April 10, 2019
9:22pm
El Tacural Lodge, the Bolivian Amazon
Ella Shaul
Hi! Before we get started, I would like to mention a few things. Remember how I wrote my Nepal blogs (day-by-day)? Well, that’s how I’m going to write about my time in the Amazon. It sounds more ranger/survivor-y, don’t judge, and I think I like the format better. Also, I am going to be at least a bit more detailed. Lately, I’ve kind of been slacking in the blog instead of treating it like something that I actually want to do, so I’m going to try and write better. I realized that I will probably read this in the future and that others are FINALLY (*cough* Arianne, Selene, Summer, and Noah) reading it. Now that that’s over with, let’s get started!
Yesterday: Yesterday we didn’t do very much. We woke up in Uyuni and flew to our layover in La Paz. We were delayed an hour in Uyuni and there was a problem with Asher’s ticket, but it was quickly solved. In La Paz, our flight was canceled and we had to board the next fight three hours after we were supposed to leave; a total layover of six hours. We ate hamburgers (Troy accidentally ordered us the smallest size) and nuts in the meantime. On the plane, remember it was a combination of two flights, only about two-thirds of the seats were taken. And this was a small plane! When we arrived in Rurrenabaque, we noticed how few tourists there were! One thing that I loved was that when we got in our eight-person hotel van, we had to wait for other non-tour/reservation passengers! The van was acting as a taxi at the same time as transport for us! This may sound annoying to you, and it was at the time, but I loved that we were conserving energy and gas! I’d never seen it before and it was a bit of a nuisance until I understood, but I think it’s a small price to pay for a cleaner world. Before we got to our hotel, Aba had to sign us in at their office. While we waited, I saw this five-year-old boy playing tag with a fluffy black puppy. It was the cutest thing! We got to the hotel, which was nice but nothing special, and I read. We ate dinner at a nearby restaurant and went to sleep after a cold shower. 9-6-4-17 8-21-26-21-17-6 12-6, 4-23-24-6-17 4-13-9 1 24-4-9 23-3 12-21-5-24 8-21-13 1-13 26-24-6-17-6! 1 12-4-9-6 24-1-12 23-24-3-18-6-17 18-6-14-14, 7-21-26 1-26 18-4-23 4 25-3-22! Today was amazing. In the morning, we checked out of our hotel and Aba barely avoided getting scammed. Then, we met our guide. His name is Aurelio (I just try to remember *boo!* Aurelius Dumbledore from the new Fantastic Beasts (NOT Harry Potter) movies), and he seems very nice. We bought an extra flashlight and bottled water and then checked in at another office. Aba and Troy were surveyed about the Amazon by some high school students and Asher and I played with four cats. We only saw the mother, at first, and thought she was a kitten because she was small, but they were all so fuzzy! The next two and a half hours were spent riding in a small boat up the Beni, or Amazon, river. We stayed close to the shore because of the strong currents and were, therefore, able to notice some movement. First of all, we saw a man fishing with floating bait, but wildlife, even on that ride, was also abundant: screeching blue-and-yellow macaws, dark black vultures, swallows, sunbathing turtles, different species of beautiful Heron, were all seen in the water or through the thick jungle foliage. It seemed that in no time at all we arrived at our destination. As we disembarked, we were greeted by a peccary. A peccary, for those who don’t know, would be most likened to a hog with bristles for fur. However, they kind of look like enlarged shrews. This peccary was obviously used to people and almost immediately started rubbing against Asher and nuzzling me. He acted like a tame dog! You will get more familiar with Rambo, as Aba called him, because he followed us to El Tacural Lodge, where I am writing from now. We later learned that his name is really Roberto. The lodge was staffed by four people in addition to Aurelio and when we got here there were only six other guests. Now, it is only us. We rested and I read in a hammock (I’m starting to really like hammocks) until lunch, at which time we commenced with our afternoon hike. It was amazing. Even the vegetation was astounding. There were trees with spikes and tiny flowers; vines on top of vines, one hard and barren and the other soft and coated with leaves; there was an abundance of moss virtually everywhere and remarkable mushrooms littered the terrain, and everything was overshadowed by that overpowering sense of Green. Aurelio had been a guide for nineteen years and on the way, he had seen many things. One of them is a giant tarantula, and he has watched him grow almost every day for four years. I mention this because it’s cool and because we got to see him. He was gigantic! Seriously the biggest spider I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen some pretty large tarantulas in Texas. I’m worried the pictures won’t adequately show the size, so I’ll just say that he was probably bigger than my entire hand. And thick. Verrrrrrry thick. And hairy. Awesome. Another cool thing we saw were jaguar prints! Like the tarantula, they were huge! I am completely in love with this jungle.
