Our fifth day traveling in the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve had us exploring the farthest we will get into the Ucayali River. The large tributary, known as Pacaya River, contributes large amounts of water to what will eventually become the Ucayali River, and later on the Amazon River itself.
This section of the Amazon is so isolated that only a few communities are found along the river. Instead, scientific camping sites are sighted as we right along, exploring the river banks. Scientific work in this region is mostly concentrated on observing and recording the biology of both flora and fauna, above and under water.
For us it was all fun, with the additional component of learning by observation and by listening to the naturalists’ commentaries, as we pleasantly rode around in the comfortable skiffs.
Our journey today took us deep into the black waters of the Pacaya River, where we spotted troops of squirrel monkeys and the always present colorful birds, flying back and forth through the tree canopies.
As we were exploring the river banks, we received the call from one of our naturalists, who was riding on one of the skiffs ahead of us. They had encountered one of the largest caimans ever seen in this region (approximately 10 to 12 feet), and with extreme caution, we approached the massive animal to get a good look. We all enjoyed the observation, and although many pictures were taken, none of them will ever do real justice to the size of this caiman, as there was not a single hand raised when we proposed to have a “scale-subject” standing behind the caiman for measure!
At some point during the morning, we decided to stop and have breakfast, but instead of returning to the ship, we surprised the guests with the treat of an outdoor “picnic on skiffs” type of breakfast!
Our afternoon was equally full of great surprises, as we traveled a long distance on this skiffs, enjoying the stunning reflections of the forest over the black waters along the way. The main goal, aside from wildlife observations, was to reach the Yanayacu lagoon, hidden inside the Pacaya River area. This lagoon has the unusual characteristic of fairly clear water, with an almost surreal beauty all around it. Additionally, pink river dolphins were a constant sight in every direction, and many of us decided to jump in and enjoy a refreshing swim in the lagoon.
As we traveled back to the ship, wildlife kept appearing here and there; the prehistoric looking Hoatzin bird was among the favorite encounters this afternoon, as a large flock of them was spotted feeding from one of the plants on the river-side area.
The golden colors on the sky from a magnificent sunset, was just the final touch to another amazing day in the Upper Amazon!
