Amazon Private Reserve and Nauta Caño
We woke up this morning further upriver on the Marañon. Today we all got an early start because the site merited our full attention, and when fresh and cool, sightings and walks are always better.
This private reserve has been protected from logging and hunting for a long time now, so the forest is in excellent condition for interpretation about “terra firme”—our last walk in this type of forest. Of course the canopy experience was also a draw—to be high up—monkeys on eye level! Both saddle-backed tamarins and dusky titi monkeys were spotted; bromeliads and other epiphytes joined numerous bird species. A bird new to all of the local naturalists was a golden-collared toucanet, seen from above looking down as it worked a hole in a tree trunk. A real thrill for anyone “into” bird-watching.
On board we also had a few guests who opted not for the walk and canopy, but for a skiff ride instead; so the four of us jumped into the skiff, and with Cesar at the helm, zipped upriver to a little creek I hadn’t heard of before, and entered into another world. “Quebrada Iquitos” is a small, narrow channel that if followed long and far enough, could potentially take you to the Itaya River and on to the city of Iquitos itself. We, of course, were interested only in dawdling and looking. As the “creek” got tighter and tighter, and Cesar maneuvered around every obstacle, the forest came closer and closer. Morpho butterflies came by several times, a squirrel cuckoo and numerous flycatchers put in appearances. It wasn’t until we were far, far up the creek that the grand prize for all ornithologists in the Amazon made its presence known…a HARPY EAGLE! Just a few yards over our heads, well-disguised in the branches, this king of all eagles and humongous animal took off, and took us by surprise. The bird had fortunately looked two people straight in the eyes (and one was our driver), so there was no doubt about who it was.
Then shortly later I got a good look at a juvenile spectacled owl—beautiful white with black spectacles around its wide face.
A totally successful morning for everyone!
The afternoon involved skiffs heading up “Nauta Cano,” a wide creek or small river that leads into the reserve (we had been on the north bank of the Marañon River on in the “buffer zone” surrounding the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve). Now we would be surrounded by flood forest; forest that is completely inundated for several months out of every year.
Heading out on the skiffs is one of the most relaxing activities I’ve found; “activity” because one is on the alert and active, ready to search with binoculars at any moving thing, yet relaxing because it is effortless…someone else is steering, and the landscape is continually changing as you skim by on quiet water. Hawks, herons, and many of our now-familiar species accompanied us along the way, with a special addition I hadn’t seen in a long time, a snail kite with its unmistakable hooked bill. There is always something new for me when I go looking.
Back on board at sunset, we watched an incredible light display arrive overhead. The lightning flashed all around us, fantastic clouds outlined in a fantasy sky. Very little thunder. The rain came at dinner while we were inside and enjoying another of Delfin II’s outstanding meals.
What a life!
