The Amazon Delivers!

Another terrific day of wildlife spotting today!  It was a long morning off the boat – we were herded off around 830am, after breakfast, and were not scheduled to return until 2pm.  It was hot outside (low 90s) and the humidity was at Peak Frizz, so we were a teeny bit skeptical about being out so long (also…um….bathroom breaks?).  I think the day was the equivalent of the long-ish day from the first half of the trip where it started with a picnic breakfast – instead, this day would finish up with a picnic lunch.   In the end, it was fine – our boat collectively decided to skip the optional swim after lunch, in favor of getting back to the boat a bit earlier – and that was A-OK with us!

Our explorations followed a similar pattern with a skiff ride along the river bank, to see what we could see and what Mother Nature would provide for us.  Well, she did a cracking job today as almost immediately we were rewarded with multiple sightings of three toed sloths – one of whom was really active!  We also saw a lot of brilliant blue and yellow macaws (they mate for life, so you always see them in pairs – daww) as well as tons of cara caras, hawks, herons and egrets.  I tried to edit down my pics but there were too many I liked – so here’s a big ole photo gallery for you of the best ones of the day!

OK – still with me?!   Sorry – that was a lot!  LOL.   After the skiff, we again had the chance to ride with a local in one of their canoes or instead take a kayak out for a little paddle.  ManpanionTM and I opted for the self-drive version so carefully loaded ourselves into a 2 seater kayak and started to make our way across the river.  The current was way stronger than we realized as it seemed to take a disproportionate amount of effort for the two of us to get across to the other side!  Maybe we were just rubbish at paddling, but our kayak did seem to twizzle about in unexpected directions so there were some definite undercurrents at work!  We eventually did make it across and spent 20mins or so exploring a small creek – it was quite peaceful (except when we almost crashed into some vegetation poking out of the black water – that happened to be covered in some type of ant!) and navigation was much easier.   Wealso got to enjoy all the smells again – it has VERY funky aroma!

After our paddle, it was then time for a picnic lunch – again, we motored up to a part of the river bank where the Aqua Nera crew were already waiting for us – this time, with our traditional rice and chicken meal wrapped up in a palm leaf.  It was pretty tasty and another fun experience – washed down with an Aperol Spritz, it was all terribly civilized!

We were given the chance to go swimming again after lunch, but our boat (all us 7nighters were together by this stage) decided to skip it in favor of getting back to the boat a bit earlier.  That was fine by us as it was very hot and humid and, for me, things had been getting a little…err.. loose in the ole bowel department, so being away from a suitable bathroom for 4hrs was already pushing my luck!  Getting back to the boat, we crashed hard and had some solid napping time in the afternoon (we missed the chocolate tasting and ship tour, sorry!) before heading up to the Jacuzzi area (still full of bugs – both in and out of the water) where we got to enjoy cocktail time (and delicious fried plantain chips) while listening to the dulcet tones of the Chunky Monkeys.  Hard to believe tomorrow is our last full day on board!!!