A beautifully calm and relatively cool morning opened our expedition today. We started very early — at 0600 we were already on the skiffs, heading out to explore the Ucayali River near an area known as Yanallpa. The early hours of the day are best for spotting wildlife, and we were fortunate to see a lot! We observed many bird species, including colorful oriole blackbirds, macaws, herons, and birds of prey. We were lucky to find a troop of saddle-back tamarins as well.
In the afternoon we enjoyed some kayaking and paddleboarding, and then we explored the El Dorado River. We had plenty of time to go far into this beautiful region. Just like the early hours of the day, the late hours are another prime time for observing the extraordinary biodiversity that inhabits the rainforests. During this outing we had more amazing wildlife sightings, including some birds of prey, monkeys, and a couple of sloths. On the way back to the ship, as night was falling in the rainforest, we used a strong spotlight to observe several spectacled and black caiman alligators.
