Amazon Natural Park / Piraña Caño, 5/9/2017, Delfin II
Aboard the
Delfin II
Amazon
This morning we got the chance to put our rubber boots to good use again, and explore a privately owned preserve by foot. The preserve is adjacent to the water, and at this time of the year when the water is high, finding these places where the water doesn’t reach is greatly appreciated. It gives us an opportunity to stretch our legs a little and see the forest from a different perspective, from the inside and beneath the trees. During the full length of the walk we were led by our expert naturalists who helped spot wildlife and explain how the forest works.
Nicknamed “Indio” (Indian) because of his powers of observation and quiet nature, José has almost two decades of experience working as a naturalist and photography guide; as well as being recognized as an expert birder and nature photographer in Cost...
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We have had an astonishing week full of the kind of unfathomable experiences that only happen once in a lifetime. Tomorrow, we will be back to another jungle built with cement and other kinds of wildlife. But this morning, we are visiting a very small community at the foot of the Amazon River. People living here are poor in possessions but rich in a very natural way of living, and you see very happy people everywhere. Our guests enjoyed interacting with locals, eating their food, and learning how they use local materials found in the jungle for agriculture, fishing, and handicrafts. Minga Peru is a non-governmental institution. The Lindblad Fund supports these communities in the Upper Amazon through education and by empowering people, especially women, to develop job skills, create jobs with better incomes, and eradicate domestic violence. In the afternoon, we went to Casual Forest. With the help of some local, expert guides, we explored the jungle. The site is home to many creatures, like tarantulas, tiny frogs, and boas. We observed many medicinal trees. This outing was a great learning experience for our guests. Once we got back on board, we enjoyed a farewell cocktail party with all the crewmembers. Our guests were very happy after a great week exploring the Amazon of Peru. Our week was very special. We found capybaras and large caimans during our nocturnal outing, and the highlight was spotting a big jaguar resting on the riverbank of the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve. To celebrate the end of our memorable journey, our talented crew performed in the dining room. They played some local music and danced. We will depart in the morning for Iquitos, where we will visit the Manatee Center and the city’s boulevard. We had a wonderful time together. We made new friends and will remember this trip forever. Cheers to Peru!
We departed in the early hours for our exploration of Yanayacu River, a tributary of the Marañón River. As soon as we boarded the skiffs, we spotted pink river dolphins foraging in the shallow waters with neotropic cormorants. At this time of year, the landscape is dotted with different species of birds, including large flocks of great egrets. We entered the kingdom of the endless forest, through which most of the rivers flow to form larger ones. The Ucayali and the Marañón Rivers eventually merge, giving origin to the mighty Amazon. This jungle is vibrant and full of life, from birds to monkeys. This morning was a special one, as hundreds of egrets mixed with cormorants, wood storks, and kingfishers. All of them foraged in the early hours. In the afternoon, we visited Amazon Park to explore the forest and suspension bridges. This forest is a pristine one, as no tree has ever been cut. The ecosystem is just like it was thousands of years ago. This is the kingdom of the giants! All the trees in this forest are around a hundred feet tall. We were happy to visit such a pristine spot in the Amazon. Indeed, we felt small as we walked under the canopy. There is so much foliage that there is not much light near the ground of the forest. The rainforest is just amazing!
After exploring the Pacaya River and finding jaguars, capybaras, and river otters, we are again near the Marañon River, another major tributary of the Amazon that we are exploring at the end of our week. We came to Magdalena, a secondary water stream that feeds the Ucayali, to explore it early in the morning. This site is very famous for birdwatching. We observed the shoreline from our skiffs and spotted all kinds of river birds and land birds. We observed many types of herons, such as the cocoi heron and the multicolored black-capped heron. We also saw egrets and cormorants fishing. These waters are rich in nutrients coming from the Andes, which mix with the sediments of millions of plants to create an abundance of phytoplankton, food for aquatic creatures. Along the grassy areas, we found brilliant birds, including cardinals, wrens, woodpeckers, oropendolas, toucanets, and euphonias. We came back on board, and our cabin stewards did a presentation on origami towels. They do a great job creating animals of the jungle, such as sloths or monkeys, with the towels in each of our cabins. In the afternoon, we disembarked at a very small reserve to walk into the jungle. Squirrel monkeys came so close to us. At the end of the trail, we found a very small lagoon, where a unique type of plant grows: water lily pads, or Amazonian Victoria regias. Some of our guests kayaked along the Yarapa River, and others explored the area on skiffs. For the first time this week, we got rain! Thunder and lightning invaded the skies of the jungle, also known as the rainforest! Our intrepid guests went out to experience a storm in the Upper Amazon. It was a great experience, and even the sudden change in weather did not diminish the adventurous spirits of our fearless explorers.
