Rio Ucayali: Rio Pacaya
In the cool of the morning, we set off to explore one of the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve’s major rivers: the Rio Pacaya. Low clouds kept the early hours cool, and although a slight sprinkling of rain did cause us to pull out our ponchos, the morning was lovely. We had great views of squirrel monkeys quite low to the water line, and they were accompanied by some very small saddleback tamarins. Pink river dolphins huffed ahead and behind us, eluding easy view but sometimes allowing us a quick glimpse of their odd shape.
Our plan was to have breakfast in the skiffs, but the rain prompted us to ask permission to set out our picnic in one of the ranger stations along the river. Here, people from nearby communities come to keep an eye on the reserve for a few days at a time in exchange for the right to fish a bit in its rich waters. Built on stilts like most of the riverine dwellings we’ve seen, this had the mark of an official building: mosquito netting. A great egret stood sentry off to one side, and we arranged the chainsaw-hewn benches to accommodate our gang.
The sun worked its way through the clouds as we ate, and when we set out again, it was clearing…then clear! Phenomenal to feel how quickly the day turns hot. We dilly-dallied on the way back to the Delfin II, watching the sun catch the red edges of giant Victoria lilies and listening to the cries of thrush-like wrens echo over the still waters. It seemed a shame to turn around, but the heat of the day was building, and we wanted to be able to enjoy our afternoon.
Before lunch, Renny, Rudy and Adonai met with us on the upper deck to answer questions. We have been with our guides in the skiff all week, but there we’re all busy scanning the shores and waters. There’s not much time for reflection and conversation. Topics from favorite bird species to the prevalence of AIDS in the Peruvian Amazon were covered, and it was a true privilege to have people answer and attend our questions so honestly and openly.
We headed out again in the later afternoon, as is our tradition. First, we zipped by the stretch of the Pacaya that we’d dallied through in the morning, pausing to admire the Victoria lilies, the little blue heron (a rare sight here, although not in North America), the bromeliad-studded trees. Our goal, however, was howlers, and to get to the point at which red howler monkeys begin to appear, we needed to cover ground. Fishermen can penetrate only so far into the reserve, and howlers are fairly skittish. Luck was with us, though.
Beyond the swimming lake, where a skiff full of swimmers enjoyed paddling in the same water pink dolphins swam through, we found them. High in the trees, their spooky roaring echoing over the water, burnished rust-red: howler monkeys. We had good views of several groups, including one nice look at a baby clinging to its mothers belly (the opposite carrying technique of the squirrel monkeys, who carry their young on their backs. The lantern jaws of these large monkeys are remarkable, as is their propensity to walk out to the end of a thin branch, wrap their tail around, then bend toward the tree below and let loose.
In addition to these remarkable creatures, we were able to see brown capuchin and squirrel monkeys scrambling through the trees. We skiffed back as the sun set, enjoying the light as it played through the clouds and over the still waters of the Pacaya.
