After the rain storm last night, we awoke to find lovely cool weather and high clouds. The perfect weather for exploring by skiff. This morning we went to an area known as Atun Poza. The trees were rich with wildlife. This morning we saw blue and yellow macaws, horned screamers, many parrots and a tree full of chatty parakeets. There were mammals to be found too—we saw sloths, squirrel monkeys, and the most patient (and humorous looking) of them all, the monk saki monkey. This impressively hairy monkey looks like it stole its tail from a large, furry, house cat. And when a monk saki sits on a branch like this one did, in plain view for many minutes, its bushy (non-prehensile) tail hangs straight down.
After a great early morning wildlife watch, we stayed right where we were for breakfast. Our galley prepared breakfast to go, and our naturalists-turned-waiters served us fruit, a variety of breakfast breads, juices, coffee, and tea as we drifted along in the river as a group. All this with white napkins and the "china" straight from the dining room. We are spoiled. Who knew that breakfast in a skiff could be so elegant!
After lunch we headed out on the Pacaya River to explore further into the reserve and reach Yanayacu Lake. Our guides knew all the best places to stop. We saw giant water lilies in flower in one lake. And we went exploring via "short cuts" through forest and water hyacinth patches. We were surprised to see that tarantulas live not only in the forest on dry land but in the water hyacinth surrounded by water. One skiff saw three, another skiff had one hitch a ride for a while. The water hyacinth tried to get us to stay there for the afternoon, but our determined skiff drivers kept going.
The destination was worth the effort. At Yanayacu Lake we swam with pink river dolphins. There were several around that made passes very close by to check us out. It was great to get views of them from water level as they came up to breathe. And it was wonderful just to be floating (with our noodles) with the sights and sounds of the rain forest around us.
