Our morning started with an exploration of an important section of the Ucayali River. This particular area possesses several “aguaje” palm trees, which are the desired habitat for one of the most emblematic species of birds in the Amazon River, the blue and yellow macaws.
Sure enough, our early outing paid off! Several couples of blue and yellow macaws were spotted perching on the branches and even flying around, which gave us full views of their extraordinary colors.
Once satisfied with our sightings, we moved on to a different section of the Ucayali and encountered a narrow creek with promising views. The skillful skiff drivers and naturalists took us through the dense-forming floating vegetation, formed primarily by water lettuce. Once we were immersed, we realized that we had just found another characteristic Amazonian species—the giant water lilies! There were many, but only one had a flower on it, which became the most photographed plant of the trip!
Soon after breakfast, we headed out again to investigate a creek known as Belluda, which translates as “hairy”. According to the local folklore, a “hairy woman”, the protector of the forest, wanders the area keeping the animals safe. We never saw her, but found several trees with hairy-looking lianas, which some believe to be the origin of the tale. As for the animals, she must be doing a good job, as we had many wonderful sightings of colorful birds and several species of monkeys, including rare sightings of owl monkeys!
Our afternoon outing took place further up the Ucayali River, where the black waters of a large tributary known as El Dorado, merge with the Ucayali. We departed looking for more wildlife, but this afternoon we had a specific goal—caimans! Two species are primarily found in this region, the black caiman and the spectacled or white caiman. The black caimans are much larger, reaching up to 12 feet long, while the spectacled caimans are usually on a much smaller scale, reaching a maximum of 7 feet. We were not able to find any black caimans today, but several spectacle caimans were found by the naturalist.
We definitely had a great day, but for the grand finale, the sky above us had no sign of clouds and was filled with thousands of stars. It was a perfect way to our expedition day!
