We had an early start today, in order to take advantage of another wonderful day in the Upper Amazon. Today the sunrise was quite spectacular. The sky turned orange and the clouds turned bright pink during the prelude to a great day.
We embarked the skiffs to explore the shoreline of the Ucayali River, close to Belluda Caño. We took advantage of the good weather conditions to visit the nesting site of the red-bellied and blue and yellow macaws for second time. We were here just a few days ago, and the rain, combined with the wild nature of the birds, resulted in a couple brief sightings. Today, we had great sightings of both species of macaws under beautiful light!
As we continued to explore the area, we saw tamarins, squirrel monkeys, and a wide selection of birds. We also got to listen to the unusual sound emitted by the spawning fish under our skiff! The fish, known as "boquichicos," contract the muscles around their swim bladder to emit sounds. So many of them were gathered under the murky water, that the sound traveled though the aluminum hull of our boat. The "voice" of these fish disconcerted many of the listeners, since we rarely think of fish emitting sounds.
We walked through the varzea for the first time today. This is the part of the jungle that floods completely, becoming an entirely aquatic ecosystem. We got to see the different trees and other plants that are perfectly adapted for an aquatic life for several months each year.
Cedrocaño was the name of the tributary of the Ucayali that we visited this afternoon. Once again we enjoyed traveling through the channels in search for wildlife.
After dinner, the crew of Delfin II surprised us again with their musical instruments and their enthusiasm. They played traditional Peruvian music for us with their charangos, sampoñas, maracas, bongos and the traditional cajón Peruano.
