Flor de Castaña and Supay Caño
Last night we navigated 50 miles up the Ucayali River and tied up around midnight. At shortly after 0500 the rain began, slow and steady, and so we had to adjust our plans to the “rhythm of the rain forest.” Our talented chef Raul Rodriguez prepared our breakfast ahead of what had been scheduled, so we helped ourselves to a filling breakfast buffet while we waited for the rain to pass.
By 0830 since the rain had slowed we put on ponchos, boarded the skiffs and motored for about 15 minutes, first across the wide Ucayali, and then through a flooded camu camu plantation to reach the village of Flor de Castaña, population around 200. This is an unplanned visit; the locals have no idea when or if we may stop by, so it was a genuine peek into their lives in an Amazon village on a rainy day. As we pulled in, cute little naked boys were swimming and washing in the river, and we looked into a small dugout full of recently caught fish which included several species of catfish, and a red-bellied piranha. Our naturalists Rudy and Luis took us along the cement path (provided by the national government for each of these villages), stopping often to point out the typical houses, the medicinal herb gardens, the bundles of heart of palm ready for sale, the bar/store where political graffiti decorated the bare board walls, and to tell us about the rain forest way of life.
The rain did not let up, but we all wore ponchos so we did not much mind the steady drip. We entered the primary school and sat at the children’s desks and shared some songs and laughs and took many photos of a darling group of healthy and happy children. Because of the persistent rain, school had been cancelled for the day, but when they saw us approaching the children were obviously excited and thrilled and they honestly seemed to enjoy our visit as much as we did.
As we were leaving the village our naturalists showed us the Brazil nut trees for which the town—Flor de Castaña (castaña = Brazil nut)—is named. We navigated a few minutes on the Ucayali and then climbed aboard the Delfin II. Captain Remigio had the crew untie us and we headed up river some 17 miles, traveling at speeds between 6 and 7 knots against the river current, to Supay Caño where we will hopefully find better weather this afternoon!
Naturalist Luis gave a presentation about the exotic local fruits and then we enjoyed yet another succulent, gourmet meal in the beautifully decorated and ever changing dining room. Siesta followed and when we awoke we were glad to see cloudy skies, but no rain. Ten adventurous guests headed off with Reny to board the jungle kayaks and paddle down Supay Caño. They enjoyed themselves but claim it was almost too easy because, with the river so high and flooded, the current whisked them right along and they practically only had to steer the boats! It was however, a peaceful and pleasurable experience to float quietly on the swirling muddy waters listening to the birds above them.
In the skiffs we had fun, too. Luis and his skiff driver Primo found squirrel monkeys yet again, and they chattered and leapt among the branches. Several carried babies on their backs! We all spotted sloths high in the trees, bats sleeping on tree trunks low over the water, and Rudy pointed out two species of rarely seen birds that are closely related to turkeys: three Spix’s guan and a chachalaca. Skiff driver Paul took us down a fast moving section of the creek where Rudy used his machete frequently and skillfully to chop our way out—all just part of the adventure on the Amazon, I guess!
This evening after dinner our talented crew band, “The Teenagers” once again drummed, strummed, pounded, and sang for our entertainment. The music has been a complete surprise for us all, and we look forward to more as the week goes on!
