Pacaya River
This morning we set off with high hopes of getting as far up the Pacaya River as the vegetation would allow. At this time of year, the rivers levels are extremely high, as we have mentioned over the last few days. A consequence of having the Ucayali River come into flood is that it pushes back into the forest along its course, and floating plants such as water hyacinth and water lettuce, are packed up in tight islands, that at times block the surface of the entire river. Underneath, life goes on and water flows as it has for millennia, but the surface can take on the appearance of a filed of purple blooming hyacinths and tall reeds and grasses.
The skiffs, their drivers and our local expert naturalists know of many ways around these blockages. With the river sometimes so high, the boats can cross what would otherwise be open meadows! It has always been one of my favorite experiences here in the Amazon: to ride in a boat across what seems to be fields and meadows, with not a patch of water visible, but afloat in a boat!
This morning we ended up with the complication of rain. I have always thought that being caught in a downpour is part of having a “true Amazonian Experience”...and we got it! While threading out way between treetops and grass, we pulled our rain ponchos tight around and listened to the raindrops on exuberant plant life.
We had already spotted horned screamers in abundance, and great egrets along with cattle and snowy egrets filled the sky overhead at bends in the river. Neotropical cormorants seemed to inhabit every bare tree branch in places, and slapped the water noisily as they took off in front of the skiffs. A squirrel monkey troop, which included females carrying young moved quickly from tree to tree, and a glimpse of a brown capuchin or two was had by some.
In the afternoon we returned to the Pacaya River, once again accompanied by some rain, which left us soon after we had reached a lagoon, where hidden amongst reeds and grasses, giant Amazonian water lilies were spread out. A pink flower, a white bud, a red new leaf, a green, round table-sized leaf; wattled jacanas wandered over them, great egrets stood over them, a zig zag heron hid among them. Once the rain had stopped, we drove into a bank of grass and started looking for frogs. We found many! A Hypsiboas punctatus, H. lanciformis and Dendrosophus triangulum were all hiding among the stems and leaves of this amazing lagoon. Squirrel monkeys foraged and fed and jumped among the trees, and three-toed sloths moved oh-so-slowly in the Cecropia trees. Heliconia flowers showed red among green, as did passionflowers and bromeliad blooms!
