The Pacaya River
We awoke to a perfect morning for watching wildlife — cloudy and cool so the animals were active and we were very comfortable. Today we were exploring the Pacaya River, which is as far into the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve as we will go. Passing the Ranger Station we saw the Great White Egret catching a fish and located our first Red Howler Monkeys. During the morning we also saw Monk Sakis and Squirrel Monkeys. Every bend in the river had something different to view — some of the birds were becoming familiar such as the Ringed Kingfisher, the Cocoi Heron and the Russet-backed Oropendola. But around every bend in the river was the thrill of finding something new or a better view of something seen before. An exciting new bird for us today was the Hoatzin. Previously this bird was thought to be prehistoric because the young have claws on the wings, but DNA studies have shown it is most closely related to the cuckoo. The guides and boat drivers have fantastic eyes and ears and can spot things that we would never see. They are also very patient and good at describing exactly where something is located so that we all could find it.
It has been interesting to see the local fishermen at work catching and then taking their fish to market. They are catching the Armored (or walking) Catfish with nets, which they put into fish pens along the river’s edge. When they have thousands of them they add balsa to the pens and float the whole pen down the river to sell in Iquitos. They sell the fish for about 50 cents each (soles) so for 10,000 fish they will earn 5,000 soles but this will be shared among 4 to 10 fishermen. The Armored Catfish is very high in folic acid so it is highly recommended that pregnant women eat catfish soup and Peruvians love the taste of this fish.
We had a very interesting stop at a Ranger Station where they had caught a fairly large Anaconda in a fishing net. This large snake weighed about 60 kilos and it took several men to carry it. They also had many of the baby Yellow-spotted River Turtles ready for release in the reserve. As we journeyed up the river we saw at least 35 species of birds as well as the Pink River Dolphins, monkeys, bats and sloths.
Breakfast was eaten in the skiffs. Our guides and drivers donned white gloves and proceeded to serve breakfast on china complete with decorated napkins. We had camucamu and passion fruit juices, coffee or tea, fruit kabobs, sweet potato and yuca bread sandwiches and rugala and almond cookies. Even the dragonflies were busy eating the mosquitos to make sure we were comfortable.
Arriving back at the Delfin II we had time for a short siesta if we wished. Before lunch we added to our wildlife list with the many species found on the morning skiff ride. We were then treated to a lesson in origami towel folding by our two multitalented cabin stewards, Ivan and Wilson. They demonstrated how our towels were folded each day in the form of a candle, shoe, dog, shirt, boat or birds.
Lunch was delightful as usual with different table decorations for every meal. Many days we have had ice creams made with local fruits and today was an unusual but very tasty grape ice cream with a bit of chocolate — delicious.
Following siesta time we headed up the Pacaya River once more. This time we drove quickly upstream for an hour to explore further than this morning. Some of the highlights were seeing our first adult Amazonian River Turtles, a Jabiru flying overhead, a Laughing Falcon with a whip snake in its talons, Squirrel Monkeys, and Monk Sakis with their bushy tails. The furthest point we reached was Yanayacu Lake where we had a chance to swim with the Pink River Dolphin. The sunlight shining on this amazing animal was truly something to behold. On our way downstream we were entertained by a group of eight or more Red Howler Monkeys with babies and some White-fronted Capuchin Monkeys hopping from tree to tree, one with a baby on its back. As darkness set in we could observe the nocturnal animals such as the Common Potoo, the Boat-billed Heron, and the Spectacled Caiman. After dark we stopped the boat to hear the thrumming of the millions of insects just above the surface of the water. Shining a light on the insects gave us an idea of how really numerous the insects are and we could also see the many bats and fish, which come out to feast on them.
Returning to the ship we had time for a quick shower before another great dinner, always with a pleasing variety of textures, tastes and colors. To wrap up this magical day our crew serenaded us with their spirited Peruvian music. It was a spectacular day none of us will soon forget!
