Nauta Caño, Piraña Caño & San Francisco
Today started out with an early morning kayak ride along the entrance of Nauta Caño. The birds were awake and active. We saw pink dolphins as we kayaked in the peace and solitude along the lush forest. White collared Hawks were on the riverbanks in treetops searching for food. The sounds of (barking) birds were in the distance, along with the other magical sounds of the rain forest. We came back to the ship and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast that included cooked-to-order eggs, French toast, and four choices of delicious fruit juices, native to the Amazon rain forest.
Later that morning we went out again in skiffs to deeply explore Nauta Caño and had wonderful sightings of 3 sloths, 2 of whom were carrying their babies, the Monk Saki monkeys with its furry tail, dozens of Squirrel monkeys, a family of Owl Monkeys, and a Wattled Jacana, nicknamed “Jesus bird” that appears to walk on water as it actually is walking on the grassy areas in search of insects. A highlight was the spotting of the colorful Cayman lizard! It was a very full, enjoyable morning and we all got some great photos!
A few of us opted to go swimming in the Amazon, while others stayed on board and shared stories of their adventures, read or relaxed before we went through our sightings up through today and checked them off our list.
This afternoon we had a very short rain, (hence why this is a rain forest!) then we were off in our skiffs visiting the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve and had several more sightings of squirrel monkeys, black collared hawks, rare orchids, sloths, and several bird species. We ended the afternoon in a village where the women made local handicrafts. Needless to say the Olivia women did their part in helping the economy of that village. The children enjoyed having their photos taken, and seeing themselves on the camera display. We all had a fun time shopping and being with the local children.
Our day ended with another delicious dinner, sharing our stories and ending with the ship’s staff very talented musicians singing and playing local Peruvian songs. We all feel so much gratitude to be here together and to have seen so many wonderful aspects of the rain forest.
