Casual & Yanayacu River
Amazon. The word has quite a few different meanings. A river. A rainforest. A genus of parrots. A massive ecological area. And some sort of mythological tribe of women warriors. Today, our first day on board the elegant Delfin II, we experienced nearly all of these, and we are still searching for the last.
An early morning skiff ride took us across this massive river system we will call home for the next week. Multiple sloths were spotted, along with some saddleback tamarins. For me, the abundant bird life was certainly the highlight of the early morning. Cool temperatures and clear skies enhanced the activity as the dawn chorus was incredible. Trogons, jacamars, flycatchers, caciques, and even chachalacas were vocally active.
The community known as Casual allows for some walks in the forest, and their enthusiastic local guides do an amazing job of finding critters. As we slowly walked along the trails, they disappeared into the forest and returned with some amazing discoveries. Poison dart frogs, snails, millipedes, and lizards are a few of the things we enjoyed, but a curled up red-tailed boa was the best find. Perfectly matching the vine it was in, it was a beautiful sight to see.
In the afternoon, we again boarded the skiffs to enjoy a smaller blackwater river. Fish were leaping and many things were trying to eat them. Dolphins and many birds, including terns, were all around our boats. Once again, many sloths were found. Most of us were amazed at the spotting abilities of our guides and drivers as they spotted some sloths that were nearly invisible to the rest of us. As the sun was setting with a distant thunderstorm, large flocks of parrots and a few macaws flew overhead. What an introduction to this place called the Amazon
