We had another opportunity to visit the rainforest in the early hours of the day. Before breakfast, we headed out and entered a shallow black water creek in search of some Amazonian creatures. As we explored, we realized that we were not the only ones in the flooded forest. There were already a few fishermen with their nets in the water collecting their catch. The creek was filled with birds of many types and sizes. Several kinds of herons and songbirds delighted us while we photographed the area.
After breakfast we landed in a local community called San Francisco to visit the villagers and learn about their life, culture, and education in this remote place. It was interesting to talk to them and listen to their leaders’ stories and beliefs. Shortly afterward, we visited their handicraft market which had a beautiful collection of colorful weavings and carvings. The market, run by women, is one way the community makes money for their children’s education.
In the late morning, we navigated towards the confluence of the Marañón and Ucayali Rivers for our Amazon toast. Here, with Pisco Sour in hand, we celebrated our brief sojourn on the mighty Amazon River. We continued our navigation along the Ucayali River, and explored more of the Pacaya Samiria Reserve.
In the afternoon we visited Clavero Lake at the edge of the Ucayali River. Some of us traveled on kayaks, while others took a skiff. Both options were fantastic as this area is full of large egrets, cormorants, river dolphins, and many other animals of the jungle. The skiff exploration took us further to a small creek hidden among the trees where fishermen set their nets for their daily catch. There are a lot of fish in the flooded forest, so much so that one could see fish jumping all around as the skiffs moved along the creek. We also found large flocks of great egrets interested on this abundance. Wildlife was everywhere we looked!
