This morning was sunny, following a spectacular sunrise. At 0800 we took our skiffs out for a wildlife exploration along the riverbank. The first gift of the day was finding a particular monkey, big in size, whose tail is very bushy, and who inhabits the highest canopy to avoid its main predator, the jaguar — it’s the monk saki, a creature that is endangered due to human activities that have damaged its habitats. We also found squirrel monkeys and one pygmy marmoset, carrying an infant on its back, in the hole of a tall tree trunk. We were lucky to find a bald uakari monkey eating on the ground in one of the local communities. We also spotted many varieties of birds, including trogons, jacamars, tanagers, cardinals, and kingfishers. Our morning was very energetic with a lot of activity. We took hundreds of pictures of flora, fauna, and people — especially local fishermen that are working hard to provide.
In the afternoon we went for a walk in search of one of the region’s most famous plants, called Victoria regia, which grows on small lagoons in the Amazon basin. These giant lily pads, or water lilies, provide shelter for aquatic and non-aquatic creatures, and are an important food source for beavers; we found many lilies flowering. Close by, our paramedic found a baby sloth atop a cecropia tree — it was so cute and made our day!
On our way back to Delfin II we had a nice celebration at the conjunction of the Ucayali and Marañon Rivers, where they form the majestic Amazon River, one of the largest and most complex ecosystems on our planet.
