amazon sunsets

as we head off into the sunset of our cruise time on the Amazon River- I thought I would post some sunset photos and some other miscellaneous photos-

I was surprised to find these fairly clear toucans among my photos when a did some close cropping of a river bank photo-

then two of the five of us got ambitious and went kayaking at sunset- or at least Ray paddled and Aaron went along- LOL

then we got a pretty nice sunset-

with Venus in the sky on the horizon-

this was one from another night-

and when we did see the blue sky - it was lovely-

but more frequently this was the view as we went down the exterior (no interior) stairs to dinner- or lunch - or sometimes even breakfast- LOL

several nights by the light of the moon- were quite lovely- so we did see both the Southern Cross and the big dipper in the night sky! Cool!

our home away from home - as the cruise draws to a close and we get ready to head back to Quito. 

but there is one more photo waiting for us at the dock-  a fancy guy all dressed up for the gals!

and we are off- parting ways with our super traveling companions of the last five days: Patrick, Ray and Aaron (we will cross paths with Patrick in about a week from this day in Guayaquil at the Hilton Colon as we were headed back home to Chicago and he was nearing the end of his trip and anxious to get back to his family in Switzerland... small world....

we hit paydirt!

so on the last full day of our Amazon trip we found the money shot! we were up early that morning because it was a long canoe ride to the clay lick on the river where the parrots came to eat minerals to help digestion... we arrived in time but the birds are so skittish that you can't take the canoe close and you have to be really quiet (like safari on with much smaller wildlife and further away than you can go on safari)

first a photo from the river of the parrot clay lick- LOL - see them???

next a much more cropped view so you can actually see them and see WHY you can't see them in the bigger photo-

they look just like the leaves on the surrounding trees!

and since we were  on a rocking boat in the middle of the a river- the photos are blurry but you can still see how many there were who came to lick the clay (the parrot version of Prilosec- LOL)

from here we stopped into a native village (tourist version) where they did a couple of dances for us and showed us demos of various aspects of their lifestyle -

and of course they had handicrafts for sale - LOL - I actually would have bought on of these parakeets as a memento of the our experience but we hadn't had it yet- LOL

we continued up river and along the way spotted a red howler monkey- this photo is also closely cropped - can SO guarantee that you would never have spotted him had I given you the whole photo-  which was the  way it all went there- here is pretty much in dead center as the white branch heads downward and to the left...

two turtles, also seen from a distance and then zoomed in upon-

thank god for cropping of digital photos!

finally on to the pinnacle of our Amazon experience- a hike into the jungle by about a mile and then a wait in a blind about 50 yards from the place where the parakeets gather for the mineral intake and for drinking and bathing in a spring below-

the guide told us they hadn't been here anytime in the last two months when he had brought groups there - but fate smiled upon us and we were treated to one of the most spectacular sights I have ever seen! Look closely in the center and you can see parakeets gathering at clay lick...

and in this one down below at the springs...

the sound was incredible and the show of color was magnificent!

I have a video that I don't know if it can link but I will try- good luck!

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/agmoxzpyoc3z4i4/00011.MTS

 

and below the sign at the blind identifying the types of birds who may be there- for us it was all parakeets- apparently the macaws come at some other appointed hour and sometimes at different times of the year-

 

so back to the boat- as usual- this time they are fairly close by having been traveling up river for the hours and hours we have been gone-  more food -

and next post will be on this and that- some nice sunset photos and a few of Ray and Aaron (two of our three traveling companions) kayaking -

black water river exploration

off we went in the afternoon (yea! no rubber boots) in our canoe and headed down stream to find out if we could see any wildlife on the black water river we would be exploring.  Our trip lasted several hours and we saw a sloth way up in a tree- allegedly saw a caiman (never did see him nor did any show up in the photos I zoomed in on afterward of where he was supposed to be) and at least twice we saw one or more river dolphins humps (not the actual whole mammal but the hump)

do I sound underwhelmed?  I was!  on a dollar per animal sighting this would trip would not be even moderately priced.  The bang for the buck was astoundingly bad-
we spent tens of thousands of dollars to go on safari in Botswana and Zambia and Zimbabwe and saw thousands and thousands of animals- here we spent tens of thousands of dollars and saw three animals (two river dolphin humps and a sloth - or we were told it was a sloth)  and maybe a dozen birds until the money moment at the parakeet clay lick (on the last full day) but more about that later. 

however- I will say this - the scenery on the black water river was spectacularly serene! first we stopped to pay the fee and then we stopped to pick up a native guide and then we were headed up stream---

this was where we saw the river dolphin humps but they were both too far to photograph in this light and too quick to submerge again to catch them digitally anyway--- :-(

here is a post card of one to see what they look like:

it was raining big drops but cleared in time for us to rool back the "roof" or our canoe so we could see the jungle canopy a bit better (relativity being everything)

Below- the photo where the caiman was supposed to be- but I sure can't find him...LOL

the sloth- LOL- if I showed the whole photo and not just the cropped part you would never find him--- I knew where to look!

and as we always did- we returned to the boat to have another meal- and a word about these meals-

the meals always had soup - a staple of the Ecuadorian cuisine- and then a meat course and then a dessert.  Although the photos may not look like much the food was very good and the soups were excellent! So kudos to the chef and kitchen staff on a job well done!

more adventures to follow - or what will have to serve as adventures---