Welcome Wyland Elementary
Cronin's Journal, Photos and Answers to questions below

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Launch in external player More video can be found on the Amazon main page  Amazon Photos options: Click Here for Photo Gallery View or Scroll Down and click to enlarge (close window to return) Eating mango Red faced Wooly monkey Baby cayman The parrot Scary spider Rio Negro Allan treads another red face a sloth Baniwa tribe Mr. Marshall... Cronin with kids Sloth as a pet? River turtle Lily pads Cayman pad Sloth Doug turtle Amazon sunset Lily pad Green lizard Rio Negro Velho Arthur II Happy sloth Opera House Aruana Peacock Bass Tiger Catfish Amazonas flag Blue Candiru Piranha Tree frog Captain Mo Du Du Peacock bass Black piranha Cronin's piranha Kapok tree Net fishing Brazil nut Fish distributing spear Maniock crackers Fake caiman Cardinal tetra Fishin' Turtles Bow fishing Night vision sloth Doug rapids Tree frog River Dolphin About the photos... Wedding of the Waters -- Allan Marshall treads water at the meeting of the Rio Negro (black river) and Amazon (the yellow --more like brown color -- is due to silt from the Peruvian Andes). Giant 'Queen' Lily Pads have 2-1/2" sharp thorns underneath to keep the fish from eating them. Cronin holds a baby SLOTH. They are very slow-moving, nocturnal creatures that live in the canopy in the Amazon rain forest. The woolly monkey, Lagothrix lagothricha, is one of the largest the South American primates. It has a short coat -- varying in shade from sandy yellow through brown and dark gray. The coat acts as camouflage and protection from the weather and insects. They are found in the middle and upper Amazon basin to the west of the rivers Negro and Tapajos. They spend most of their time high in the the tree canopy and rarely on the forest floor. Woolly monkeys have prehensile tail. The tail serves as a fifth limb, helping to balance the creature and keep it from falling. It can support the monkeys' full weight, leaving its hands and feet available to collect food, etc. They also have human-like hands, but do not have unopposable thumbs. Their feet do have opposable big toes for gripping branches with their feet while the monkey gathers food. They are particularly sensitive to the color green, which allows them distinguish between many different shades found in the leaves and trees. Live in colonies varying from 5 to 40 or more members. The woolly monkey's natural predator is the harpy eagle. Amazonas flag -- Along with the flag for the country of Brazil, each of the 26 states has it's own flag. This is the flag of the state of Amazonas. The 26 stars represent the first 26 municipalities within the state. Amazonas now has 66 municipalities. Opera House -- Completed in 1896 after 15 years of construction. The boom of the Rubber Trade gave Manhaus several powerful Rubber barons that wanted the best Europe had to offer. Every piece for the Opera House was brought from Europe sculptures, marble, iron work, Venitian glass chandeliers, ect. The only thing from Brazil was the wood which was sent to Europe to be worked into chairs for seating & other carved embellishments. The Opera House still hosts some of the world's finest opera companies visiting in March & April. The Opera House was completely refurbished recently and was painted Pink again which was its original color. Aruana (Arowana or monkey fish) -- This can be determined to be a surface feeder because of the upward pointing mouth and big eyes at the top of the head. They eat frogs, spiders beetles, eels, and other animals on the surface or near it. They can jump clear of the water to catch prey in the trees. It has a bony tongue which leads to its scientific name of Osteoglossum (osteo ˆ bony, glossum- tongue). Up to 3 feet long and 5kg (11 pounds). Small ones are also found in pet stores. Females will hold their eggs in their mouth until they hatch to protect them from being eaten. Two species of Tiger Shovel nose catfish -- Bottom dweller -- Local names surubin and caparari. Small eyes because they don't need them. They use the feelers to find their way and to find food. Up to 15kg (33 pounds) these are about 5kg (11pounds). Small specimens are found in pet stores but are very expensive. This fish market starts at 11:00pm and continues through the night until the late morning. There can be up to 150 species of fish in this market at one time. These are considered some the best eating of the catfish. Du Du -- We have been lucky enough to have one of the best fishing and collecting guides to escort our trip. His name is Edwardo, but he likes to be called Du Du. He has been collecting fishes