It was already dark when we woke up but it got bright pretty fast. We boarded a boat and headed to a pebbled island in the middle of the river in order to watch macaw clay licks and clay lick parrots. There were researches in the boat with us who will be trying to count the birds. We sat under a canopy so the birds don't see us and were told to be quiet. Previous evening we were also told not to wear bright clothes today so the birds don't spot us. Clay licks are often spotted in groups at the walls near to the river. They eat clay which contains calcium in order to neutralize toxins in their stomachs that come from eating different toxin causing fruits. We also saw a falcon.

We came back to the Centre for 7am breakfast of bread, jam, poached egg, coffee and tea. The rest of the plan for today was to get on the 1 hour boat trip to visit local community of Shintuya, then short trip to the hot springs (bikini ready!) and in the evening check out what we can find in the jungle over night.

There were not many of the local Shintuya community that we met, we had a walk around their village and Ronnie told us they are trying to educate them about recycling plastic that makes its way to the jungle, insted of throwing it away and polluting the forest.

Then it was 7 minutes boat ride to the hot springs for a soak and in a quite a while we didn´t need to rush anywhere. In one of the gutters flowing the hot water, water was so hot it would boil an egg. We stayed there long enough to relax, watch the butterflies resting just meters away from us and talk to the Dutch couple about films, food, literature and politics. It was veeeeery relaxing....

It was then back to the boat and to eatch packed lunch on the way to the Manu Learning Centre - sticky rice witch beef and fried banana, mandaring and biscuits. For some strange reason we arrived at the centre absolutely exhausted, I had almost fell asleep during one hour boat ride back. We saw locals selling bunches of green bananas to lorries - only 30 soles here - that will be then transported to Cusco and sold for far more. There were clouds above the jungle and I made a bet with Ronnie when it will start to rain but it didn´t. Still no rain in the rainforest...

Once in Manu we headed towards the hammacks and some of us fell asleep, I was writing notes from the todays trip but then gave up and closed my eyes also.

Ronnie let us know it was time to visit the biogarden where the centre has been growing fruit and vegetables that our meals were prepared from and a medical garden with plants used instead of medicines here. On the way there we come across squirrel monkeys which are soooo cute!!!! We just followed them for a while till they disappeared into the jungle.

The centres garden consisted of rows of raised beds, uncovered and covered and a greenhouse. They tested in what conditions the plants will grow better and the covered areas turned out to work better. We saw cilentro, tomatoes, wild tomatoes, pumpkins, lettuce, raddish, pinapples... The garden had watering canals around. Around the garden I noticed lots of ants. The biggest one I ever saw was the bullet ant that gives a massive headache if one is bitten. Rule number one to follow - don´t touch anything in the rainforest! The other ants were definitely smaller and were moving big pieces of leaves into their home - these are called leaf cutter ants.

We lingered a bit and only got to the medicine garden when it was already dark so had to use the head torches. Best plant I remember from there is a "walking tree". You can see it on my pictures. During it´s growth it produces new spiky roots which keep it grounded but the roots are well above the ground level and allow the tree to move within a 2 meter radius.

The last part of the day was our night walk with head torches after the dinner - rice, sweet potatoes, pork chops just like Polish ones. We followed Ronnie in a promise to see frogs, night butterlies, possibly caymans... Again, rule number - one do not touch anything in the rainforest, you never know what it is! Rule number two - do not get lost in the rainforest! If you do, do not sleep on the soil (ants and insects will find you), stay up.

While walking through swamps in the middle of the night we saw frogs, water spiders, massive owl night butterflies, no caymans though... But that was alright as at one point we switched off our all head torches and experienced a minute in the darkness in the middle of the pristine Amazonian rainforest - just us, stars, the moon and the eyes of all the creatures that were looking at us at that very moment.

That night I learnt how to recognise footprints of a puma or a jaguar - 8 examples around Manu. I will sleep well tonight. No even cockroach or mosquitoes will be able to disturb me - so tired! "Early" start tomorrow, 6:30am breakfast.