Farmer Steph’s visit to the Amazon Jungle!

To celebrate our new Jungle Barn opening, Farmer Steph wanted to give you an insight into real jungle life…

Hi! I’m Farmer Steph. You may have seen me with the Little Farmers or working with the animals around the farm. To coincide with the opening of our fantastic new Jungle Barn, I wanted to share with you my experience of visiting the Amazon Jungle in Peru last year.

After spending a few days sightseeing in the capital city Lima, we boarded a one hour internal flight to the city of Puerto Maldonado, known as the gateway to the southern Amazon Jungle. The airport consisted of a single small runway, completely surrounded by trees, nothing like I’d ever seen before! When we got off the plane it was extremely hot and humid, and instantly we were surrounded by the sounds of unfamiliar wildlife. It was very exciting! We then had a bus journey along bustling streets before boarding a motorised canoe to take us further into the jungle to our lodges.

Not long after arriving, we had our first encounter with the local wildlife. A huge snake was slowly making its way along the path. Even though I love handling the snakes at the farm, I took a wide birth of this unknown serpent! Further up the jungle path, a timid agouti tiptoed across in-front of us. Then a group of squirrel monkeys, some carrying their babies, passed by in the trees above us. They didn’t seem to be bothered by our presence as they went about their business. It was a wonderful sight! We were keen to explore, however we could not venture onto the jungle paths without our experienced guide, Uriel, as we may have put ourselves in danger!

That evening, we had our first excursion in the dark. The sound of the jungle was eerie and without our torches, it was pitch black! We jumped on the canoe and headed off up the river to find some nocturnal wildlife. Uriel was an expert at finding the camouflaged creatures, so we soon spotted white caiman, basking in wait by the river’s edge. Nearby there was a family of capybara, consisting of adults and young, grazing on the grasses by the bank. “Watch out for the caiman!!!” All around us there were fish eating bats, silently swooping down the the surface of the water to feed in our torchlight. We could sense movement all around us in the warm darkness.

The following day, our next excursion was to visit the Tambopata National Reserve, a few miles up river. The area has swamps, meandering rivers and a large oxbow lake, home to many rare and endangered species of plants and wildlife. On our walk to the lake, we were surrounded by the most beautiful butterflies I’d ever seen, and there were weird and wonderful insects everywhere! On reaching the swamp, we had to board another canoe, this time propelled by oars, to lead us through the meandering rivers, to the lake. As we floated along quietly, unusual water birds popped their heads out to see us, quickly disappearing again into the undergrowth. Turtles, perched on branches protruding from the water, basked in the sunlight breaking though the forest canopy above. The sun was scorching on the open water, and I was glad for my wide brimmed hat and sunscreen! It wasn’t long before we were treated to more spectacular sights. A huge black caiman lurked menacingly in the ripples under the overhanging trees, I’m sure it could have swallowed one of us whole if it so desired! A group of Proboscis [or long-nosed] bats clung in the shade to the trunk of a tree, swaying from side to side as we drew near, to convince predators that they were simply leaves swaying in the breeze. We stopped in the shade of these trees for a rest and a bite to eat. Uriel told us to drop a few crumbs into the lake, and as I did so, the water erupted into a bubbling, fizzing cauldron. He told us the lake is full of piranhas, so I’m glad I hadn’t dangled my fingers into the water! However, after all this, the highlight of that day was watching a pair of river otters playing cheekily in the water near us.

Our third excursion was to the jungle canopy walkway. After ascending the steps of the first tower into the forest canopy, we walked along a series of rope bridges and tree platforms approximately 100 feet [30m] above the forest floor. We didn’t see any of the illusive sloths that we had been told lived in the area, however the views over the jungle and river were breathtaking and the whole experience was exhilarating! After descending the steps at the final tower, we made our way back through the forest to the starting point. Suddenly behind us we heard an almighty crack and a thud as a branch fell from the canopy above. On closer inspection we realised there was a sloth gripping tightly to the fallen brach! Not only that, but as she lay on her back, we saw that she had a baby cradled on her tummy! We couldn’t believe our eyes! Understandably a little stunned, mummy sloth lay there for a few minutes, while baby tentatively looked around. Both were thankfully uninjured, mummy eventually getting to her feet and slowly making her way back up a tree, her baby nestled safely in her fur, to disappear into the tree canopy once more. Uriel explained to us that sloths are anatomically designed to survive falls of up to 100 feet and on average they will fall from a tree once a week for their entire life!

Our final excursion was a night walk around the forest. It was pitch black and we only had small torches to light our way as we walked along the paths. The forest was alive with sound in the darkness and we managed to find frogs, toads, giant centipedes, spiders and insects galore! Uriel found a hole in a tree stump and told us to watch. He picked a long blade of grass, waved it in front of the hole, and a huge bird eating tarantula as big as my hand crept out to see if there was any food. Further along the path, we were told to observe again as Uriel shone an ultra violet light on the ground in front of us. There we saw a scorpion glowing brightly, this is due to their exoskeletons being reactive to the UV light, quite astonishing to see!

Whilst in the jungle, we also learned about native plants that the indigenous tribes use as food and medicines, including Brazil nuts which only grow in the Amazon rainforest. It was an absolutely amazing experience that I’d love to repeat!