for many years and knows almost every fish in the Amazon region. He started as a collector for the aquarium industry, but now works to collect fishes for scientific purposes. Du Du has probably collected more new species of fishes than anybody in Brazil. Du Du showed us how to make fishing lures from wood of the rubber tree. It takes quite a long time to cut, carve and whittle them to the right shape. Blue Candiru and it was about 6 inches long. These fishes fill the same role as Hagfish and Lamprey in North America as eaters of dead and dying animals. One of the unusual traits of these fish is that they follow faint sources of ammonia to find fish. They are attracted to the ammonia that is released from the gills and then bite chunks out of the gills of the unsuspecting fish. They are considered dangerous to humans as they will follow the same smell that comes from people when they urinate in the water. Smaller specimens can enter the urethra and cause excruciating pain because the backward pointing spines lodge the fish in place. OUCH!!!! Pictured are three species of piranha that were caught in about an hours fishing. There are black piranhas, elongate piranhas and white piranhas. Can you tell which one is which? Note also that most of the tails of these fish have bits missing. That is usually from other piranhas biting at tails. Most of these are small specimens. During a separate collecting trip using nets, we caught a baby piranha that was only half an inch long. We found a tree frog while out in the canoe. This is one of the largest species of tree grogs here. It looks brown right now but it can change its color to match it's surroundings. When they are in the leaves they are green. Black Piranha -- This is the largest species of piranha but it is not considered the most dangerous. You can see the impressive teeth in these guys and they are extremely sharp and set in powerful jaws. When piranha bite, it is a fast chopping motion that removes a chunk of flesh in a fraction of a second. They occur in schools of up to thousands of individuals. We did some sampling of a sand bank in the Rio Branco (white river). We used a seine net (in the picture above) to sweep around a section of shallow sandy bottomed water and then drew it onto the shore. It was very productive and we found many species of fishes. We found one more of the seven perils of the Amazon today, the freshwater stingray. In the tray shown is a china ray. There are several species but this grows to the largest size. The one shown here is only about 15 inches across but they can get up to 4 feet across. They are active predators of fishes. All of the freshwater rays have spines, called barbs, on thier tails. This species has a very short tail and and a tiny barb, but it is still capable of inflicting a very painful sting. Du Du throwing a spear at an abandoned fishing camp along the Amazon river. Brazil nut farmer cracking open a brazil nut outer shell with hgis machete that contains up to 30 brazil nuts. Brazil is the only place these can grow because a unique species of bumble bee spreads the pollen to the flowers to produce the nut. Maniock crackers being cooked on a 4 ft. pan over an open fire. Cronin standing in the floating ornamental fish distribution center. There are 20 million fish that go through either this one or another distribution center each year. They distribute cardinal tetras, angel fish, discus fish, knife fish, various catfish and more... Jacare rana (fake caiman) skinkish Big headed turtle, Yellow headed side neck turtle LeeAnn Chou, Allan Marshall, and Scott Dowd test there bow and arrows that are used to hunt turtles. (No turtles were harmed in this picture) Cronin fishing for Discus, cardinal Tetras hatchet fish, pencil fish, knife fish. Cardinal tetra school Gladiator Frog -- Tree frog with sticky webbed fingers. Cronin with sloth during night time outing. Doug cruises through rapids of the rio negro... Cronin's Journal... February 1 Today we were able to spend some time up-close-and-personal with some pink river dolphins in the small town of Novo Ailao. In Brazil they are called Botu and are considered to be a kind of god. Legend has it that the dolphins change into humans at night and walk among the people in their villages. These animals are therefore revered in the local tribes and it is considered very bad luck to harm a Botu in any way. Botu are primitive dolphins because they still have a flexible neck. All other dolphins have the bones in their necks fused together so that they can not move their heads independent of their bodies. This flexibility allows them to manouver amongst the trees of the flooded forest