Today was yet another incredible day in the Amazon! We boarded our skiffs at sunrise to explore Atun Poza, an area filled with wildlife and bird calls. We saw many horned screamers and a picturesque sloth hanging upside down, chased the call of a mot mot, and found a few monkeys. By the end of our outing, our stomachs were growling with hunger, and to our surprise, the three skiffs joined together, crew from the ship showed up with a pile of coolers, and breakfast was served picnic-style in the jungle café! Fresh fruit plates, muffins, eggs, fresh juice, coffee – they had it all! With white glove service, too! From there we returned to the ship, where there was a cooking demonstration of juanes, a traditional Peruvian dish, and we had the opportunity to try our hand at wrapping various ingredients inside a large leaf.
Following lunch, we had a session on photo editing, followed by a presentation on the indigenous peoples of the Amazon, complete with a poison-dart blowing competition of sorts. Afterwards, we hopped into the skiffs for a long journey into a massive national reserve up the Pacaya River. We checked in at the ranger station and motored a fairly long distance before slicing straight into the thick mat of vegetation on the surface of the water. Violet water hyacinth flowers nodded as we passed, and solitary tall trees stood in the midst of the floating greenery. We wound slowly through a narrow open channel until we ducked through some trees into open water. We had a few fleeting glimpses of howler monkeys before we arrived at Yanayacu Lagoon, where everyone jumped into the water for a swim. Several pink river dolphins came over to investigate us, and though they kept a fair distance, their splashing and curiosity delighted everyone. We finished up with beers and sodas as a storm loomed ominously on the horizon. The ride back to the ship was dry, but we could see black clouds growing in our wake, and we expect rain tonight.
