Hiding on the Shores of an Amazonian Tributary

When we stayed at the ecolodge in the Amazon Jungle while we were in Ecuador, we canoed on a tributary of the Amazon river every day. The plants that line the water are very dense with a variety of reeds, branches, and hanging vines. The entire time we were in the jungle, including while in our canoes, we had to constantly scan the foliage around us as you never knew when you would see some of the many different animals that live there. The animals are very adept at camouflaging themselves amongst the leaves and branches, so mostly you spent your time looking for any kind of movement and then the guide would stop the canoe and we would use binoculars or zooming in on the camera to find what animals were hiding in the trees. We had to look up into the trees as well as the edges of the water because in addition to the birds, monkeys, and sloths that were in the trees, there were anaconda snakes, large black caiman, and river otters that love to hide in the reeds along the shore. Here are a few of the photographs that we took as we canoed to and from our ecolodge in Ecuador.

Stinky Turkey Along the Shore
Large Black Caiman
First Glimpse of River Otters
Not Always Finding Animals
Hiding in Plain Sight
There was a Baby Caiman Hiding in the Reeds
River Otters Hiding in the Shadows
Scanning the Shoreline
Trees in the Jungle

Giant River Otters

When you think of otters, you usually think of cute sea otters playing like puppies in the water. Giant river otters are definitely not as cute, although they do play and wrestle with one another. During our time at the Napo Wildlife Center in the Amazon rainforest we were fortunate enough to see a family of giant river otters on two separate occasions. They spent most of their time growling at us as we watched them from our canoe, but they still chased each other and rolled around on the ground playfully. Perhaps it is the harshness of living in the environment of the jungle that makes them a little more fierce and not as cute as other otters. They are also larger than most other otters, apparently as large as 70 pounds, which that adds to their impression. They are considered to be endangered, so seeing them is quite rare and we were very fortunate to have that opportunity more than once. We took a lot of photos and videos of them, but it probably won’t truly demonstrate what it was like to sit in a canoe just a few feet away from these fascinating creatures.

 

Growling at Us

Family Members

Our Very First View of the Otters

Large and Fast

Giving Us a Dirty Look

Heading into the Trees