What kind of wonders you will not find in the jungle! Here you will find pink dolphins and glowing trees, and what kind of legends the local old-timers tell you, you will believe in miracles completely. But behind all these incredible stories and legends are really wonderful manifestations of Mother Nature. Many of these stories are quite sad, but instructive, and one of them is about a mysterious bird that the locals of the Amazon call Ayaymama.
The name of this bird was not chosen by chance. Ayaymama is the very sound that this bird reproduces, deep at night in the deep jungle. This call is very similar to the very long and sad cry of a child calling for his mother. Translated from the local dialect, the phrase «ayaymama» translates as: «Mom, why did you leave us.» And if you add to this that this bird is nocturnal, then you can imagine how disturbing this sad singing sounds at night!
There are several versions of the legend about this bird. The most common of them tells about an Amazonian settlement, to which an unknown epidemic came, from which its inhabitants began to die. One young mother, who realized that she was infected, decided to save her two children. To do this, she took them far into the jungle, where she found a small lake surrounded by fruit trees where she could wait out the epidemic. She left her family there, and returned to the village herself. The children soon began to miss their mother and tried to find their way home, but to no avail. They began to cry from longing for their mother. Then the spirit of the forest came to their aid and turned them into birds. The children soared into the air and began to search for their village, and when they found it, they saw that everyone in their village, including their mother, had died. As the legend says, these children still fly at night and cry sadly — aaaayai-maaaaaama, aaaaaaaayai-maaaaaaaama.
In fact, the ayaimama is a bird of Nyctibius Leucopterus, from the family of Nyctibiidae. This species of nocturnal inhabitants is common in Central and South America. This bird has an excellent disguise, because in its appearance and color it resembles an old withered tree, which it uses perfectly, sitting on old dry trees and merging with them. Add to this two huge eyes and an incredibly large mouth, which, when open, divides the bird’s head in half, and you will understand that there are grotesques in nature! These birds feed on insects and are generally harmless enough. Ayaymamas should settle as far away from large settlements as possible, away from the jungle.
It is worth noting that two ayaymamas live on the territory of our ecolodge «Cordillera Escalera». This means that our hotel is located in a very peaceful place, in the middle of the Amazon jungle, where animals and birds feel comfortable and calm. Ayayama, this is one of the many incredible creatures that you can see and hear while staying at our hotel. Therefore, if you love nature and its wonderful manifestations, come to us and you will not regret it!