Cedro Caño, Flor de Castaña & Supay Caño
The magic of the Amazon touched our lives once again today. A pre-breakfast skiff ride along Cedro Caño, a very small black water tributary was our first activity of the day. We had wonderful sightings that included Swallow tailed kites, Cotingas, Hawks, Squirrel and saddle back Tamarin monkeys among others.
After breakfast and after a short skiff ride we went to ¬visit the “Flor de Castaña” community. This visit today was very amusing for we had the great opportunity to appreciate how locals live their lives in communion with nature. We went to one of the local elementary school classrooms where the children sang for us and school supplies were distributed. As the heat of the day was on we came back onboard to participate in a presentation on the Amazon fruits. Renny Coquinche, one of our Naturalists, showed us an array of these exotic fruits. He mentioned a lot of interesting details of the fruits and skillfully peeled and cut them giving our guests the chance to taste many new flavors and smell wonderful fragrances.
In the afternoon we visited Supay Caño. This long black water creek heads to a beautiful lagoon. With awe we explored, probably for the last time this season, an area that is still under water but is becoming very shallow to get in with the skiffs. The highlight of the afternoon was the unusual sighting of dozens of Sand colored Nighthawks (Chordeilis rupestris) that were seen perching at a very close range from the skiffs. Nighthawks are cryptically colored and roost during the day on the ground where they are almost impossible to locate. Occasionally, just like today, they are seen along branches in remote and silent locations. These birds catch insects at dusk or night during long bouts of flight. Nighthawks are not truly hawks; they are called like that for their wings in flight resemble a bird of prey. In fact nighthawks are related to nightjars, potoos and oilbirds. For United States’ guests the best reference is that these elegant looking birds are related to the musical Whip-poor-wills.
With a gorgeous sunset for company we came back aboard dreaming about what new sightings and adventures are waiting for us tomorrow while we continue our expedition on the Upper Amazon.
