This morning the knock-knock on our doors came at 0700 and a half hour later we enjoyed a bountiful and delicious breakfast. We then boarded the 3 skiffs, with our eagle-eyed naturalists and skiff driver teams, for a day of adventure and exploration up the Pacaya River. We went into the heart of the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve and visited a section of the river where few tourists have been. Our destination for a picnic lunch was the ranger station at PV2 – “Puesto de Vigilencia No. 2.” Here in the 90’s Peruvian President Fujimori built a fish camp to entertain important guests and to fish for the largest of all fresh water fish: the paiche. Paiche can reach 15 feet in length and may weigh over 400 lbs! It was evident that Fujimori choose the site of his camp well; when we arrived there, the park rangers were skinning, scaling and preparing a 300 lb. paiche!
On our way up river today we found myriad wildlife! We watched red howler monkeys leap through the treetops, monk sakis with their very puffy gray fur staring down at us, parrots and macaws flying in pairs across the river or perched high in the trees, 5 species of herons, huge jabiru storks and several of the very strange looking hoatzins, as we travelled upstream.
We had a lovely meal and soon afterwards began our trip back down-stream, stopping to see more sloths, blue and yellow macaws, hoatzins and howler monkeys. Many of us swam in the warm black waters of Yanayacu Lake, with the pink dolphins, and a cool beer. We reached the Delfin II, waiting for on the muddy Ucayali River tied to a strong tree, and took refreshing showers and downed some cooling drinks at the bar. Everyone agreed, it was a long day, and it was also an unusual and marvelous day!
