Our group this week arrived yesterday, after traveling from Lima to join this once in a lifetime expedition on the Upper Peruvian Amazon. A brand new adventure begins! Our guests arrived to the ship in the late afternoon and went to bed after dinner, dreaming of all the adventures and surprises that await us, in the amazingly bio-diverse Amazon region.
We started the day off after breakfast with an introductory walk in the rainforest. After a short skiff ride, we visited a “terra firme” forest of a place known locally as “Casual.” “Terra firme” is a term used in tropical ecology to describe a terrain that never gets flooded. In the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve, the largest flooded protected area in South America, most of the surface area is under water throughout the whole year, therefore this kind of relatively dry ecosystem is of great interest for our expedition. Along the trail, our naturalists explained some aspects of the fascinating ecology of the neotropic rainforest. A couple of native scouts from a nearby village came with us as well. Several rainforest creatures were spotted, including colorful poison arrow and leaf frogs, and even an Amazon tree boa—one of the most iconic reptile species of the tropics. We all had the thrill of observing this large snake, which was admired and photographed with awe. Another creature that was spotted was a two-toed sloth. This rare sighting is only my second, in almost four years. This mammal is nocturnal and lives at the canopy level, therefore is rarely seen by visitors.
The day was getting hotter and more humid, and we were sweating a lot as a proof of it. We came back to the ship to have cold drinks and cool down with a well-deserved shower, followed by a couple of presentations. One was my introduction to the Amazon, including details about its geological formation and facts about its overwhelming biodiversity, and the second talk was about the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve in particular.
After our mandatory emergency drill, the ship was repositioned to the confluence of the Marañon River and the Yanayacu River. In the afternoon, we explored the area by skiff. This outing was very successful as well, for we spotted several three- toed sloths, several bird species including yellow-billed terns, ringed kingfishers, Amazon kingfishers, and also several birds of prey like black-collared hawks and yellow-headed caracaras.
In the early evening, with drinks in hand, we were gathered around the bar and lounge area, sharing our impressions of our first full day of adventures in the mighty Amazon. We can all agree that this is going to be a fantastic week!
