Safaris
Introduction
Lists of mammals, birds, and other creatures seen during safaris in South America
between late November 2009 and early April 2010.
Goals
- See the big 3 of Brazil in the wild: jaguar, sloth, and manatee.
- Sloth: saw a three-toed sloth at the Mamiraua reserve
- Manatee: saw an Amazonian manatee at the Botanical Gardens in Belem,
and at PEA IIAP, Iquitos
(but this doesn't count)
- Rub the back of an Antillean or an Amazonian manatee. DONE (Manatee orphanage PEA IIAP, Iquitos)
- See all the South American camelids. DONE:
- llama: lots in Peru and Bolivia
- vicuña: Colca canyon trip
- alpaca: lots in Peru and Bolivia
- guanaco: lots on the roadside in Patagonia
- See a killer whale: DONE (On board of Evangelistas, Patagonia)
- See an armadillo: DONE (Pantanal (close to Porto Manga), Brazil)
Floresta Nacional do Tapajós
Night-time "caiman hunt" @ a lake / flooded forest (2009-12-05)
Took place between the sunset and moonrise, as this is the best
time for caiman spotting.
The lake is very clear, like looking into an aquarium.
The fish were very slow, one could almost pick
them out of the water with one's bare hands.
Our guide was a local
fisherman, crocodile tooth around his neck, often jumped out of the boat and
walked through the caiman/piranha/electric eel infested waters to catch a
caiman for us.
Once got stung by an eel. (If an eel stings you thrice then you die.)
Managed to capture one caiman.
Once a fish jumped into the boat, apparently
the light from the head lamps makes them jump. As the fish had sharp teeth it was
quite difficult to get it back into the lake.
Other
- caiman
- electric eel
- piranha
- /many other fish/
Hike in the terra firma (?) forest (2009-12-06)
It's supposed to be a primary rainforest, but many plantations
were close to the hiking track.
Mammals
Birds
Plants
Other
Pousada Uacari, Mamiraua reserve
Wildlife viewing at Pousada Uacari is done in two ways:
several day and night time hikes in the varzea-forest
(in the wet season when the forest is flooded canoes are used),
and boat and canoe trips on the rivers/channels/lakes,
some of which finish after sunset so that
you can see the boat's spotlight reflecting in the caimans' eyes.
(Black) caiman and the pirarucu fish were seen every day close to the lodge
and in large numbers. In the following they are not listed. Many of the
fishing birds (heron, egret, kingfisher) also hang out at the lodge but these
are still listed in the following.
In the evening of 2009-12-17 we received a presentation of Projeto Boto
(the pink dolphin project) and took a boat ride to Lake Mamiraua
where we counted the dolphins for an hour (keeping track of the
individual doplhins is the task of this project). We saw dolphins
XI and AV surface several times next to our boat. There are about 200
dolphins marked with liquid nitrogen, the mark is usually a two-symbol
string. Not every symbol is an English letter: they also use triangles
and upside-down letters.
Canoe ride (2009-12-15)
Mammals
- White uakari
- Common squirrel monkey
- Black-faced (?) squirrel monkey
Birds
- Kiskadee (?) yellow belly, black head with 2 white stripes
- Yellow-rumped cacique
- Black vulture
- Sunbittern
- Wattled jacana
- Anhinga OR cormorant
- Large-billed tern
- Greater ani (there birds come in groups following squirrel monkeys)
- ??? Nunbird
- Ringed kingfisher
- Muscovy duck
- Great egret
- White-necked heron
- Rufescent tiger heron
- Roadside hawk
- /parrot (green+red)/
Night hike in the forest (2009-12-15)
Other
- /some small spider/
- Tarantula
Hike in the forest (2009-12-16)
Morning hike (7am–10am) in the forest around Pousada Uacari (about 5km?).
On the boat trip to the trail head saw the usual birds and the howler monkey.
In the forest didn't see much, just a squirrel, hoatzin, a woodpecker and a
humming bird.
Mammals
- Howler monkey
- Amazon red squirrel
Birds
- Scarlet macaw
- Ringed kingfisher
- Anhinga
- /some eagle/
- Muscovy duck
- Large-billed tern
- White-necked heron
- Rufescent tiger heron
- ??? Nunbird
- Hoatzin
- Humming bird
- Lineated woodpecker
Other
Evening boat ride to the Mamiraua lake (2009-12-16)
Mammals
- Howler monkey
- Black-faced squirrel monkey
- Pink dolphin
Birds
- White-necked heron
- Ringed kingfisher
- Anhinga
- Large-billed tern
- Great black hawk
- Hoatzin
- Wattled jacana
- Horned skimmer (?)
- Wattled curasaw (?)
- Cormorant (?)
- Macaw (?)
- White-throated toucan (?)
- Rufescent tiger heron
- Chesnut-eared arakari (?)
- Black-collared hawk (?)
- Lesser kiskadee
- Greater ani (?) (there birds come in groups following squirrel monkeys)
- Great egret
- Snowy egret
- Muscovy duck
- Yellow-rumped cacique
- Black skimmer
- Green ibis
- Lathered night jar (?)
- Boat-billed heron
Two hikes (2009-12-17)
Mammals
- Three-toed sloth
- Amazon red squirrel
- ??? squirrel monkey
- Howler monkey [maybe]
- South American coati
Birds
- Strong-billed wood creeper
- /many usual birds/
Other
- Snake 1 (large; on the tree)
- Snake 2 (small; on the ground)
Galapagos
Bahia Tortuga (2010-01-17)
Birds
- Sanderling (?)
