This is the beginning of our expedition in the Upper Amazon. This great ecosystem is an enormous flooded forest for at least four months of the year. Here you find two major regions. One is the terra firme, which consists of the higher places that never get flooded. The second one is the varzea forest, which is very low and flooded. Right now there is water everywhere and it allows us to explore most of the forest in the best way.
This morning we explored the forest for a couple of hours. It was enough time to discover a number of creatures that inhabit this area. The coolest part was a young three-toed sloth climbing bushes and trying to reach the top of the canopy. Sloths are animals that are commonly found in the rainforest, but most are seen just as a furry ball on top of the trees. But this time we had this cute little one in front of us at eye level!
In the afternoon we explored the Yanayacu River which is one of the many thousands of rivers and creeks we have across this vast forest. It was a beautiful afternoon with no rain at all and with many interesting sightings such as herons, hawks, more sloths and horned screamers. The river banks are a rich ecosystem with an incredible number of birds—some are large raptors and others are small colorful song birds.
This place is a paradise for birdwatchers!
