Hard to believe that almost a week has gone by.
Sunrise found our ship, Delfin II, already tied up at the riverbank, very near to the location we explored by skiff this morning, an area called Iricahua Creek.
Our skiff sped along the main river to reach the narrower channels where we had the choice of exploring the thick forest adjacent to the water, either by skiff or under our own power by kayak.
The sky this morning was completely covered by a dense layer of clouds, and our explorations were accompanied by occasional small and short showers. This is the rainforest after all, and rain is obviously the main source of the abundant water that the rivers carry. So we considered ourselves lucky to have experienced a little of what makes a rainforest a rainforest.
During our explorations at Iricahua this morning, we found some more of the typical and iconic birds of the New World tropics, such as the lettered aracari toucan, the straight-billed woodcreeper and the white-eared jacamar.
Later this morning Delfin II repositioned to nearby Flor de Castaña, for an opportunity to swim among pirañas and pink dolphins… Yes, pirañas! Pirañas are what many people have in their minds, when they think about the Amazon River! But, the aggressiveness of this characteristic fish of the Amazon is really extremely overrated.
Part of the afternoon we spent back on Delfin II for another delicious lunch as we relocated again to another area of the river for our afternoon activities.
The section we visited this afternoon had a monkey rehabilitation center, where we could observe and photograph several of the monkey species of this area from the boat. The monkeys are kept on an island, safe from humans, where they are looked after.
On the way back from “monkey island,” we also visited the small community of Puerto Miguel to take a look at how people make a living in this very remote part of the world.
Another great day full of activity!
