The early hours of the day are always the best for birdwatchers and explorers in this magnificent tropical rainforest. This morning we explored the shore of the Ucayali River. Here, we have an old forest with many dead trees including palms that attract many types of birds. If you want to do good bird watching, this is the place!

We began the day with blue and yellow macaws coming out of their burrows and flying in front of us! The rest of the outing was complemented with sightings of amazon green iguanas, red bellied macaws and different types of raptors as well as tree toed sloths. They all perch in this old forest that seems to be a good place, not for foraging, but to display in the mornings before they set their journeys to the foraging grounds. 

This was just the beginning of the day. There were many other highlights in the forest after breakfast exploring Belluda Creek. This is always a good place to spot black collared hawks and monkeys. On board Delfín II our Chef Isaias showed us how to make a delicious doncella fish ceviche. This is a local dish that consists of fish marinated with lemon juice and a regional fruit. The taste is amazing! 

For the late afternoon we repositioned Delfín II after a five-hour navigation through this vast greenery following the meanders of the Ucayali River. We began our exploration at Dorado River in order to spend the last hours of the day observing creatures until sunset. The other part was continuing the skiff exploration as it got dark in the forest and swamps looking for nocturnal creatures. The highlight was a great potoo flying over our heads. This is a very elusive creature as its plumage resembles the whish bark of most trees. There were monkey troops jumping and running along the tree branches and getting ready to settle down for the night.

Once it got dark we took our spotlights to explore the floating grasses, giant lily pads and water lettuce beds. Suddenly jacanas and baby caimans appeared among these patches of vegetation! It was an amazing day from beginning to end, especially with the lack of rain.

A dry day in this rainforest region is a gift for every explorer. And this day was a gift, it was dry.