We spent last night tied to a tree at the river’s edge, peacefully and comfortably sleeping in our luxurious floating home the Delfin II, in the middle of the vast Peruvian Amazon jungle.
This morning at sunrise the singing of many birds woke us up. Such is the contrast from the outside world, with the lavishness and comfort we travel and live in, that one could easily forget that we are in the middle of a vast jungle. The best of both worlds!
Every morning as we go out to the outer decks we are pleasantly surprised by the breathtaking views of the immense river and lush green forest. We started our activities today with a delicious breakfast that included some of the exotic tropical fruits of the area, like the anona and granadilla.
And then we set up to ride on our skiffs a short distance to explore the rain forest on foot. Upon arrival to shore our expert local naturalist led us to a small lagoon, where by the power of paddle on small wooden boats we reached the other side for a guided walk through the forest, and later through the canopy on suspended bridges. On the bridges we could see the forest from a different perspective—much higher above the ground.
Later in the morning we returned to the Delfin II to have another great meal and to relax and rest during the hottest hours of the day. For our afternoon we repositioned the Delfin II deeper into the forest and we again boarded the skiffs for some more river exploration, while accompanied by the constant presence of gray and pink river dolphins.
We had some great sights of some of the birds and mammals that live in this immensely extensive flooded forest. Species like the large horned screamers, short tailed parrots, black-fronted nunbirds, squirrel monkeys, three-toed sloths, and others.
For the night and after a delicious dinner we tried on something a little more adventurous, and we went back ashore with flashlights, to experience a little of the rain forest at night by foot. Just enough exercise and excitement to get a great night’s sleep once back on board, and as an appetizer and in preparation for what waits for us tomorrow as we continue to explore the mighty Amazon.