Day 7 - Animal extravaganza... and a bump on the head

 Up early again in what was becoming unfortunately a common practice round here. Ready for a 5am start. I know im not one for lie ins really but a small one would be nice 😁

However the 5am.start enabled us to catch the peccaries. scooting along the boundaries of the station which was kinda cool and also meant that we could do a bit of searching in the dark which may yield a snake or 2... you never know.

So we set off... having set our shoes out to dry... we clumped around in boots... but with the prospect of dry feet all day!

Our first port of call was to a place that jemkins knew the tapirs hung out... and sure enough... there they were, wallowing in the mud... looking unconcerned with the groups of tourists that trapsed by, taking photos from a respectful distance. we were careful. to be quiet and not disturb to much but it was cool to sneak a little closer

Then as we wandered towards the beach there was a shout to hurry as there was a tapir wandering along. We got there in time to watch him saunter past us without a care in the world and along to the edge of the jungle, where he reached up with his trunk like nose, took a nosefull of leaves and munched away. We then watched as he headed into. the water across to another small island where he could escape our watching eyes....

wow... what a start to the day. 4 tapirs and without even trying!

Jenkims then led us along the trail, pointing out birds to Dave and anoles to me. The blunt nosed anole was a common one that flitted around.

And then Jenkins stopped and pointed up... we all craned our necks trying to discern what it was he was looking at... Sloth he said.... huh?? that bundle of darker bit amongst the treetops?? oh ok!! How he saw that, I had no idea... until he pointed to an arrow another guide had drawn in the sand to show following guides where to look!!

But to be fair... even. knowing where I was looking didnt help too much. Jenk9ns set up his scope and we finally got a glimpse of the sloth... basically we were staring at his butt!

We shot some pucs through the scope which was certainly clearer than my attempts to zoom in and certainly convinced me. that it was deffo a sloth that I was seeing!

Now that was cool! Apparently it was a 3 toed sloth and I'm just going to believe Jenkins on that one!

We saw a beautiful crested owl and a Toucan or two, all through the scope which made it easier to get good pictures. For myself, I prefer seeing it with my eyes not through the scope and although I used the scope to get some better closeups I rarely used it to see the animal as I find that sometimes I can see it better without as I struggle to get my eye closed correctly.

That said the pic of the owl. and the toucan turned out far better through the scope!

In the rest of our pre lunch wanderings we saw squirrel monkeys and cappuchin monkeys and spent some time watching them dash about the branches or dodging anything they threw down at us. It was particularly lovely seeing the babies strike out on their own but with mum within easy reach! 

My feet were pretty sore. As nice as it was to have them dry... walking in rubber boots is not the best. My feet had been destroyed when I did a craZy ultramarathon a few months ago and they still haven't healed properly. The beating they got on the los patos part of the trail had set back the healing process by a good week or two. 

For those that dont want any more detail.. look away now. 

2 more toenails were hanging by a thread, added to the 3 I had already lost.

... ok you can come back now! 

So my feet were very grateful for a bit of a break for a very nice lunch and a seat on the decking watching the howler monkeys sweep through the trees. 

Then a quick check of my walking boots... almost dry! And off again into the jungle. 

Jenkins said he was going to take us to a hollow tree, one that had been strangled by a ficus and gradually died off... this process can take hundreds of years so this must be a very old tree. 

On the way there were more monkeys, a mixture of squirrel and spider monkeys. Bounding along.

At one point Jenkins stooped down and looked in a hollow log... he beckoned us over and I got excited that he may have found the elusive Fer De Lance.... no dice... but tgere was an absolutely massive tarantula hidden in there which was pretty cool.

We also saw some nice birds, a roadside hawk and at some point a great Currasow, both male, female and junior. Large turkey like birds that strut along like they own the place.  All well and good but beginning to. despair of finding the Terciopele.

We found the tree and the hollows that provided access inside. One full of water and surprise surprise, the other full of mud (spot the theme of the last few days)

We chose mud over water and. one by one squished down into the hole and crawled into the centre of the tree. WOW!

