time. The swark of parrots and Macaws reminded me of home – and for the first time on my trip I felt overwhelmingly homesick.