The Pacaya River is a vast flooded forest with many lagoons and creeks to explore. At this part of the year the level of the water still low and it increases bit by bit along the rainy season that is now starting. The weather in the morning was foggy and misty, as the cold air currents comes from the Andes mountains all the down to the Amazon rainforest. Later, the fierce sun played it role and warmed all the jungle and lit up this emerald world.
We went to explore this place early in the morning. Indeed, the early bird gets the worm, and we were very fortunate in finding all kind of creatures: squirrel monkeys, a troop of howler monkeys, turtles, kingfishers, tyrants, and oropendulas. We also sported the famous hoatzin, a prehistoric species. Several were mating right in front of our eyes. At the end of our skiff ride, we found an incredible flock of thousands of snowy and great egrets. There were so many that we turned off the engine of our skiffs just to hear a beautiful symphony made by these birds.
In our way back, we found some horned screamers, one of the biggest birds found in the Amazon. These loud birds make a sound like a donkey braying, which is why locals call them “donkey birds.”
After coming back to our ship, we had a delicious lunch. Peru has a great gastronomic tradition and the flavors of many products found in the jungle makes this cuisine incredibly unique.
In the afternoon, we went to explore Magdalena River. It is a magical place where you find colorful birds, like the crimson tanagers or the red-capped cardinals, both birds show metallic vibrant red colors that make them so pretty. This creek is also famous for toucans, toucanets, and macaws. These are large birds with unique vocalizations. When our expert skiff drivers and local naturalist guides detect them from a distance, we stopped the skiffs and wait until the birds are visible.
Photography is so fascinating in the Upper Amazon, and our guests took many great photos. They also captured images in their minds that will last a lifetime.