Inside was like marble. with the different colours swirling around each other and the pinpoint of light from the top of the tree. It was very cool to be inside a tree. like this... I half expected moonface or saucepan man to come crashing down and say hello! (Faraway Tree reference for those who spent their childhood not reading Enid Blyton books!)

There were a few whip scorpions on the walls and something that looked like a cave cricket. I like most creepy crawlies but whip. scorpions give me the heebie jeebies. Neither a scorpion nor a spider, they don't bite and aren't dangerous. They just give me. the creeps!!!

We crawled out again into the light... me and dave covered with mud... lilli having managed to stay somehow clean... technique apparently. 😂

We slowly made our way back to the station. At some point we had some peccaries crossing our path (don't know if that is good luck?) so we watched them. for. a. little. while before following them down the path.

We arrived at the ranger station in good time and it was here that the story took a bit of a turn..

A monkey came and stole my hat.. I ran after him, tripped. over a root, slipped on the mud backwards and hit my head on a rock....

?? too farfetched??

ok what about this...

a croc came out of the river and as I ran away I tripped and went flying and my. head hit a tree....

?? a bit more believable??

Truth is much more mundane and stoopid!

Having had a really long two days, I had just finished my shower and was putting my shorts back on, when both my feet went out from underneath me...

I fell back and I remember my head whipping back. and hitting the tile wall soooo hard that it jerked my head back forward again. 

everything then went a bit wierd, like when a cymbal has been hit and continues to shimmer. I could move my arm in fact I moved it towards my chest, but it took a while for my eyesight/brain to catch up and see my arm there...

I reached for my head in a daze and held. my hand agaimst the spot that had hit...

I vaguely recollect seeing blood spattered on the wall and I must have shouted...

I leant forward breathing hard from the shock...

Someone was calling out to me but it took a minute to reply. The world was still shimmering slightly.

I was a bit scared that I had done some real. damage in that moment and until I. came fully back to my senses.

I managed to unlock the door and crawl out... hand still on my head, blood seemingly pouring down my hand.

Someone asked who my guide was, but I was still in shock. and couldn't remember his name... the first thing that came to me was Dave and Lilli's bunk numbers and I asked for them to be got over. I then rested my head on my knee, hand still putting pressure on the wound. Someone came and asked me to. move. my hand but I was a bit worried about moving it, so they gave me a pad and asked for me. to hold that on instead. It took me a while to realise that it was Dave and he had gone into Emergency medicine nurse mode. He checked my spine and asked me to move my neck around. I had tingling in my hands and toes but could move all of them. I was starting to recover from the shock and was being left with embarrassment!

I think I preferred the shock..

I was now. much more compus mentis and began to joke a bit...

it could have been worse... I could have been naked! Fortunately I had almost all my clothes on.

I counted fingers and someone wound a bandage round my head tightly. Lilli (bless her) washed the blood off my hands and face.

I stood up but didn't feel fully right yet and dave got me a chair.

Soon though I felt good enough to stand and good enough to joke around a bit... As I walked out of the shower area.. I was talking to Dave saying that I felt fine...

I then staggered a little (purposely) and winked at Jenkins as I did. I felt a bit bad after as I think I scared Dave slightly for a second, but then he caught on that I was smiling and possibly reluctantly smiled back through slightly gritted teeth.!

Jemkins had been talking about a boat out for me so as soon as I could string a sentence together again, I suggested we wait and see how I felt in the morning... unless I vomited or had any other neuro signs that would necessitate me going on the boat, I was damn well going to walk out of here!!

So we ate dinner, my head throbbing unsurprisingly but the tingling in my fingers and toes had gone and I didn't feel quite right but given how hard I had banged my head it was unsurprising.

I never want to hit my head that hard again. It's no fun at all.

I crawled behind my mosquito net and settled down, sidelying to avoid putting pressure on the cut on my head. Sleep came quickly!