In addition to what I already mentioned, my favorite part about the hike is how much Aurelio knew and shared with us. He pointed out plants and trees that could be used as remedies for asthma, fevers, diarrhea, nausea, and other illnesses, and told us how they were prepared. He cut a tree/vine plant thing open and showed us how to drink from it (it was tasty, by the way) and Aba was so excited to try the therapeutic juice made from it that he carried it the entire way back to the lodge!
He taught Asher and me how to use a machete, and he showed me how to swing from a vine. In addition to wanting to do it myself, before I left La Paz I promised my friend Una that I would. She had swung in Hawaii and wanted video evidence of my achievement. Una, this play-by-play is for you.
Aurelio: “Which one of you is the most like Tarzan?
Aba: Puts his hand on my shoulder “Ella is!”
Me: Stepping forward “Well, I did promise Una… Take a video!”
Me: I grab the vine and start swinging “Wooooaaaaah!”
*Crash*
End Scene.
Yes, my very own AFV video. I know, too bad I stopped myself from falling into the water… Those leeches would’ve been fun to play with. Instead of swinging like Tarzan, the much used and swung-on vine broke. Sigh…. I hope I get another chance later. We went back to the lodge but could still hear the magical sounds of jungle birds and bamboo rats, taking a rest before dinner. After our meal, we went on another hike, but in the dark. We couldn’t see very much, as we periodically stopped and turned off of lights, and we didn’t see any animals, but we did see insects akin to fireflies. They let out bright flashes of light every few seconds for a minute or two, but then they went away. It got a choir sing that I had sung in sixth (?) grade into my head, Come Into the Firefly Darkness by Amy F. Bernon, finally banishing Just Give Me a Reason by Pink. It had been in my head for a week! Also, we did see the Bamboo rats that are continuously squalling and a mouse on a vine. We blogged and am now going to go to sleep. Goodnight!
April 11, 2019
9:02pm
El Tacural Lodge, the Bolivian Amazon
Ella Shaul
It’s Thursday evening and Pink is back in my head! Today was filled with excitement! This is appropriate because it’s Trixie’s birthday! Happy birthday, Trixie!! She’s eight years old!!!! Therefore, I have a lot to write about. In the morning, we ate breakfast as usual and boarded a canoe. We rode a short while to an area called Caquiawara where we planned to see birds. It was a long hike up to a high platform, but on the way, we saw some worthwhile things. First of all, we saw a little toad. Remember the distinction I taught you in the Galapagos between turtles and tortoises? The same holds true for frogs and toads. Frogs are in water and toads are on land. This little toad was perfectly camouflaged with leaves on the ground and was quite difficult to spot. In the middle of the path, we started seeing signs and models of animals in the jungle. They were a lot bigger than I expected and life-sized! Before this, one of the first things we saw was a group of orange monkeys. They had black and white faces and dashed through the treetops. This is rare, so we were very lucky. A couple of days before, there had been strong winds, so a huge tree fell onto the path and we got to balance in it. Fun! Next to this was a destroyed beehive that Aba was super excited about. Around the same area, Troy started noticing leaf skeletons and collected them with my help. I also found a really cool piece of vine in the shape of a ring and kept it, but sadly lost it later in the day. We arrived at the bird watching platform and were stunned by the vibrant colors of green parrots like the ones found in Israel, red-and-blue macaws, and other avians. They were nesting in natural holes in a rock wall and there were about fifteen pairs of parrots. On the way back, we saw a gigantic toad about twice the size of my fist, but Aurelio said it was a small baby. Small!! We also saw some amazing non-animal objects. I will list my three favorites. The first two are animal nests. There is a certain species of bird, I’m not sure which, that almost make woven bags. If was wonderful! They’re really bags that you could put things in and stroll with! And made by birds! The second best was the nest of a bamboo rat. It wasn’t extraordinary, but it was interesting to see how these musical creatures live. The third awesome thing was a seed pod. I don’t know what kind, but I’m planning on looking it up so that I can plant it at home. It basically looks and feels like green jelly inside of snakeskin in the shape of a long bean. I must find it! After the hike, we had to cross a river and got our legs soaking wet even though we were wearing waterproof rubber boots because of the strong high water. Our next course of action was to tube in that large, strong river.
