Belluda Creek and Dorado River, 5/11/2017, Delfin II
Aboard the
Delfin II
Amazon
Our day started with a gentle rain, as is typical in the Amazon region. Our early risers were ready to explore before breakfast, so we headed out to explore the Ucayali River and a small creek called Yanalpa. Our guest explorers were fortunate and spotted some of the more elusive creatures of this area, including the red-bellied macaws and the endemic species of saki monkeys, called Isabel’s saki monkey.
After breakfast, we explored Belluda Creek by kayaks and skiffs. The varcea forest along the creek provides shelter to interesting animals like owl night monkeys, caiman lizards, yellow crown brush tail rats and sloths.
Our afternoon activity was concentrated in the Dorado River. A small community at the mouth of the river welcomed us as we passed by inviting us to see the different species of fish they had caught. We continued to explore this river until dusk, when our naturalist brought out the spotlights. We enjoyed the sightings of the evening creatures that dwell on this river.
Cristian is a Panamanian born in Chile. He grew up in Panama City until the age of 19 when he returned to Chile to go to college where he received a degree in metallurgic civil engineering. Since 1995 he has been working as a freelance naturalist in ...
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Today, as usual in this paradise, I woke up in high spirits. I had the feeling that it was going to be an extraordinary day, and luckily, I was not wrong! We had a wonderful day of exploration. We went to the skiffs after breakfast to explore the Yarapa River. From the skiffs we had great encounters with wildlife, including kingfishers, tanagers, and other birds of prey. We saw some mammals as well, including night monkeys and a rainforest tree rat. Late in the afternoon, after resting, we went for a short but meaningful walk. We visited a short trail, located close to Jose de Paranapura community, that led to a pond where we observed the famous giant water lilies. Later, we celebrated the arrival of our ship at the confluence of the Marañon River with the Ucayali River: the geographical place where the Amazon River takes its name. With a glass of champagne in our hands we toasted the torrential rains, reminding us that we are visiting the mighty Amazonia, one of the wettest areas in the world.
The Amazon forest is an amazingly complex system of biota, rivers, creeks, millions of acres of trees and plants; there are thousands of animal species of all types, like sloths, jaguars, pink dolphins, fishes, harpy eagles, frogs, storks, snakes, caimans, monkeys, bats, and millions of insects and microscopic animals and plants, indeed! Plankton is also present in these rivers, which represent one of the biggest reservoirs of fresh water on our planet. The amazon basin is the main “organ” that sustains life on our planet. Some of these creatures work by day, and others at night. Yesterday we explored the Pacaya River at night and it was a great experience, but today was astonishing. The Pacaya area is very remote in the jungle of Peru, and the abundance of wildlife is incredible. We came out early in the morning, at 5:45 a.m., to spot more wildlife — the majority of the creatures are early risers, so we are too. We saw hundreds of storks, jabirus, neotropical cormorants fishing on armored catfish, herons, egrets, many varieties of kingfishers, horn screamers, herons, turtles, caimans, and hoatzins; we saw howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, white-fronted capuchin monkeys, pink and gray dolphins, and big anacondas. Wow! Truly this place is amazing, marvelous — like no other place on earth. We spent six and a half hours on a tiring journey, but we were very well rewarded! At noon we came back for lunch and siesta time to recover our energy. The food on board our ship is exceptional; we enjoyed a ceviche of local fish to fuel up for the rest of the day. In the afternoon we navigated for four hours to a nice beach along the coast. We disembarked to spot some shoreline birds such as black skimmers, yellow-billed terns, and sandpipers. One very special event of the afternoon was the jungle bar that our crew opened on the beach. Our guests rested and enjoyed coconut water, some tropical fruits, and pisco sours. The “Jungle Spa” was also opened, as some of our guests enjoyed relaxing mud therapy on their bodies and faces. We enjoyed the sunset and chatted together about the amazing experiences of our day.
We continued our expedition today with a full day of exploration in two remote locations of the Pacaya Samiria Reserve in the Upper Amazon of Peru: Belluda Caño in the morning, and the Pacaya River in the afternoon. We started the day with a beautifully calm and relatively cool morning. Very early, at around 0600, we were already out on the skiffs. The early hours of the day are the best for spotting wildlife, and we were fortunate for we saw a lot! We observed many bird species, including the beautifully colored oriole blackbirds, macaws, herons, and other birds of prey. We were lucky to find a large troop of squirrel monkeys as well. After breakfast, we had a talk about one of my favorite subjects — the primates of the reserve. In the afternoon we had a presentation on Amazon fruits, and then we explored the Pacaya River. We had plenty of time to go far into this beautiful River. Just like the early hours of the day, the late hours are another prime time to observe the extraordinary biodiversity that inhabits the rainforests. During this expedition we had a lot of amazing sightings — including black and spectacled caimans on the way back to the ship as the night was falling in the rainforest. We even had a glimpse of the largest rodent species in the world, the capybara. It was a long day, but it was full of great sights and exploration.
