Atun Poza Caño & Zapote Caño
The mouth of Atun Poza was our farthest penetration into Rio Ucayali. As we entered this tributary, we again found pink river dolphins, as we have at some many confluences. The meeting of two rivers, just as is the case with the juxtaposition of almost any two ecosystems, tends to be biologically rich. Dolphins, terns, jabiru storks, hundreds of egrets, herons, vultures and people (both our group of explorers and local people fishing) joined in taking advantage of this bounteous place.
Our searches exposed night owl monkeys, squirrel monkeys and black capuchin monkeys. We found horned screamers, great black hawks, black collared hawks, the seemingly ever-present yellow-headed caracaras, yellow billed and large billed terns, various parrots and parakeets, kingfishers, a colorful lettered aracari and black-fronted nunbirds, as a sampling of our bird spotting. All of this was with a backdrop of magnificent, varied and abundant vegetation. Massive ficus trees and especially impressive epiphytic plants abounded.
Another fine breakfast was the perfect venue to share our experiences. Throughout the morning we had a variety of activities on board, including a class in making Pisco Sours. Perhaps the best part of the class was consuming our handiwork.
Following our afternoon siesta, a ritual that has come to be greatly appreciated and enjoyed, we headed in to Caño Zapote. All of us took in this final evening outing in our own personal ways enjoying the sights and reflecting back on what we have experienced this week. A beautiful sunset graced our adventure before we headed back to Delfin II.
Farewell evening was a time to share stories and feelings and to enjoy the slideshow that almost all of us contributed to that chronicled our week together.
