Even though we were in bed by 8pm last night 4am came very quickly this morning. Head torches on and candles lit we got dressed and headed to the dining area for breakfast with 13 bleary eyed but good hearted compatriots! We were away and walking down the path and seemingly many steps, which always seemed more on the return journey, to the boat and headed down stream to a landing where having alighted we walked for a further 10-15 minutes to an oxbow lake. There we boarded a wooden catamaran - not to be confused with the high speed sailing machines - this was a wooden platform with rows seats of seats balanced on two hulls and vigorously propelled by something at the back of the boat which looked like a cross between a tiller and a paddle.
We headed off through the mist which was rising from the water to see what we could see - first a rare black caiman, then lots of jacana flying and moving over the reeds, a red headed cardinal, roadside hawk, neotropic cormorants, amazon and ringed kingfishers, black capped heron, green ibis and there was a fly past by blue and yellow macaws. The bird of the day for me was hoatzin - in a genus of its own, with a low grumbling call and the digestive system of a cow - it's mildy attractive with its blue eyes, punky hairstyle and uniquely coloured plumage ( today's photo) luckily we saw a fair number along the shore of the lake which meant I snapped away and had many photos to choose from! We then stopped for a spot of piranha fishing - frankly we were rubbish the fish ate the bait ( pieces of chicken) and avoided the hooks -luckily Dan and then Lesley caught small yellow bellied piranhas so at least we could see the teeth and Frank landed and equally small white bellied piranha. Even given the lack of success many were hooked by the challenge! As we made our way back to the river boat we ambled through the forest looking at the walking trees - which do move themselves several centimetres a year if they are blocked from the sunlight, a strangler fig, the original host tree being long gone, with a salamander on it and an inconspicuous and well camouflaged giant potoo high up in a tree.
On our return we managed a quick shower before Frank have us a brief on the running of the Posada Amazonas and the origins and development of the community/ business partnership.
After lunch and a siesta we met again for a trip down the river to the Botanical Gardens and a briefing by the Sharmin on the medicinal qualities of the plants and how he uses them to cure people's ailments. Enroute we passed a clay lick with red and blue macaws on it - a rare and lucky sighting as their visits to the licks are unpredictable. At the end of the Sharmin's tour we got to taste a couple of potions which tasted like alcoholic drinks - the kick from which have me a headache! On our return I had another quick shower before dinner. We had yet another early night even though we had a relative lie in until 5am tomorrow!!