Our first day of exploration in the Upper Amazon started with a colorful sunrise. We had spent the night on the riverside of one the biggest tributaries of the mighty Amazon River, the Marañon River. This river, together with the Ucayali River, feeds the Amazon River with water that comes from the Andes Cordillera.
Right after breakfast, our naturalists provided us with rubber boots. We were so excited for our first exploration of the Amazonian forest. All geared up, including cameras and binoculars, we loaded the skiffs and went to the entrance of San Isidro trail.
The forest of this area is underwater for almost six months a year, so it is considered a flooded forest. We felt the humidity as soon as we started walking the trail. Different bird calls welcomed us to the forest. It was a gorgeous symphony performed by tanagers, wrens, parrots, trogons and many other species of Amazonians birds.
Big emergent trees were spotted, like the “guamba” tree. This tree belongs to the bombacacea family, and we learned about its interesting strategy for surviving the flooded season of the Amazon. Under its mighty shadow, we spotted a marble tree frog blending into the trunk.
Back on board Delfin II, we cruised towards our next destination, Pucate River. This section is part of the Pacaya Samiria Natural Reserve. Upon our arrival, we were welcome by pink and gray river dolphins. What a welcome! Here, the black water of the Pacaya Yanayacu River flows into the Marañon River. The fish here get confused and disoriented by the mixture of waters, and the dolphins take good advantage of this.
Later in the afternoon, we had the opportunity to explore the Pucate River by skiff. Some of the birds spotted included rufescent tiger herons, large-billed herons, yellow-billed herons, striated heron, and many more. There was no doubt that there was plenty of food for these birds.
There was so much to see this afternoon. We returned to the Delfin II to share our experiences as the sun began to set behind the Amazonian forest. It was a great day!
