This morning we began our adventure along the Upper Amazon River of Peru. Just a few hours ago we flew in from the airport of Lima to the airport of Iquitos. Looking out the windows during our flight we were amazed to observe the view. Once we where over the high mountains, we were impressed by the vastness of the tropical rain forest—how myriad little rivers flowed down the high mountains into the valleys and converged into bigger and bigger rivers—like meandering anacondas of water through an immense expanse of lush deep green uninhabited land.
What better way to explore the Amazon than by boat! And what a boat! The Delfin II brings with us all the comforts necessary to make our visit to this harsh, tough environment a most enjoyable one.
We woke up this morning eager to start exploring the Amazon. Before breakfast we loaded our skiffs with our experienced boat drivers and naturalists to navigate the Caño Pahuachiro. The river this morning had a sort of mysterious look to it. As we departed the river was covered with a thick mantle of fog, that swallowed the other skiffs navigating a short distance in front of us.
Once on narrower Caño Pahuachiro, the fog had lifted and the river’s edge was clearly visible. As the skiffs crisscrossed from one side of the river to the other we hurried from one sighting to the next, as the naturalists reported through the radio the different things they where finding.
Among some of the wildlife we saw this morning we had a good look at a deep gray bird of prey, with bright orange legs and bill perched on a nearby tree called the slate-colored hawk. We also had a good view of the elusive and solitary Southern Tamandua anteater, easily moving through the forests canopy with its prehensile tail and large claws, built to open up the colonies of ants and termites that live above the ground on this flooded land.
After the morning outing we returned to our floating palace for breakfast, and to prepare to go out again into the forest, but this time by foot.
During our short walk through the forest floor we had the aid of local scouts that would find goodies of the forest for us to see. One of the most interesting creatures our scouts found for us this morning was also one of the most feared by the local Amazon people, the infamous fer-de-lance snake, one of the less infrequent and aggressive venomous snakes of the American tropical rain forest.
After a delicious lunch onboard the Delfin II and a short rest, we had another skiff outing on the Pucate River to explore more. Among all the interesting things we saw this afternoon some of the highlights were great light with great views of black-collared hawks and a really close look at the beautiful and elegant cocoi heron.
At the end of the day the sun fell behind the horizon and left us with the feeling that we had accomplished a lot for one day. Nothing that a good night sleep can’t fix, in order to be ready tomorrow for some more.
