6/9/2014

6/9/2014

Today we loaded into our skiff at 6 am and set out close to the shore heading up river. We saw many birds including blue and yellow macaws, herons, etc. The highlight of the morning though was our close encounter with a three-toed sloth.

Accompanying us on the skiff were Kathy and Allen, the other two guests, plus our naturalist/guide Neil, the tour guide, Scott, Judy responsible for on board services, the man running the outboard, Odilio, and Johnathan who sits in the bow of the skiff and watches out for flotsam and jetsam and is the animal/plant spotter.

We spotted a sloth high in a tree near the shore and Johnathan with the approval of the assembled group climbed up the tree and captured the sloth and brought it to us at the shore. We got a good close up look at him and took many pictures and then Johnathan shinnied up the tree again and returned the sloth to his former position.

We returned to Clavero for an 8 am breakfast, then stayed on board as it steamed further up the Maranon. We spent the morning in the shade watching for birds along the water’s edge and boats laden with bananas heading downstream. A pod of pink dolphins followed for a while.

At 4 pm we loaded into the skiff again and headed for the shore. We ran up river watching the shore for birds and animals. We saw another sloth high up in a tree and several monkeys jumping from tree to tree near the water. We also spotted more yellow-breasted macaws, white-throated herons, black-collared hawks, roadside hawks, etc. We also were followed by a large group of pink dolphins. Of course, David photographed all of it.

It was a great day.