in search of fishes to eat. The pink river dolphin can get up to 10 feet in length. January 31 We started our day at 5:30am with breakfast and then off in the canoes. We headed to the waterfalls with stops along the way to collect fish, especially cardinal tetras. I walked along a natural stone bottom stream and collected fish with Dr Chao. We then headed for the falls & had a traditional stew lunch served stream side. Doug & Allan had a dispatch & after that we were off to the second set of falls. We searched for snakes warming up on the stone around the falls until it was time to do our dispatch to my school. I really miss my classmates & friends. I went over the falls with my dad after the dispatch. That was really fun! Tonight we had dinner & then we took off for a night hunt. We found a sloth & I got to hold it. He was so cool & he looked like he was smiling at us. We also spotted a large caiman, a cool gladiator tree frog, a gigantic tarantula (the size of a grapefruit) & a beautiful brown tree boa baby. I got to hold the boa. It had a neat pattern of brown with some orange on it's tail. I am pretty tired so that's it for tonight. Boa noite...that means good night in Portuguese. January 30 Today started at 4:30am! It was very dark out when we left in the canoes. We were all very quite so we could hear the Amazon wake up. First we heard bat's wings go by and then the birds started to call each other. Soon what we were waiting to hear started roaring through the jungle…the Howler Monkey. It is so loud and very intense sound. It starts with a grunting and then gets almost like a scream. It was awesome! Even some of the adults were a little scared of the call of the howler monkey. We continued down the river to a village that is known for their method of hunting turtles. They use a bow and arrow and shot it into the sky to land in the turtle's shell or head. I'm glad we didn't see them hunt today, that would have made me sad. After that we had lunch and prepped for our next adventure. We headed to Aqua Boa which was beautiful. We fished and got to swim too. Doug filmed a piece with Du Du on how to hunt fish with a bow and arrow. January 29 I missed the night collecting because it was very late when we arrived. The boat had to turn around and go another route because the water level was too low for the boat to go through. My mom joined them and said it was awesome. They spot the fish with a light and then net them. Mr. Marshall collected the most and the crew now calls him "Jungle Jingo." Which means Jungle Dog. We headed out on the canoes and Mom was right Zamula is awesome. We came around the bend and there was a huge caiman head drying on a stand. It greeted us along with Jose at his camp. The fisherman had to kill it because it kept following their dug out canoe. It was about 10-12 feet long. The caiman are very territorial and will attack the tiny canoes. It was a crazy trip. We spent almost two hours cutting through a tree that fell across the water. It was worth it because we got to jump in the water and collect fish in a great stream with clear water. We also found a stingray that was about 3 feet across. They are really graceful in the water. I found a stick bug too. They look exactly like a stick! It stayed on my shoulder for a while. I have never seen so many types of fishes in one area! Every time we put our nets in the water we found something new to identify. I am really getting quite an education from everyone. I can't wait to come home and share. I got lots of photos too. January 28 I was sad to leave Barcelos. I played with my new friends at the beach party. We played in the sand, rode on intertubes behind a boat and jumped off trees into the water. I played with the children and we had so much fun even though we don't speak the same language. They speak Portuguese so I learned to say "good day" which is bom dia amd they could say "hi" to me. Sometimes it is hard to communicate but we figure it out. They are very nice & friendly people. The Discus won the festival and entertained everyone at the party. They taught everyone their dance steps too. It was so much fun! We had dinner on the boat as we were traveling to our new location. It is a great place for ornamental collecting owned by Jose Bentos, he was one of the first fishermen to work with Project Piaba. The area is call Zamula. They have planned a night trip tonight once we reach it. I love that! It is kind of spooky because it is very dark and vines bush up against you, you hear fish jump, caiman sliding into the water and sometimes feel spider webs against your face. We have already found some newly identified species. All of the