A dense fog was surrounding the Delfin II when we began to load the skiffs. We had arrived very early in the morning to the entrance of one of the pristine rivers of the Pacaya and Samiria Reserve. As the skiff went up the river, we could hear the festive parrots together with the red bellied and chestnut fronted macaws flying above our heads. We enjoyed the sound of the morning for the moment since the fog didn’t allowed us to see much.
The sun founded its way through the clouds and the fog began to vanish. The black waters of the Pacaya River reflected, as in a mirror, the beauty of this hidden paradise. Flocks of parrots flew above our heads, great egrets left their perches and the blue sky was painted with their white feathers.
Along the river banks we saw several volunteers looking for the yellow spotted river turtle eggs. The idea is to relocate the eggs to a safety place and once they hatch, release them again in their natural habitat. In this way, they avoid poachers to raid the nest for stealing the eggs.
We arrive to an interesting tree that was loaded with hoatzins. These birds, who resembles prehistoric birds, just stared at us and ignored our presences in spite of the sound of the shutters of the cameras. Pink and gray dolphins swam next to our skiffs as inviting us to try to take them pictures too. Task that was not easy at all!
We stop in this place to have our breakfast. Our galley had prepared a delicious feast to be served onboard this unexpected “Jungle Café”. With a lovely view of the dolphins, parrots, hoatzins and the flowing mirror river, we just enjoy the white glove breakfast service.
We continue our exploration and return back to the Delfin II. Our naturalist Reni invited us to hear some of the interesting legends of the Amazons in the lounge. He indeed caught all of our attention. An interesting way to enjoy the Amazon as well.
During lunch, we agreed to have a quest for the afternoon. We were missing to see the elusive red howler monkey of the Amazon. Our quest then was to look for this important primate.
After a well-deserved “siesta”, we geared up and loaded the skiffs. The silence of the Pacaya River was broken by the sound of our engines cruising through this paradise. Our eyes were all in alert looking everywhere, especially towards the green canopy. Our effort was well paid. Mother Nature allowed us to spot a small troop of red howler monkeys. They were a little bit shy. As soon as they saw that they were being observed by us, they just decided to move to a more private tree.
We continued deeper in this reserve. There was a lot to see and we were granted with different sightings like horned screamers, wood storks, jabirus, Muscovy ducks, more howler monkeys and also the biggest rodent of America, capybaras!! We could leave this place without having the complete blessing of the Amazon. So we stop and did the “Amazon Plunge!! One by one we jumped in the black waters of the Yanayacu Lagoon while dolphins swam curiously looking for food and ignoring our joy completely.
