The Amazon forest is an amazingly complex system of biota, rivers, creeks, millions of acres of trees and plants; there are thousands of animal species of all types, like sloths, jaguars, pink dolphins, fishes, harpy eagles, frogs, storks, snakes, caimans, monkeys, bats, and millions of insects and microscopic animals and plants, indeed! Plankton is also present in these rivers, which represent one of the biggest reservoirs of fresh water on our planet. The amazon basin is the main “organ” that sustains life on our planet. Some of these creatures work by day, and others at night. Yesterday we explored the Pacaya River at night and it was a great experience, but today was astonishing. The Pacaya area is very remote in the jungle of Peru, and the abundance of wildlife is incredible. We came out early in the morning, at 5:45 a.m., to spot more wildlife — the majority of the creatures are early risers, so we are too.
We saw hundreds of storks, jabirus, neotropical cormorants fishing on armored catfish, herons, egrets, many varieties of kingfishers, horn screamers, herons, turtles, caimans, and hoatzins; we saw howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, white-fronted capuchin monkeys, pink and gray dolphins, and big anacondas. Wow! Truly this place is amazing, marvelous — like no other place on earth.
We spent six and a half hours on a tiring journey, but we were very well rewarded! At noon we came back for lunch and siesta time to recover our energy. The food on board our ship is exceptional; we enjoyed a ceviche of local fish to fuel up for the rest of the day.
In the afternoon we navigated for four hours to a nice beach along the coast. We disembarked to spot some shoreline birds such as black skimmers, yellow-billed terns, and sandpipers. One very special event of the afternoon was the jungle bar that our crew opened on the beach. Our guests rested and enjoyed coconut water, some tropical fruits, and pisco sours. The “Jungle Spa” was also opened, as some of our guests enjoyed relaxing mud therapy on their bodies and faces. We enjoyed the sunset and chatted together about the amazing experiences of our day.
7/13/2024
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Delfin II
Iricahua, Ucayali River, and Amazonas
We spent the night close to Iricahua, a small tributary, allowing us an early morning opportunity to explore its surroundings and the riverbanks of the Ucayali River. Our last day exploring the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve began with an early prebreakfast skiff exploration. Our naturalist identified various species of parakeets along the way, but the morning highlight was the unmistakable scarlet macaws perched on a distant tree. Back on board, we continued our journey to reach the community of Amazonas. Our bartender, Isaac, shared his knowledge of how to prepare the best pisco sour. We soon reached the confluence where the Maranon and Ucayali River give birth to the Amazon River. We toasted to this event for the excellent voyage we experienced. For the afternoon activity, we visited Amazonas. Our guests had the opportunity to visit homes and learn about daily life. Women leaders discussed with us the community’s positive outcomes as a result of implementing family projects. Learning about the community’s sustainable social changes was the best way to end our journey.
