We started our day overwhelmed and ended it wet and enchanted. The first outing on the Marañon River was at 6 a.m. This was planned to take advantage of the cool morning and accompanying avian chatter. Squeaky-toy bird sounds surrounded us as we traversed up the muddied milk-chocolate river. A sloth, rolled up as a wet fur ball was found high in a bare branched tree. Keen eyes found wiggling branches, the telltale sign of monkeys on the move, these were saddle-backed tamarins effortlessly leaping from limb to limb. Iguana silhouettes amongst naked tree limbs were slightly easier to find. Splashes of color flew overhead; greater Ani in royal blue, great kiskadee dressed with splashes of yellow, the soft baby blue hues of the blue-gray tanager, and the stark screaming red of the masked crimson tanager. Chesnut-bellied seedeater’s rode the gently swaying stalks of grass as they gleaned a morning meal from the ripening heads. A tree stood ornamented with the woven basket nests of Oropendolas and Caciques.
For the latter half of the morning we strolled on terra firma, an area that does not flood each year. This was on opportunity to find the smaller, quieter inhabitants of the rain forest such as: a white-lined sac-wing bat, a spear nose bat, a gloriously furry pink-toed tarantula, a rain frog, an eared toad, and one of the species of poison dart frogs that looked like it wore a red spandex shirt and green leotards decorated in paisley print. The highlight of the walk was nearly overlooked, and asleep. Curled in a tight ball with one claw sticking out holding the branch was a silky or pygmy anteater. This nocturnal animal is easily hidden amongst the rain forest canopy and the keen eye of our naturalist plucked it from the tree above our heads.
For the afternoon we traded the muddied river for an excursion to black water. Flood the forest and the waters steep the tannins from the vegetation and the waters flow a deep, tea-stained brown. As we maneuvered upriver, both gray and pink river dolphins were found. They became our escorts as we continued upstream. The heat of the day was dissipating, the forest quieted a bit and that presented us with the special treat of hearing the muffled exhalations of the dolphins within the flooded forest. Our skiff driver skillfully maneuvered us into an oxbow lake and in the depths of the forest we came upon hoatzins; a large, ridiculous Phyllis Diller-styled bird with spiky plumes sprouted from the top of its head and a patch of blue behind its red eye. The flock was settling in for the night and we bid them a farewell and headed back to our ship, just in time to see the last pink highlights of sunset and head into a light rain shower. Wet and officially inaugurated into the tropical rain forest we came home satisfied with our adventures.
A diversity of talents from our naturalists and crew combined after dinner with a serenade of music and song, an enchanting end to a full day.
