San Isidro & Pucate River
Our first full day of our expedition in the mysterious, magical, and amazingly bio-diverse Amazon started with an early skiff ride along the Marañon River. Our ship the Delfin II was “tied,” in rivers an anchor is not used, close to a place known locally as “Casual”. This area is very close to San Jose community. We explored this area at a low speed with the skiffs looking for wildlife. This pre-breakfast outing was of great success for we spotted some bird species including Ringed Kingfishers, Blue and Grey Tanagers, Black collared Hawks, and several Flycatchers.
We returned to the ship at around 8:00 am for breakfast. Just after, and once equipped with rubber boots, we went for an introductory walk in the rain forest. After a short skiff ride we visited the “terra firme” forest of Casual for the first time in the last four months. The levels of the Marañon River were too low to attempt to disembark there but we have had some rain in the last week and it is possible to do it again. “Terra firme” is an ecological term that means that the terrain never gets flooded. Along the walk we spotted several plant species, some with stunning flowers and we had the chance to explain some aspects of the fascinating ecology of the rain forest of the Neotropics as well. Some species of frogs were seen as well including the world famous and colorful poison arrow frogs and the leaf frogs, the latter resemble dead brown leaves. A wonderful surprise was to encounter a giant tarantula. To give you an idea about how big it is, the arachnid was bigger than a fully opened big man’s hand! Please take a look to the attached image. Some adventurous guests had the thrill to go farther in the trail to observe a giant strangle fig that was admired and photographed.
As the day was getting hotter and humid we returned to the ship to have cold drinks and to participate in a couple of presentations. One was an introduction to the Amazon including details about its geological formation and its overwhelming facts and biodiversity. The second talk was one about the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve. While we were having these talks the ship was repositioned to the confluence of the Marañon River and the Yanayacu River. While having lunch we had the joy to observe many pink and grey river dolphins fishing and frolicking around the ship.
In the afternoon we explored a big tributary to the Marañon River, the Yanayacu River, by skiffs. Just at the entrance of this black water river we observed a fairly large building, the PV 1. This is the name given by the local to Pacaya-Samiria Reserve wardens’ watching station number 1. After signing our names in the registration book we started our rides.
The outing was highly successful for we spotted Three-toed Sloths and several bird species that included Yellow-billed terns, Ringed and Amazon kingfishers, Macaws, Capped herons, Nunbirds, and several birds of prey like Black collared Hawks and Yellow headed Caracaras. Once back aboard we witnessed a spectacular sunset with fiery reflections that made us dream about the beauty of the Amazon region.
