Into The Amazon Rainforest....
Hello again!
After 3 days back in Cusco we were off again for a 4-day trip into the Amazon Rainforest to a place called the Tambopata Nature Reserve just south of Puerto Maldonado in southern Peru. The only significant event to tell you about in the 3 days we spent back in Cusco is that we gave our sleeping bags away. They were really useful on a number of occasions since we accidentally acquired them but they're so heavy, they just had to go. We wouldn't have got much by selling them so we gave them to the South American Explorers Club which has an office here in Cusco and they have collections of clothing and camping gear which they donate to the needy folk in the local community. My pack looks so empty now!
So anyway, trip 2 was to the Tambopata Nature Reserve and here's how it went....
Day 1:
It's 2 days in the back of a truck to get to Puerto Maldonado or 40 minutes on a plane. We arrived at Cusco airport for our 07:40 flight and 40 minutes later we landed in Puerto Maldonado airport in the Amazon Rainforest at 250m above sea-level. We've been breathing dry mountain air for 2 months now and so to suddenly be breathing the humid air of this tropical region was strange. This is also the lowest down we've been since we left the island of Chiloe in Chile back on April 29th.
We only took a small day pack of clothes between us, leaving the majority of our stuff back in Cusco. From the airport we were picked up by Rainforest Expeditions (see Links for their website) and driven for an hour along a dusty track to the river port. 'Port' is perhaps too strong a word since the port consisted of one hut and a flight of rickety wooden steps down to the muddy river. Anyway, at the port we tranferred onto a long canoe-like boat for a 45 minute trip upriver to the equally unimpressive port that belongs to Posada Amazonas Lodge and our home for the next 4 days. From leaving the canoe it's about 15 minutes walk through the jungle until the lodge finally appears through the trees.
My first impression when we arrive is not good. I expected us to be in little groups of 4 or 5 plus a guide but we appear to be in a group of about 15 people plus the guide. We take a short detour instead of going straight from the boat to the lodge to look for wildlife and we seem to make so much noise. I wonder how much wildlife we're going to see in the next 4 days if we continue to trample around making such a din. We see a couple of howler monkies which Gerson, our guide, tells us are quite rare in this area but not much else.
At the lodge we are allocated our rooms. There is no electricity and no hot water but it's so hot and humid here that the latter certainly doesn't bother us. Each of the rooms only has 3 walls. The fourth side being open directly onto the jungle which looms only a couple of metres away. We have single beds and each has a big mosquito net over it so atleast we're be safe from the insects if nothing else!
After lunch we head out to the 'Canopy Tower', a 45 metre high scaffold construction that bursts through the canopy and looms above the tree-tops. Lynn, decides there's "no way I'm going up that" so stays at the bottom with a couple of others whilst the 10 or 12 of us start climbing the neverending staircase to the top. I expected there to be a bit of relief from the constantly attacking insects once we were up above the trees but no such luck. Infact, if anything, it's worse - up here we're a target they can see from miles away! We see a couple of small monkies on the way up and once at the top we spot a couple of parrots and a toucan. With 10 people at the top we're a little top heavy so the tower sways quite a lot backwards and forwards as we move about. It won't fall down, it's tied to countless trees every 10 metres or so but it doesn't stop the swaying.
We went to bed at about 20:30 as we have a wake-up call at 04:30 to start tomorrow's itinerary. At night the birds are silent but the monkies continue to shriek and the insects really come alive and start making alot of noise. We also hear bats flapping about above us as they fly in and out of our room and small rodents (mice?) scuttling about on the floor below our beds.
Day 2:
After a breakfast at 04:30 we head down to the river to the canoe. On the way we see loads of insects and a few tarantulas sitting on the trunks of trees near the path. Careful, no brushing against trees as we pass, there's no telling what might grab on and start crawling up your arm as you walk on obliviously! We travel upriver on the canoe for 15 minutes and then walk for 30 minutes through the forest to a lake where we transfer onto large pontoon-like rafts. We seem to be two groups combined this morning so there's about 30 of us. I say again, how can you expect to quietly and invisibly observe the wildlife when you're in a group of 30? I try to watch where I'm placing my feet as we walk - no stepping on dry leaves or snapping any twigs to alert the animals and birds of our presence but I don't know why I'm bothering. Half the group are kicking their way through the undergrowth, talking and laughing like they're wandering around a supermarket.
