We're off to a great start to our Amazon adventure! Our first day on board dawned drizzly and gray as we sailed towards Casual. After breakfast, we hopped into our skiffs and zipped ashore, where we tromped around in high boots through shallow mud. Accompanied by our naturalists and a handful of locals, we trooped into the forest. The rain stopped and the sun made a few brief appearances as we made our way up and down small hills, peering into the thick vegetation and hoping for wildlife. Our local comrades and naturalists found some terrific and photogenic subjects! A tarantula crept up our sleeves, poison-dart frogs were found in the leaves, and a couple different snakes were discovered. An anaconda coiled in a shallow pool was a definite highlight! Near the end of the walk, we came upon a three-toed sloth contentedly munching its lunch, and got extraordinarily close and personal views of the sloth, which was entirely unperturbed by our excited chatter. Looking blandly around, it slowly crunched through its meal, idly blinking at the unexpected arrival of the paparazzi. Some of the local folks came to meet us at the end of our walk with lovely handicrafts for sale, and we boarded the ship for lunch.
In the afternoon, we enjoyed a presentation introducing us to the Amazon area we will be exploring this week, and afterwards we once again boarded our skiffs for a journey up Rio Yanayacu. Immediately we were surrounded by pink river dolphins surfacing around our boats, and after a spell of challenging photography, we continued on our way. The water level at this time of year is fairly high, allowing us access to some of the more remote areas which are inaccessible later in the year. We puttered around a lagoon and into a narrow overgrown channel searching for birds, sloths, massive wasp nests, and anything else that might appear. We returned to the ship in time to see the moon rise, the sun set, and enjoy a cocktail with the captain.
