Plop, plop, splat. The rain of the night gave way to a gray sky, perfect for our walk into the rain forest. The clouds shrouded the sun and kept our temperatures a little cooler while we explored on terra firma and from the suspended slatted walkway perched halfway up to the treetops. The forest sounds included birdcalls, insect buzzing, and a few sounds made with seedpods that our naturalists demonstrated playing in flute-like fashion. The birds were more challenging to find in the forest, but a pair of yellow-billed jacamars perched within 20 feet of us and allowed us to admire their russet and emerald green plumage. Then we went quiet, quiet while our footsteps stretched and creaked the ropes of the canopy bridges and we listened intently to what the forest had to tell us.
The clouds grew as the day progressed and by lunch the cycle of rain had started again. Plop, splat, drip. This was the perfect cool down for our afternoon of searching for wildlife using the skiffs, or going for our first kayak paddle. Squirrel monkeys seemed to enjoy the cool of the afternoon as they were spotted scampering amongst the treetops; the saddleback tamarins seemed a little more sedate. A horned screamer sat amongst the water hyacinth, and many had the opportunity to admire a lovely plum-throated cotinga. Silhouetted against the gray skies a bare-necked crow shared a tree with a pair of lettered aracari’s. Amongst the cecropia trees that bordered the flooded forest perched an upside-down line of long-nosed bats waiting for night to fall and a black-collared hawk was positioned low enough for kayakers to get a great look.
Then came the night exploration. Equipped with flashlights and rubber boots, a number of us took to the dark forest in search of creatures of the night. We were rewarded with sightings of several adorable frogs perched in the wet vegetation and a number of katydids with impossibly long antenna. The highlight of the evening was a magnificent mushroom that looked like the lacey shell of an overzealous crochet project gone wrong.
The overcast skies of the afternoon had parted for the evening and as we came back from our nocturnal adventure, the Milky Way sparkled through a few remnant clouds and the Southern Cross shown bright shaped as a sideways kite just above the horizon. To the north, the big dipper poured its load of stardust into the night sky. Altogether an enchanting close to a wonderfully diverse day.
