The Amazon Basin is a vast region with an enormous biodiversity of plants and animals. It is flooded at this time of the year, and so locals refer to this time of year as the high water season. This is the best time to explore this magnificent forest. Skiffs can take us throughout the enormous trees where the local wildlife concentrates. As the water level is still rising, we can explore and see more.
Here in the rain forest, there are high ground areas as well, which never get flooded. This is the ecosystem where we can find the tallest trees, a variety of palms and a diversity of lianas. Walking underneath them is quite an experience. It allows us to understand the complexity of the forest, the types of plants and their relationships with the surroundings.
Today we explored the Amazon Natural Park, another part of the rain forest. We walked underneath the massive trees that block most of the sparkling light that is typical of the region. Everything is remarkably green down here at ground level and light is dim. You can only hear the sounds of birds but you cannot see them through the thick foliage, because they are so high up in the canopy.
After exploring the dim forest floor, we moved on to the second part of the trail, which happens to be a canopy bridge! We were high above most of the trees, but still far from the top of the tallest trees that make up the primary forest. It was a beautiful experience, exploring and learning the components of this vast ecosystem.
In the afternoon, we explored Nauta Caño. Here, life is different. There are a number of species of birds, mammals and trees. The way to explore these small tributary is on board the skiffs. There isn’t a single moment when wildlife is absent. There are birds of many types, sizes and colors, and we were very lucky regarding sightings. We even saw a large troop of squirrel monkeys that were foraging and jumping on the trees!
It was an outstanding day with marvelous sightings and those monkeys gave us quite a show!
