Amazon Natural Park & Nauta Caño
Our second full day of exploration of the Peruvian Upper Amazon took us to recently created private reserve found outside the boundaries of the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve. The “Amazon Natural Park” protects a large area of almost pristine “terra firme” forest. This private reserve is so well managed and patrolled that the Peruvian Government recognized its conservation value and declared it a national private protected area of the country as recently as in June last year.
This reserve can be explored in many ways. We did in a circuit that included catamarans, walks and the crossing of a suspension bridge. We started rowing peacefully onboard three wooden catamarans in a quiet lagoon, then we continued walking in a forest that provided us some interesting findings. We encountered some huge Ficus and Rubber and Chiclets trees along the trail. We observed many lianas, vines, and flowers as well. The trail leads to a very long suspension bridge, which is approximately half a mile in length. This infrastructure allowed us to have a thrilling and exciting walk in the middle strata of the rain forest. We were above the ground watching the rain forest from a completely different perspective and feeling in some way how some of the inhabitants of the rain forest see the world in a dimension that is completely new for us. After crossing the bridge we headed back to the catamarans to row back to the place we disembarked in the early morning at the beginning of the circuit.
Once back aboard Delfin II after a well-deserved shower and drinks, we had a marvelous Peruvian-themed lunch. In the early afternoon we had a very amusing and interesting presentation. Delfin II naturalist Juan Luis Ihuaraqui had an exhibition on the Peruvian Upper Amazon fruits. We tasted, tried, felt, and photographed all the new flavors colors, textures of these exotic fruits that have been and will be served in our meals.
The late afternoon was spent exploring surroundings of Nauta Caño. This narrow stream is at its lowest levels of water of the year, so we spent most of our time in the surroundings of the creek. In the thick vegetation of the area our naturalists spotted several species of colorful birds and a couple of Brown three-toed sloths.
To end the day, before dinner our naturalists told us about their backgrounds in an informal yet informative introduction of their lives. At dinnertime, a happy group of guests already friends, shared the impressions and sightings of the day with me while enjoying the exquisite Peruvian cuisine served on the ship.
