Today is one of those days that I am very grateful to have a job like the one I have! It is certainly a joy to work doing what you love, and even more, when traveling with a group of guests so appreciative of nature and its surroundings.
Even though we start our days very early, there hasn’t been a single day yet without everyone showing up for the excursions. Of course, it helps that our outings are done in places so special that nobody wants to miss the wonderful early views or the animals that become active so early.
Our morning today started by a place known as Piraña Caño. This wonderful location provided us with many new species of birds for our bird list, such as the black-capped Donacobious, rose-fronted parakeets, and even the common Potoo, which happens to be a master when it comes to camouflage, making it a little hard for us to finally see it, but at the end, we all did!
Part of the adventure of traveling to remote locations, is also finding out how communities integrate themselves and become part of their surroundings. It was extremely interesting to see and learn how entire settlements, such as Puerto Miguel—a community that we all visited after breakfast and one of the many around this area—cope with the fact that their homes are in the middle of land that floods four to five months a year! As we landed, we were all greeted with genuine smiles and friendly waves. We explored the surroundings and observed how new houses are being erected on terra firma, as the last settlement has been severely eroded due the constant floods, and they all had to move to this new location. Our guests brought many school supplies for the children, and they were all happy to get some new materials for their soon-to-start school year.
As for our afternoon, what can I say! Our local naturalists prepared a fantastic demonstration on board about the local cultures and traditions, with the extraordinary appearance of the long-to-be-lost “Amazonian warrior.”
Our skiff ride during the afternoon was very successful as we explored Cedro Caño, where we successfully found troops of squirrel monkeys actively moving searching for food. We were also lucky enough to find a Wattled Jacana taking good care of his nesting site and the four little eggs that he, the proud father to be, happened to be guarding.
