After several days with cloudy skies, finally the sun started shining. We left the boat early, to take advantage of the best of this amazing landscape. Our excursion brought us to Belluda Caño, a remarkable area for birding—we were not disappointed. Almost immediately we spotted some macaws nesting in dead trees, and soon we saw flycatchers, toucans, hawks, anis, swallows—the list was long! The explanations of our naturalists were followed by the enthusiastic clicking of our cameras. We had a blast!
And the morning was not over; as we entered the tributary river, the forest becomes denser. The birds kept us busy with our identification and photos, until the monkeys stole the show. First we saw some saddleback tamarins, then night owl monkeys, then capuchin monkeys, and finally squirrel monkeys! What a morning!
During breakfast, we started the long navigation for our next stop—El Dorado. Pink dolphins were waiting to welcome us to this a magical place. We eagerly loaded the skiffs and took off to explore the swamps. Bird-watching was rewarding as we added some species to our list, including the unusual and elusive hoatzins! This is a prehistoric-looking bird that is known by the locals as the “tree cow”. The most amazing moment was sunset, which began as we reached the middle of the river. The colors of the last lights were reflected on the black water of the river, we were speechless… happy and peaceful, watching this amazing show. Slowly, bats started to fill the skies, but instead of coming back we continued the exploration, looking for the predators of the rivers: caimans. Using huge lights, our naturalist searched the shoreline, until we spotted red eyes staring back at us—we had found them, both spectacled caimans and smooth-fronted caimans. They were not huge but still impressive, and they challenged us as we got closer… you can tell they are not afraid!
This day was incredible, and we cannot wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us.
