Nauta Caño & San Francisco Town
Our expedition continued today with a couple of options: a skiff ride or kayaking to explore a nearby seasonal black water creek. These pre-breakfast outings were of great success for we not only spotted a very large number of bird species but enjoyed listening to the wonderful concert of sounds and calls of the early morning in the rain forest.
We came back at around 9:00a.m. to our cozy home this week, the Delfin II for breakfast. Just after eating we went to the skiffs once again, this time to explore Nauta Caño. Beautiful weather accompanied us. A couple of troops of Saki monkeys (Pithecia monachus) were seen. Many diverse bird species were seen as well, in particular several raptors at fairly close range.
At around 11:30, we had a fruit exhibition, with our naturalist Luis Vela. After it I had a round of questions and answers before having lunch. The most various topics were covered like ecology and conservation of the rain forest and its inhabitants, some logistic aspects of the operation and some geographical aspects of the Amazon River. During lunchtime, mostly from our dining room, we admired many pink river dolphins that caused the joy and admiration of their observers. It is not easy to capture a picture of these fast animals for a lot of patience is needed. Please take a look of the extraordinary picture one of our guests took today, wow!
In the afternoon, some guests went for a hike on a trail in the vicinity of San Francisco community. We are amidst one of the highest levels of waters season ever historically recorded in recent decades. This trail in San Francisco is one of the few places in this season where we can still see some “Terra firme.” We spotted not only several interesting plant species but our naturalist had the chance to explain some aspects of the fascinating ecology of the rain forest of the neotropics. Some guests opted to take a skiff ride instead. In both cases we all had a great time. Later in the afternoon, we all ended at the community where we spent some time admiring and/or buying the local handicrafts. After a succulent dinner we still had one more activity, a night-walk that evoked curiosity and mystery in our visitors this week. They enjoyed the total darkness and the natural concert of sounds of frogs and other night creatures.
