Weekend near San Francisco

I arrived at SFO around 10:30 and was on the road by 11 enjoying winding roads flanked by lush forests and passing shimmering blue lakes.  I passed Half Moon Bay and drove down CA-1 along the coast.  I was trying to make it to Ano Nuevo State Reserve by noon so I could only enjoy the rocky shores and glimmering waters under blue skies in my rear view mirror but I knew I'd come back to enjoy the views.  When I finally arrived at the reserve, it was close to 12:30 but they still had tickets left for guided tours to the elephant seals.  I bought my ticket ($10 for entry to the reserve and $7 for the tour) and stopped by the highway Brewery to pick up a take-out lunch to enjoy by the coast as I waited for my tour.

Elephant Seals
The tour lasted about 2.5 hours. A volunteer of the reserve led the tour and told us all about otters, sea lions,the island offshore and its history as a lighthouse but now is inhabited by the sea lions, the stories of rescue and conservation of the elephant seals, and of course about the elephant seals and their mating and molting seasons.

elephant seals chilling

more elephant seals chilling

large male elephant seal

There were many beaches along CA-1.

The next day I went horseback riding with the Sea Horse Ranch - 8AM morning 2hr ride along trail and beach.  It was really nice riding along the beach, though a bit chilly.  The sky was misty/foggy but the bluffs along the beach were impressive.

After the horseback ride, I visited the beach by the Ritz-Carlton where there is a public beach with overlook from the golf course.

After getting some Artichoke garlic bread from the Arcangeli Grocery/Norm's Market in Pescadero, I went to Big Basin Redwood State Park for a hike through the redwood forests.  This is the first state park in California.

Banana Slug

from inside a hollowed out tree

redwood bark

Reflections on the Amazon Clipper Cruises and the Amazon

This was really an awesome trip. Boating down the amazon is an incredibly serene and scenic experience. The views are magnificent and the sounds of the jungle are great, especially at night. There weren't too many mammal sightings bit we did see many colorful birds.  I guess the amazon isn't teeming with life in the big animal sense but clearly there are tons of creatures all around. 

The Amazon Clipper Cruises: we were on the premium boat which was quite nice. I think the advantage over the traditional boat is enclosed with AC in the dining area and sitting areas. One complaint - no hot water for the first couple days because of a device failure that was repaired. Clearly the 6 day trip is a composite of the 3 day Rio Solimoes trip and the 4 day Rio Negro trips but the junction could have been more subtle than a 2 hour docking at the Tropical Manaus Ecoresort. In addition there could have been a little less repetition with the water lilies trip and the meeting of the waters bit. The Rio Negro portion is definitely the better portion with glassy waters, less insects and awesome scenery. However, in glad to have had the two for comparison. The Solimoes had more fish and hence more villages and more fishermen.  I'm glad I spent the week with the combo trip. The only alternative I would have considered is an ecolodge + boat cruise combo.  In terms of guides, Hugo was fantastic. He was very knowledgeable about the area, animals, birds, and flora. He was much better than the other guide on the trip - Christophe. 

The weather this past week has been fabulous. The forecast said rain daily but we only got rained on once and only for a few minutes. There was some reason at Night but that was pleasant. Otherwise, the weather was perfect - beautiful skies with breathtaking sunrises and sunsets.

Where to next? On board with us were some of the most week traveled people I've ever met. One couple was on a 10-month tour of the Americas and one guy was doing a 6 month tour of South America. I was very intrigued by tales recounted of trips to Sri Lanka, Antarctica, the Galapagos, and Madagascar. Many more trips to go!

Last day in the Amazon

Alas, it is over, so fast so soon. It's been a fantastic trip. In the morning we went to see the giant water lilies again. This time since it was morning the flowers were white and female instead of pink and male. We saw a number of cool birds including a flock of hoatzin, a red-crested woodpecker, and a night hawk.

We went back to the meeting of the waters but this time the Rio Negro side didn't look as dark so the contrast wasn't as sharp.

After we left the boat we had midday drinks with our new friends from the boat before their flight. We still had some hours to kill before our flight so we had lunch and then headed to the zoo in town which is run by the army and is populated by animals rescued by the army from South America. The zoo was really great (except for the equatorial heat and humidity).  We saw all sorts of monkeys, snakes including the anaconda, panthers, pumas and jaguars, lots of birds plus a harpy eagle, turtles and tortoises, and fish including the pirarucu.  The best part was that they were kept in large enclosures and when possible without fences.  I highly recommend a visit, especially for 5 reales pp.

