The Amazon forest is an amazingly complex system of biota, rivers, creeks, millions of acres of trees and plants; there are thousands of animal species of all types, like sloths, jaguars, pink dolphins, fishes, harpy eagles, frogs, storks, snakes, caimans, monkeys, bats, and millions of insects and microscopic animals and plants, indeed! Plankton is also present in these rivers, which represent one of the biggest reservoirs of fresh water on our planet. The amazon basin is the main “organ” that sustains life on our planet. Some of these creatures work by day, and others at night. Yesterday we explored the Pacaya River at night and it was a great experience, but today was astonishing. The Pacaya area is very remote in the jungle of Peru, and the abundance of wildlife is incredible. We came out early in the morning, at 5:45 a.m., to spot more wildlife — the majority of the creatures are early risers, so we are too.
We saw hundreds of storks, jabirus, neotropical cormorants fishing on armored catfish, herons, egrets, many varieties of kingfishers, horn screamers, herons, turtles, caimans, and hoatzins; we saw howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, white-fronted capuchin monkeys, pink and gray dolphins, and big anacondas. Wow! Truly this place is amazing, marvelous — like no other place on earth.
We spent six and a half hours on a tiring journey, but we were very well rewarded! At noon we came back for lunch and siesta time to recover our energy. The food on board our ship is exceptional; we enjoyed a ceviche of local fish to fuel up for the rest of the day.
In the afternoon we navigated for four hours to a nice beach along the coast. We disembarked to spot some shoreline birds such as black skimmers, yellow-billed terns, and sandpipers. One very special event of the afternoon was the jungle bar that our crew opened on the beach. Our guests rested and enjoyed coconut water, some tropical fruits, and pisco sours. The “Jungle Spa” was also opened, as some of our guests enjoyed relaxing mud therapy on their bodies and faces. We enjoyed the sunset and chatted together about the amazing experiences of our day.
5/24/2025
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Delfin II
Yarapa River, Amazonas Village, Peru
Leaving Delfin II at 06:00 for our morning skiff ride, we explored the Yarapa River and monkeys were everywhere! We saw common wooly monkeys, monk saki monkeys, and common squirrel monkeys. We weren’t monkeying around! In addition to the monkeys there were woodpeckers galore! We photographed crimson-crested, yellow-tufted, and cream-colored woodpeckers as they were busily hammering away at trees and termite nests. Our afternoon was spent at Amazonas Village getting an introduction to life along the river. We enjoyed demonstrations of food preparation, basketmaking with palm fibers, and hand-dying with local plants to give the baskets vibrant colors. We also had an introduction to Minga Peru, a group serving 40 different communities in this area. Our evening was topped off with a toast to the beginning of the actual Amazon River, where the Marañon and Ucayali Rivers converge. Salud!
