The vast Amazon Basin is a region with a superb biodiversity made of plants and animals. It is flooded for at least four months of the year; this is high water season and rivers are overflowing most of the vast forest is flooded! This water brings life to the forest and its inhabitants as it brings nutrients from higher regions such as the high Andes.
Today we explored the Amazon Natural Park Here, we walked underneath the huge trees that are typical to the great Amazon basin. After exploring the forest floor, we walked along suspended bridges that allowed us to see the forest from above! This time we were high above most trees but still far from the top of the tallest ones that form the emergent layer.
In the late morning we paid a visit to a small community at the bank of the Marañon River. This is a small group of houses with around 400 inhabitants. Here, we leant about the traditions and life of the people of the Amazon, their aspirations, their education and how Lindblad and National Geographic have been helping these communities in the development of leadership and education.
In the afternoon we explored Nauta Creek. Here, at the mouth of the creek life is vibrant. There are pods of dolphins foraging and a number of species of birds. The way to explore this small black water creek is on board skiffs. As you start your journey birds of many types, sizes and colors are seen all around dotting the landscape. We have been very lucky regarding sightings as we saw the elusive Great Potoo perfectly amalgamated with the coloration of the bark of a tree. This was not all as we explored we saw several troops of squirrel monkeys.
It was an outstanding day with amazing sightings and those monkeys gave us quite a show!