Toucan

Black Jaguar

Jaguar on the prowl

Harpy Eagle - eats sloths

Pirarucu

Day 5 - last full day

This morning we went fishing again. The piranhas in Rio Negro are different from the ones on Rio Solimoes. There are no red ones here but there are the black ones which are the largest type, up to 5kg. Roberto, our resident fishing expert, caught two of these black piranhas. 

Morning canoe ride - glassy waters 

Passion flower

Our next excursion was a visit to an Indian village. Apparently during the early days of European settlement, ships traveling down the Amazon noticed that there were many Indians that were sick from European disease so they took them by boat to the town hospitals. Once the Indians got better they didn't want to go back to their sickly villages and created new ones in Terra preta - black earth. They came up with a new language that the mixed Indian people would speak. We saw the Indian people making farina and tapioca from manioc. We saw their pet tapir and macaws. We also saw their flat screen TVs and mobile phones and wondered how they could afford them. The only exportables we saw were the little souvenirs they made ranging from 3-30 reales which clearly doesn't buy each family a large screen TV.

Tapir

blue and yellow Macaws

In the afternoon, we went to see the pink dolphins. We paid 50 reales to take pictures with and touch pink dolphins that come up to a platform area off a floating river house.  They dolphins were not cages and allowed to come and go but stuck around because they knew they'd get feed fish by the people in the house. We all stood on the submerged platform as the dolphins came for their fish and we were able to pet them. I was surprised at how soft their skin was, much softer that the ocean dolphins I encountered in Mexico. Instead of sleek tight skin they had soft pudgy skin, maybe they were overfed :) then we tried our hands at fishing the largest river fish - the pirarucu - which we've had for dinner several times. This was an incredibly large and strong fish! No one succeeded of course.

Next we went on our last canoe trip and it was an awesome last trip. We were along the Arieu river area and saw a large ecolodge. Nearby we encountered a large group of squirrel monkeys that came very close to our boat and spent some time playing in front of us. They were adorable.
We also saw a couple hawks fishing and a sloth. We watched the sunset on the river. It was a great ending canoe trip.

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

Day 4 - on Rio Negro

Rio Negro is really spectacular. I woke up around 5 and headed to the top deck where I could see the glassy surface of the waters around us before anyone had a chance to disturb the surface. It was extraordinary. We headed out at 6 for a morning bird watching session. Along the way we heard the cries of howler monkeys but never saw them. We saw a number of parrots and vultures. I love seeing the half submerged trees in a submerged forest. There were also so low hanging clouds which formed a nice hazy background to the serenity of the morning forests.

   

We came back for breakfast and then tucked our pants into our socks (to prevent any invasion) and headed out for a jungle hike. There were surprisingly few mosquitoes but other little bugs. We had a special guy with us who wielded a machete and showed us the way. He showed us how you can make DDT from a plant stem and we saw a bug land in it and instantly die. Apparently, locals used to dump this liquid into the river and catch all the fish that suffocated from the poison which they then treated by drying or boiling for long periods to remove the poison. He also taught us how to spear a jaguar and how to make a blow gun. Along the way we saw 2 toads and a large tarantula.  We drew sap from a rubber tree and a gum tree - which I tasted and it was sweet and sticky. We didn't get bitten by ants but saw fierce colonies of bullet ants and combat ants. 

common toad

Bullet ants

Tarantula

  

After lunch the boat moved further down the Anavilhans archipelago. The narrowing water ways with elongated islands were gorgeous. We parked at the tip of an island. The view from the boat is everything I imagined from a riverboat on the Amazon - serene waters, trees abutting our boat with narrow waterways on all sides - magical Amazon beauty.

We went for a boat ride around the archipelago in the afternoon into evening. In addition to the great views of the water and trees, it was the trip of colorful birds. We must have seen at least 5 macaws, 6 toucans, and a few parrots. We also saw a sloth moving about! It was actually climbing along a tree limb and upright grasping on with his arms and standing on his feet. We also saw some hawks and an eagle. Despite all that we saw, the best was still just the sheer sight of the riverbanks and the reflections in the mirror like waters.

toucan

2 Toucans

 

After dinner, one of the tour guides - Christophe - gave a lecture about the Amazon including its history and cultures and current environmental conservation issues. I thought overall the talk was good but had several complaints. First of all, the dude was German and used all German slides for an English speaking tour group. He said he was just using it for the pictures, but how hard is it really to translate a couple slides when you're an English speaking tour guide? My other issues were content based so I won't get into it. In any case, I thought it was interesting that they put together a lecture, but it should have been optional.