It rained off and on during the night, so we slept in this morning. We enjoyed our bountiful breakfast buffet before we boarded the skiffs to explore the narrow Belluda Creek. We wore ponchos at first in an effort to stay dry. The drizzle gradually slowed, and eventually the rain stopped. This morning we saw many species of birds and several butterflies, and we admired the endless shades of green in the forest and the bright flowers of purples, reds, and yellows. We saw squirrel monkeys leaping from branch to branch and running up liana vines. They were feeding on fruits along the flooded shores of the creek.
The rain slowed and finally stopped again in the cool afternoon, and we motored up the black water Dorado River. We found squirrel monkeys and night monkeys, several sloths and parrots high in the trees, and a family of jacanas walking on the floating vegetation. In the center of an oxbow lake, we tied our three skiffs together and made a champagne toast. Then we waited for night to fall and used spotlights to search for the orange glow of the eyes of young white caiman. We saw several, and by approaching them slowly with the skiffs, we could easily see them floating in the water.
