Near Guacamaya there is a scarlet macaw reserve, and you can take a river cruise in the mornings to spot macaws and other wildlife (we didn’t because we had a river cruise to the ruins at Yaxchilan coming up). It was at the campsite here that we heard our first howler monkeys of the trip…be sure to have your volume turned up.
We visited a nearby resort for a beer in their gardens by the river, and then, on the advice of one of the workers, went to see some macaws that they have in a large caged enclosure. When we got there, we could see 5 or 6 wild howler monkeys in the branches of a nearby tree. I had been waiting for the moment when Piper would first see monkeys on this trip. What would be her reaction to these small, thumbed creatures. Well, turns out she was more interested in the jungle venados (small deer from the region) that were in another nearby enclosure. Some of the monkeys broke off small branches from the tree and threw them down at Piper, but even that didn’t tear her attention away from the one buck that was having a stare off with her. Eventually the deer wandered away, and Piper did glance up a few times at the monkeys, and she even chewed on one of the sticks they threw to her, but for the most part she was pretty non-plussed by their presence.
We heard howlers all throughout the day and night, saw scarlet macaws and toucans and a variety of other birds. We didn’t do the river cruise, but I had read that someone on a past cruise had seen a jaguar….welcome to the jungle (and yes, the song by Guns and Roses has gone through our heads a few times already on this trip)!