Today we had a blast upstream on the Ucayali River.
Early in the morning we started the day riding our skiffs on the on black water Pacaya river searching for wildlife. We succeeded by finding squirrel monkeys, howler monkeys, and many different birds like egrets, macaws, screamers, hawks, parakeets, hoatzin, even retiles and mammals: caimans, terrapins dolphins, and sloths. But I think this morning’s highlight was a small manatee that was drifting while floating mostly out the surface. We first thought it wasn’t alive, only when drew near were we able to see its mighty power. It was stirring a lot of water in a successful way to feed. Seeing a manatee in the Upper Amazon is truly unprecedented, you can see it clearly in our naturist’s eyes, for this was a very rare event and we were extremely lucky to witness a very elusive mammal.
This place is indescribable. The flooded forest during low water season means you can see an abundance of fish. All the creatures are busy, the river is low; mirrors all over reflecting the puffy clouds—the perfect setting for an unusual event—breakfast, yes! All of us got together at the riverside in a spot we dubbed, “Martin’s Restaurant,” our skiffs anchored together for a well-deserved feast. Juices, coffee, tea, sandwiches, and even muffins served under a jungle canopy with fine silverware and china. Clearly, we are not roughing it in the jungle. What a thoughtful and fun treat.
Back on board we had a local cooking class preparing our Juanes by bulking large leaves, clustering chicken breast with half cooked locally-seasoned herbs and rice.It was brought to a boil and cooked to perfection. We then had another delicious lunch with our prepared Juanes, steak kebobs, and a very elaborated desert.
We returned to our skiffs at 3 p.m. and headed into the reserve. We went toward the lake and soon we saw many caimans. There was a particular one that our naturalist estimated, was about five meters long. Far from there many of us opted for swimming safely on Yanayacu Lake. Here we had a local visit from our aquatic mammal the pink dolphin and a cold local cerveza (a surprise on the lake that was very appreciated from our guests). Only a few of us took the second option, a skiff ride further upstream and into the river. This afternoon we saw many more red howler monkeys and fish of different kinds bursting at the surface for oxygen. I think today’s afternoon highlight was seeing a capybara—the largest rodent in the world.
The sunsets and our skiff’s engine gives its last puffs. We were drifting while our team fixed the motor. We had a little taste of silence among the nocturnal creatures that made us more appreciative of “life on the Amazon” and how lucky we are to have the safety and commodity of our ship. The motor started again in short order, and on our way back to the ship we were impressed by the romantic landscape all around. This place is simply breathtaking and we are bounded by it diversity and beauty only a jungle could stimulate.
