Today we awoke at 4am for a delightful day of rainforest fun. The morning started with a dark boatride lit and driven only by a small spotlight at the front of the boat. An hour and a half later, the sun rose upon a clay lick full of McCaws, parrots, and parakeets. We watched in awe as the blue and yellow mccaws, red and yellow mccaws, red and green mccaws, and several types of parrots and parakeets flew overhead. The birds come every morning to the clay lick in order to imbibe some clay. This clay contains large amounts of sodium and helps the birds to metabolize the toxins ingested in their normal diets.
Looking at the canopy, our guide Jorge noticed 3 red howling monkeys sleeping in balls in the top of the tree. Eventually the monkeys woke up and started jumping from branch to branch… they were quite the spectacle.
We sat for a bit to enjoy the scenery, have a cup of coffee, and share some monkey brains (a native fruit.) Eventually, we piled back into the boat and headed to the lodge for a late breakfast and change of clothes. Shortly thereafter, kayaking the amazon’s rapids ensued, followed by swimming, lunch, and a zip line adventure. Exhausted, Ginger and I spent the next few hours trying to keep awake for the caiman-spotting trip at 7.
This trip was awesome, Jorge caught a rare type of black caiman, one of the most endangered species in the world. He brought it on the boat, let all of us take a look, and released it again.
Ginger and I were both disappointed that this part of the trip had to end, it was such an interesting and eye-opening experience… Plus by this point we had made many new friends: Doug & Andy from Canada; Elizabeth, Megan, Sarah, Katy, & Emilie from California; and of course, Jorge, our indigenous guide who fondly referred to us as the corn-hairs (Ginger and I are both blonde like the tassle from the corn here.)
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