We woke up to a pleasantly cloudy day, surrounded by the greenery of the rainforest. Several pink river dolphins surfaced nearby and large-billed terns flew around our ship.
After breakfast, we put on rubber boots and immersed ourselves into the wilderness of the Amazon by exploring a small reserve called Casual. Upon our landing, local families greeted us. Our outstanding local guide introduced himself before leading us into the jungle. Soon enough we had our first wildlife sighting: A juvenile green anaconda resting in a small stream. We got close enough to get good photographs of this eminence of the rainforest.
Along the trail, we spotted termite nests and a few poison dart frogs. As we learned about local plants of the Amazon, our naturalist spotted a juvenile three-toed sloth climbing a palm tree. The sloth was still close to the ground and hugging the tree, allowing us to get good photographs and a closer look at the algae ecosystem that sloths carry on their fur, along with moths and other insects.
In the foliage, we also spotted a red-tailed boa. A great find for us and a good opportunity to photograph this cold-blooded constrictor up close.
