Rivers are the highways in the Amazon region. All kinds of boats are used by locals to get around. Some hold a few people while others are like taxis.
Sometimes you need to find a shortcut since the river passage is quite long. In our case, we stopped at the small town of Mazan where locals along the river can shop.
We cut our river trip down by many miles by getting a ride on these 3 wheeled motorcars across land. Our next boat was waiting for us on the other side to take us to our final destination on the Amazon River - Ceiba Tops. It was a great excuse to ride in these unique vehicles.
I was really enjoying the primitive accommodations at Explornapo. When we arrived at Ceiba Tops, it was quite luxurious in comparison! No more pit toilets, mosquito netting or cold showers.
The food was excellent where ever we stayed. We could always count on fish, beans, rice and fresh fruit.
Every morning before breakfast, Ari and I went out looking for birds at the nearby pond on the edge of the jungle.
Tui Parakeet
Spotted -breast Woodpecker
These are a couple of beautiful birds I found at the pond.
This Blue and Yellow Macaw was easy for everyone to see since it hung out by the dining hall with its pal, the Scarlet Macaw.
Our first memorable trip from Ceiba Tops was a trip to Monkey Island. It's not every day that you get to go to an island full of monkeys. This is a place where monkeys rescued from the black market get a chance to prepare for a freed life in a protected preserve.
These young monkey are incredibly curious. Before I knew it, one of them was climbing up on my binoculars and trying to eat the caps....We had to check Maya's bag before we left the island. She wanted to take one of these incredibly cute critters home! ha
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Photos and content by Robin Roberts.
