5:45AM – Don’t these people ever sleep? We got up this morning at 5AM so that we could catch the boat at 5:45AM. We had to get to the other Explorama lodge that was deeper in the jungle. The trip took about two hours. At the speed we were going, it got pretty cold since the boat only had overhead covering, and the vinyl windows were rolled up.
8:00AM – When we got to the other lodge, it was time for breakfast. This place was very different from our lodge. Ceiba Tops has air conditioning and hot water. This place was more of what you would expect from the jungle. Yes, we’re wusses. Here, although the rooms had roofs, there were no windows you could close, just curtains for privacy. And, those curtains don’t do much good in keeping the critters out, so people have to sleep under mosquito nets. Speaking of critters, there was a parrot who could speak both Spanish and English. There was also some furry pig-like creature called a capybara named Charlie. We didn’t pet him though, since he’s been known to bite.
9:00AM – Roldan and a family of three hiked to the treetop canopy walkways with us. But Kathy, the mother, was afraid of heights. She took the ground path, while the rest of us climbed to the top. From the tree tops, we saw a lot of flowers, trees, and bugs. We tried to look for birds and monkeys, but were unsuccessful.
11:00PM – We hiked back towards the lodge and stopped at the ReNuPeRu Botanical Gardens. Over there, we met a local shaman who explained to us how natural plants could be used to treat diseases and ailments. He even demonstrated a healing ritual on several of the members of our tour. The shaman also had a pet anteater named Dennis. I got to pet it while it laid in my lap.
12:00PM – Buffet lunch was served once again. And they even served the wild monkeys here. They hung a bunch of bananas outside, and pretty soon the monkeys came to feast. At first the black colored monkeys came. They were little guys who were about the size of squirrels. When they left, some even smaller brown monkeys came to eat.
2:00PM – We headed back to the Ceiba Tops Lodge by boat. It was going to be approximately a two hour ride, so I napped most of the back.
4:00PM – Once back Ceiba Tops and back to our rooms, we washed up and relaxed for a while. Since there wasn’t a TV in the room, I watched shows that I brought on my pda.
7:30PM – Buffet dinner was served, and it was one of the guides birthday. They sang the longest birthday song that I have ever heard. Roldan stopped by to tell us our itinerary for tomorrow. We thought we got to sleep in, but he actually scheduled piranha fishing for us in the morning. So we went back to our room after dinner and prepared for another early day.