San Francisco Village & Cedro Caño
A brand new day in the Upper Amazon in Peru started with an early pre-breakfast skiff ride along the Marayali Caño. The early and late hours of the day are the best for spotting the creatures of the rain forest. Several Amazon bird species were seen including Shiny Cowbirds, Oriole Black birds, Capped herons, Yellow-rumped Caciques, and Russet backed Oropendolas, among others.
Once on board we had a splendid breakfast before visiting ¬San Francisco community. In this place we had a blast watching and experiencing how people live nowadays in the Amazon. Our visitors were marveled to see how little things in life that we take from granted can mean so much for other people in a different environment. The first highlight of this cultural visit was an amusing visit to the local school. Many children came from all over the town to share time with us singing and showing their talents. Before returning to the ship we had another highlight. We admired and acquired some handcrafts and participated in a local Carnival dance. A lively local band entertained us with their music. At one point many villagers and several of us were dancing to the rhythmic ethnic tunes.
Just minutes later after we came back onboard we had a very special celebration. The ship was located in the famous confluence of the Marañon and Ucayali Rivers, geographical place where the Amazon River takes its name. We toasted with a local Amazon drink this event!
After leaving the Amazon River behind us we had a fruit exhibition, with naturalist Renny Coquinche. He masterfully opened, sliced, and talked about the many fruits we have had and will have the joy to taste during this expedition.
In the early afternoon before disembarking in the direction of our next visitor site, we had a long recap based on questions and answers based on our guests’ curiosity. Most of the questions were about how locals live in the Amazon. Once the recap was over we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Cedro Caño. In addition to the many bird species our talented naturalists spotted, we saw some monkey troops as well.
Before dinner, during cocktail hour, the Delfin II naturalists told us about their interesting backgrounds and why they became interested to work as nature interpreters. After dinner we watched a nature documentary entitled “Amazon, River of the Sun” that gave us a broader understanding of the annual changes between the dry and wet seasons in the Amazon Basin and the adaptations of the Amazon inhabitants to such dramatic changes.
We can hardly wait to see what this enigmatic and magical ecosystem will bring to our lives tomorrow.
