Today is the last full day of our expedition, and it is hard to believe that a whole week has passed by so fast!
Many of our guests opted for one more round of kayaking or paddleboarding in the morning. Next, we took a skiff ride on Yarapa River, where we had more wildlife encounters. We continued to encounter species that we had not seen yet, including a close encounter with woolly monkeys. We explored the river from its beginning to its end, photographing and recounting the species we had seen before. The three-toed sloth has been present pretty much every day.
After departing the Yarapa River, we navigated for an hour downriver and entered the confluence where the Ucayali and the Marañon meet, forming the mighty Amazon River. Some literature considers the Amazon to be the longest river in the world, while some argues that the Nile is the longest. We are not navigating the Nile, though, so we decided that the Amazon will retain the title for now! We toasted our decree with pisco sours in hand.
Shortly after lunch, we arrived to one of the communities found along the Amazon River, Amazonas Village, which has a population of approximately 400. The men are mostly fishermen, while women generally farm the vegetable and fruit gardens and take care of the children. Products from the community are traded in the nearby city of Nauta and sometimes even taken to the farther city of Iquitos. Living in a small village in the Amazon can be challenging; people living here have adapted to these conditions. They seem happy with a simple life free of the daily bustling of big cities, and they enjoy great views of the most amazing river in the world!
