Striking Gold in the Madre de Dios

Greetings Everyone,

After a very successful trek from Choquequirao to Machu Picchu in the Peruvian Andes, it was time to venture into the Amazon to look for wildlife. A short flight took us from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado located at the confluence of the Tambopata and Madre de Dios Rivers. Like Cusco, Puerto Maldonado has grown tremendously since our last visit in 2001 and can now be reached by road from Cusco. It was raining as we checked into our hotel for the night.

Flying into Puerto Maldonado

The following morning we were met bright and early by Cesar, our guide for our trip up the Madre de Dios River to the Los Amigos Biological Station (or CICRA) where we would spend the next 5 nights in search of primates and other wildlife. A van delivered us to Puerto Laberinto where we would catch a collective boat upriver. It was a crazy place with locals dropping stuff off to be delivered along the way. A woman with a microphone seemed to be in charge. She was announcing arrivals and departures of various boats or so I assumed. Finally, it was time to board and Cesar said we should sit in the far back. We were the only two tourists on the boat. It was filled with a lot of stuff for delivery including chickens in a cardboard box, sacks of potatoes, eggs, bottles of coke and beer, napkins and mining equipment. Cesar explained that the locals were mining for gold all along the Madre de Dios River and that these people were going to their camps. 

Collective Boat

Just when I thought we were ready to leave, someone would pull up with more stuff to load into the boat. Finally, we were underway. It was a cold, gray day as a friaje or cold front was moving through. As we picked up speed, the wind blew spray into the boat. The people up front were getting drenched. Now I know why Cesar suggested we sit in the back. Fortunately, we had our Windstopper and rain jackets to keep us warm and dry. There was also a tarp along each side of the boat that people pulled over them. 

Staying Dry

We stopped here and there along the way to let a person or two off at a mining camp. At one camp the poor mate and the boat captain had to move the heavy mining equipment off the boat by themselves. They used ropes to pull or boards as levers without help from the village.

Gold Mining Equipment Delivery

We arrived at the village of Boca Amigos and finally, men from the village came to help hoist the heavy sacks of potatoes up the steep wooden stairs. By this time most of the passengers had already disembarked but the chickens were still hanging on in their cardboard box. 

 Potatoes Delivery

We left Boca Amigos and 10 minutes later we were at Los Amigos Biological Station. Established in 2000, Los Amigos is a 360,000-acre training site for young scientists and conservationists. 

Los Amigos Biological Station

A staff member was at the boat launch to meet us and carried our duffels up a steep set of wooden stairs to the lodge. We were shown to our cabin set high on the bank of the river.

Our Cabin

It was a roomy cabin with both a double and a twin bed, a desk and chair, two luggage racks and a large private bathroom. We’d be very comfortable here for the next 5 nights. 

Inside Our Cabin

We settled in then went to the dining room for lunch. There were five large wooden tables and we had our own. We were served by the chef which was a bit upscale from the researchers, students, and volunteers who had to go to a window to be served. There were maybe 15 other people here including Arianna, the station manager. 

Dining Room at Los Amigos

After lunch, we headed out to explore some nearby trails in the forest. We spotted some interesting birds but the only mammal seen were two Shock-headed Capuchins. It turned out that these monkeys are not readily seen in the area and we were lucky to find them on our first afternoon out. 

Shock-headed Capuchin

Late that night, I was awoken by a chattering sound. I went outside to investigate and found a porcupine foraging under our cabin. I woke Marc and told him to grab his camera. He was able to get some great shots at close range of this bizarre-looking creature. It turned out to be a Bicolor-spined Porcupine, a lifer for us!

Bicolor-spined Porcupine 

Some early morning birding yielded a Bluish-fronted Jacamar. Marc caught him tossing a butterfly into the air before getting it just at the right angle to swallow!

Bluish-fronted Jacamar

We spent the next 4 days exploring the trails around the station in search of the remaining 10 species of monkeys that are known to inhabit the area. Surprisingly, 9 species were found very near to the station, many on a road that led to the river and we came to refer to it as “Monkey Alley”. Our first close encounter was with a family of Toppin’s Titi foraging in a tree next to the road. These tiny, inquisitive monkeys were first described 100 years ago but until recently had not been studied.

