This morning we were once again early risers. It is the way to go in the tropics. The mornings and the evenings are when the weather is coolest and the animals are most active. Of course, the delicious breakfast awaiting us made it all that much easier to get up. The Delfin II makes a point of serving as many local foods as possible, which means our breakfast juices and fruits have names many of us have not heard before. There are the somewhat expected papaya and passion fruit juices. But then there are things like cocona, camu camu, and aguaje. New flavors every day! Another food that is not common in the United States but served in a variety of fashions here is the plantain. Ripe and sweet or green and savory, both are fried and delicious with eggs in the morning.
After our early breakfast we headed out for another jungle hike. Today we once again went to terra firme (dry land that does not flood), this time for a longer hike at the Amazon Natural Park. After a paddle across a pond we started our hike through another green, lush, paradise. The highlight of this hike were the seven suspension bridges that stretched between some of the tallest trees. Several of us wanted to stay longer and walk the bridges again, it was such a treat to be able to stroll through the forest 40-60 feet in the air!
This afternoon as we were tied at our riverbank location we had ringside seats to watch the gray dolphins beside the ship. They seem to like the confluence of black water streams with the main river. Somehow our ship was adding to their entertainment or fishing success. Hard to know what was going on under the water, but we had excellent views each time these speedy little river dolphins surfaced.
For our afternoon outing, some of us chose to go at our own speed under out own power. The kayaks provided a peaceful and relaxing way to explore. Although we did not have our naturalists to help with identification, we enjoyed the many birds we saw and squirrel monkeys as well. Those of us in skiffs were treated to squirrel monkeys as well and an excellent view of a sloth! One of the highlights of the afternoon was an iridescent blue bird—the plum-throated cotinga.
It is 6 p.m. and we had had our allotted 12 hours of daylight once again. This must mean it is time to celebrate another beautiful day with a stroll around the deck to watch the fading light, perhaps a pisco sour and some plantain chips.
