The Lago

We decided to finish the Lago trail and make it to the lake. Instead of looking closely for our plants, we walked quickly until we were in new territory that we had never been before. One of the first things we saw was a giant caterpillar. It was as big as my middle finger (so about three inches). It was green with bright blue fading to black spikes and had yellow spot on its side. It was amazing how big it was. The next cool creature was a lizard. We had seen a lizard the previous day on Parahuaco and this lizard looked to be the same kind as the other. I was happy to see some red flowers blooming. I have realized that there are not many flowers blooming in the understory, or really in the jungle. The dominant color is green followed by brown, then gray. Surprisingly there is not a profusion of color like I had expected, but when you do see color it is vibrant enough to make up for the lack of color everywhere else.

For lunch it was decided, by me, that we would eat it at the lake. At the lake you come to a little set of stairs with a warning sign not to go swimming due to caiman and anacondas. The sign also said you are welcome to take the little canoe out.  We decided that we would eat lunch in the canoe. So, very carefully, only one person standing at a time, five of the six of us climbed in. While eating we kept seeing reptile-like heads coming out of the water. This caused the biologist, explorer, and adventurer in all of us to agree to take the canoe out.

Out on the lake the sun was really hot, but there was a cool breeze so it was extremely ideal.  We all were very quiet so we could see as many animals as possible. I was in charge of our forward motion and directing where we went, another teammate was in charge of assisting me in paddling. We first saw a group of Watsons, or Dinosaur birds. The Watsons are the only bird that eats only leaves, and are one of the closest living relatives of dinosaurs. The noise made by the Watsons is a dry coughing growl. It was very weird to hear. We then paddled to see some parrots that were opening a fruit up. Then we went to see some butterflies and ended up seeing a baby anaconda that was sunning itself. The anaconda we guessed to be about 1.5 meters, or 4 feet, long.  After that we saw some turtles with butterflies kissing their noses. On our way back into the middle of the lake, we saw a small swarm of bats that we had no clue were there until we spooked them. We then saw a mysterious head that could have belonged to a large anaconda. That was our sign to go back to shore and get some work done.  I know I am planning to try to go back to the Lago again. 

 This is the canoe we ate lunch in and explored the lake in.

 Hidden in the middle is a Watson, or dinosaur bird.

 I spy with my little eye, a sunning baby anaconda!