Today we started out the day by exploring the terra firme, or the non-flooded forest by foot. We had the privilege to explore the jungle in a place called "Amazon Natural Park," which is a private reserve. One of the highlights of the park is the suspended bridge, which gave us a completely different perspective of the tropical rainforest from above. We saw a medium sized anaconda and had a glimpse of squirrel monkeys. We also learned many things about medicinal plants from our knowledgeable local guides.
Delfin II moved down the Marañón River towards Nauta Caño. Here we had a wonderful skiff exploration through a black water tributary. We had may interesting bird sightings including horned screamers, black collared hawks, tiger herons, and four species of kingfishers. One of the highlights was an incredible number of great egrets that covered the aquatic vegetation.
Where Delfin II was tied up to the bank, we could spend hours enjoying the presence of both pink river dolphins, (botos), and gray river dolphins, (tucuxis). They rapidly dashed under the water's surface, where the black and the white waters mixed in pursue of fish. It was a spectacular event.
After dinner we ventured into the jungle at night. Visiting this environment at night is a completely different experience than during the day. One of the highlights is the diversity of sounds and the mysterious feeling of the creatures of the jungle that awaken by night. It was a great opportunity to find the little red shining eyes of myriads of insects and even a porcupine, which made great subjects for our night photography.
