Day 4: Squirrel Monkeys, River Dolphins and Goodbye to Madidi

Our last day at the eco-lodge was much colder so our guide took us for one last trip on the river and we came across an adorable family of squirrel monkeys and some fishing river dolphins

Squirrel Monkeys — Madidi National Park by Tom Barnett

Tom Barnett

— Jul 21, 2018

We came across the squirrel monkeys in a section of the river we hadn't been to about an hour and a half upstream. I think they saw the kids snacking on something in the boat so came streaming out of the trees and straight towards us. You're not supposed to feed the wildlife but these monkeys were not at all shy so they've probably been feed before.

We spent about 20 minutes with the monkeys and after they'd searched our boat (and the kids) they stuck around but reverted to their natural activities of foraging for insects and drinking from the river. They were another big highlight of the trip and it was hard to say goodbye, especially for Cata who wanted to take one home.

On the way back to the lodge we were very lucky to come across some amazing birdlife including pink spoonbills and blue and yellow macaws. We also saw a couple of active river dolphins which were splashing around and appeared to be fishing. They weren't supposed to be this far upstream where the river was much lower so we got a pretty good look at them. Check out the videos below...