I believe one of the best parts of this program is the uncertainty with every walk, hike, or skiff ride. You just can never guess what you might find on any given day. Today was a wonderful day of finding things no one could have expected. Of course we did see plenty of monkeys, birds, and other animals that we are growing more and more familiar with with each day, but we also had some rather unusual wildlife sightings as well. Our first was an Amazonian yellow crowned brush tailed rat, a small mammal with an extremely long name. We had stopped to investigate a hole in a tree that a group of night monkeys once occupied and to our surprise, when we approached the hole, the small rodent emerged to get a look at us. We often get so involved in looking for the larger form of wildlife that we sometimes forget about the wondrous little animals that inhabit this expansive forest.
Next on our list of unusual wildlife sightings was a porcupine. How Primo, one of the skiff drivers ever saw this bundle of spines we still can not imagine. With binoculars you could make out the spines and sometimes even the little face peering through the leaves, but to most of our naked eyes it appeared as a ball of darkness in an already dark jungle. With effort we all got a look and added one more species to our mammal list.
Next was another highpoint in our morning on the water, a picnic breakfast served aboard the skiffs, including having the servers wearing white gloves. Elegant for our setting but welcomed none the less. We dined on fresh fruit, specialty sandwiches, and to top it off chocolate muffins. It is always nice when chocolate cake comes in the shape of a muffin. With freshly squeezed juice, and hot coffee and tea to finish the menu, we ate in style and could not have ask for a more beautiful dining hall.
Once back on board we showered and eased to our meeting area where we were treated to a cooking class by one of the chefs. We prepared a somewhat traditional food of the area of chicken, olives, onions, rice, and other ingredients wrapped in leaves and cooked to perfection. I say somewhat traditional because it was explained to us the the addiction of olives made it non-traditional because olives do not grow in this area. We were anxious to see how our recipe turned out and were able to sample it during our lunch. They said the dish being served was the one we had actually made, but somehow when it came to our plates it looked so much better than when we sent it to the kitchen.
Before our afternoon activity an impromptu soccer game was set up so that two of our younger guests had the chance to play with some of the children of the nearby community. As luck would have it, it had been raining all through lunch so that by the time the game was to commence the field was a soggy mess with plenty of mud to add a bit of excitement to the game. Neither the rain nor mud seem to deter or dampen the sprits of all the participants and the game went on. Although no one kept score, everyone left a winner.
Later that afternoon we traveled upstream in the Pacaya River, the farthest destination on our expedition this week. En route, hundreds of great egrets lined the shore and would take flight as our skiffs sped past the birds. It was a wondrous sight and left us all amazed. Our destination was Yanayacu Lake where many of our guests went for a quick swim in the black water. Our journey both to and from the lake afforded us wonderful sightings of both capuchin and howler monkeys. What a special day this as been here in the Upper Amazon in Peru.
