This morning, our expedition around the Pacaya Samiria Reserve brought us to a seasonal oxbow lake known as Atun Poza. During the early skiff ride at the entrance of this site, we saw several birds feeding on the marshes and grasses seeds. Oriole blackbirds, seedeaters and white-headed marsh tyrants, were seen having the first meal of the day. In addition, we had the opportunity to observe several big squirrel monkey troops. We were fortunate to see many females carrying their babies in their backs!
Later on around 8:15am, all of the skiffs gathered for an outdoor breakfast! We had our first meal of the day onboard the skiffs, served in the most fashionable way—fabric napkins and even handcraft dolls holding the napkins were included. As a backdrop, we had the green rainforest surroundings with several squirrel monkeys that were still foraging for food. After breakfast, we continued exploring the area. We spotted several horned screamers, parrots, herons, a beautiful white-eared jacamar and even a glimpse of a monk saki monkey spotted briefly high in the canopy of the forest.
In the afternoon, we started to travel with our skiffs upstream the Pacaya River. Our goal was to go as far as we could in this remote river. The fun was not over yet, because once the skiffs arrived to a large black water ox bow lake called Yanayacu Lake, we went swimming in the lake. Many adventurous guests went in the water for a refreshing swim! Floating noodles, towels, a ladder to come back to the Zodiac, a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of joy and a cooler with cold beers and sodas were perfect ingredients for an unforgettable experience! The icing on the cake was a special appearance of several pink river dolphins that were seen and heard at a relatively close range from the swimmers.
After swimming, we continued to explore the area. It was a successful afternoon in terms of wildlife sightings, for we spotted several red howler monkey troops. What a great ending to an excellent day!