scientists are very nice to me and explain the habits of the fishes and what kind they are. January 28 (earlier) The town is really colorful and I got to meet all kinds of new friends. The festival was incredible! Doug got great film clips to share with you. The dancing last for hours and they wear very bright costumes. I learned how to Samba, which is the dance of Brazil. We are headed to a village to bring supplies this morning and then into town. In the afternoon we will go to the Piaba Festival beach party. There are two teams that compete against one another the Cardinals and the Discas (two types of ornamental fish) 40 million ornamental fish leave here every year. 80% of all cardinal tetras come from here. I'll fill you in on the rest tomorrow. This is Cronin signing off. Hi to all my friends at Wyland. January 27 Today we get to go to the Piaba Festival am I am very excited. We are arriving in Barcelos soon and will tour the town. I am going to help with the Fisherman's Children Party in the afternoon. First, we are going to see how they collect the fish and get them ready to be shipped for aquariums. January 26 We took the canoes out this morning and found a really cool abandoned fishing camp. It still had the tent stakes, cooking fire and food pit intact. There was also a stack of cut spears they left behind. Our guide, Du Du showed me how to throw them. He is amazing. He is going to show me how to spear a peacock bass soon. In the afternoon, we stopped by a large sandbar and played soccer and had lunch. It was fun. Then we took the canoes to a small village of six families and hiked through the rainforest. We got to see where Brazil nuts come from and how they are harvested. We drank water from a vine and learned to climb a palm tree like a Brazilian. The village has its own medical center and school. I got to eat maniock crackers that they had just made. We brought several people back with us from the village to play soccer and join us for our beach party tonight. January 25 We jumped into the canoes and traveled down a crazy tributary. We had to hack through vines and go under fallen trees. In some cases, they removed them completely. It took 2 1Ž2 hours to get through it. My dad got hit in the head by a big branch and my mom got stung by some bug when she crossed over a log. When we finally made it through and arrived to the lake I saw a large cayman jump in the air after a fish. It was great! Fish were jumping everywhere, they even jumped right into our boat! I also got to help collect fish with Dr. Chow and his team. I caught a wolf fish with really long sharp teeth and placed it in the holding tank all by myself. I have learned so much from everyone here. . . . Sunday, January 21, 2007 (see photos above) What a day! We visited the wedding of the waters in the early morning. This is were the Amazon River (yellow) and the Rio Negro (black) meet. Then we continued on the Velho Authuro II to the marina in Manaus. We visited the fish market. It smelled terrible! We saw the fishmongers selling all kinds of fish. It is unbeleviable that all these fish were swimming in the river early that day. We saw a Arapaima which is one the biggest fish in the Amazon. We purchased a few souvenirs (a painting of a macau for my room). We then went to the Opera House. There was some amazing paintings on the ceilings of the opera house. I learned about what fishing tackle works with catching what fish and our guide DuDu (Eduardo) is going to show me how to harpoon a fish. This is something I am really looking forward too. We had a great lunch at a Brazilian Chirasco which is a resturant that makes all kinds of meat on screwers. I ate 7 different types of meat. The homes in Manaus are painted all kinds of different colors. We visited a small zoo that had some of the animals we have seen in the rainforest like, Jaguar, capyberra, paca, macaus, festival parrots, oselot, spider monkeys and type of racoon. We boarded the Velho Aurthuro in the afternoon and started our journey up the Rio Negro. I am exhausted and need to get some sleep for another exciting day on the Rio Negro. This is Cronin Wilkes signing off from ICE AXE TV! Sunday, January 21, 2007 Hi Everyone, The Amazon has been keeping me very busy. I am sad to leave the Jungle Lodge but I think it will be fun to get on a boat and go down the river. I hope our guides are as kind to me as Marco Lima was at the lodge. I really learned alot from him. Today we traveled south on the Velho Arthur II and stopped to have lunch. I ate a pepper so hot that I thought I was going to burn my mouth off. The locals eat them on everything. Then we got into large canoes and looked for