Pacaya River and Dorado Forest, 12/13/2019, Delfin II
Aboard the
Delfin II
Amazon
With the first light of the day, we departed Delfin II, in search of wildlife along the Pacaya River. This is the farthest point we reached in the Ucayali River and one of the most isolated and pristine ones, too.
In the afternoon we explored El Dorado Forest. As it got darker, our guests were able to experience a hike in the jungle at night and an environment full of sounds and colors.
Socrates was raised on Santa Cruz Island located in the heart of Galapagos Archipelago. After a childhood filled with swimming, scuba diving, rock climbing and volunteering in conservation projects, he grew very passionate about the outdoors and the...
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Our last day of our expedition began with an early walk on sustainable farming land in Yanallpa. This farm had bananas, sweet limes, grapefruit, and many other tropical fruit trees. The farm was a great example of the sustainable social changes being implemented by many communities throughout the Amazon basin. Our naturalists spotted a lot of wildlife, including families of pygmy marmosets, a favorite among our guests. It was a morning loaded with birds, insects, snakes, and lovely flowers. We held our afternoon activity in the community of Amazonas. Here, a group of women leaders shared their experiences of the sustainable social changes. We spent memorable moments in their family kitchens learning how they get their materials for their handicrafts. It was a mesmerizing way to finish our expedition along the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve.
After an early breakfast, we loaded the skiffs and explored Pacaya Samiria National Reserve. The plan for the day was to learn about the various conservation projects in the reserve. One of these projects is to collect river turtle eggs and take them to an artificial hatchery. This ensures the successful reproduction of the river turtle. The morning was loaded with wildlife sightings. Guests saw different species of birds, including flocks of neotropical cormorants that gathered to feast on the abundant fish in the reserve. The major highlight was spotting a giant river otter, also enjoying the plentiful fish. After exploring, we had a delicious picnic lunch in a ranger station. The sunny day invited us for a refreshing swim in the black water of Yanayacu Lagoon. This was enjoyed by all, and Mother Nature granted us the visit of pink river dolphins nearby. As we headed to our next destination, our stewards shared with us the art of towel origami, and our bartender taught us how to make the best pisco sour of Peru. It was a great way to finish this great day.
Today we had the great opportunity to start exploring the riverbank of the Ucayali River. We loaded the skiffs right after sunrise. As we cruised along the riverbank, different species of birds were seen. A highlight of that early exploration was the sighting of a tayra, a small omnivorous creature in the weasel family, that didn’t stay long in our view. After breakfast, we walked through Yanallpa flooded forest. Here our naturalist explained to us the importance of the floods for the Amazon forest. They also pointed out the effect of climate change over the area and how it has changed the use of the soils after the floods. It was a morning of learning about how the forest has manage to adapt to the seasonal floods and how fish and other animals depends on those events. Our late afternoon activities were held on Dorado River. Our naturalists brought out spotlights after sunset. Black caimans and spectacled caimans were the major attraction for our guests. Other night dwellers were also spotted by our naturalists, such as fishing bats, boat-billed night herons, night jars, and many other animals were seen by our guests. It was another awesome day exploring the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve.