Day 8: June 24

7am we headed out for a 5 hour hike through the jungle. We learned about the trees, birds and mammals of the forest. We learned about the walking tree, which kills off it's own roots, and plants new ones in hopes of finding new soil. It will walk 5 inches a year!! Fascinating! I also learned that rainforest trees do not have rings to tell it's age. Trees in the US have the winter season where the tree is not really alive, and that's when the ring forms. We hiked to two lakes. We went piranha fishing, Temp almost caught one but jumped off right as he was lifting him out.
2 guys in our group caught tiger fish, and one ate his for dinner that night! We fished with a stick and cow meat at the end with a hook. We saw a cayman in daylight, so that was cool. Here are some pictures from our adventures:

army ants are prevalent in the rainforest.
cayman in the daytime
stinky bird! that's it's name! really it's the Hoatzin. AKA stinky bird because of it's vegetarian diet--it smells and they are funny looking!camo-frog

Later that evening after a long nap, we went to a lookout tower to observe animals at a clay lick. Since it was chilly, none really showed up. Clay provides nutrients for the mammals and birds of the rainforest. Clay lies beneath the soil. One of the more popular trees was the Brazil Nut Tree. It takes 50 years to bear fruit. Once a year it drops a shell of nuts that only a human or agouti (giant guinea pig like rodent) can open the shell which contains an average of 20 nuts inside. They use their teeth to open the shell, then take the nuts and hide them throughout the forest. The problem is, they have a bad memory and leave them in the hiding spots which helps plant the seed for a new tree. Humans can open them with machetes, which we did, and was very difficult. The Brazil Nuts are used for eating, they are good with chocolate or sugar on them and for paints and cosmetics.