Seeing the wilderness of the Amazon is only half the story. This morning we had the privilege of visiting the San Jorge community on the north banks of the Marañon River. Kids on their summer vacation greeted us at the dock, and acted as tour guides at their 400-inhabitant village. We then met with the women of Minga Peru, a NGO focused on women’s empowerment and environmental sustainability. It was hard leaving such an enlightened village, but today would be our longest day of river navigation of the trip, and we would meet the confluence of the true Amazon River before heading up the Ucayali.
7/18/2024
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Delfin II
Ucayali River and Dorado River
Today we had the opportunity to explore the riverbank of the Ucayali River. The exploration was done early, before breakfast. Different species of birds were sighted. It was a great morning for observing the behaviors of the early birds. After breakfast we hiked through the Illanalpa flooded forest. Here we learned about the strategies that animal and plants must have in order to survive the floods. We encountered troops of common squirrel monkeys and saddle back tamarins. Interesting insects were also seen through the leave litters. Back on board we repositioned Delfin II for our late afternoon exploration of Dorado River. We went to explore just before sunset. A family of Isabel’s saki monkey were seen way up in the canopy. A small troop of brown capuchins together with the common squirrel monkeys were moving alongside the riverbank, having their meals before gathering for the night. As the sun began to set, we started to look for caimans. We learned the difference between the black caimans and the spectacle caimans. The highlight was a small family of capybaras walking along the riverbank, not caring at all about our presence. It was the best ending for our explorations today.
