Atun Poza Lake & Pacaya River
Our expedition in the mighty Amazon continued today with a full day of exploration on two remote locations in the heart of the Reserve: Atun Poza in the morning and the Pacaya River in the afternoon.
The Pacaya River basin is one of the most important components of the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve. The reserve is the most extensive area of protected floodable forest in the Amazon rain forest in South America. All over this protected area there is an incredible amount of water therefore uncountable lagoons, lakes, gorges, canals, and oxbows are seen everywhere.
Today we experienced firsthand the extraordinary biodiversity that inhabits the Reserve. In the morning we observed many bird species like flycatchers, hawks, jacamars, and terns. In addition to the many animal species, that include several monkey troops, we had the thrill to have our breakfast outdoors onboard the skiffs! This experience is simply amazing, covered with the rain forest we had our meal served in the most fashionable way, including lining napkins, with the green surroundings as a cover and a wonderful concert of sounds as companions.
We were extremely fortunate to watch several squirrel monkey troops. These monkeys are very agile and acrobatic; we saw how the monkeys literally fly in the air while moving in the forest. Later in the morning, upon our arrival to the ship we all ended at the community where we spent some time admiring the local handicrafts. The whole community of Atun Poza is underwater so we all gathered in a very small house that looked beautifully crowded with locals, their colorful products and our curiosity.
At around 11:30 a.m., we had a fruit exhibition, with naturalist Luis Vela. He explained in detail, opened skillfully, and served many exotic fruits. This presentation is a true delight for all senses for we have consuming these rain forest delicacies all weeklong.
In the afternoon we had plenty of time to go as far as we could inside the Pacaya River. We had a constant but refreshing drizzle rain that accompanied us most of the afternoon. One of the highlights was the observation of a couple of red howler monkey troops. The latter are species that are hard to find and we were very fortunate for we had a very good view of these big new world primates. Late in the afternoon we had time to swim in the middle of a beautiful and peaceful lake with the company of the sounds of the forest.
Late in the evening at around 6:15 p.m. we arrived back on board with the wonderful feeling that we spent a great day in one of the most intriguing and fascinating ecosystems on Earth—the imponderable Amazon.
