Monday 22.9.14 – Sani Warma Community.

Up early at 4.30, a quick check of emails/Facebook and enough service for a status update.

Out for breaky at 5.30.The water problem is fixed…for now – just no water after 9.00pm.

We headed out at 6.15 in the first canoe for Sani Warma Lodge – this is owned and run by the Sani people, which Freddy and Javier come from.

A 10 minute walk along a boardwalk to board smaller canoes – 12 people per canoe, then paddled by Javier and another guy along a small creek – Shanucocha – through jungle and reeds and lakes, very dark but lots of birds and animals including:

• Hoatzin 
• I briefly saw a little Hummingbird 
• Awesome little blue bird – totally iridescent blue – a Violet Throated Cotinga 
• Monkeys 
• Neo-Tropical Cormorant 
• Chestnut Fronted Macaw 
• Green Ibis 
• Agame Heron 
• Osprey with fish 
• Boat Billed Heron 
• Coicoi Heron 
• Sun Grebe 
• Car Alarm Bird – or Black capped Donacobius 
• Orange Bellied Euphonia 
• Orange Winged Amazon Parrot 
• Brown Slate Flycatcher 
• Paradise Flycatcher 
• False Parrot Snake 
• Pale Vented Pigeon 
• Cobalt Winged Parakeet 
• Greater Ani 
• Smooth Billed Ani 
• Lesser and Great Kiskadee 
• Pygmy Kingfisher 
• White Throated Toucan 
• Cocha Antshrike 
• Wattle Jacana – skinny little legs flying behind it, also known as Jesus bird, as it seems to walk on water. 
• Woodpecker

False Parrot Snake.

View along the river.

Mango flowers I think.

Avel, with some Cacoa.

Then we waked again through the jungle to a giant buttress/Kapok/Ceibo tree – which has had a 37 metre high tower built beside it. 202 steps to a viewing platform above the canopy. Saw heaps of birds including:

• Common Patoo – which is a bit like our Tawny frogmouth, he/she was totally camouflaged, looking like an extension of a branch. 
• Yellow Browed Tody Flycatcher 
• Crimson Masked Taniger 

There were orchids and epiphytes (bromeliads) on the branches. Great view all around. We stayed for quite a while before retracing our steps.

The early morning was certainly well rewarded – an excellent experience for sure. Also nice to think that we are supporting the home community of Freddy and Javier.

Here's us above the tree tops.

In the HUGE roots of the Buttress/Kapok tree.

It turns out that one of the oil companies wanted to do some exploration for oil on Sani Warma land, in return the community asked for a lodge to be built that the community could then run, thus bringing income and jobs. The lodge was built and it turned out that no oil was found – a good deal all around I reckon.

I went up to the exterior deck to type up some blog, but met Doug and Jan were busy with the bird books creating the list from today, we were joined by Larraine, Felicity, Santiago and Liz, hence the very extensive and correct list of birds from the morning.

After lunch (mushroom/pork/icecream, meringue and passionfruit) we had some more downtime to start packing for tomorrow night, our checked luggage has to be ready and downstairs tomorrow night.

The last activity today was a trip to the Sani Warma community – where the women of the community showed us some of their traditional lifestyle. We saw their fish breeding pond, their garden/orchard, where Luisa cut a palm down and gave us palm heart to taste – very tasty and fresh. We also saw their cocoa, peanuts, pineapples, yucca and papaya that I can recall. Following the orchard tour, we went to their common cooking and dining area, to watch them cook for us:

• Bananas 
• Plantains 
• Fish and palm heart in leaves 
• Grubs 
• Cacoa beans/nuts 
• Some local alcoholic drink 
• Palm heart 
• Yuca. 

We got to eat it all too, served on leaves on the floor.

There was also a chance to purchase some of the local handicrafts – a lot with seeds so probably won’t get them home through customs, but more so a donation to the community.

Little birds nest with egg.

Luisa chopping down the palm for
Palm Heart.

The cooking hut on right and handicrafts on the left.

Cacoa nuts, grubs, plantains etc.

Grandmother and grandbaby.

Stuff cooking in the palm hearts.

The grubs eaten both alive and cooked.

The feast laid out on leaves to eat.

Another Oropendula nest tree.

The school bell at the community.

Sunsetting behind the jungle.

The 500 members of the community live in the jungle in the area. They have 250m of river front and 2kms back into the jungle. Here they fish, farm and hunt and generally live a subsistence lifestyle.

The common community area which we visited today houses a community meeting room, a primary school, a small ‘city’ medical room and the ‘business area’ where they cooked and sold handicrafts. Freddy explained that people don’t live here, they come here from their land/homes to meet as a community.

They seem a pretty progressive community having done the deal with the oil company. They also rent out land at the community area to the oil company for a huge communication tower. Freddy indicated that the community made $1.2million last year, from all the concerns, which pays wages and put back into the community with scholarships and such.

Dinner and briefing and lecture (eggplant, beef with risotto, chocolate mousse) You will definitely see me coming when I get home, I will be like ‘the side of a house’

Lecture from Renee Torres, who has done some research with University of Quito and National Geo to monitor the mammals of the jungle forest. They used hidden field cameras which were activated by movement/temperature to establish what’s out there. There were lots of good shots of the many mammals that are hard/impossible to see:

• Giant anteaters 
• Armadillos 
• Pecary’s 
• Jaguar 
• Puma 
• Ocelots 
• Monkey 
• Deer 
• Agoutis 
• Squirrels 
• Raccoons 
• Rabbits.