We just started our trip, and what a way to begin! For our first morning in the Amazon, we headed to a small creek known as Pahuachiro. The creek happens to be a black water tributary of the much larger river called Marañon. This location is full of a large amount of wildlife, and we were all excited to see what was in store for us—the expectations were set now pretty high, but it doesn’t matter, as this already promises to be a great expedition!
As we entered the creek early in the morning, the day was still low in light and the sounds of the birds filled the air, but soon enough, the light illuminating the sky created the perfect setting to observe the early migration of several species of birds, as they were heading to their daily foraging grounds.
With no warnings, the skiff came to a full stop at the single gesture of our guide, as he has heard a troop of monkeys nearby. Suddenly, a large group of squirrel monkey appeared out of nowhere and foraged intensively in the tree right in front of us! We observed their behavior for a while, and as soon as we all were monkeyed-out (I don’t think we are ever going to be!), we moved on, continuing to encounter a whole ecosystem that is completely alien to us.
Some of the birds we observed were beautifully colored, and the trees were big–some could be considered massive! These gigantic trees are a vital part of the rainforest, as they all support not only themselves, but hundreds of species including birds and insects.
We could have spent hours visiting the creek, as it extends deep into the forest, but the vision of having breakfast back on board of Delfin II was very appealing to us, and we knew that much more was awaiting us later in the morning!
The afternoon landing site was on a trail known as Casual, which leads to a nearby a village with the same name. Locals keep the trail clear and ready, and as an extra bonus, they themselves kept bringing out local fauna to show us.
To most of us, animals in the forest are not as noticeable as they is to the locals; they have spent all of their lives among these fields, enjoying the day to day company of these species that are so exotic to us.
As the morning progressed, the number of sightings increased, and we were able to find several of the iconic species of animals in the Amazon—anacondas, boa constrictors, sloths, tarantulas and several species of poisoned frogs were proudly shown to us by the locals. It was reassuring to learn that the area is well cared for by locals, and they now know that maintaining a healthy forest will attract eco-tourism business.
As for our afternoon, the spectacular settings of the Yanayacu-Pucate Rivers gave us all even more wildlife sightings! After a quick heavy rain, the skies cleared up, allowing the sun to shine for the rest of the afternoon. With the sun shining bright, we were hoping to experience the first of hopefully many iconic Amazon sunsets that everyone keeps talking about. Luckily, we were not disappointed, and we didn’t have to wait too long to witness this magnificent show from Mother Nature!
