The Amazon is teaming with life. In order to know that this is true, all you have to do is stand still and listen to the noises of the forest. You will hear various birds calling, frogs barking, and monkeys howling, but as soon as you try to look for them, they become elusive. Still, with a good eye, you can find them hidden amongst the fauna of the forest.
We went out into the wild on many occasions, and if it was not for our guide, I do not believe that we would have found all of the animals that we found. I was amazed at the way he was able to find not only the monkeys in the trees, but as the tiniest of bugs hiding on the branches, or the caiman lurking in the roots of a tree in the river. It gave me a new appreciation of what it meant to live in this part of the world. Here are some pictures I took of some of the animals that we found in our travels. See if you can find the animals in the pictures.
There is an otter staring at the camera while enjoying a breakfast of piranha.
What our guide often referred to as the stinky bird with a spiky haircut, but I don’t think that is its technical name.
A small bird that is related to the owl.
A caiman, a smaller relative of the alligator, looking at us from the water as we passed by in a long canoe.
A row of bats getting their beauty sleep during the day so they could hunt at night.
A white heron trying not to look to conspicuous on a branch down a tributary.
A capuchin monkey looking down at us wondering why we are not taking the palm trees that make the rain forest highway.
A red howler monkey catching up with the rest of its crew.
Some of the animals were more obvious to see, but with help, I was able to find many more. Despite this, I am also sure that there were many more that were out that observing us that I never got to see. It just made going back out into the forest an adventure every time because I never knew what it was I was going to find.
Until next time, keep searching for those hidden gems that you know are out there waiting to be found.
John Collings 