This wasn’t tubing in the traditional sense. When you think of tubing, you probably think of a boat tied to a rubber donut being dragged through the water. Our donuts were just floating along with the current. With my bikini on 4-13-9 12-22 8-1-17-23-26 26-4-12-11-3-13 1-13, we started drifting. Aba and Troy, with their longer arms, were able to better control their movements, but I fell a bit behind and Asher was so far away that we could hardly see him. Aurelio kept emphasizing that we had to stay away from the edges of the river because of wooden debris, but Aba and I got sucked in anyway. There were two big logs in front of us, one on top of and one under the water, as well as smaller and medium-sized sticks. Aba bounced off the top log and continued his float, I was pulled down and trapped under water. This might read a bit tedious and it was actually really difficult to write this, but I want to get everything down as it truly happened. I hit the logs sideways, almost backward, and two separate currents forced me underneath the water. Once under, these currents were directed onto my thighs and my face. The current was so strong that my bikini bottom was almost immediately jerked off of my body and my legs squeezed between the current and a log, but my face was being pummeled the most. I couldn’t see, but all I could feel was water blasting onto and into my face; not just on certain areas, but the entire front of my head. I couldn’t move. I quickly lifted my right arm out of the water and waved it, needing someone to rescue me. A moment later I realized that no one would be able to come (Sorry this is choppy, I’m crying a bit as I write this), the current was too strong. I tried to launch upward and escape, but I couldn’t move. In that instant, I realized that I couldn’t get out. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that way before. It was like everything stopped as this dawned on me. If I could have cried I probably would’ve. Then, quick as it came, that helpless feeling went away and I thought of a way out. Down. I was scared to do it, but I knew that I couldn’t go up or sideways and that no one else could save me and I figured that if, when I went father under, I didn’t get caught in more underwater traps, I could bypass the debris and swim up to the surface. I followed through with my plan and came up. This all probably happened within six seconds. Stop; I know it doesn’t sound like long, but you have to take some measures into account. I didn’t have time to hold my breath; before I got stuck I was just cruising down the Amazon, trying to paddle away from the debris and preparing to push off of it. Next, you try and hold your breath for five seconds without previously conserving air; not your classic hide-and-seek seconds, but a real, slow six seconds. It’s not as easy as you would think, even safe and above water. In addition, I’ve heard that everything slows down when you’re in danger. It’s true, not to mention the fact that one of the currents was battering my nose and mouth the entire time. When I came up for air I breathed, but I didn’t breathe. It’s hard to describe… I knew I was breathing but it didn’t feel like any breath I had taken before. It was as if I was going through the motions of breath but they weren’t working. I still felt like I was drowning. That’s what I had been; drowning. I quickly swam over to Troy, but he was so panicked that I didn’t have time to act frightened. Whatever he saw in the following hour was nothing compared to what I’m showing now, under the cover of my bed. Aurelio told us to get to shore, but the current was still too strong to move against. My swimming was not impaired and my body felt mostly okay, so I persuaded Troy to release my life jacket and I swam us over to the bank. Troy gave me his life jacket to cover up my bottom half, he wouldn’t let me take off mine, and that’s when I started working about Asher. I couldn’t see him and I couldn’t see the boat. We waited for perhaps a minute until I started panicking. The adults had started walking toward him, but the memory of being trapped was still fresh in my mind and my fear began again for him. I came as fast as I could, but we were so far away. The whole time I was talking out loud, practically begging for him to be alright, “Asher, After, let him be okay, he’s just floating down the river, or he saw me go under so he went to the bank, or he’s in the boat, or maybe he’s stuck above water but he’s okay, just don’t let him go underwater, he’s fine, he’s fine, he’s probably really scared and maybe even crying but he’s okay, he’s safe, let him be okay, please, let him be okay…” . When Troy saw me following he ordered me to Stay, and so he would get to Asher faster I did. At this point I was sobbing, so scared as to what might have happened. Troy yelled at me that Asher was alright and I tried to believe him, but I was still terrified because of how long it was taking. When the boat came for me and I saw him on it I finally felt safe. They threw me his underwear to put on and I boarded the boat.
