We heard the knock-knock on our cabin doors at 0530 this morning and sleepily but eagerly boarded the skiffs for a morning of exploration up one of the most beautiful creeks in the area—on one of the most beautiful mornings of this month! The full moon was setting, the sun was rising, and the clouds looked like cotton candy. We motored up Belluda Caño, which translates to Hairy Creek, a reference to all the hanging vines and roots seen here. Birds were everywhere and we saw several beautiful species: white-throated toucans, red-bellied macaws, red-capped cardinals, two species of caracaras, and brilliant turquoise plum-throated cotingas.
We found adorable night monkeys snuggled into a hollow tree trunk, two yellow-crowned brush-tailed rats also squeezed into a hole, and some of us saw the Isabela saki monkeys high in the biggest trees. Javier spied a long billed tree-creeper peeking at a two meter olive whip snake that was coiled on a branch.
We came back hungry to enjoy a very welcome breakfast buffet. Naturalist Sandro shared his knowledge of the birds of the Pacaya- Samiria Reserve and we had a fun time with cabin boys Fredy and Jackson attempting to learn how to fold towels. Everyday they have been surprising us with a new towel creature in our cabins!
Ten of us went out for kayaking along the Dorado River in the afternoon, enjoying the peaceful outing and returning just as thunder was heard and the clouds overhead turned an ominous dark gray. The heavens opened up and it poured! We learned to make pisco sours as we waited for the sky to clear, and then boarded the skiffs to explore the Dorado Lakes. Thousands of neotropical cormorants had settled in the tree tops at the lake for the night and we listened to their croaking calls and tried not to disturb them. As night fell we used a powerful spotlight to search for caiman that are easily located because of their bright orange eye-shine. The bright lights temporarily disorient the reptiles and we were able to approach slowly in the skiffs for good looks and photographs.
