Pacaya River & Carocurahuite
Off we went once more up the Pacaya River, early as usual, but this time taking breakfast with us! We passed by all the (by now) well-known species and shot up into the interior of the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve. Our total distance to the turnaround point was 18 miles, some 25+ kilometers upstream. About half-way we had finally reached black water (remember, yesterday I mentioned how the Ucayali has pushed its way into the river until the current goes upstream!).
About us were horned screamers by the dozen, Monk saki monkeys (including a female with young clutching to her back) eating Inga guava pods, Scarlett macaws, horned screamer chicks on floating vegetation, Araçaris, squirrel monkeys...all before breakfast!
Tied to a tree, the three skiffs were our dining room, and the sound of parrots squawking and pink dolphins blowing nearby, our surround sound (as well as cutlery on china). A few more minutes of wildlife sightings around the lagoon, and it was time to swim...and swim we did! The more splashing around, the closer came the dolphins, but never too, too close (unfortunately).
The afternoon had us tied to the bank nearby the stream known as “Carocurahuite.” Entering the stream takes us on a long, twisting, winding route with overhanging trees to finally reach the lagoon. It was once the route of the Ucayali quite a few years ago, but is now (especially clear if seen on Google Earth) an oxbow lake. Good fishing is to be had here, as the locals know, and so we tried our hands at a bit of it ourselves…for piranha, of course!
All skiffs had luck with the fishing piranha, but the numbers varied considerably. Scott pulled four red-bellied piranhas out of the water, but all four fell back into the lagoon (in the end, four cooked piranha made it on to the dining room buffet line for everyone to have a taste). The winding narrow waterway of Carocurahuite is around six miles, finally opening up out onto wide water. The dusky titi monkeys were raising a ruckus across the way; we got to see a family of three eating their way through a fruiting tree.
A young girl paddling a large dugout with fishing gear could not resist the temptation to divert from her path to come take a look at us. These crazy people spending an inordinate amount of time on catching fish one-by-one, and on top of that, those bony piranha! We shared shy waves when we finally parted company.
It’s been a tremendous week for sightings, new ones for me as well as for some of our local expert naturalists, too! The weather held off from heavy rains when we were out, yet gave us the pounding rain and winds when safely inside. The high water levels are a treat – allowing us deep inside the forest to explore just under the canopy.
Tomorrow is another day, and even though we are headed to the airport, adventures and wildlife sightings are still possible. Some shopping for handicrafts will take priority with some, while for others a few more photographs, perhaps a few more animals for the list...
