Sapuena area of the Rio Ucayali
In keeping with what has become a familiar and comfortable routine, we arose early and headed out on the water in skiffs and kayaks to explore a tributary of the Rio Ucayali. This morning the venue was Cedro Caño, and once more we enjoyed our morning afloat among a rich diversity of birds, with sightings of monkeys and dolphins as ample reward for the early risers.
Later in the morning we visited the small village of Sapuena. Here our guides introduced us to village life and we strolled down the concrete walkway that is “Main Street” to the school. Although school is out for the holidays, by the time we reached the school we had gathered an entourage of children who entertained us informally as we inspected their classrooms.
Before lunch we had the opportunity to learn something of the fruits that have formed part of our diet on board. In addition to the familiar, we have encountered many varieties of local fruit that have not yet made it to marketplaces outside the Amazon. For example, the camu camu is a rich source of Vitamin C, with up to thirty percent more the equivalent volume found in citrus fruit. These properties are slowly coming to the attention of the rest of the world, increasing the economic interest in the species.
Later in the afternoon we boarded skiffs to explore Yana Allpa, a small creek leading off the Rio Ucayali. An afternoon downpour diminished the heat of the day and our search proved successful, with sightings of both night monkeys peering out from their daytime resting place and a couple of very approachable caiman lizards. But the day was not yet finished, and after dinner an intrepid group went ashore to experience the jungle by night – a very different sensory experience when vision is restricted to the beam of a spotlight and the acoustic world becomes more important.
