Our first visit of this expedition took us to a place known as Pahuachiro, just at the beginning of the Reserve. Early in the morning we left to explore a beautiful area from our skiffs, this is a paradise for birdwatchers! We found several different species of birds: yellow-headed and red-throated caracara, black collar hawk, white winded swallows, striated herons, snail kite, and those are just the ones I remember! As well we saw a very well camouflaged green iguana, and a three-toed sloth in the distance. We returned to the ship in time for breakfast and then had just enough time to get ready for our first walk in Casual. The place is a terra firme area, secondary forest. There is a community here that welcomed us and guided us on our adventure! These villagers are great at spotting wildlife! They found pink toe tarantulas and leaf mimic frogs! Basilic lizards and poison dart frogs. What a place! My highlight was a bullet ant… what a creature! Also known as the giant tropical ant, with our camera we were able to get a macro shot, no wonder why it is so famous for its painful bite!
We left for our next destination, Yanayacu Pucate River. Yanayacu means black waters in quechua, the indigenous language. Pink dolphins welcomed us while we were having our lunch. We left for a skiff ride in the Reserve and got to experience the Amazon rain. A few drops wouldn’t stop us! This is an adventure so we continued! The reward was to reach a beautiful lagoon where we were surrounded by pink dolphins. Some birds were spotted too, and a wonderful sunset was the perfect way to end our first full day in the Upper Amazon!
