Rio Pacaya & Magdalena, Rio Ucayali
This week on the Delfin II is best described as an expedition on the upper Amazon. A colleague of mine once asked, “How do you define an expedition?”; to which he received the response that it was a term used as an excuse when things went wrong. Today things did not really go wrong, but we did need flexibility as Plan A became Plan B became Plan C.
As we set out on the Rio Pacaya this morning we were hopeful that we would be able to take an extended skiff ride and enjoy an al fresco breakfast out in the jungle. The grey clouds on the horizon as we set out had other ideas and soon the rain began, soon became a deluge and looked to be set in for the day. It can hardly be a surprise to have an experience such as this in the rain forest, but the timing was unfortunate.
Back on board and dried-off we headed downriver to search for an option for the afternoon. At the small tributary of Carocurahuayte a skiff was sent out to assess the conditions and returned with the report that the channel was blocked by floating vegetation. On to Plan C. One of the advantages of being here at high water is the large number of alternative channels we have available to explore and before long we had arrived at Magdalena. The rain had stopped by this time and with renewed enthusiasm we set out to explore a new location.
The search for wildlife had a good start with Amazon pink dolphins and a three-toed sloth among the first sightings. Further searching revealed several groups of primates with sightings of dusky titi monkeys and a large group of saddleback tamarins. Birds seem to ever present and always diverse in the Amazon and this afternoon was no exception. Iguanas and orchids added further to the diversity of interests that were enjoyed from the comfort of the skiffs, and the fact that the rain more or less held off for the afternoon was a bonus.
