Our adventure in the Amazon began today with a visit to Pahuachiro creek, which is a small tributary of the main Marañon River. We started early in the morning, as this is the time of the day when the animals are more active.
As we made our way to the creek, we were able to take in the beauty of the sunrise, as well as the peacefulness that one can immediately feel in a place like this. Birds chirping away and strange sounds coming from within the forest, slowly became familiar, and the landscape that surrounded us helped us to understand the ecological importance of the rain forest.
As we entered the creek, we were surprise by thousands of egrets along the shoreline, waiting patiently for their meals to go by. At this time of the year, hundreds of thousands of egrets have migrated to the Amazon from the coastal areas of the Pacific Ocean, searching for the abundant food supply that the Amazon River exposes during low water season.
The view of them flying in front of us was something spectacular to witness, and even our photographs hardly captured the true beauty that we witnessed!
The company of the egrets lasted the whole outing, and it was somehow distracting us from everything else that the area had to offer, as this area is full of colorful birds hidden in the dense forest.
After breakfast, we headed to a nearby trail known as Casual. This well-maintained trail was our first hike in the forest, revealing the healthy ecosystem that we were exposed to. People from the nearby river village of Casual were scouting the area ahead of us, expertly spotting animals that blended so well in the environment, we would surely have easily missed them on our own!
One of the many highlights of the morning was the encounter of the two-toed (or Hoffman’s) sloth. We were delighted to find this sloth perched in a low branch, giving us opportunities for excellent views, and of course photographs! As we continued with our walk, we found several species of snakes, including some of the most iconic snakes of the rain forest, the boa constrictor and the infamous anaconda!
The forest is a lot more than just snakes, so the encounters didn’t stop there. Another of the famous animals of the forest is the tarantula, and a giant one was also encountered, as well as the legendary poison-dart frog.
As for the afternoon, we headed to the Yanayacu-Pucate rivers to enjoy a wildlife exploration via skiff, where we had many sightings of exotic and colorful birds, as well as occasional sightings of squirrel monkey troops.
With such beginning, it will be hard for guests to understand that this is just the preview of a great trip, and that many exiting outings full of surprises are yet to come!
