We awoke to our first day of our Amazon trip on the Maranon River, excited in anticipation of our upcoming adventure. At this time of year, the river is rising and we had spent the night tied to a tree on the bank (as is the practice)! It was cloudy at 6:00 a.m. when we piled into our skiffs and headed up a small creek that had been impassable just the week before as the water had been too low. As we motored up the creek, we heard many birds as they awoke to start their day too. We were lucky enough to see 3 different kinds of kingfishers hunting from branches hanging over the water. The smallest, the Green Kingfisher, had caught a fish that looked way too big for it to swallow, but amazingly it managed it. In the tree tops, we saw couple of small toucans feeding and the donkey-like bray of the horned screamer filled the air. It was such a peaceful way to wake up that it was hard to return for breakfast.
After breakfast, we headed to the community of Casual which maintains a series of trails on a high area called Terre Firma that never floods. After climbing the steep bank, since the river is still low, we finally reached the higher ground where the trees are taller and older. Here we were met by a guide from the local village who hurriedly scurried off into the forest to see what he could find to show us. Almost immediately he found us a small anaconda which was lying perfectly in a tiny creek where it was hunting. Eventually it disappeared under the leaf litter presumably in search of prey. Pretty exciting!
Farther along the trail our local guide was able to find and show us two different species of poison arrow frogs. They were quite small but so colorful, clearly a warning to its predators. Nearby, a red-tailed boa was hunting, so we had an amazingly productive morning. What a treat to get to see all these amazing creatures. Then, it was time to head back to the boat.
Reni, one of our local guides gave us a map and trip orientation and after lunch I gave an overview of the Amazon. During lunch and our siesta we were parked at the mouth of the black water Yanayacu River, where this river meets and mingles with the Maranon, stirring up of the nutrients. This results in a lot of fish and it is a good place to watch the pink and gray dolphins swimming around and feeding. Then we loaded back into the skiffs and headed up the Yanayacu to explore, passing a local village and several fisherman in their small dugout canoes. Along the way we saw long-nose leaf bats plastered on the side of a tilted tree trunk and a variety of raptors as well as our first troop of common squirrel monkeys.
As we started home, we stopped at one the ranger stations in the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve to pick up a bucket of baby yellow-spotted turtles. These are endangered turtles and many communities have become involved in collecting eggs, raising the young and then repatriating to the river. We took our bucket up the river and then to a protected area along the bank. Then we had the great joy of releasing them to river where they can once play an important role in the river ecology. It was pretty moving to see the little turtles swim off to freedom.
By this time the sun was really setting and we returned to the ship. We all felt so exhilarated. After everything we had seen today it was hard to believe it was just our first day!