wildlife. We saw all kinds of birds, caiman, iguanna, sloth and large bugs. The sloth we spotted had eaten every leaf off the tree & was moving to another tree to eat even more! There were also spider monkeys jumping through the trees. We stopped and got off the canoe to spot bats. The guides put up a fine mesh net and caught some so we could study them. We caught several leaf nose brown bats which eat fruit. They are really cute. The other boat caught an iguanna and brought it back so I could hold it. We came back to the boat for dinner & then out again to spot caiman. We are spending the night on a lake in the yellow waters of the Amazon river which is a great place to spot giant black caiman. I hope we see some! Tomorrow we are going back to Manaus to take a city tour. We are planning on going to the big fish market & the Opera House, I will tell you all about that tomorrow. Stay tuned to ICE AXE TV for more pictures and video from the Amazon. Answers to Questions: Student Questions: Kindergarten students want to know how are the Amazon and the Arctic alike. They know many ways they are different. Answer Hannah in Mrs. Rothmeyer's second grade class asks, "Have you gotten tohold any of the animals there?" There are a number of animals that we have been able to hold, such as sloth, lizards and a variety of insects. The important thing to remember is that many animals here are dangerous and we have been very careful to know exactly what an animal is and determine that it is safe before we attempt to touch it. Ann in Mrs. Rothmeyer's class wants to know, "What do you do in the rainforest?" Mostly we sweat!! It is very hot here and also very humid. It rains almost every day for at least a short time. We have been very lucky to be able to visit some very interesting places and see such sights as large trees, amazing insects and other wildlife, and make friends at a number of villages along the river. We have also been shown a lot of different ways to survive in the rainforest. Everything from which plants are good to eat to how to make rope, fishing equipment and other necessities. Eli in Mrs. Rothmeyer's class asks, "What kinds of birds have you seen?" Toucans, woodpeckers, a variety of parrots (including macaws), hawks, flycatchers, kingfishers, owls, and many others. There are so many different kinds of birds here that we are having a hard time keeping track of all the birds that we have seen. Angela in Mrs. Burn's class inquires, "What do you eat?" We have been eating quite a lot of food while we have been here. We have been eating a lot of fish every day. We have also been eating Farina. It is a starch that comes from the Maniok plant and is roasted over an open fire in a big shallow bowl. When it is finished it looks a bit like "grape nuts" with a similar crunchy texture. Bobby in Mrs. Burn's class wants to know what kind of trees have you seen? We have seen so many different types of trees that it has been almost impossible to keep up with them all. There are so many plants that have uses for people and we have been taught a lot of many useful things such as which trees can be used to make string (from the bark) which ones have medicinal purposes and which ones can be used to make various hunting equipment. Christina in Mrs. Burn's class asks, "Is the weather still the same?" Keep checking the ICE AXE website to see what the weather is each day. Liam in Mrs. Taylor's class wants to know what the waterfall was like. We will be visiting it tomorrow. Alyssa in Mrs. Taylor's class asks, "Which animal has been the most interesting to you?" Aaryn in Mrs. Taylor's class questions, "How many snakes have you seen?" Only two. We saw the pit viper early in our travels and we also saw a coral snake (also venomous). Unfortunately the coral snake was already dead. It looked like an animal had recently killed it. Josh in Mrs. Landry's third grade class and Jimmy in Mrs. Zdinak's class will ask, "What is the strangest thing you have seen so far?" and "What has been your favorite part of the trip?" Other questions from third grade students include how hot is it during the day and during the evening and do the insects look different than the ones we have here? Gianna in Mr. Allison's fourth grade class asks, "What does a Shaman do?" Shamans are kind of like the doctors of each tribe. They hold the knowledge of all the medicinal properties of the rainforest around them and use it to help keep the tribespeople healthy. Abby in Mr. Allison's class asks, "What is the opera like there and how is it like American opera?" There are opera performers from all over the world that visit the opera house in Manaus. It is much the same