The Marañon and Yanayacu Rivers
The Pacaya-Samiria Reserve is one of the largest protected areas in Peru and in all of the Amazon basin. For many months of the year, much of the park is underwater, inundated by the massive amount of water flowing down from the Andes. This time of the year, however, is low water season and thus there is great access for hiking amongst the forest. Varzea is the name of this forest that is seasonally flooded, and today was spent exploring this forest.
Some of the dominant trees in this forest belong to the Fig family, and the fruits of these trees attract a huge variety of animals. Both on the early morning skiff ride and the morning walk, we encountered incredible numbers of animals feasting on figs. A few species of monkeys joined clouds of birds including parakeets, toucans and cotingas in exploiting this patchy resource.
On our walks, we learned about the many types of trees, how they fit into the ecological niche, and their many uses. Massive Ceiba trees, Heliconia flowers and the jungle garlic stand out amongst many others. A bit of overcast skies gave some nice shade that made the walk today very pleasant. Ants were everywhere and many different butterflies were observed.
In the afternoon it was into the skiffs to explore the smaller tributary called the Yanayacu River. Where the rivers meet, both Gray and Pink River Dolphins were busy feeding on abundant fish. Many egrets, hawks, and kingfishers joined into the mix. As we progressed further up, parrots and parakeets were abundant. Many were coming into roost for the night and noisy clouds of birds descended into the trees. As the sun was setting with a full rainbow, some of us got to see a massive Black Caiman. We watched the head rise up out of the water and slowly swim along. Hard to tell for sure, but possibly as large as ten feet long, this caiman gave us a taste of what is to come in this gigantic reserve.
