Yarapa River and Puerto Miguel
Oh how lovely! Before breakfast, some of our intrepid guests opted for an early-bird outing by kayak. We boarded first the skiff, that then took us up the Yarapa River to a branching stream known as the Cumaceba River, where we then took to the kayaks.
I will say that at first we got a good workout because all rivers have a certain abut of flow dynamics to them, and due to some up-river rains yesterday, the current was moderate. But doable, for sure! After a certain distance we then swung around and the best part was had: drifting, listening, looking, with the occasional steering. The temperature was perfect and the shadows still long over the water. Small patches of sunlight set off the contrast for remarkable photography.
After breakfast, everyone got into the skiffs to head much, much further up the small tributary river looking for wildlife. The large hawks were out and about: black-collared, great blacks, slate-colored as well as the delightfully named caracaras, yellow-headed caracaras especially. Our best find for mammals were the troop of squirrel monkeys which bounded tree to tree mid-story, with a few spectacular jumps in-between that wowed us.
It was pretty warm by the time we returned to the ship late morning, and cooling off was on all our minds. Reny had a good audience by the time he started his presentation on Amazonian fruits…taste-testing included! However, finally I couldn’t resist the temptation…
With the captain’s cooperation, we moved the ship back down river half-an-hour as far as a really important geographical point on the map…the confluence of the Marañon and Ucayali Rivers, where the Amazon River by that name, begins. So not only did we make a big deal out of this location on the bridge radar, my offer to all was taken up by few…to swim in the Amazon River! Only four of us took the refreshing dip, but now we have the boasting rights for the rest of our lives!
Late afternoon found us back in the skiffs heading to the community of Puerto Miguel. Around 700 people live here, but this is misleading, as the majority have their homes at some distance. However this is where the children come to school, and although not in session, quite a few made us welcome when we stopped by. As a thank you for their hospitality (and song), some of the school supplies we brought were distributed fairly among them, and all seemingly went home quite happy and a pen, pencil, or notebook richer.
Even after dinner, our day hadn’t finished! A short night hike on known terrane had us out right after dessert (can’t miss ANYTHING!). Overall quiet, the sounds of insects kept up a constant background buzz and chirp. The fireflies were spectacular, blinking their signals all the way into the upper reaches of the canopy. Frogs and toads were what we found of interest, and one—Criziohyla craspedopus—was an exceptional find by David Stevens. A rare species, not often seen, and quite colorful compared to many more cryptically-colored species we find.
By the time we got back home, it was well past our bedtime, especially since the next day had an early start planned for us.
