Nauta Caño & San Francisco
We awoke to a cloudy morning that looked like it might threaten rain. We left early at 6:30 to enjoy the forest waking up and down chorus of life along the river. We were on the Maranon River, one of the 2 major headwater rivers, the other being the Ucayali that form the Amazon River proper just above Iquitos. Flocks of parrots and parakeets were leaving there nightly roosting areas and flying out across the forest and river to feed. Quite a raucous exodus. Snowy egrets and great egrets as well as large-billed and yellow-billed terns were feeding along the river. The river was coming to life.
Soon we turned up a small tributary called Nauta Cano. We are here in the season of high water and the river this year is 33’ higher than during the low water season. The difference between the 2 seasons isn’t so much the change in the amount of rain locally but is the increase in the amount of water that is flowing in from the Amazon drainage basin as a whole at this time of year. Because of the current high water, we were able this morning to go by skiff up one of the smaller tributaries, the Nauta Cano that would be dry during the low water season. We put on our rain ponchos and floated along the creek in a light drizzle listening to the light rain and the noises of the forest around us. We could hear red howlers in the distance howling, probably from the onset of rain or the meeting of another troop.
Several green iguanas and caiman lizards were out attempting to ask and warm up on this overcast day. Meandering along, we heard and were greeted by the distinctive squeaky calls of a troop of around 20 squirrel monkeys swinging and jumping through the trees. A few mothers had babies on their backs and everyone seemed in a big hurry as they scampered through the forest. No one fell and we were amazed by their agility and the length of their jumps.
A tree was leaning into the stream and on its underside were 8 tiny long-nosed bats! This is their favorite roost over open water such as streams. They were so cute and they have elongated nose that points down the tree as they hang in a characteristic straight line with each bat spaced about 2” apart. They are so we camouflaged, they look like leaves! But beware if you are an insect as dusk as these are on e of the more common bats!
After breakfast I gave a talk, as part of my natural history series of talks, on how the Amazon formed and how the animals got here. A truly amazing story and a lot of fun to tell.
The day had now become quite hot so a group of intrepid swimmers ventured out to try the waters. Several skiffs went down to below where the Maranon and Ucayali join so guests could swim in the Amazon River proper. Everyone reported it was extremely refreshing and what a treat to take a dip in the mighty Amazon!
In the afternoon, we had several choices. Some of us went by skiff along the river wildlife viewing and others took a walk through some Terra Firma forest, a portion of secondary forest that doesn’t flood. It was great to get out and walk after being on skiffs so much. It was fascinating to see some larger trees and understand some of the strategies trees and plants have evolved to live in these lower light conditions in these less disturbed forests.
Both excursions ended up in the village, which was lucky enough to be on terra firma at this time of year, so we toured and learned about how this community functioned. Of course, there was a handicraft market where a few of us bought some of the local handicrafts and visited with the locals. Dusk was descending so we retreated to the boat and our showers ending another amazing day exploring the Amazon.
