Marañón & Amazon Rivers, Piranha Caño
The day starts suddenly here in the Amazon. We are only 4 degrees and a little South latitude, and when I wake up around 5:30 am, all seems dark outside. A few seconds later (it seems like), daylight has arrived and its time to move out.
We head into the forest around 6:30 am, and others took the skiff into a nearby lagoon to see what they could see during these fresh morning hours. Our trail led past some open land, cleared by the community nearby to plant with bananas, corn and other foodstuffs. Papaya trees were laden with fruit, but they hadn't been cultivated, their seeds had been deposited by birds and other animals in a free service to all.
Deeper inside, we learned that some trees give a white sap used for intestinal problems; the tangarana tree harbors ants used for punishment in the old days. One bullet ant – a Godzilla-sized ant – walked nonchalantly along a vine, confident in its ability to cause excruciating pain to others. Heliconia leaves were cut to size and used for fans, nuts were opened and tasted, new leaves were munched (also for intestinal parasites). A snail was seen, photographed then collected by our local guide from the community of San Fransisco to burn, and its ashes will be mixed with another plant also incinerated, making a paste for ulcerous sores that are not healing.
Back on board once more, we descended on breakfast as if starving (ha!), and relaxed as the ship made its way down the remaining miles of the Marañón to the mighty Amazon River. At the junction is where we can see all three rivers while holding steady against the current in the middle; the Marañon, our past, the Ucayali, our future, and the Amazon, our present.
Ten dare-devil swimmers got into the skiff with me later at mid-morning. We had everything we needed to survive a dip in these famous waters: swimsuits, ladder, towels, noodles and a sense of fun. Riotous laughter, splashing and speculations about what was in the river with us kept us lively. The paparazzi skiff arrived minutes later for the photo session.
Once back we raised a toast to the Amazon with an alcoholic tree-bark concoction by Carlos our bartender called Chuchuhuasca, and then Reny arranged to have a wide variety of fruits available to talk about them, taste them, smell them, photograph them. Watching from overhead, clinging with its little clawed feet to the underside of the thatched roof, was a small, pretty little bat who literally “hung in there” for the duration of the afternoon. We seem to be collecting quite a few exotic “Delfin II mascots” this trip! I have to admit it was probably one of the most photographed bats I am aware of, yet despite having some good reference books on Amazonian mammals, with significant sections on bats, we were never able to identify it. So if someone can help us – THANK YOU! We stopped short of counting teeth, which seemed our next step in the identification process (sorry). His back was fluffy brown, darker at the tips, lighter towards the base. No stripe down his back.
The afternoon had us exploring a very narrow channel of water that we haven't been able to enter for a long time – the water level hasn't been high enough! Piranha Caño is a delightful visit that led us across a small lagoon, then in between tall trees overhanging the narrow creek, creating a delicious shade. The water was thick with water lettuce and hyacinths, the sounds of birds, frogs and insects kept us guessing. A raucous gathering of parakeets accompanied us on our return in time for an Amazonian sunset of blue, yellow and pink rays arcing across the sky. An almost full moon provided backdrop for a hummingbird, while a roadside hawk got sideswiped by a flycatcher. The last skiff filled with photographers got to watch a large troop of squirrel monkeys leap overhead as they traversed the stream, in a hurry, obviously on a schedule.
Dinner was early in order to get out for a night hike. The conditions were perfect, as the skies were clear and no rain had fallen recently.