Toppin’s Titi

Also feeding in the forest along the road was a large troop of Black-faced Black Spider Monkeys, another new species for us. These endangered primates swung gracefully through the trees using their long limbs and strong prehensile tails.

Black-faced Black Spider Monkey

Also encountered was a second species of Capuchin Monkeys, the Large-headed Capuchins. We watched as the youngsters ripped thin branches from the trees to chew off the tender bark.

Large-headed Capuchin

Amazingly, a fourth species of monkey, the Bolivian/Peruvian Squirrel Monkey, was foraging in the mix. They leaped high across the road from one tree to another with great agility and precision.

Leaping Squirrel Monkey

In the afternoon we hiked to Cocho Lobo, an oxbow lake, in search of the resident Giant Otters. Unfortunately, the otters weren’t at home but we did find another group of Black-faced Black Spider Monkeys foraging in fruiting trees and the prehistoric Hoatzins huffing in the bushes.

Hoatzin 

On the walk back from the lake, Cesar found our 6th species of primate, Gray’s Bald-faced Saki! Why a monkey would evolve with such a thick, furry coat in the hot tropics is beyond me.

Gray’s Bald-faced Saki

Back at our cabin, some of the students were watching something from a nearby bench. It turned out to be a family of Colombian Red Howler Monkeys feeding in the trees below the river bank.

Colombian Red Howler Monkeys

We had now seen 7 species of monkey but where were the tamarins? The Emperor Tamarin, in particular, was the species that I most wanted to see. Fortunately, we had a few more days to find them.

The next day while exploring the trail to the airstrip we found some rather large scat. We speculated that it may have been left by a Jaguar! A trail cam strategically placed revealed the culprit when he returned to bury his droppings.

Puma!

We revisited “Monkey Alley” and this time we got lucky, a troop of Emperor Tamarins was scurrying along tree branches! Allegedly named for the German Emperor Wilhelm II, I couldn’t see the resemblance since the tamarins’ mustaches droop down and Wilhelm’s is plastered up. 

Emperor Tamarin

We followed them back to the lodge where they were joined by a second species of tamarin, Weddell’s Saddleback Tamarin. We noticed that they were tagged with colored beads. When we returned to the station we chatted with one of the researchers, Dr. Mini Watsa. She was teaching a course entitled “Long-term Primate Field Studies: Behavioral, Parasitological and Spatial Monitoring”. The tamarins had been tagged as part of this study.

Weddell’s Saddleback Tamarin

Emperor Tamarin

That evening we returned to our favorite viewpoint overlooking the Madre de Dios River for sunset. As I was scanning the far shore with my binoculars I saw a Tayra, a large member of the weasel family, looking for a meal along the river bank. It was too far for a good photo but the sun setting over the river was much easier to capture.

Sunset Over the Madre de Dios River

After dinner, we donned our headlamps to look for nocturnal mammals around the station. So far we had only caught glimpses of Forest Rabbits (Tapeti), a Paca and a few other unidentifiable rodents. Finally, we got a decent look at a Black-headed Night Monkey, our 10th species of primate! They proved to be quite shy and it was difficult to get a photo with one looking at us.

Black-headed Night Monkey

A third visit to "Monkey Alley" paid off with a very close encounter with Gray’s Bald-faced Sakis. I had read that other groups had found them difficult to find, walking many miles to locate them. Yet here they were literally hanging out in the trees above our heads very near to the station.

Gray’s Bald-faced Saki

We knew it was a long shot, but we were still hoping to find the 11th species of Monkey, Goeldi’s Marmoset. I asked Arianna when was the last time she has seen one and she replied that it was months ago. Often referred to as a ghost because of the scarcity of sightings, we had no luck with spotting this rare monkey. We didn’t leave disappointed though. We had seen 10 of the 11 primate species found in the area plus a whole host of birds and other wildlife. Maybe we didn’t find gold in the classic sense but we sure struck it rich with incredible wildlife sightings. A big thank you goes to Cesar our guide who helped us find an amazing array of animals and birds.

Marc and Cesar

We were grateful to Arianna and the staff at Los Amigos for providing us with tasty meals and a comfortable stay. We bade a fond farewell as we continued our journey upriver to our next destination. Stay tuned to see what treasures await us at Manu Birding Lodge.

We hope all is well with everyone,

Peggy and Marc

Our route map: