Our first full day at Upper Amazon River expedition in Peru was prevailed by lizards of different kinds.
Today we woke up on a main tributary that feeds the Amazon. Last night we went upstream to the first site we would explore. Early in the morning some of us opted for an optional wake up call for an early-bird skiff-ride along a small river where we saw many king fishers, herons, egrets, passerines, caiman lizards, but I think the highlight for this outing was the ability to see saddleback tamarin, a type of monkey.
We returned to the ship for a delicious breakfast and soon after we fitted our rubber boots for a visit to a site called Casual; this is where we will have a mile walk into the forest searching for wildlife. Our local guides, all Amazon natives, were able to find a locally feared bullet ant, plus tarantula, a small boa constrictor, and poison dart frogs for us to see. We also learned about many different kinds of plants and fungi. There was a large particular vine-tree we visited today that stands as witness of time. Its massive roots were outstanding and a highlight for us all. This is the rain forest at the Upper Amazon and there are puffy white clouds contrasting this stunning blue sky.
We returned to Delfin II for our Amazon introduction presented by our expedition leader Mike Greenfelder. An expedition here on the Upper Amazon is an educational voyage packed with information and fun—it is a journey of discovery.
After our delicious lunch we started our skiff ride at Yanayacu River, which is a long beautiful black-water estuary. We saw, sloths, pink dolphins, birds, landscapes, and a lagoon with colors and sounds all around us. Today lizards ruled the afternoon visit as we saw green and Taegu iguanas. As the sun set we returned to the ship for our on board activities. Today we had another wonderful dinner and our crew played live music for our new guests.
This is the beginning of a promising adventure in this breathtaking emerald green world. Mega-diversity is waiting for us. Our guests come from different parts of the world, and we are already bounded by this intrinsic mysticism only a jungle could inspire.
