THE GOLDEN LAKE | 6 DAYS 5 NIGHTS
A TRIP TO THE HEARTLAND OF PACAYA SAMIRIA NATIONAL RESERVE

Day one: Departure from Iquitos city at 7am and travel in our car over 90km of road to Nauta city where our boat will be waiting to take us to one of the most beautiful trips in the Peruvian jungle.

It will take us about 4 hours to get to the 1rst Control Station of the Yanayacu Pucate - Pacaya Samiria National Reserve. The black and dark waters of this river will welcome us, while we see some river dolphins coming to the surface and some birds that fly above us. We will make a short stop in this Control Station to register our entrance into this natural protected area.

Then we will keep our journey to Buenos Aires village, where we will get accommodation for tonight. A little rest while we wait for our lunch will be great. Afterwards, we will get our first excursion to a lake where we will be able to see some birds such as herons - Egrete thula, Coccoi heron - Ardea cocoi , Wattled jacana – Jacana jacana and also the Horned screamer -  Anhima cornuta.

We will contemplate the sunset from our boat and will head back to the lodging place before dinner.

Tonight, we are going to walk through a trail in search of bullfrogs, scorpions, tarantulas, spiders, snakes, and some night monkeys.

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​Day two: We need to wake up very early in the morning to go bird watching by the tributaries. In this protected natural area 449 species of birds have been documented, and we will be able to see the most common ones.

Breakfast will be ready when we arrive to the village of Buenos Aires, and then we will head to a lake named Alva, where our tents shall be set to spend the night. The Alva lake is located 3 hours from the community of Buenos Aires.

Lunch will be prepared in the capsite. We need to make fire and also set our tents.

This afternoon we are going to have a jungle hike in primary forest to learn about the major species of trees such as the rubber tree, the Ceiba, Mahogany and other that are among the most appreciated in the timber industry, as well as those that are used as traditional medicine in the Riverside villages.

Our night will be full camping. Dinner shall be served at our campsite while we relaxe with the sounds of the jungle.

One of the activities that is most highlighted in our adventure trips is to go caiman hunting, and this evening will be appropriate to go in search of them. Sometimes it is a little difficult to catch them to take some pictures, but we hope to be able to achieve this evening.

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Day three: We will wake up in the morning with the noise of the red Howler monkeys welcoming the new day, we will have breakfast while our helpers undo the tents to start a new experience; every single day is interesting with its own history to learn from it. On the way we will see prehistoric birds (hoatzins) herons, big caimans, hawks, king fishers and others. If we are on good time we will pass by Warmi-Isla, which is a Community Control Station, but if we don´t, we should set our tents on this place.

Tonight we will be ready to go on a night hike to find anacondas and other sorts of snakes.​

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​Day four: Very early we will start undoing our tents to keep navigating to our main goal El Dorado Lake. The journey becomes more fabulous with new species of birds, mammals, hawks and egrets. We must make a brief stop at Achong Control Point in order to check our entrance to the core of this basin. Breakfast will be served here while learning from the Rangers and the activities they develop. Afterwards we are going to have a short walk into the woods in order to observe the Rubber Tree and many other plants species. Couple hours before reaching El Dorado, we will pass by a small lagoon, which is home to a vast diversity of herons, egrets, cormorants, wattle jacana, wood stork, horned screamer, etc. Around noon we arrive to El Dorado where big caimans, red howler monkeys, turtles and all kind of birds can be seen.

Once we arrive to the community will make a brief stop to check our permits at P.V Canta Gallo located at the shore of El Dorado Lake. Being at this place, we will set our campsite. After lunch we will be ready to go piranha fishing. For sure we are also going to catch otger sorts of fish like peackock bass, catfish, etc.

This is also a good spot for Giant river otters. Monkeys, sloths and other mammals can be seen from our boat.

We will explore the surroundings of the lake where big mammals are used to be: Capybaras, pecaries, tapirs, antears and sometimes jaguars are found in the area.​

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​Day five: After a nice sun rise and looking at a beautiful landscape we will get ready to start our way back to the city. Once more the flora and fauna dismiss us. A brief stops to say good-bye is necessary in each Ranger`s Station. Fortunately the river makes an easily returning and our skillful boat driver. We hope to arrive to Yarina village before sunset and spend the night there.​

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​Day six: Right after breakfast we have to depart from Yarina village and head to Nauta where we will arrive by 2pm and then get a car ride to Iquitos.