Today we woke up in an area that is rarely visited by tourists, or even locals for that matter. The location is the farthest point we have reached with our ship within the reserve, as it is restricted by law for larger ships to continue navigating any further from the point we had reached today.
The Pacaya River merges its waters with the Ucayali river at this location, and it is the entrance to several PVs (point of vigilance) set along this vast region. Bypassing the law of the big ships, we set on a journey on board the skiffs that took us all day to accomplish, and it was to navigate even further than the ship into the heart of the reserve. Our goal was to reach the area where PV2 (point of vigilance # 2) is located, which was some three hours –even at top speed- from the entrance of the Pacaya River. The advantages to reaching an area so pristine were many. To begin with, we were treated to amazing landscapes and encounters with several species of animals that otherwise we would have not seen. We also ended up at the PV2, which historically was the house that President Fujimori was using to impress high profile dignitaries when visiting Peru during his presidential terms. President Fujimori was sure that he could amaze anybody by bringing them to this part of the Amazon, and he never failed to accomplish that goal. Although the house has fallen on despair, it is still used now by the park rangers as the main base on this area. Our incredible crew from Delfin II started their journey to this PV2 a lot earlier than the rest of us, and they brought everything needed from the décor for the dining area of the house, to all the ingredients to prepare an exquisite lunch, which was served just as we arrived!
Shortly after our lunch, we started our journey back and continued to spot wildlife along the way. As expected in this part of the world, the sun was very strong, and a brief stop for swimming at a near lagoon known as Yanayacu Lake was happily welcomed. In no time, guests jumped into the warm waters of the lake for a refreshing and unique swimming experience. We were not alone, as we were sharing the lake with pink river dolphins that occasionally came by to observe the new arrivals.
Our journey back to the ship was a mix of several stops to look for monkeys and birds, and to photograph landscapes worth of travel magazines and postcards!
