Casual & Nauta Caño
>For sure the most exciting find today was the night monkeys. These cute, large-eyed primates are great fun to watch, and it’s reciprocal because as we watch them, they watch us. I’m pretty sure that with their humongous eyes, mostly suited for the night, they see us better than we see them.
Yanayacu, Pucate & Amazon Natural Park
In the afternoon, we explored the trails and suspension bridges of the Amazon Nature Park on foot.
Marañon, Ucayalli, San Francisco
In the afternoon we explored another of the tributaries of the Amazon. As we went by a tiny community called Flor de Castaña, we found out that the water level was a little too high for our skiffs to go under a concrete bridge. We were too far away to turn around, so the only logical thing to do was to ask for help from the friendly local people. They jumped into the front of our skiffs to lower them with their weight, pushed and pulled us through to the other side, then jumped into the water to help the next skiff. The people here in the remote upper Amazon are extremely kind, and we ended back at the ship in time for a wonderful sunset.
Belluda Creek and Dorado River
The skiffs cruised through the narrow stream over the aquatic vegetation. Different species of birds were sighted as we pass next to the forest edge. The air was filled with a mix of bird calls. We all enjoyed what nature had for us.
For the afternoon, we explored Dorado River. At the mouth of this tributary, a small village was settled by “Ribereños.” The kids rapidly shared with us the different species of fishes their parents had caught during the day. Their friendly faces were all captured by our cameras.
Pacaya River and Magdalena Creek
We explored the whole morning and our breakfast was in the great “jungle skiff cafeteria.” Mid-morning, it was getting warm, so we stopped in Yanayacu Lagoon. We participated in the “Pirahna Plunge” to cool ourselves. Many pink dolphins showed up to swim pretty close to us. What a great morning and experience!
In the afternoon, we explored Magdalena Creek. Different species of birds were sighted. One of the best sightings was of the white chested toucan.
It was another great day exploring the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve!
Supay, Iricahua, Yarapa River
On our last day exploring the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, we started by exploring Supay River. We cruised on the skiffs along this river, before breakfast. A cool breeze was felt as we began spotting green iguanas taking advantage of the first sun rays. Different species of birds, such as white-headed marsh tyrants, black-crown night herons and a big flock of migratory purple martins were seen along the marsh area of this small tributary.
Our last skiff ride was done late afternoon along the Yarapa River. Each of our sightings along the river was a small glimpse into the massive biodiversity of the Upper Amazon.
We all gathered at the end of the day, in the lounge, to share our thoughts about our experience we all had exploring this paradise. It was just a life-changing experience!
Our trip in the Upper Amazon has just begun! We are very excited as we just had a great day exploring several creeks and hiking some of the only available grounds of the region. We are in the process of discovering what this area is all about, what it means to the world and to the local people that inhabit the river villages. It is a very different world “out there” and we just had a taste of it!
Regardless of the name, this location proved to be a great place to begin our trip. Several species of colorful birds were observed during our visit, and the naturalists on board each of the skiffs unveiled the wildlife for us. Their expertly trained eyes spotted many more things than we did, and their ability to make bird calls was commendable!
I am not too worried about the blurry pictures; during the afternoon skiff ride, we were all able to take much better images of the animals and scenery due the freshly gained-skills acquired during our first photo presentation of the trip. Our photo instructor, Jose Guerrero, gave us all great tips for photographing this region, and indeed made a difference in our afternoon photography!
The Marañon river is one of the most important tributaries to the great Amazon river. Today we visited an area known as Amazonas Natural Park, a private reserve with a system of seven interconnected suspended bridges over the canopy. This was our longest walk of the week, which gave us the chance to experience the canopy but also to find saddle back tamarins, plus some interesting insects and several species of birds. We had a delicious lunch with local ingredients, and later on our guests had the opportunity to attend a presentation onboard about photography composition and storytelling. In the afternoon, we navigated to Piraña Caño. This is an incredible area with narrow streams run through the flooded forest, where we spotted various species of monkeys and birds. The best part of the day still awaited us: on our way back, thousands of parakeets and caciques arrived to a small island, and we were able to stop to enjoy this unforgettable natural display.
Today was one of those days when the unexpected happened, and we ended up in a different location than we intended to be when we started our day. However, this is the way all expeditions should be, as a true adventure could never be fully predicted!
As we strolled, we were greeted by the locals with smiles and invitations to enter their humble houses. Not much was inside, but the houses are filled with pride, as food and shelter are never absent in any of the houses within the community. We were all so engaged in the village experience that we ended up staying longer than we had intended; luckily this region is full of great alternatives and we quickly modified the program to have a second, but equally great, alternative for the afternoon.
For the past seven years I have been coming to the Amazon to lead expeditions, and I have always been hopeful that one day I will be granted the opportunity to see this gorgeous bird. The last time it was sighted by any of the naturalists on board was a year ago, flying far in the distance. Today the sight was as good as it can get! Perched on a nearby tree branch, the harpy eagle turned its head several times, showing curiosity as it tried to figure out what we were. We don’t look anything like its favorite prey, which are sloths perched on trees, so after allowing us to take several hundred pictures, it took off. Although there were records of its existence in the reserve, there is not much more information regarding any of its nesting grounds or its general ecology in this region.
Today we explored the Ucayali River, one of the largest tributaries of the Amazon. Here, our skiffs meandered along various narrowing stretches of black waters in the wilderness of the Pacaya – Samiria Reserve. Early in the morning, our target was to find macaws, and we did! Several flocks of blue and yellow macaws flew by, at a close distance. After breakfast, we sailed to Belluda Caño, where we found more groups of macaws, together with kingfishers, jacamars, trogons, toucans, caciques and oropendolas. Squirrel monkeys, as always, put on their own show for us. We came back onboard for lunch and later on we had a presentation about the cultural diversity of the Amazon.
Today we were exploring one of the gems of the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve, the Pacaya River section. This is a location far away from communities and any extraction activity, so the wildlife is abundant and the landscape is very unique. This area is also known as the mirrored jungle, as the reflections of the forest over the black waters of the Pacaya River makes for spectacular scenery.
This is our last day of the expedition, and for me, the last day after immersing myself for three weeks in the Peruvian Upper Amazon. For any keen naturalist, birder, or enthusiastic photographer, the Amazon rainforest is the ultimate location. During this week, we have seen beautiful animals and been spoiled with the many opportunities to get wonderful shots, and today was no exception.
We started our day with a visit to Supay. We had the choice to explore this area by kayak, paddle boarding, or an enjoyable skiff ride. No matter what option we took, a gorgeous landscape and unique wildlife were there, ready to surprise us. Later on, we explored another area called Iricahua, a great place for birding.