Our last morning of the expedition started a little more casually, with a six o’clock wake-up, with the possibility of a morning kayak, which several guests took the opportunity of doing. The rest of us had a leisurely morning, starting with a seven thirty breakfast, followed by an eight thirty departure to explore the Supay Cano. We traveled along the Ucayali River for a short way, and then turned into a very narrow channel that eventually led us into the more open back-water area of the Supay Cano. This was another great adventure, as we heard about different plants, flowers, and trees, along with information about their medicinal properties and uses.
Of course, there was also wildlife along the way, colorful birds, another Blue Morpho butterfly, a green iguana, and eventually our guide spotted squirrel monkeys for our viewing pleasure. These little primates gave us some wonderful looks as they made their way through the trees along the river bank.
As we moved further through this beautiful back-water habitat, the pending rain finally materialized, and every one scrambled to get their ponchos on, protect their cameras and binoculars, and attempted to stay as dry as possible in this down-pour. Of course, as soon as it started precipitating we came across an area of dramatic scenery, with a lot of bird life. First there was a huge number of night herons roosting in several trees, and then a large group of nighthawks perched on a small bushy tree in the middle of the waterway. The rain was coming down so hard by then that no one wanted to take their cameras out to capture the scene; but we enjoyed it for the special moment that it was.
Soon it was time to head back to the Delfin II, and get out of the rain, put on some dry clothes, and maybe get that warm cup of coffee or tea to warm our souls.
Just before lunch, we had the dreaded disembarkation briefing, which meant that our wonderful expedition was coming to an end tomorrow, and the guests would be headed home, or onto another adventure.
At three thirty in the afternoon, we again embarked the skiffs and headed across the river to a different back-water area. This particular spot had a whole different feeling to it, with a vast area of dead-standing trees surrounded by water, and teeming with a diverse array of birdlife. We found everything from egrets to terns to vultures to several species of parrots. The bonus was that the rain had totally stopped, and the sun came out, making it a perfect last evening cruise for our voyage. The highlight for me was finding a pair of white-eared jacamars that mated on a branch right in front of the skiff. Truly another magnificent outing on the Peruvian Amazon!
