Casual Trail & Yanayacu Pucate Reserve, 2/20/2017, Delfin II
Aboard the
Delfin II
Amazon
Today we had our first hike in the Upper Amazon region. Casual Trail is a very interesting place to observe amphibians and reptiles. We also learned about the complex flora and fauna in this part of the world and their medicinal uses for local people. In the afternoon, we boarded skiffs to explore a creek where we saw pink dolphins, monkeys and many Amazon region birds.
Walter was born in a very small town on the mainland of Ecuador. His first trip to the Galápagos was when he was 12 years old, visiting friends and aunt, who had moved to the islands. From the first moment he saw the Islands, he fell in love with the...
Leaving Delfin II at 06:00 for our morning skiff ride, we explored the Marayali River. The birds were up and working on obtaining breakfast while the three-toed sloths chose to sleep the morning hours away. On our way back to the ship, we encountered a snail kite having its namesake prey for breakfast right in front of us! The rest of the morning was spent at Amazonas Village getting an introduction to life along the river. Demonstrations of how to get sugar water out of cane, how to make and dye fiber for baskets and other items, as well as food preparation were given. We chatted with children who had monkeys as pets! Our evening was topped off by a toast to the beginning of the actual Amazon River, where the Marañon and Ucayali Rivers converge. Salud! This is my final daily expedition report as a full-time Lindblad employee. I am retiring after 21 years as a National Geographic certified photo instructor and naturalist, ready to begin a new life of travel and exploration. I want to give a big thank you to all of those Lindblad guests whom I have traveled with over the years, and I will leave you with these words: Travel as often as you can, as far as you can, for as long as you can. May God and your luggage be with you!
The thick mist that enveloped us early today was surely just trying to hide the great morning we were about to have. Despite what looked like a dubious start given the weather, the skies did not deliver and we enjoyed a fine morning with an amazing quantity of wildlife encounters, especially primates! In the afternoon the sun came out and we had another relaxed outing in our skiffs.
Tamandua! The cry went out from our naturalist Jorge early this morning on our skiff ride on Belluda Creek. We craned our necks and adjusted our viewpoints to see this arboreal anteater as it quietly went about the business of gathering its breakfast. Finally, it stepped into a clearing on a branch right over our heads! He seemed to be posing for our cameras, so we quickly took many images for posterity. Tamandua paparazzi! After being delayed for a short time due to a torrential downpour, we set out in our skiffs once again to explore the Dorado River — this time into the darkness of night! Our intended quarries were the wily caimans on the river; their positions in the complete darkness were revealed by the shining of their eyes under our strong spotlights. These youngsters allowed us to get right next to them as they floated on vegetation, just waiting to strike at a fish or other prey!