as opera everywhere. Natalie in Miss Judt's class also wants to know what was your favorite thing you did in the Amazon? Barbie in Mrs. Schneider's fifth grade class inquires, "What do the people who live in the Amazon eat?" Stephanie in Mr. Nail's class wants to know if you've met or made friends with any kids from the Amazon. Nick in Mr. Raible's class wants to know what bugs you've seen and what was the largest bug that you have seen? We have seen all sorts of insects, many of which we don't even know what they are. The largest was either the praying mantis, tarantula or blue morpho butterflys. All of these are large insects that you will not see in North America. ---------- Mrs. Spencer's class inquires, "Have you seen any piranhas or poison arrow frogs?" Yes, and we will be sending photos tomorrow because we will be fishing for piranha. No pioson dart frogs though... Mrs. Zierenberg's afternoon students ask, "What kind of people live in the Amazon? Do they dress like us?" We have sent photos of typical dress of the indigenous people (see Baniwa tribe above). First grade questions: Tyler in Mrs. Barnett's class asks, "How did you get to the Amazon Rain forest?" We flew from Miami to Manuas, it took us 5 hours, and then we took a bus to the marina, where we then boarded a boat for 1/2 hour excursion to the EcoPark Jungle lodge. Hannah in Mrs. Barnett's class asks, "What is the most dangerous part of the Amazon"? Poisonous snakes and spiders. Riley in Mrs. Greer's class inquires, "Why is it called a 'tropical' rainforest?" Basically it rains a lot, and the humidity (percentage of water in the air) is over 90 percent most of the time. It's also in the tropics (at the Equator), where it is at the closest angle to the Sun most of the time; and it's a forest (thick with trees and all sorts of plant growth). Second grade questions: Nicholas in Mrs. Burns' class: "Where is the Amazon?" The Amazon River Basin covers 5 different countries in South America. We are located in the Brazilian part of the Amazon. Caroline in Mrs. Burns' class: "Where do you stay when you visit the Amazon?" We are currently near Manaus, Brazil at the Ecopark Jungle Lodge and we will be boarding a river boat and travelling up the Rio Negro for two weeks. Billy in Mrs. Burns' class: "Is the Amazon dangerous? What makes it dangerous?" The poisonious snakes and spiders. Lindsey in Mrs. Taylor's class: "What kinds of animals are you hoping to see?" Discus fish, jaguar, peacock bass..... Dalton in Mrs. Taylor's class: "What are you going to do while you're there?" Follow Ice Axe and you will see and learn... Maggie in Mrs. Taylor's class: "What are the local people called? Are they nice?" Baniwa Tribe -- they are extremely nice and friendly. They performed and danced for us today. Gabriella in Mrs. Rothmeyer's class: "Can you really use the plants for medicine?" There are thousands of plants in the rainforest that are used for medicinal purposes. The natives have a Shaman (a doctor or 'medicine man') and knows what all the plants can cure and solve any health issues you might have. Dylan in Mrs. Rothmeyer's class: What season is it?" There are two seasons: wet and dry. It is currently midway through the wet season. Natalie in Mrs. Rothmeyer's class: "What is the weather like at this time of year?" It is very wet. It has rained nearly non-stop since we arrived. Third grade questions: Kevin in Mrs. Feather's class: "What are the people like and how do they survive?" They are very friendly. They fish and live off the land. Josh in Mrs. Landry's class: Do you have a favorite Amazon tree?" Not really, there is such a diversity of beautiful trees that it's hard to say that one is my favorite. Fourth grade questions from Mr. Bleil's class: "What does a Shaman do?" He is their version of a doctor. He mostly uses herbs (plants) for treating sickness. What is the opera like there and how is it like American Opera? We have not visited the opera house in Manaus. How did the fire-cooked Bird-Eating Tarantula taste? We have not eaten any. Fifth Grade questions: Tyler in Mrs. Schneider's class: "Do the boys and girls in the native village attend a school like ours?" Yes, they travel by boat to get to school Monica in Mr. Nail's class: "Are the lily pads in the Amazon River big enough to hold a person like a boat?" No A student in Mr. Raible's class, asks: "Why is the Monkey Hospital called the Rehabilitation Hospital? Is it for wild monkeys who have been injured?" Yes, the rehabilitation hospital takes monkeys that are native to the Amazon that once where pets. Close Window Special thanks to the Wilkes family for their support in making this coverage possible.