The Facts About Feathers, Flora & Fauna: Training Programs for Our Aqua Expeditions’ Guides
When cruising in Peru or Vietnam and Cambodia with Aqua Expeditions, our guests are treated to daily excursions on our customized skiffs or by foot on hikes led by our friendly adventure guides. To ensure that our guides are fully knowledgeable about the bountiful wildlife, birds and “flora and fauna” living in our river and riverside habitats, our naturalist guide teams go through expert training. This carefully-orchestrated training program ensures that our team can help educate our guests about the range of species endemic to the areas we cruise in, animal behavior, habitat preservation and local ecosystems.
In the Amazon, for example, our naturist guides are trained by biologist and Aqua Expeditions’ Outreach Community Manager, Juan Diaz, and biologist Marcos Rios in the species, habitats and behaviours of Amazon birds. Guide training takes place in the facilities of the Research Center of Allpahuayo Mishana, Research Institute of the Peruvian Amazon (IIAP).
As an example, some of the Amazon bird species covered in our guide training include White-Bellied Parkers, Lesser Wagtail-Tyrants and Pearly-Breasted Conebills. Other birds we see in the vicinity of river islands on the Amazon River include Yellow-Rumped Caciques, Canary-Winged Parakeets, Spotted Tody-Flycatchers, Ringed and Amazon Kingfishers among others.
The Pacaya Samiria Reserve, also located within the Amazon rainforest and only accessible by water, showcases some of the most alluring Amazon birds, such as heron and hawk species, living in their riverside habitats alongside the abundant wildlife in the Reserve.
Our Amazon River guides also take part in flora and fauna workshops with Juan Diaz and Marcos Rios where they learn how to recognize different species of liana, plants and trees, the stratification of the Amazon jungle environment and the elements of plant life which serve as critical supports to the wildlife living in this habitat.
Our guests at Aqua Expeditions repeatedly tell us how important our guides are to the guest experience and their enjoyment of their cruises with us. We therefore will continue to invest in guide training, staying current on the latest biological, geological and climatology research about the regions we cruise in globally.
