Our last day exploring the Pacaya Samiria Reserve began with a beautiful sunrise. A lovely blue sky revealed a lush green varzea forest along the riverside. Right after a delicious breakfast we loaded the skiffs.
It was so interesting to observe the roots system of several trees along the trail. Very tall trees were the shelter of different species of birds and other animals. When the waters are high, these animals will use the canopy to cover distances. Being dry on this date, allowed us to explore the inside of the trail.
The bird songs filled the air as if they were welcoming us to the forest. Our naturalists explained to us the importance of the balance in these kinds of forest, how several species of fish wait for the big floods to come and lay their eggs in the area.
A big strangle fig tree hosted a family of noisy night monkeys. They curiously brought their heads out of holes of the tree, trying to spy on the explorers of the trail. What a great morning.
Back on board, we navigated the rest of the morning to our afternoon destination. Shortly after lunch we arrived to the mouth of the Yarapa River. Here we were going to enjoy our last skiff ride.
The forest along the river gave us enough shade to enjoy the exploration. Several species of aracaris flew above our heads and perched so we could admire their colors. Great black hawks and black collard hawks didn’t pay much of attention to us since they were concentrated on catching their meals.
From a high tree a common woolly monkey decided to get close to the shore. She was curious to have a better look on the weird primates that were navigating on the river. The grand finale was a pair of scarlet macaws that flew above us, as if they were giving us a farewell.
It was an excellent week here in the Upper Amazon!
