Day 1

After nine hours of a bumpy ride, we entered a stretch of a very muddy road. The vans were getting stuck one by one and pulling each other out of the mud. At one point, there was so much mud that our car’s tire was completely engulfed in it, and the car was leaning a little uncomfortably to the right at an angle. The driver managed to get unstuck by being pulled out from another car.

Then we were on our way to the boat crossing to head into the pristine and extraordinary Iwokrama rainforest. The sun was getting low in the sky as we crossed the black Essequibo river, which runs the country's length. Then we got into the vans again to head to the lodge at the north side of the reserve.

Iwokrama ecolodge is in a beautiful location nestled right against the river. It offers incredible views of the dense forest, and one can see a plethora of northern South American birds flying between the trees and hear the constant howl of the red howler monkeys in the distance. After relaxing a bit, after spending ten hours driving, I was very keen to venture out and look for the beautiful creatures of the night. While hiking with students and fellow colleagues, we managed to find some tree frog species, a snail-eating snake, fer de lance, black caiman, pink toed tarantula, and one of my absolute favorites, the amazon horned frog. We were exhausted after a long day, and we went to bed a little early to the amazing chorus of neotropical frogs.

Day 2

After spending our first night in the Amazon listening to the sounds of the jungle, I woke up to our first day at the lodge. Our team will spend the next couple of days training the students to survey the different sciences associates with the expedition. My role with the expedition is Lead Herpetologist. I will be heading out to collect data for a census on the herpetofauna biodiversity in the area. I will be leading walks at night as that is when the reptiles and amphibians of this area tend to be more active. The students practiced setting up their hammocks and setting up bird and bat nets with the ornithologist and bat team. The scientists on the team were also giving presentations on their represented topics to the students. As I don’t work until evening, I was enjoying watching the howler monkeys, toucans, and other beautiful bird species moving about the day.

Evening time came, and I was keen to head out again for a specific frog species, the giant waxy monkey tree frog. It’s one of the largest species of tree frogs on the planet. People told me that I would find them on the road coming into the lodge, which was my target for the evening. We set out for the frogs around 7:30 pm. The first animal that the group spotted was a kinkajou. We saw some leaf toads with a beautiful dead leaf look to them and can be quite the challenge to spot if you have never seen one before. Continuing to the road, we spotted some other frog species and then came to a shallow pond where we heard some frogs calling. Scanning the edge of the pond, I suddenly spotted a fer de lance coiled with its head facing the water. Alerting the students and staff who were with me, I told them to move to the road to hook the snake and bring it out for everyone to see. I worked with the snake making it relax in a coiled position so everyone around could get photos and I could teach about this beautiful misunderstood animal. While teaching the students about the snake, I hear Peter (entomologist) call out, “I got one,” and I see him with a giant waxy monkey tree frog. This frog is beautiful with a color contrast between dark green and bright white, called countershading. It gets the waxy name from a secretion they rub on themselves to retain water. This gives them a waxy shine to their skin.

After walking a fair bit farther, we then decided to head back, and as we got closer to the lodge, I heard the infamous call of the waxy monkey frog and spotted three beautiful males calling to attract the females. I caught two, so I could photograph them with students the next day, then headed back to get some bed rest.

Day 3

I feel a slight cold coming on, so my head and throat were not feeling the best. I did my herpetology presentation and spent that afternoon watching birds and reading a new fiction book I started about the Amazon. I hiked around midday with students to look for reptiles and found some small frogs and a green iguana. One of the students wasn’t feeling good, so I ended up heading back, and we then photographed the waxy frogs. That evening I felt horrible, so I wound up going to bed early.

Day 4

This morning we set off to our first camp, Kabukalli. We will be here for five nights, and I’m super excited as this is a good spot for dwarf caiman. Since I did not feel good that night, I didn’t get my stuff sorted, so I spent a little extra time packing. Sean (mammal Sean) and I managed to catch the last boat heading out after breakfast to the campsite. This was to our benefit because we saw the more common species along the way, but then our boat driver spotted a tamandua (anteater) swimming across this wide river. This was my first time ever seeing one, and it was so cool. After photographing him for a bit, we then spotted a three-meter-long black caiman, the largest I’ve seen yet. I was very pleased with how our boat ride went.

We made it to camp and then realized that Sean and I could not set anything up as we had left our gear back at the lodge until the following boats would come at 4 pm. The time arrives, and I get my stuff, set up my hammock, and am very eager to get out into the jungle to search for herps.

As we continued our search for the dwarf caimans, a student excitedly announced they found one, and I rushed to where they were standing. One of my favorite things is seeing those cigarette-looking eyes shining back at you when you shine your torch on them. Caiman, though, have a purple hue to the red eyeshine. This is the first-ever dwarf caiman that I will be able to catch. I’ve seen one before in Peru while searching for anacondas. I made a crappy excuse for a slip knot, and that did not work, as the caiman tossed the rope off. The guide, Courtney, made a better one, and I was able to secure it over the caiman and drag it onto the shore to work with it more efficiently and safely. I secured the mouth, and then we hiked a good twenty minutes with a twenty-kilogram (forty pounds) caiman. Even that little bit was exhausting because you don’t want the animal to thrash and hurt you or itself.

Getting back to camp, everyone was keen on seeing this beautiful animal. We had a great time admiring it and taking photos. I tied up the caiman and put it in a bag with lots of room to keep it overnight and process it in the morning because some students have not gotten a chance to see one yet.

I went to bed around 11:30 pm after waiting forever to get in a classic bucket shower. I woke up at 3:30 am to the caiman thrashing around, so I got up and checked it to see if it’s alright. I retied its feet and positioned him between two luggage pieces so he wouldn’t thrash and potentially harm himself. Finally, I was able to get some rest.

Day 5

I woke up early to check on the caiman, and he was doing great. I washed some water over him to keep his skin moist, even though they are pretty tough animals, but I still want to make it less stressful as possible as we will process the caiman at lunch. I was relaxing most of the day and hanging out. Peter (bug man) brought back a beautiful mantis and phasmid, so I photographed these beautiful insects, and we released them.

Lunchtime came, and I brought the caiman to the kitchen/hang-out area to teach everyone about these fantastic animals and measure it. I had some students assist me with measuring the caiman and explained why crocodilians are so cool and their importance in the world. Also sexed the caiman, and with that, one must put a finger in the cloaca and feel around. It was a boy. After that, we headed out to release the caiman back to his creek and take some nice nature photos. We set the caiman right on the edge of the stream, and I took off all the tape and rope and let him go. The caiman sat there, and we were able to get amazing photos.

That evening we heard thunder in the distance before dinner, and then the real rain came. It hasn’t rained that hard until this night. Torrential downpour, so I decided to head over and check on my bags and find a stream of water going through the tarp and soaking everyone’s luggage. I started to take everyone’s stuff and put it to the side, but then we noticed that the tarp was collecting water and beginning to bulge, so I went to grab the guide while Sean (mammal Sean) and some other students moved the luggage. We cleared all the luggage and punctured the tarps in hopes that the water would not take out the support beams. It was too late, and a shaft broke and hit Courtney on the head, giving him a nasty split. He was alright, and we got the hammocks and everyone’s stuff out of the way and under the community area while the guides went to work to fix the roof and make it waterproof for the night. The ground was soaked, so everyone must wear their wellie boots (swamp boots for my American friends) to get to the hammocks. It was a stormy and wet night.

Day 6

I have finally gotten used to the hammock and got a good night’s rest. I woke up and helped around the site with various projects, then continued reading my book. Found the right time of day to take my bucket shower, so I don’t need to wait for an hour as there is only one at the moment. Bucket showers in nature are very therapeutic, and ours was looking out over the river. Since we got washed out the other night, I was keen on going out this night.

We set out at around 7:45 pm to do a boat survey along a river. This is a great way to see frogs, caimans, and tree boa species. The first animals we spotted were a couple of nightjars, and then I spotted a pair of caiman eyes. It was a smaller black caiman. We then went further along the water, and I spotted a red eyeshine right above the waterline. As we got closer, it turned out to be my first ever amazon tree boa, a great adult grey phase one. We went to catch it, but the snake was in a tricky location, and I didn’t want to hurt it. I got my hand on its tail, but I let the snake go.

We headed into the river area that was the initial goal of the boat survey. As we entered the other river, the jungle came closer, and we could hear the chorus of the frogs grow. A duck species flew up and somehow managed to fall in the boat, almost hitting the captain. I reckon he had either bat or frog for dinner. We then finished up in the smaller river and started heading out. I spotted a little yellow eyeshine; we investigated and found a beautiful juvenile amazon tree boa with a quite large bolus. I took it off the branch calmly to not upset it so everyone can see. I let it go, and we spotted another black caiman that was around two meters in length, but it did not hang around for us to get a good view of it.

We headed back to the spot where we had seen the bigger amazon tree boa, and I spotted that red eyeshine heading up into the tree. So, we went over, and I managed to get my hook around it and coax it out, and I was able to get a good handle on it. I caught the snake to bag it and show everyone at camp. We finished up the survey, and then I headed to bed after announcing my exciting find to everyone.

Day 7

I woke up later today, and I planned to process the snake and then go out on the boat with Sean (mammal Sean) to survey animals and birds. He has been setting camera traps all over in different locations around the Iwokrama to survey the mammals in the area. Lunchtime came around, and I took the snake out to show everyone and teach some of the other staff snake training because they were keen on that. Amazon tree boas are notorious for biting, and I, of course, ended up getting a friendly kiss from the snake on my hand. She got a couple of teeth in, but nothing terrible. That morning I photographed one of the prettiest birds I have ever seen and that is the purple honeycreeper that the bird team brought back.

We set out on the boat that afternoon around 2 pm to release the snake, and we didn’t find too much because it was a scorching day. After coming from the ship, it was exciting to hear that on the night I went on a hiking survey and didn’t find much exciting wildlife, the forestry team said they found one of the most elusive snakes in South and Central America. This is the largest viper species on the planet, the bushmaster. I was excited to see this species the next day potentially and would head out to do so. That night we went into the swamp area and heard the moan of a jaguar, and we also did a visual survey for reptiles and amphibians. We didn’t find anything new, but it was nice seeing the orange tree frogs, and we saw a good-sized lizard.