I’m sure Asher will tell you his version of events, but he basically got caught in the same logs as me. However, he was able to keep his head and hands out of water, allowing the boat to take its time saving him. His wrists were sore, but he only got two small cuts in his right leg. On the other hand, my left side was the most battered. I have a large scratch on the left side of my neck, a huge bruise on the left side of my chest, scratches on both legs, bruises on my butt, and scratches on my right arm. Let’s just say that I am very uncomfortable in my current position.
Aba told me to shake it off and act happy for Aurelio’s sake, so I did. That’s probably why it’s coming out on this blog, sorry. For the rest of the day, Aba didn’t seem to be too affected by it and in fact called me a drama queen, but I think he’s more shaken up then he lets on. He did emphasize, though, that it is good we had a chance to practice survival skills (and succeeded). I know people may wonder about why I was so frightened of this when I fell off a cliff three years ago, but it’s because this time I had time to be scared. When I fell, I fell, was on the ground, and then it was painful, but I never thought I would die. I knew I would be okay and that there were people with me. Today, I didn’t. That aside, the rest of the day was pretty fun (especially when Troy said, in jest, that stubbing his toe was worse than all of our experiences combined, oh Troy). We returned to Tacural Lodge and rested. After lunch, we went on a hike to a hidden lagoon. I say hidden because there were water plants growing in it so it practically looked like somebody’s lawn! However, Aurelio says that there are fish, piranhas, and other animals there as well. I also finally got to swing on a vine! It was fun not falling! Still, the best part of the hike was that Roberto joined us. I only mentioned him a little bit earlier, so I’ll go into more detail now. He is about seven months old and when his mother died or disappeared he started coming to the lodge for food. He is very friendly with all tourists and is fed our leftover food scraps, so he eats very well. At night, he sleeps under the kitchen to hide from predators. He has taken a liking to rubbing on us, and on the hike he fully embraced us for the first time, marking us with stink as his territory! He followed us for almost the entire duration of the hike.
When we came to a fork in the road and to chose to take the twenty minute way home instead of the five minute way, Roberto went away. When we got to the lodge, there he was! He took the shortcut, that lazy peccary! Troy dared me to write a Shakespearean type poem titled Eau de Roberto as a play on words with Eau de Cologne, so I’ll write it soon. That night, after dinner, we went out on another hike. We were able to see the eyes of either an ocelot or a jaguar as well as a caiman, an alligator-type creature. Now, after another cold shower, we’re going to sleep. I’ve had a long day, so I think I’ll sleep very well. However, I am very disappointed that today was our last day in the Amazon jungle, I had so much fun…
April 12, 2019
9:10pm
Caracoles Lodge, the Bolivian Amazon
Ella Shaul
I am so sad. Today, we had to leave the jungle. With it, we had to leave Roberto. That cute little piglet rubbed us goodbye as we left in a boat after breakfast. We love you, Roberto! We returned to the city of Rurrenabaque and resupplied ourselves, taking a jeep to our next stop, the Pampas area.
On the way, we saw more sights. One would’ve made my old science teacher, Mrs. Keeney, jealous. Sloths! We saw two sloths lounging and eating in trees and actually got nice views of them! I don’t think I’ve ever seen sloths in the wild before, so this was amazing! We also saw cows and their ‘cowboys’ as well as different types of birds. Other than that, I slept (but let me say that it was the most uncomfortable car to sleep in that I have ever slept in ever, and I’m a 13-year-old kid who can sleep anywhere). We took a boat to our final destination and arrived at Caracoles Lodge. No longer in the jungle, we are now in a very marshy landscape. Roberto had been replaced by a grey cat, Mico. After lunch (El Tacural’s food and service were much better), we went out in a motorized canoe. Before and after we swam with pink dolphins, we saw abundant varieties of birds, more caimans, capybaras (water pigs), turtles, and a few large Black Howler monkeys. I skimmed over the dolphins because we’re swimming with them again tomorrow and they actually weren’t very cooperative. We basically stood in the water and watched them hunt flying fish. Still cool, though. One interesting bird I would like to mention is the Watson bird. It is brown and has a yellow mohawk, but its diet is interesting; it consists only of leaves because its stomach is like a cow’s. Aurelio also taught us how to drive the boat! Asher navigated well but excruciatingly slow, so when it was my turn we jetted fast and didn’t crash! Success! After dinner, we went out on the boat again, planning to look for snakes. However, the mosquitos were unbearable. There were thousands of them and they swarmed around our flashlights. Even on my palms, they were practically drowning in the DIT Troy sprayed there. When we disembarked to search, we could hardly move. It felt like it was raining! We did end up seeing caiman eyes and roosting birds, but the best part of the night was seeing two Great Horned Owls. They hooted and were wonderful to see, though I think one of them had a problem with his eyes. The corneas were noticeably different. We ask saw dozens of little toads, reminding me and Asher of the one we had saved from our room earlier in the day. I have to shower now and my mosquito bites are killing me. I must have thirty of them, at least. Wish me luck.
