After exploring the Pacaya River and finding jaguars, capybaras, and river otters, we are again near the Marañon River, another major tributary of the Amazon that we are exploring at the end of our week. We came to Magdalena, a secondary water stream that feeds the Ucayali, to explore it early in the morning. This site is very famous for birdwatching. We observed the shoreline from our skiffs and spotted all kinds of river birds and land birds. We observed many types of herons, such as the cocoi heron and the multicolored black-capped heron. We also saw egrets and cormorants fishing. These waters are rich in nutrients coming from the Andes, which mix with the sediments of millions of plants to create an abundance of phytoplankton, food for aquatic creatures. Along the grassy areas, we found brilliant birds, including cardinals, wrens, woodpeckers, oropendolas, toucanets, and euphonias.
We came back on board, and our cabin stewards did a presentation on origami towels. They do a great job creating animals of the jungle, such as sloths or monkeys, with the towels in each of our cabins. In the afternoon, we disembarked at a very small reserve to walk into the jungle. Squirrel monkeys came so close to us. At the end of the trail, we found a very small lagoon, where a unique type of plant grows: water lily pads, or Amazonian Victoria regias.
Some of our guests kayaked along the Yarapa River, and others explored the area on skiffs.
For the first time this week, we got rain! Thunder and lightning invaded the skies of the jungle, also known as the rainforest! Our intrepid guests went out to experience a storm in the Upper Amazon. It was a great experience, and even the sudden change in weather did not diminish the adventurous spirits of our fearless explorers.
