Our second day of our Upper Amazon expedition has taken us to the northern side of the Marañon River. This powerful river is one of the many rivers in the Amazon Basin. Its main importance falls on being united together with the Ucayali, the two of them responsible for forming the most important river system in the world, the Amazon River itself!
The Marañon River also serves as the northern limits to perhaps the most important of the natural reserves in Peru, the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve. The southern shores of the river are in fact the northern limits of the reserve. Our objective today was to explore the northern shores of the river, which still is privately owned and known by the locals as the Amazon Natural Park. This location has been, fortunately, protected by its owner, who never allowed logging on his property. Even today, the land is still conserving its main feature, the primary forest within, and we were fortunate today to stroll on its remarkably well-preserved forest.
Giant trees full of bromeliads and all kinds of epiphytes were the main feature of this forest, whose dense foliage and canopy inspired the admiration of us all. We could hear several species of birds in the surroundings, however few were seen, due the density of the canopy and the low light that penetrates from above.
Part of the walk took us over a section of the property where the river used to pass, but long ago the ever-changing forces of the river created a different path, and left behind land rapidly overgrown by bushes and trees. This was the section of the trail where suspension bridges have been built, and we all enjoyed a different perspective of the forest from above.
Our afternoon took us to a different location known as Nauta creek. It is here were the skiff and kayaks departed to spend a couple of hours, exploring and observing the beauty of this ecosystem. Birds and monkeys were seen along the way, but perhaps the highlight was an encounter with a large troop of squirrel monkeys and the bizarre-looking Monk Saki monkey and its out-of-place furry coat! Delighted with what we found, we returned to our lovely little ship, the Delfin II, to be pampered by its amazing crew!