April 13, 2019
9:52pm
Caracoles Lodge, the Bolivian Amazon
Ella Shaul
Wow. Today has been dubbed, officially, as Water Wednesday, even though it’s Saturday (taking my inspiration from you, The Lego Movie). The reason is that everything awesome and cool mostly happened in the water. First thing in the morning, after breakfast, we went anaconda searching. Our efforts were fruitless but littered with fun experiences. Before I commence with my description, I think I should mention that Aba and Troy made Asher carry their backpack for once when they didn’t, their plan being that the four of us would alternate throughout the day, but Asher complained endlessly for fifteen minutes while we hiked. They finally took it away after getting mad, but it put Aba in a grumpy mood for the rest of the afternoon. I think he would’ve enjoyed the experience more if it wasn’t for that, but as it was, he was a downer the remainder of the hike. In order to get to the anaconda grounds, we had to pass through an abandoned lodge and ranch. Asher loved its eerie creepiness. Around this area, we saw so many pigs! They were domesticated but still looked wild and outlandish, but the piglets were adorable! The skipped around in groups of two or three and were continually “stalking” us. So cute! We also saw monkeys in the area, notably a female Howler monkey with a baby on her chest! See the previous sentence for my reaction, haha, it seems to be a common theme. Troy did find the skin of a grass snake! Though we looked for anacondas in this wooded area, we were really heading towards a marshy swamp because they live in the water. We waded and waded and I even got water in my boots, but we only found caimans and birds. However, the vegetation was a vivid light green and there were bright pink flowers floating among them, so it was very beautiful. One thing that caught my interest were bright pink bubbles in clumps throughout the area. Aurelio enlightened me and explained that they were snail eggs camouflaged with the pink flowers! Aba finally persuaded Aurelio to turn back because of the wet and sun, but I think he was disappointed. Aurelio really wants us to see a snake on this trip. The entire time there was a herd of cattle watching us. They were ridiculous and one-minded in the pursuit of their goal, so I called them the cowvalry. After the wetlands, we returned to the lodge and rested. I read and then napped for an hour before we ate lunch. After a two hour siesta, we swam with the pink dolphins again. Today I will go into detail because it was amazing! Like yesterday, we splashed around in the shallow water to attract their attention and then waited for them to come to us. Yesterday, one only passed close enough to touch once after a long wait, but today was not like that. We were only in the water for five or ten minutes when they started darting nearer and getting curious. They got close to all of us but we couldn’t yet touch them. Then, one came up next to me and stayed there for ten or fifteen seconds. He nuzzled me and circled me and wrapped himself around me and let me hug and pet him. His skin was like scratched slimy rubber, but I was just so happy that he had come to me of his own free will and stayed for such a long time. He let me touch him his entire stay! Troy called him my “Water Roberto” because he cuddled so much, this amazing wild Amazonian pink dolphin. When he went away, we got on the canoe, Caracole III, and prepared for piranha fishing. Now, considering I’d only seen piranhas on the internet and that it has been years since I’ve fished, I’m pretty proud of today’s accomplishments. Aurelio taught us how to use the fishing line, notice I say the line, it was fishing line with a hook wrapped around a piece of wood, and Troy caught the first piranha. However, he released it because it was small and he felt bad about it. I will skip to the tally, only mentioning how difficult and fun it was. Aba and Asher didn’t catch any fish, Troy caught the one I mentioned but let it go, I caught four and one that I accidentally let escape (five), and Aurelio caught 14 not counting escapees, for a total of 18 caught piranhas. Not bad for an hour’s work! Now, about my fish. Anyone who has read George Orwell’s 1984 is familiar with the process of “doublethink”. I employed this method in my tallying. I had caught three fish and accidentally freed a fourth when I vowed to take my revenge on it and recapture it. When I got my fifth (fourth) piranha, I felt vindicated but also counted it as another fish. Doublethink!
