A group of 7 guests and myself where enjoying the River by Night excursion. Our main aim was to spot caimans, capybaras and some nocturnal birds. As we drove in search of wildlife something caught our attention. It wasn't a caiman and it wasn't a capybara: Anaconda!.
It is strange enough to snakes around these areas let alone anacondas. It was a 6meter anaconda presumably trying to nest along the river shore. Fortunately for us the animal remained quite motionless as we approached for a better look. All the guests and I got more than a glimpse, we got a great photograph!

Today, even though it almost rained cats and dogs, I went to the Canopy with a guest at around 3:00pm. The guest was eager to look for birds. I thought it would be really difficult to see something in the midst of all the rain but once we got to the top of the first tower I realized how mistaken I was. There it was, I had never seen it before, the Pied Puffbird (Notharchus tectus) underneath some branches and leaves taking cover from the rain apparently really hungry trying to catch at least one insect before going away.

It all began as soon as we arrived.

During the trail towards the Lake we saw a yellow tufted woodpecker. Few minutes afterwards I was explaining about antbirds close to bamboo, when I heard monkeys moving around. W waited a couple of minutes, because they were inside the forest, until two big troops of squirrel and brown capuchin monkeys jumped past us.

After the great monkey show, we continued to the Lake and took the canoe to row around it. Rowing through the channel that leads to the Lake we were very quiet, looking for wildlife when suddenly, in between several heliconias, we found a black caiman. It was really huge (about 4mts. long) and only a few meters away. The most astonishing thing was that an Agami Heron (difficult to spot) was standing, motionless, as if it were part of the vegetation. It apparently didn’t end there. As soon as approached the big Sandoval Lake we saw the giant river otters. They went swimming past our canoe, the whole family of nine individuals (including the brand new baby otter), not bothered, looking for the catch of the day. Great sighting. Then it was time to head back. Walking through the trail that would take us to the boat we heard the continuous calls of howler monkeys and in the middle of the trail a spectacle owl flying soundless looking for a perch. Amazing.

Probably one of the best experiences I’ve had, yet, at Reserva Amazónica as an interpreter.

River by night was the excursion this time. Hugo (driver), four guests and I were going upstream on the river just about 20 minutes from the lodge when suddenly I saw, with the help of a spotlight, the shiny eyes of an animal that was moving down the cliff. By the way the eyes were shinning, at first I thought it was a big white caiman but as we came nearer it appeared bigger. The movement of the animal seemed to be too coordinated and agile to compare it with the typical sliding of a white caiman towards the river. As we approached, the animal looked straight towards us. Its eyes were big. Suddenly, it came to my mind another possibility; maybe it could be a big opossum, but the doubt was still there. There was something different; the movement, the look, how fast it was walking. We got to a distance close enough to see more than its shining eyes, so we could identify it. It was an ocelot! When it realized we were there, it started to hike up the cliff and to hide in between the undergrowth, still we could see it. The ocelot spent time walking around; it could be seen perfectly in between the plants. From time to time it turned his head and looked at us until he got afraid and got totally lost in the forest. The people in the boat were very excited. This was definitely an incredible sighting. However, nature was not satisfied with what it showed to us, so 20 meters farther, another ocelot brings its head out of the undergrowth, looked at us for a moment, and then it got lost in the forest again.

Curious facts and deductions:

• If the first ocelot would have continue by the same way he was coming down at first, he would have found a little white caiman that was in the shore. Probably, it had seen it already and was trying to hunt it or it was just going to drink water.
• Both ocelots had 20 meters between them, approximately, but they were walking in the same direction. Probably it was a male following a female for mating or a mother with its child training and hunting.

We begun very early as usual, after breakfast we went to the canopy by boat. The morning was very misty until the sun streaked its sunlight against the trees and warmed up the environment. We all stood at Tower II, fours guests and I, birdwatching for about one hour looking for parrots, toucans, trogons, flycatchers, and orioles that were either flying or perched on branches. Suddenly a double tooth kite landed close to the parrots and scared them away. It was time to go on the suspended bridges.

When we arrived to Tower I, it was quite hot. We really didn’t expect to see much because of the weather. However the presence of a group of Aracaris (small toucans) made us realized that we might have been wrong.

Few minutes after the Aracaris had been spotted I saw something large flying toward us from a huge Iron wood tree (Dipteryx micrantha). We were all astonished looking at that majestic bird; one of the most beautiful and extraordinary hawk eagles in the world. I thought: Ornate hawk Eagle. I couldn’t believe it was flying six meters away from us. To be sure, we checked out information in “The Field Guide to the Birds of Peru” book, and it was quite pleasing for us to see it was the same Ornate Hawk Eagle they showed in the plates.
- Jesús Méndez -

Today it was a fresh and very quite day for excursions, 4 guests and I went to the lake Sandoval. The lake was very quite, no otters showed this time, neither the caiman and monkeys. Always lots of beautiful birds. While we were coming back, almost 40 minutes walking, I looked up to a dry tree and I see this huge, beautiful and imponent HARPY EAGLE perched, it was in the perfect position you want to see a bird, on the top of a dry tree without any branches in the way and very near…. It was marvelous!!, as my English guests said.