Early bird travelers set out before breakfast today for a skiff ride in Pahwachiro Creek while others took some much-needed rest time in the morning. The waters were so low in the creek that we barely made it through the entrance; certainly, it will be impassable in another week. The jungle was particularly noisy with birds this morning, making for a wonderful auditory experience as we quietly moved along. Some of us even traded our cameras for audio recordings. Our most exciting sighting of the morning was a ferruginous pygmy owl, the smallest owl in the Amazon and the only diurnal one.
After breakfast together on the ship, we set out for an area known as Casual to walk a trail through the terra firma rainforest — forest high enough in elevation that it doesn’t get seasonally flooded like the rest of the forest we’ve been seeing this trip. With the help of local scouts, we saw a poison dart frog, a goliath tarantula, a red boa, and a green anaconda!
Back on board, we enjoyed a presentation by naturalist Ericson Pinedo about medicinal plants of the Amazon. After a tasty lunch, including the famous Peruvian ceviche, we set out for kayaking and skiff rides in the late afternoon in Nauta Creek. Deep in the creek, we came across a family of Isabel’s saki monkeys, endemic to this particular reserve. There was a beautiful sunset as we came back to the Delfin II and we were grateful for another amazing day!
