We started out the day very early in the morning so that we could spot some of the most fascinating birds in the Amazon forest: macaws. There is a place up the Ucayali River called Yanallpa, which means "black earth" in Quechua language. Here, blue and yellow macaws and red-bellied macaws nest in the fallen aguaje palms. In order to get a good view from our skiffs, we had to be there shortly after sunrise. We had a very pleasant morning listening to the birds and watching the magnificent giant parrots fly in the wild.
Shortly after breakfast, we went for a walk on a different environment called the varzea. This is the technical term for the jungle that floods for a few months every year. It is almost hard to believe that the giant trees, small plants, and everything else we see is partially or completely submerged, turning the jungle into an aquatic ecosystem!
For the afternoon, we had fun with "Dr. Ado's Amazonian Mud Therapy." Our local guide Adonay Rodriguez gathered some special clay from a bank and took us to a very nice sandy beach at the shore of the Ucayali River. Here we smeared the mud all over our bodies and waited for it to dry out. Some of us felt that it was therapeutic, while others felt that it was good for the skin, and others simply considered it to be a lot of fun!
Later in the day we explored El Dorado River. We had a few sightings of monkeys, raptors, dolphins, and a good view of a tall and healthy jungle. One of our highlights of the day was to wait for the night to fall, and with spotlights we could see many cayman on the shorelines. Our guides found many small and medium caymans. Most of them were spectacled, but we also found a black cayman, which is capable of growing up to 22 feet long! The one we saw was just a baby that measured about four or five feet long.
We had a full day, and enjoyed every part of it here in the mighty Amazonia.
