On a typical morning at La Selva Lodge deep in the Amazon Rainforest in Eastern Ecuador Kongo is roused by a knock on his door at five in the morning. The monkey is already awake. He’s been reviewing his images from the day before, but he is already focusing on the morning’s outing. Kongo is part of a photography expedition led by Fancy Girl/Street Boy Productions with photography legend Joe McNally. After spending a few days in Quito, they embedded in the jungle along the Napo River sixty miles from the nearest town. The early morning birds are starting to make noises outside Kongo’s room. Howler monkeys are growling. It’s time to get moving!

To prepare for a jungle trek you need to pay attention to what you wear. Kongo dons his knee-high thick socks to slip into rubber Wellington boots. Trails are muddy and some nasty creatures (like bullet ants) could crawl up your pants and give you a vicious bite so you tuck your pants into your boots. Kongo wears long sleeves in the forest to keep the bugs from biting but it’s a very light microfiber fabric shirt that dries quickly. Likewise with his lightweight pants. The monkey wears a bandana around his neck. Then he straps on his backpack or sling bag with cameras and backup batteries and lenses. Sometimes he takes a couple of camera bodies so that he can quickly switch around without fumbling with lenses in the heat of the moment. He wears a citronella bracelet and slathers bug repellent on exposed areas of his skin. He is finally ready to go.

Today we hike about twenty minutes to an observation tower that will take us up over 200 steps to the top of the jungle canopy. About halfway up, Kongo wishes he had packed less gear in his backpack, but the sunrise view at the top of the tower is worth it.

At the top of the tower we can see Toucans. Way far away toucans. This is the time for your longest lens and an aggressive crop in post processing.

Some birds came closer, like this chestnut-fronted macaw that Kongo shot through an opening in the foliage.

There were several bromeliads growing on the large kapok tree adjacent to the tower. Smaller tanagers came to drink from the water trapped in the plants.

Looking down from the top of the tower you could appreciate the height of the rainforest canopy. As you climb every fifty feet or so you see a different ecosystem. It’s pretty amazing.

After we got tired of trying to photograph toucans at 300 yards, we climbed down from the tower and hiked another half hour or so to a small lake for another canoe paddle through the little creeks that fed it. Along the way we found some interesting creatures and plants.

Meet the Ecuadorian poison frog. This is what the indigenous people use to dip their arrows and blow darts to paralyze their prey. Interestingly, in modern times there is ongoing research into the secretions from these frogs as pain killers, treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, irregular heartbeats and other maladies. These guys are increcibly tiny and you must have an extremely sharp eye to spot them. They live in the leaves and debris on the forest floor.

Along the trail we pass a termite nest attached to a tree. The termites don’t chew on the tree where they nest. And here’s a fascinating jungle survival fact: Termites are protein. If you are lost and hungry in the jungle, just find a termite nest and dig in. Our guide, Rodrigo, claims they are delicious. Kongo took his word for it.

We paddled through gloomy rainforest glens and creeks. The canopy is so thick that little sunlight reaches the ground,

Most birds in the forest are very audible but visually elusive. Thankfully, our naturalists and guides have sharp eyes and can spot the wildlife long before the monkey sees it. Kongo took thousands of pictures (literally thousands) of empty branches where a bird used to be.

Kongo spied this spider monkey moving through the trees. It was just a blur of gray in the green so the monkey pulled out his longest lens and started banging away at the fastest shutter rate his camera could handle until he filled the card buffer on his camera. It wasn’t until he’d returned home that he realized he actually captured this little guy. Sometimes it works like that.

We finished the morning with an hour hike back to the lodge for a cold shower before our afternoon session with Joe McNally.

Each day involved a different type of trip. Sometimes it was in the canoe. Sometimes we hiked and paddled or took a motorized canoe up or down river to see something else.

Stay tuned for more adventures.

Travel safe. Have fun