Tuesday, 28 May, 2013; 8:55 PM; our room, Refugio
The afternoon was similar to the morning - we hiked to see the mammal version of the clay lick, which is exactly the same as the bird version except lower to the ground. It's seriously just a bit of exposed clay that the animals come to lick at to get extra nutrients.
On the way there, Yuri pointed out a Brazil Nut Tree that was close to 1,000 years old, and another that's around 700-800. Apparently they start producing nut pods (about half the size of a coconut and containing 15-20 nuts) when they are around 30 years old (15-20 in cultivation) and then produce every season for the next 1000 years. It's crazy to think how much humanity has developed since then. Genghis Khan was conquering China when the younger of the two had just started blooming. Both of them saw the rise and fall of the Incas, as well as two world wars and so many changes of power that it's impossible to count. But do they notice? Do they care? If the trees could speak, what would they say about the fall of the Incas? They probably wouldn't say anything - the Incas are over by Cuzco, several hundred miles and a mountain range away.
It kind of makes affairs of state seem trivial - like we're all complicating everything. Every political movement, every ruler, every name and face in politics in any century seems so important now, in the moment, but in the end, there's only one entity that's still physically alive. Strange, though, how a single Brazil Nut Tree can be planted before Khan and die may centuries later - it's not even dead yet! - but the world remembers Khan, the one who did a bunch of conquering, and who seemed like a giant; they don't remember the trees trooping along, growing a thousand feet tall and living that long.
When we got to the clay lick, we didn't see much - I thought for a long time that I was looking at an incredibly still monkey; then I realized that it was a leaf. In my defense, it was the right color and shape and it was a long way away.
Three things I've learned, if nothing else comes away from the Amazon with me, are that Nature is Amazing, Humans are Insignificant, and Rainforest Crickets are Incapable of Being Utterly Silent. They must be really horny.
... that is their mating call, right?
Time for bed.
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