This morning's sunrise found us already aboard our skiffs and headed down the Ucayali River in search of macaws. We were fortunate to find several pairs of blue and yellow macaws preening one another in the tops of the trees, and a few other species of parrots and macaws flying around and squawking. One skiff saw a black-collared hawk dive into the greenery and return to its perch with a tasty meal, which it disemboweled right in front of us. Exploring further, we came across some monkeys and a giant black squirrel, and had a great view of the giant lily pads. After breakfast, we jumped back into the skiff to explore Belluda Creek. The highlight of the morning was seeing a massive furry anteater wandering nonchalantly through the tops of the trees, frequently stopping to obsessively scratch itself. Other wildlife sightings of the morning included a variety of monkeys, birds and caiman lizards. Before lunch, we gathered for a lesson on iPhone photography.
The afternoon featured a few activities on board the ship. We watched a terrific film on the Amazon, and we were especially surprised by the bizarre and often huge fish of the area. Later on, our cabin boys offered a demonstration on how to fold our bath towels into crazy origami shapes, and people had a chance to employ some of their newly learned iPhone features. In the late afternoon, we pulled away in the skiffs to journey up the Dorado River. A few strange birds called hoatzins were spotted, as well as howler monkeys. We were visited by passing rain showers, pink river dolphins, and voracious mosquitoes. As the sun set, our naturalists pulled out powerful lights and we slowly cruised past the water hyacinth and water lettuce in search of caiman. Everyone had a chance to see them lurking low in the water, with often only their eyeballs showing. Some were quite young and small, while others were several feet in length. The ride back to the ship in the dark let us experience night in the Amazon, complete with amazing bat activity.
