This morning we woke up at the mouth of a very important tributary of the Ucayali River, the Pacaya River. This is an area that is pretty much remote and is almost untouched by the locals. It’s patrolled by local volunteers who are responsible for keeping away poachers.
Right before sunrise we loaded the skiff and departed to explore this pristine river. As the sun began to rise, the wildlife began to be revealed to us. Pinks dolphins would surface giving us a welcome to their feeding zone. Blue and yellow macaws flew over our heads, horned screamers would alert the rest of the birds of our presence, and squirrel monkeys would jump from branch to branch as if they would be following each of our moves.
We arrived to a section of the river in which a colony of hoatzin was foraging. This bird related to cuckoos has the appearance of a prehistoric bird. They posed for the cameras and then continued to their own business.
We realized that we were getting hungry and for our surprise, our galley had followed us with our breakfast. We had a delicious breakfast served in a “floating Jungle Café!” It was a great experience having breakfast at the same time that pink dolphins were also having a feast right in front of us.
We returned back to the Delfin II close to lunch. It was a good time to recharge our camera batteries and cool off a little bit. We rested for a while before going out again to explore the Yanayacu Lagoon.
On our way to the lagoon, more wildlife began to show up. Brown capuchins monkeys, red howler monkeys, jabiru, wood storks, black caimans, river turtles, and a number of bird species were seen by all. There was no doubt that this was a well-kept paradise.
Once in the lagoon, we had the great opportunity to participate in our traditional “Tropical Plunge.” One by one we took a dive from the skiff in the tropical water of Yanayacu Lagoon. This caught the attention of a small pod of curious pink dolphins that swam close to some of our guests.
At the end of the day, we all concluded that it had been an awesome one to spend here in the Upper Amazon.
