Today we reached the deepest part of the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve along the Upper Amazon. We started the day by exploring by skiff at 0630 in the morning. We traveled up the Atún Poza River in search of wildlife. We had really good views of a three-toed sloth that was very calm and fairly low on a cecropia tree. A plum-throated cotinga perched over a capirona tree, while we tied up the three skiffs to enjoy an outdoors breakfast at "The Jungle Café."
We visited the small village of Atún Poza and had another opportunity to buy some of the local handmade crafts. Children ran all over the place with excitement, and they sang songs for us. We then sang some songs for them as well and shared a nice time together. We saw the local villagers drying out their recently harvested crops of peanuts and rice, and got to know a little better what a flood forest community is like.
For the afternoon we explored another tributary of the Ucayali, the Beautiful Pacaya River. We traveled a long distance finding wildlife on the way. We made our way up to Yanayacu Lake, a backwater body of water that is connected to the Pacaya River. Here, pink river dolphins placidly break the surface to breathe and then disappear back into their mysterious worlds.
Some of us who felt adventurous had the opportunity to submerge ourselves into the Amazonian waters in the Yanayacu Lake. Pink river dolphins swam around, as if they were curious about our presence in the water. The late afternoon light was amazingly beautiful, and the water temperature was amazing, too. The most important thing is that we can now say that we swam in the Amazon and that we loved it!
