Amazon Natural Park & Nauta Caño
A rather rainy morning with a constant soft drizzle welcomed us to our second full day of our expedition on the Upper Amazon in Peru. After breakfast we went to explore the Amazon Natural Park, a private reserve that is owned by a previous Peruvian Minister of Tourism. Due to the high quality of the forests and the need to protect them, this area was declared a reserve very recently, in 2009.
We started by crossing a lagoon in rustic catamarans with local rowers. After crossing the lagoon our expert Delfin II naturalists explained some fascinating aspects of the ecology of the rainforest of the Neotropics.
Long walkers went farther on the trail to have the thrill of crossing a long suspension bridge. This wonderful piece of engineering, built in the middle canopy, is approximately half a mile in length. It allowed us to have a thrilling and exciting walk in the middle strata of the rainforest. While being with the groups I focused my attention on looking for small insects and flowers and trying to picture them using macro photography. I found an unidentified shiny blue beetle.
In the afternoon, after lunch, we had a hands-on camera session. Sue Perin, Lindblad Expeditions staff member, and I helped our guests to get to know their cameras better.
After this presentation we explored Nauta Caño by skiff or kayak. We truly enjoyed this outing. This narrow stream is covered with thick green vegetation where our naturalists spotted several species of colorful birds from the skiffs as well as a couple of monk saki monkey troops. Kayakers paddled along in comfortable double river kayaks; they poked under the riverside vegetation and explored just as much as the locals do in their dugout canoes.
Finally, late in the evening, our brilliant Delfin II naturalists talked about their interesting backgrounds before dinner. After our meal we were entertained by some musically gifted Delfin II crew members. They played live in front of us in the dining room giving a golden finale to our day of exploration that has left unforgettable feelings and memories in our hearts and minds.
