Requena Oxbow Lake and Zapote Caño
We navigated a few miles upriver during dinner and were tied up on the southern bank of the Ucayali before bedtime last night; the boat was quiet and we slept soundly and well. “Knock knock” came on our cabin doors at 0630 and this morning we had a full and delicious breakfast before boarding the skiffs and heading upriver and into the huge Oxbow Lake of Requena. An oxbow lake is formed when the main river changes course and a U-shaped section is isolated; the main current cuts its new channel elsewhere and still water is left behind as a lake.
Today was hot and humid and there was little relief from the tropical sun in the oxbow lake, but we were rewarded with many interesting species of birds and animals and added again several exciting new sightings to our wildlife list. We found troops of squirrel monkeys plus capuchins and saddle-back tamarins. They squealed and leapt through the dense forest growth and would then stop, turn, sit undercover where they felt safe and stare at us before leaping again and moving out of sight. Some of us saw the hoatzin, a unique bird whose young have claws on their wings before they can fly. These baby birds will drop into the water to escape predators and then climb back up into their nests!
We saw both male and female black-tailed trogon, and several species of raptors (birds of prey) and many of the large, loud and obvious horned screamers. Luckily for these big and abundant lakeside birds, their meat is not good for human consumption; this is the very best way to avoid human hunting pressure!
We attempted to take a short cut to the northern end of the lake, but despite naturalist Reny’s machete work we were stopped by too high water and too dense vegetation. However our side trip provided a couple of additional species: we spotted a night monkey in a Cecropia tree and watched him leap a good twenty feet to safety, and we had a tarantula drop in to visit from above.
Back on the boat and after cool showers and drinks, I gave a short presentation about the “Primates of the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve.” Imagine: there are 9 common species and we have already seen 7 of these! After lunch, siesta and a very short talk on geology, we boarded the skiffs to explore Zapote Caño at 1600.
This was a super outing! Everyone saw the strange hoatzins, several sloths and at least a couple of different groups of the large, hairy black monk sakis high up in the trees. Some of us found a mother sloth with her big juvenile offspring and at one turn in the river 4 species of macaws flew overhead! Two boats stayed out until after dark to see caiman, which the naturalists saw using spotlights, and we got drenched in a downpour. The third boat hurried back to the boat just before the rains began.
