Our last day exploring the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve began with an overcast sunrise. The temperature was fresh enough to motivate us to have our breakfast fast and hurry to load the skiffs.
Iricahua is another part of the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve. The forest we visited is also a varzea forest. The trees here are so tall that the shrub layer almost doesn’t exists. Here, the trees can survive up to six months flooded. Since the water level was low, we were able to hike through its trails.
On the trail, several strangler fig trees stood up with their areal roots as an evidence of their strategy to survive all those months under water. Several epiphyte plants were on the branches of the trees, this is a commensalism behavior in order to survive the high water seasons.
Some of the trunks of the trees had some scars, evidence that the locals would drain the sap of the tree for medicinal purposes. The forest itself holds a lot of secrets in terms of remedies and medicines. Some vines showed evidence that they were very old since their structure looked more like an old tree trunk.
We enjoyed this morning walk a lot. Flocks of canary winged parakeets arrived to the canopy to fill the air with their calls. Varzea schifornis were also singing as we walk through the forest. Motmots and barbets also joined the melodies of the forest with different calls. It was just a concert of bird’s calls.
Back on board, we repositioned the Delfin II to our afternoon destination, Yarapa River. Here our plans were to explore the furthest part of the river by skiff and kayaks. The winds and river currents allowed us to arrive on time for our afternoon activity.
We explored the river and Mother Nature granted us the sightings of squirrel monkeys, a common woolly monkey and several species of birds. The black collared hawk was always in alert to catch its afternoon meal. Kingfishers would follow also be on the edge of the river trying look for its meal as well.
We returned back to Delfin II after our exploration and gather up at the lounge. We all shared our experiences of the week. Our expedition had come to an end. But the memories of exploring the Upper Amazon and meeting its people will last in our memories.
