Early in the morning with the first light of the day, our guests prepared for their first experience in the Amazon. As soon as we left the ship, we were met by a small pod of grey river dolphins, they were completely unaware of our presence, and continued to play along the riverbank.
In the afternoon Delfin II, continued to navigate upstream to another wonderful location along the Ucayali River called “Supay Creek.” We explored this black water creek by skiffs and kayaks.
Socrates was raised on Santa Cruz Island located in the heart of Galapagos Archipelago. After a childhood filled with swimming, scuba diving, rock climbing and volunteering in conservation projects, he grew very passionate about the outdoors and the...
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Today we had the opportunity to explore the riverbank of the Ucayali River. The exploration was done early, before breakfast. Different species of birds were sighted. It was a great morning for observing the behaviors of the early birds. After breakfast we hiked through the Illanalpa flooded forest. Here we learned about the strategies that animal and plants must have in order to survive the floods. We encountered troops of common squirrel monkeys and saddle back tamarins. Interesting insects were also seen through the leave litters. Back on board we repositioned Delfin II for our late afternoon exploration of Dorado River. We went to explore just before sunset. A family of Isabel’s saki monkey were seen way up in the canopy. A small troop of brown capuchins together with the common squirrel monkeys were moving alongside the riverbank, having their meals before gathering for the night. As the sun began to set, we started to look for caimans. We learned the difference between the black caimans and the spectacle caimans. The highlight was a small family of capybaras walking along the riverbank, not caring at all about our presence. It was the best ending for our explorations today.
As we made our way in the skiffs to Clavero Lake, it was nice to see lots of children heading to school. The mode of transportation was a little different from back home, as they were driving themselves in little dugout canoes with small groups of children in each boat. Today’s focus was sustainability, so we spent some time talking to fisherman catching their daily fish. Some were using rods, but most of them had nets laid across sections of the creek or the lake. They were catching a variety of fish including catfish, bass, and piranha! We got to see the sharp teeth of the red-bellied piranha. On our way back to Delfin II, we stopped at a nice wide section of the lake to take a refreshing swim. The entries into the lake were certainly varied, with gentle climbs down the ladder to full cannonballs with maximum water displacement! For our late afternoon skiff ride, we forayed up Supay Creek with the water rapidly declining, as we are in the dry season. The variety of birds was astounding, but the highlight was a black-collared hawk fishing.
As the sun rose and the fog drifted across the water, we made our way down Pahuachiro Creek looking for interesting wildlife and insects. While we saw lots of birds and mammals, we focused a bit more on the smaller species like the spiders and dragonflies. We continued with that theme during our walk in the casual forest as the local guide showed us poison dart frogs, lizards, and even a bat deep inside a strangler fig tree. Some brave souls even had a tarantula walk along their arms! The local guides are also artisans, so at the end of the walk, quite a few people helped the local economy by purchasing handicrafts to take home. After fascinating presentations on the fruits and mammals of the forest, we were back in the skiffs exploring Yarapa Creek. Some of the highlights were the multi-colored lettered aracari (which is a type of toucan) and a slate-colored hawk in the evening light.