Casual Forest & Piranha Creek, 4/16/2022, Delfin II
Aboard the
Delfin II
Amazon
On our last day in the Amazon, we went for a morning hike in the forest. This walk took our group on a trail loop. We observed a tarantula and poison dart frogs.
In the afternoon, we reached the start of the Amazon River at the convergence of Maranon and Ucayali Rivers. We enjoyed a celebratory toast while floating in skiffs. Later, with a beautiful landscape painted by the sun, we explored a small island where hundreds of noisy parrots displayed their flying skills. We spotted squirrel monkeys by the shore on our way back to the ship.
Ramiro is Ecuadorian, born in the highlands and raised by the sea. Growing up in the Galapagos was for him an opportunity to learn from up close the importance of understanding and respecting all forms of life. He started his studies in biology and e...
We are at the end of our week together exploring the Upper Peruvian Amazon. When we go home, will we hear car alarms in parking lots? Or will we hear black-fronted nunbirds, which could easily be the sound that was copied? We have investigated the big and the small, from towering fig trees poking their leafy tops through the forest canopy, to frogs small enough to fit on your thumbnail. Our trio of hardworking, informative, and enthusiastic naturalists–Jorge, Javier, and Ricardo–brought everything we saw to life. We have them to thank for making sense of this massive and diverse batch of biology. During the week, we took piles of pictures. We won’t have Jorge in our living room to remind us that a certain photo features a long-billed woodcreeper, but we can now feed our images into the application called “SEEK.” This application will remind us not only of what we saw, but it will also tell us some of the most interesting facts about that organism. I’m thinking we’ll hear the text play in our minds in Jorge’s voice.
Our days of rainforest exploration are numbered. This weeklong trip is coming to an end, so we are making the most of the adventure! Today, the knock-knock came on our doors at 0540 again, and we were out in skiffs by 0600. We found the ubiquitous squirrel monkeys as they fed with saddle-back tamarins. The birds were noisy with their dawn chorus, and we saw and photographed several interesting species. A pair of scarlet macaws flew across the river as we glimpsed their brilliant colors. With boots on our feet, we set off after breakfast for our first rainforest hike. We visited Amazon Natural Park, the private nature preserve of hilly, riverside forest. Our guides showed us rainforest plants and insects, and we bounced across a canopy bridge. After the hike, we stopped to look at the handicrafts that local artisans had on display and did some shopping. In the afternoon, our guests went kayaking on Nauta Cano. Later, we explored further up this narrow black water creek in our skiffs. We observed large troops of squirrel monkeys around every river bend it seemed, and we heard and saw at least seven different troops. Our guides found a caiman lizard, several species of woodpeckers, another amazingly well-camouflaged and soundly sleeping potoo, and at least a dozen other bird species. We returned to Delfin II as the last rays of the sun lit the enormous gray clouds with a white and orange glow. At the river’s mouth, Delfin II was lit up, too, and waiting for us.
The sightings and sounds of our wildlife species continue to diversify. We are now quite familiar with the three-note call of the undulated tinamou in the morning, or the high-pitched squeak of the saddle-back tamarin, or the plaintive call of the black-collared hawk. Our excellent guides are not only training our eyes on how to spot wildlife in the tropical rainforest, they are training our ears as well. This afternoon, we added our sense of taste to the training regime with a presentation on the fruits of the rainforest. Most of the items seemed quite foreign to our untrained eye, but they were a delight to the taste buds, especially the passion fruit, in my opinion. Our outing this afternoon included a bit of a dramatic moment. We spotted a lineated woodpecker thumping on a dead tree with four chestnut-eared aracaris all perched within inches of it. Our first thought was that a woodpecker nest was at risk from the aracaris. As we got a better look, we counted five aracaris as they came out of the nesting cavity. This was like clowns coming out of a Volkswagen. We altered our supposition to thinking that the woodpecker decided to thump on the wrong tree for insects, and the aracaris worked tirelessly to drive it away. Ultimately they did. The tropical rainforest is giving us a delightful diversity of experiences for all of our senses.
