We are in our fifth day traveling on board the Delfin II and our journey into the Upper Amazon! So far it has been phenomenal, and I don’t expect it to be any different for the rest of the trip.
Our present location is known as Atun Poza, and it is somewhere southwest into the Ucayali River, one of the most important tributaries of the Amazon River. A series of lagoons connected by a long (and occasionally very narrow) creek, made this area very distinctive, giving a sense of protection and isolation.
For the whole morning we enjoyed a skiff ride along the creek bank, sporadically finding fishermen in their early morning chores on the river. As we navigated through one of the lagoons, we encountered a canoe with five kids in it. This is not entirely unusual among the rivereños (the people that live along the river), as kids are well trained at young age to take care of the most essential duties at home, and in many cases, to take roles traditionally performed by adults. The difficult, and yet normal, life of living in the Amazon has to be learned by every one of its inhabitants, regardless the age or gender.
Proudly, these kids gestured with an “OK” as we asked if we could approach our skiff to the canoe. They showed us their fish and they explained how they were collecting them out of the fishing nets, which were placed the night before. Everyone on the canoe has a duty: collecting the fish, counterbalance, keep the fish in water and alive, and of course, one of them was responsible enough to keep an eye on the younger ones. The youngest of the “fishermen” was a six month old baby, who was happily riding along, and attentively observing what might be his future job when he gets to the proper age, whatever that might be!
With waves of goodbye, we continued to explore the rest of the lagoons, and at some point, we stopped by a shady area just as pretty as any place around and had our breakfast. Yes, our breakfast today was served at the “jungle Café!” It was a great surprise to see some of our crew appearing out of nowhere and start to serve fruits, sandwiches and coffee brought from the ship, with the idea to do something different and special, with a nice landscape all around us.
Spoiled, we returned to the ship to rest, for lunch and why not…a well-deserved siesta afterwards!
Our afternoon ride started a little bit earlier than usual, as we rode the skiffs into the Pacaya River, heading to a lagoon known as Yanayacu. This excursion gave us all spectacular views, and the bragging privilege to say…I swam in the mighty waters of the Amazon! What a great day!
