Stampede!

Today we went on a long hike and it was great. We woke up early and went to the lake for breakfast. We had a another member on our team, a guy named AJ. Everyone was jealous because I got strawberries for breakfast. The strawberries were wonderful. At the lake we had to empty the boat before going out. So we hauled the boat out an tipped the water out. I took the back seat so I could steer. While out we were able to get some great pictures of bats that hid on exposed logs and dinosaur birds. Because we were slightly distracted and communication failed we got high centered on a stick. Yes we are that talented. We only got off once everyone shifted their weight more towards the back.

After the lake we worked hard finding a lot of Inga. We found over 54 herbivores, but ran out of cups to put them in. While looking for Inga I was able to spot a two toed sloth. Sloths are one of the more rare animals to find and I found one and was able to get some pictures of it. The sloth was sleeping and not active. Then a short distance away from the sloth we found a huge leaf cutter ant nest. That was really fun to see. We ate lunch on a log next to the nest watching both ants and a group of Wooly monkeys.

After lunch we continued on our hike just looking for chlorophyll samples. While looking them M.N. who was leading suddenly stopped. She then said "jaguar." Crossing the trail in front of us was a large yellow jaguar. It calmly walked in front of us then turned 45 degrees to us and leaped into the forest. It was way cool. Jaguars are extremely rare to see, especially if there are lots of people.

While the jaguar was leaving I heard a sound that I thought was a distant motor. Well, I was wrong. It soon sounded like a stampede with clacking teeth. M, M.N, and T. all recognized the sound and took off running looking for a big tree on their way away and up the hill saying "sainos". Once they realized that the other three of us were not running or understanding they shouted "pigs!" These pigs are known to be extremely aggressive and commonly travel in groups of 20 to 300 and are commonly known as White Lip Pig. They are big. They were about my waist height, and looked to be maybe double my weight. In all they look like what you'd imagine a wild pig would look like and they absolutely stink. After hearing them yell pigs we saw them come over the hill charging at us. There were about 30-45 of them and Z, AJ, and I turned and ran. Z found a tree and climbed up it like it was a fire pole. AJ was ready to do the same and he quickly found his own tree. As soon as I realized what the pigs were and that they were following me, I ran. I was trying to get away but I kept getting tangled into lianas, or vines on the ground. Three pigs ran to the tree Z was in then turned to follow AJ and I. I soon realized that I was very stuck in the vines and I prayed. Just before the pigs got to me they stopped chasing, turned around, and left. The pigs got within 12 feet, or 4 meters, of AJ and I. Once I stopped I did get my big survival knife out, and it made everyone feel better. I do love my knife!

After the pigs we continued at a fast pace because we could still smell and hear the pigs every now and then. Nothing of note really happened on the way back except we went through a swamp where the mud came up to my knees. It reminded me of the Dead Marsh that Frodo and Sam travel through in The Lord of the Rings.

And that was our day.

 

A sloth!