Shortly after sunrise we boarded the skiffs and crossed the Pacaya River towards its northern shore into an area known as Yanallalpa. There we saw an abundance of dead aguaje palm trees, with their leafless bare trunks protruding form the shorter vegetation around them. It wasn’t long before we heard the first loud calls of large parrots and soon discovered not one but six incredibly beautiful blue and yellow macaws perched on a snag! We admired and photographed them as they leisurely combed their long feathers, using their strong beaks, and played with each other. Macaws are very familiar to everyone who has ever visited a zoo or pet shop, but don’t get confused: macaws are among the wildest of the wild and their numbers have diminished throughout their range due to habitat loss and their capture for the pet trade. Their presence is an indicator of the health of the ecosystem. What a privilege to being able to spend some time with such a symbol of wild beauty!
After leaving the macaws, we continued our search for wildlife and entered a small creek known as Belluda Caño. We could have spent the whole day there! We observed so many different types of birds in a relatively small area that most of us saw several for the first time in our lives. Besides the ubiquitous great egret, black-collared hawk, yellow-rumped cacique, and great ani, we delighted watching less commonly seen beauties such as white-throated toucan, bluish-fronted jacamar, bar-breasted piculet, and lemon-throated barbet. A few saddle-backed tamarins and squirrel monkeys searched for insects and fruit along the caño and a very noisy group of mealy parrots entertained us for a long time with their pair-bonding displays, fights, and continuous chattering.
During the afternoon we explored the shores of the Dorado River by skiff and kayak and enjoyed another chance to watch and learn about the incredibly diverse environment of the Amazon Basin. And as the Delfin II slowly made her way upstream along the Ucayali River, another gorgeous and eventful day slowly came to an end.
