We have traveled all night with the sole idea to immerse ourselves deeper into the reserve. It is early in the morning and we are ready to board the skiffs for our first excursion of the day. El Dorado River is a section of the Ucayali that not everyone gets to visit, therefore the isolation makes the area a natural delight. As we made our way into the river we observed that the water level is unusually low; this will prevent us from getting into sections of the river that we normally would go in high water, but to our advantage the dryness of the area is exposing animals that we can only dream to see during high water. This is the case of both spectacle and black caimans, which were encountered basking on the mud banks along the river edges. Our skillful skiff drivers got us really close to the animals which were quite calm, but you can tell their calmness was only a disguise for possible preys which could walk “right to their mouths” and become the caiman’s breakfast!
Speaking of breakfast, we had a real treat this morning! The crew members on board the Delfin II had prepared a “picnic style” breakfast to be served on board the skiffs. Guides and crew wearing white gloves served us a delicious breakfast in a shady area of the forest with quite a unique landscape to observe.
As for the afternoon, the ship repositioned even further into the reserve and docked by the Pacaya River mouth. Our afternoon excursion was a mix of encounters with exotic bird species such as the scarlet crown barbets, hoatzins, macaws, wood storks and even the rare jabiru.
Our night ride back to the ship consisted of our very version of “caiman hunting” which would not harm any of the animals, but was rather dedicated to finding them along the river bank using a spotlight from the skiff. I think the highlight of the afternoon was to observe the skills of the naturalists to find the caimans and to detect the eye-shine that the reptiles produce when light hits their eyes. Add to this the constant motion of the skiffs at a high speed, made this task a true highlight!
