The beginning of another amazing adventure begins today. Even the jungles of Africa do not conjure the mystery that comes to mind when you think of the Amazon rain forest. Not far from the place where we begin our journey, Teddy Roosevelt nearly perished on the River of Doubt, during an expedition that was called “his darkest journey.” This is a land of flooded forests, spiders covered in hair, and giant snakes. It is also home of playful monkeys, colorful birds, and one of the most important ecosystems on our planet. We have come not to conquer the forest, but to know and explore. We seek to learn about the importance of this wondrous place, see some of its animal wonders, and meet the people who make a life on the banks of its great river systems.

Our first excursion from our floating home, the Delfin II is to a place called Casual. Although it is an area of terra firme (an area high enough above the flood waters that there is actual land year round), we don rubber boots to set off for our hike. We are after all in the largest rain forest on the planet. Here we were in the good company of our local guides and local scouts who know the woods and its inhabitants like we know our own neighborhoods. It is not long before we understand just how familiar with the local fauna our scouts are when one emerges from the woods with our first snake, it is a fer de lance, one of the most venomous snakes in the world. We all approach carefully and keep a very safe distance. We watch as it flattens its head similar to a cobra, a defense posture that we will all heed. In reality, the fer de lance although extremely dangerous, has a reputation that may not be so deserved. It turns out, most of its bites are what are called dry bites, a bite where the snake does not inject its venom.

Soon our group is examining the tiny but very colorful poison arrow frogs, stick insects, tarantulas and other wondrous creatures of the Amazon. At the terminus of the trail all of our shipmates meet at an extremely large ficus tree and we decide it is a good place for a group photo. It's soon time to head back to our skiffs and the boat, but this magical place has one last surprise for us, a red-tail boa constrictor. A cousin to the anaconda, this large snake is not happy to be disturbed and lets us know with a constant hissing. We get a few images and it is not hard to convince the group to press on and leave the snake on his own. What an incredible morning, our species list so far includes two types of snakes, two types of poison arrow frogs, and two species of tarantulas. An amazing start of our journey.

Back aboard the Delfin II we listen to a few introductory programs on the Amazon Basin and learn just how vast this great ecosystem is. It is hard to grasp the amount of water that flows from the interior of this continent and into the Atlantic Ocean every second.

In the afternoon we began our exploration of the Yanayacu River. The Yanayacu is a tributary of the Maranon River and at the place where both meet each other we see the confluence of the black water of the Yanayacu and the muddy waters of the Maranon. This is a particularly good spot to watch the pink river dolphins, as they come for the fish that seem to enjoy congregating were the rivers meet. The dolphins are pink because of the many capillaries of blood that are found close to the surface of their skin. This is a way for them to regulate their body temperature in the warm waters of the Amazon Basin.

Besides the dolphins, many species of birds are seen. Large billed terns, black crown herons, jacanas, and even a pair of blue and yellow macaws. It has been a great day, and a great start to our expedition.