Life in this region is exuberant! Everywhere you look and everywhere you are there is a formidable forest crowded with animals and their particular sounds. Some are birds of prey, others are fish eaters, and the majority depends on insects and fruits from the Amazon jungle.
We explored these sites from skiffs. Along the river and its surrounding forest we had great sightings. We discovered new life forms such as trees, birds, and insects. The most impressive part of this outing was the flooded forest. We moved through trees and vines on the skiffs, the water in this area is black and in some clear spots the reflection of the forest is magnificent.
We visited the giant lilies that happen to grow on quiet pond waters in the open areas where they have plenty of sunlight. All this landscape is mind-boggling: the size of the trees, the amount of leaves they have, the color of the flowers, and the relationships between birds and fish. Trees are sources of food and birds, fish, and mammals are seed dispersers.
As we drove the skiffs through the dim light of the forest to the clear mirror-like ponds we had a beautiful surprise, the crafts stopped and pulled together and we enjoyed a meal in the middle of the forest with the songs of the birds and the magnificent landscape in front of us.
Today we spotted several iconic species of the forest such as: cormorants, white-throated toucans, plumb throated cotingas, many types of raptors, and great egrets—just to mention a few. The real highlight of the day was the sighting of a mother three-toed sloth and her tiny baby! They were hanging from a treetop and mom sloth was very carefully holding the baby as it tried to explore branches on its own. It was the perfect example of how important maternal care is for most organisms.
