The big cats are rarely seen, but somehow you just know that they are watching you warily from the dark shadows of the enclosing jungle. Hundreds of parakeets living in a huge tree in the midst of the clearing provide entertainment, but grazing cattle tend to be a nuisance. Several smaller camps offer equivalent amenities, including trails through the jungle and easy access to nearby waterfalls. Around the next bend, the river is pinched to one-half its former width by steep rock walls. It is here that the intriguing inner gorge begins.
Creek cascades in from river left.
Take the time for a hike up its canyon, where numerous waterfalls and plunge pools await the adventurous. All year After Terciopelo Creek, the Pacuare continues through another one and one-half miles of jungle before reaching the zenith of this whitewater fantasyland, the Huacas rapids. It presents no real difficulties for kayaks, but rafts must maneuver carefully at the top to avoid boulder pins. At certain water levels, a particularly grabby hole develops at the base of the rapid. It is known as Traitor Hole, and even expert kayakers have been forced to swim out of it.