- Magnificent frigatebird
- Blue-footed booby
- Brown pelican
Other
- Lava lizard
- Marine iguana
Rabida (2010-01-20)
7.45, 2h. Red beach. Ex-flamingo lagoon.
Mammals
Birds
- Great blue heron
- Magnificent frigatebird
- Blue-footed booby
- Nazca booby
- Brown pelican
Other
Puerto Egas
Mammals
- Sea lion (incl. alpha male)
- Fur seal
Birds
- Lava heron
- Blue-footed booby
- Brown pelican
- Night heron
- Galapagos oyster catcher
- Hawk (?)
Other
- Sally Lightfoot crab
- Marine iguana
- Lava lizard
- Yellow-tailed sergeon (?), fish
- Whitesnout searobin (fish?)
Bartolome and Sullivan Bay (2010-01-21)
Bartolome is a small island next to Santiago.
It is one of the most photographed sites on Galapagos
thanks to a needle-shaped rock formation [BUG: pinnacle?].
There is hardly any vegetation, only a few cactuses. The
island is covered with volcano craters, some are under water
but nicely visible from the topmost point of the island that
can be easly accessed over a wooden walkway. Before that walkway was built
tourists used to walk over the volcanic sand causing erosion.
Some parts of the island have sandy beaches where turtles come
to lay eggs.
Across the channel lies the Santiago Island. One can walk on
a 126-year-old lava flow (i.e. Darwin did not see it when he came in
1835 (?)).
Mammals
- Sea lion (incl. alpha male)
Birds
- Magnificent frigatebird
- Blue-footed booby
- Brown pelican
- Galapagos penguin
Other
- Sally Lightfoot crab
- Manta ray (jumping)
- Marine iguana
- Lava lizard
- Yellow-tailed sergeon (?), fish
- White-tipped reef shark
- Black sea turtle
Caleta Tortuga (2010-01-21)
Black Turtle Cove is a quiet mangrove-surrounded bay on the north side of
Santa Cruz. Black sea turtles come to mate there. While we were there
were at least 10 pairs mating. Some females had 3–4 males all over them.
Also rays and sharks prefer this place for reproduction.
Male blue-footed boobies come to fish there, but don't otherwise live
there, i.e. they fly over from other islands.
Snorkeling was forbidden after a tour guide dragged a sea turtle out of the
water to amuse the tourists. This happpened some 10 years ago.
Mammals
- Sea lion (group of bachelors have taken over
the Baltra military passanger pavillion)
Birds
- Lava heron
- Blue-footed booby
- Brown pelican
- Yellow warbler (?)
- Magnificent frigatebird
Other
- Black sea turtle
- Spotted eagle ray
- Black-tipped shark
Ballestas Islands
2.5h boat trip from Paracas to the islands (2010-01-28)
Mammals
Birds
- Humboldt penguin (about 500 on the islands)
- Peruvian booby
- Brown pelican
- Guano cormorant (produce most of the guano; mainly feed on anchovies)
- Inca tern (?)
- Gull (?)
- American oystercatcher
- Black cormorant (?)
Other
Torres del Paine
Drive to the park and a 6-day hike in the park
Mammals
- Guanaco
- Fox
- Mouse or Puma (didn't see, but ate a set of large holes
into one of our bowls placed in front of our tent
during the night)
Birds
- Ñandu
- Condor
- Magellanic woodpecker
- Caracara
- Hawk (?)
- Sparrow (?)
- Austral parakeet
- Kuldnokk (?)
- Flamingo
Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego National Park (2010-03-19)
Half a day
in the Tierra del Fuego National Park, close to Ushuaia.
Walked 17.3km, started at 10:48, finished 18:22,
1.5h was spent on a lunch break.
Mammals
Birds
- Great skua
- Kelp goose
- Chimango caracara
- Magellanic woodpecker
- Austral thrush
- Thorn-tailed rayadito
- Rufous-collared sparrow
- Finch (yellow, red back)
- Ringed kingfisher
- Duck (?)
Pantanal
The following does not list black caiman (that we saw every day in large quantities)
and the domestic animals horse and cow.
Day 1 (2010-04-02)
Mammals
- agouti
- bush deer
- black howler monkey
- capybara
- fox
Birds
- turkey vulture
- wattled jacana
- Jabiru (swollen neck) stork
- ringed kingfisher
- toucan
- crested caracara
- great (?) ibis
- black vulture
- monkey (?) parakeet
- squirrel cucoo
- black-hooded parakeet
- columbus ibis
- great egret
- roadside hawk
- amazon kingfisher
- savannah hawk
- southern screamer
- neotropical cormorant
- great black hawk
- flycatcher (?)
- green kingfisher
- white-necked heron
- yellow-billed tern
- streated (?) heron
- duck (?)
- pink spoonbill
Other
- common tigu (lizard)
- snake (?)
Day 2 morning (2010-04-03)
Mammals
Birds
- tiger heron
- /many of the birds seen the day before/
Day 2 before lunch (2010-04-03)
Csilla only.
Mammals
- six-banded armadillo
- bush deer
- coati
- agouti
- howler monkey
Birds
- pygmy kingfisher
- hyacinth macaw
- /many of the birds seen the day before/
Day 2 after lunch (2010-04-03)
Mammals
- bush deer
- coati
- howler monkey
- white-collared peccary
Birds
- chaka-laka (?)
- /many of the birds seen the day before/
Other