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Meanders in the Manduro |
and other stories
Three Weeks in Ecuador: 4th – 24th
September, 2001
Author: Keith Martin.
55 Belmont Road, Twickenham, Middlesex TW2 5DA, U.K.
keith@borsuk.clara.co.uk keith.martin@rhul.ac.uk
In 2000 I made my first trip to the Neotropics, and
indeed to anywhere in the Americas south of LAX, and was hooked. Hooked by the
forests, the biodiversity, the people and the atmosphere. There is something in
the Neotropical air that is very different to other parts of the world. It is a
wonderfully unpredictable place, swinging from the fire and tension generated
by the cities to the soothing induced inner peace of the rainforests. From the
stirring beat of salsa, roaring traffic and cheeky smiles, to a leaf tumbling
from the golden heavens, spiralling downwards against a shaft of light, and
landing on the forest floor without a sound, somewhere deep and unreachable.
They say it is true of Africa, but I think the Neotropics too are highly
addictive. You cannot drift down a dreamy blackwater lagoon listening to the
dripping of the paddle as it quietly unzips the surface, while the distant
lion-like roar of a troupe of Howler Monkeys serenades the light of dawn,
without wanting to experience that moment time and time again. My first trip
was to Costa Rica, a tiny Central American state within touching distance of a
vast continent that I’d yet to set foot upon. A continent that is home to the
legendary Amazon Basin, the mere words setting the hearts racing of all lovers
of the natural world. I dreamt of taking that blackwater lagoon and moving it
further south to the northwestern fringes of the Amazon. Paddle in paddle out
paddle in paddle out paddle in paddle out… Just lie back and imagine...
Part II: Blow by Blow (daily diary)
Part III: Species Lists (annotated list of birds and mammals observed)
