To really experience the jungle you must get on land, or tierra firme, and walk through the rain forest, not an easy task during the rainy season when the rivers flood an area almost as large as the continental United Sates. Amazon Natural Park is a private reserve and an area of high ground along the banks of the Marañon River. Our guides lead us along trails describing the many medicinal plants, and pointing out rubber trees responsible for economic boom in the Amazon Basin of the late 1800s. But clearly the highlight of the morning was traversing the hanging or suspension bridges. What a thrill to walk high in the canopy looking eye to eye with bromeliads and down on the tops of palm trees. A bit adventurous, perhaps, but as one of the younger guests put it, “that’s what makes it fun!”

Back on board in time for lunch, the Delfin II repositions to a blackwater tributary called Caño Nauta. During the hot part of the day, when the sun is high, we lay low, reading, learning more about our cameras, and partaking in the fine tradition of the afternoon siesta. Usually you have to go out in search for the wildlife, but for some reason a yellow-headed caracara took an interest in us, posing at point-blank range for the photographers along the ship’s rail. Pink and gray river dolphins swim along the confluence where the blackwater meets the brown, turbid water as yellow-billed and large-billed terns make acrobatic plunge dives for fish.

The late afternoon skiff ride explored a number of narrow blackwater tributaries along the Rio Caño. While the main river is the color of a café latté, due to the suspended sediment carried downstream by the currents, blackwater tributaries appear more like black tea, being clear water that is rich in tannic acid from decaying organic mater. Some of the more adventurous among us explored by kayak, experiencing the forest from river level, a completely different vantage point. In addition to a number of excellent bird sightings, including a cooperative Amazon kingfisher, black-necked hawk, and a rare sighting of a nightjar, a nocturnal bird, a large troop of saddleback tamarins were seen darting from tree to tree, stopping only to eat fruits along the way.

As the Delfin II set a course downstream, sunset this evening was extra special, with lavender hues reflecting in the Marañon River. Hard to imagine a more colorful sunset in the Amazon, or was it the pisco sours?