Nauta Caño & San Francisco Town
Easing into the tropical morning found many of us sipping coffee on deck watching gray dolphins, just aft of our floating home, the Delfin II. The cow and calf pair brought smiles in the gentle light of dawn.
Soon, we headed to Nauta Caño with great anticipation after yesterday’s amazing adventures. It was an astonishing morning. We could call it a morning of mammals after spotting, watching and photographing gray dolphins, pink river dolphins, squirrel monkeys, Monk Saki monkeys, saddleback tamarinds and three-toed sloths. But that name would leave out the exceptional birds that we enjoyed, including horned screamers, plumbeous kites, a common pauraque, red-capped cardinals, oriole blackbirds, black fronted nunbirds and black collared hawks, to name a sampling. This was all with the backdrop of fascinating flora and stunning scenery. Breakfast following the outing was filled with spirited conversation about all that we had experienced.
After breakfast we had a short rest to take in our progress along the river or go over our photos, before a session with Expedition Leader (and Lindblad-National Geographic Certified Photographic Instructor) Carlos Romero about making the best of our photographic opportunities in Amazonia.
Still before lunch(!), we found ourselves at the confluence that defines the beginning of the Amazon River. Here, where the Rio Marañon and the Rio Ucayali meet, many of us took a swim. Not only was this fabulous refreshment, but how many people can say that they had had a swim at the beginning of the greatest river in the world?
A rejuvenating afternoon siesta prepared us for walks and boat explorations. Visiting the area around San Francisco, we had different experiences to share in the evening as Delfin II made her way towards Rio Ucayali for tomorrow’s adventures.