We tried to catch catfish using a dogfish Aurelio had also caught as bait, but we didn’t have any luck. I’m happy though, we got piranhas and got to relax while fishing! While we were getting catfish, we saw a beautiful baby Tiger Heron. Adults are pretty, but the baby’s feather pattern made it look like a jaguar/leopard/cheetah. While we were fishing piranhas (I can’t get over saying that!) we saw three fluffy brown Watson Bird chicks, also ready cute. When we got back to the lodge, I watched Aurelio gut my four piranhas, then we ate dinner. Of piranhas! The four of us ate the four piranhas I caught! There wasn’t too much meat on them, but they were tasty! Asher and I even got to keep a jaw bone each! I also want to mention that we’ve been eating plantains every day and that they are delicious. After dinner, we boarded Caracole III and returned to the woods next to the wetlands. The cowvalry was still there, as were the pigs, but we saw two porcupines in a tree and another species of monkey with mother and offspring. Still no snakes. Aba was terrified the entire trek, don’t ask me why, but every time a pig squealed he would jump up and tell and hang into trees. I know, it sounds very uncharacteristic of him. Anyway, my favorite part of the night was what Asher and I did after exploring the trees, exploring the abandoned old lodge! This “Ghost Lodge” has been abandoned for at least a decade because of the anacondas, and everything is coated in a thick layer of dust. The best part was the main building and the adjoining kitchen. In the kitchen, there are dirty dishes in the sink and smashed and broken eggs on the floor. Everyone left in such a hurry! There’s a case of alcohol in the dining area as well as a pool table. We asked Aurelio of we could take two pool balls as a memento of the trip and he said yes, but as I was cautiously testing for wasps, etc in the hole Asher lifted the tarp from another edge of the table, releasing a wasp. It stung him, but we’re pretty sure he’s okay. There’s only a little swelling. I got the balls but then Aba drew attention to them and Aurelio, either because of a misunderstanding or because he changed his mind, said we couldn’t take them. In the fiasco caused by Asher ‘s sting, I didn’t even think of taking them anyway, but in retrospect, I wish I had. Does anyone know of an old non-touristy Ghost Town that we could explore? We are now obsessed. We just took cold showers and are getting in bed. Tomorrow is our last day in the Amazon, but I don’t want it to end. I wish I could do a survival course here or something, so maybe I’ll come back next year. One more day!
April 14, 2019
9:02pm
Hotel Pampa & Selva, Rurrenabaque, Bolivia
Ella Shaul
Today was our last day in the Amazon. I’m so sad that it’s over! However, the few activities we did in the morning were a nice way to end the trip. We woke up early in order to see the sunrise, but it was pouring rain and we had to wait. Now that’s the Amazon we expected! Anyway, after breakfast, the rain died down and we went to observe Squirrel Monkeys. There were minuscule and yellow and really really really really cute and adorable! We fed them bananas and they clamored into the boat with us, eating from our hands! On the whole, they were very gentle, but there was one bully that kept biting me and shoving the others away. I made him go away and fed the rest of the monkeys.
This was an amazing experience, and after doing the same thing with another group of Squirrel Monkeys we rode in the boat and observed for roughly an hour. It truly was beautiful. We ate lunch at the lodge and packed, then said goodbye to Aurelio and drove to Rurrenabaque. After resting and dinner, I am now writing the blog and am about to sleep. I wish we could’ve stayed longer, but I’m very content with our experience (for now) and definitely want to return. Bolivia has reminded me of Aba’s experience in Vietnam and Asia when he was younger. It was hard to get in, but so nearly untouched by tourism and retaining so much of its traditional culture that it was all worth it. When I bring my kids here, I wonder if I will feel like Aba does now. So long Amazon. Thank you!
26-24-6 4-12-4-2-3-13
Ella
Mushrooms 
Heron 
Spiky Tree 
Mushrooms 
Large Ant 
Turtles 
Watson Bird 
Caiman 
