This morning was the beginning of our last full day of exploration of the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve in Peru. We managed to fill it up with great memories, lots of animal sightings, cultural experiences with the local inhabitants of the area, and my favorite: ice-cream of local flavors. We had an incredible morning to start with…sun and a cool breeze. After breakfast we shared the river waters with pink dolphins, and we took some pictures too! We also enjoyed monkeys, many species of birds and the company of Amazon cormorants, all along the river. We found an incredibly beautiful and very rare red-throated blackbird, and the guides got very excited to see it, maybe more excited than the guests! Some guests chose to explore the Supay River by kayak, and they had the pleasure of close encounters with the famous jabiru stork, that wears a red bandana around the neck. This experience led our guests to really enjoy the animals in their natural hidden world. We also had a great sighting of squirrel monkeys. These reddish primates were observed feeding on the fruits and jumping from tree to tree.

After lunch, we learned how to fold towels in the very original way of the Delfin II, by our master folders: The Cabin Boys. Then we strolled down to Yarapa Caño to explore the area. There was a narrow river, which is rapidly decreasing in water level, and getting covered with thick vegetation. Several species of colorful birds like kingfishers and caracaras were seen as well as other monkey troops. We also explored some narrow lagoons, which are formed at this time of the year. It was a very special moment in the rainforest; then, on our way back to the ship, we passed by a very small native community like the ones we saw before, where we had the opportunity to help the protection of the Amazon by directly benefiting the ones that really take care of it: the locals. We really had a chance to learn about and admire their local mythology and Cosmo-vision through their handicraft work, their colorful dressing, and their curious kids, still untouched by urban civilization. Before dinner, we watched a slide show made up of everyone’s pictures from the week and had a great farewell dinner, with music included. It was a golden finale for a spectacular and memorable expedition.

This was our last day in the Amazon Paradise…full with memories that will tickle our hearts until our next trip. It was a lot of fun!