Yarinacocha Lagoon

Yarinacocha is an oxbow - a former meander of the Ucayali cut off when the river changed course - about fifteen kilometres long, curving beside Pucallpa, and it functions as the city's waterfront. Peke-peke boats, long wooden craft with small exposed engines, run from Puerto Callao as taxis to communities around the shore, and the standard trip goes to the Shipibo-Konibo villages of San Francisco and Santa Clara, where the geometric kené designs are painted onto cloth and pottery and sold. Pink and grey dolphins live in the lake and are usually seen on a circuit. The waterfront at Puerto Callao has restaurants along the water, busy in the evening. It is a working lake rather than a wilderness one - the city is right there, the water quality reflects it, and the village visits are commercial - but the boat trips, the dolphins and the Shipibo craft tradition are all real.

What you actually see

• The oxbow - a fifteen-kilometre cut-off meander of the Ucayali.
• The peke-peke boats - long wooden taxis working from Puerto Callao.
• The Shipibo villages - San Francisco and Santa Clara, with kené design work.
• The dolphins - pink and grey river dolphins resident in the lake.

When to go

June to October is drier. Early morning or late afternoon for dolphins and cooler boat trips. Half a day for a circuit, a full day including village stops.

Honest expectations

The lake is next to a city and the water is not clean - swimming is unwise. Village visits are set up for tourists and selling is persistent. Boats are open, noisy and offer little shade. Prices are negotiated at the waterfront.

Nearby

Pucallpa is east; the Ucayali river runs past the city.