Out on the lake we spot a few birds including a magnificent Tiger Heron. This lake is home to a family of giant otters but unfortunately we didn't see them. I guess they heard us coming! Gerson brought some small pieces of raw beef along and using a simple line we manage to catch a few fish, mainly Yellow-bellied Piranhas. Their jaws are incredible! Gerson places a leaf in the mouth of one of them and we all watch as it takes big chunks out of it like an out-of-control hole-punch going through a sheet of A4 paper!
After a couple of hours on the lake we head back through the forest to the canoe. On the way we break into a small section of a giant termites nest and try eating a few. They're actually quite tasty once you stop them running about inside your mouth - a bit nutty, a bit maizey, a bit fried chickeny!
About 11:00 we head to a 'clay-lick' where animals and birds come to eat the clay. The two reasons we are told for this behaviour are either to eat minerals valuable to their diet which they can't get elsewhere, like salt, or to neutralise the toxins in their stomachs after eating unripe fruit. The observation hut has room for about 6 people of which only 3 can comfortably see the clay-lick. There's another group already there when we arrive and they are occupying the best seats. Again I wonder - why are we in such big groups? Why build an observation hut with 6 viewing holes if only 3 of them are any good? And if only 3 people can see anything then why put people in groups of 15? At any one time there are atleast 12 people standing around, scratching their arses and wondering what they're doing here whilst in the background the lucky 3 are muttering "Wow! Look at that, isn't it amazing!"
At 16:30 we head downriver to see a local shaman and his garden of medicinal plants. On the way we see a capybara (a sheep-sized rodent like a guinea-pig) lying on the riverbank, it has a wound on it's shoulder and a large crow-like bird is pecking at the wound. It looks really painful. The capybara struggles to it's feet and hobbles down into the river where it tries to swim off to get away from the bird. After 10 seconds it struggle back ashore again. As it stands up a big piranha falls out of the wound and plops back into the water. Owwww!!! Somehow I don't think it'll last the night caught between the bird and the piranhas.
The Shaman tour is very interesting and we are encouraged to try a few of the plants - one you chew and it immediately makes your mouth go completely numb. Another is a plain, green leaf but when you rub it in your hands the sap is bright red and dyes your hands. "It'll wear off in a week" Gerson tells us with a laugh!
Before we head off for bed that evening, Gerson asks if we want to be woken at 05:00 for an early morning visit back to the clay-lick. Most go, some don't including Lynn and I. Apparently the first stop AFTER breakfast at 07:30 is going to be to the clay-lick again so we decide to have a lie-in until 07:00 instead.
Day 3:
Those who visited the clay-lick at 05:00 return disappointed as they didn't see anything. After breakfast some of the group are leaving as they are on a 3-day trip and not 4 like us. Of the rest, not all want to go to the clay-lick again, especially those who saw nothing this morning. In the end 5 of us go to the clay-lick after breakfast (including Lynn and I) plus Gerson. Those who didn't go this time really missed out as we saw 9 macaws. Gerson says it's the most he's seen here in a year. I wonder if it's because we're in a smaller group so make less noise! I'm lucky that the others insist I have the best seat because I have Lynn's camera and manage to capture some good pictures. Some take photos through the telescope that is set up but most appear to be blurred.
In the afternoon we take a long walk to a Kapok tree. It is absolutely gigantic. It is the biggest tree in the reserve and the locals believe it houses the spirit of the forest.
After dinner at 19:00 we head out on a nightwalk into the jungle. We encounter a wide range of insects but not much else. Lynn spotted a snake, a bright red one with a creamy coloured head but it slithered off before I could get a good photograph.
Day 4:
This excursion is described as a 4 day/3 night trip but since we leave at 08:30 today it's really a 3 day/3 night trip. It's a 2 hour journey back to the airport and by 13:00 we're back in Cusco where it feels bloody cold again! Despite my annoyance at the size of the groups, on the whole I really did enjoy our 3 days in the rainforest. The part I enjoyed the most was the nights. Lying in bed only a couple of metres away from the strange noises of the jungle is an exhilerating feeling and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who has the chance to go.
So that's it, it's taken 5 hours to type this lot up so I hope it makes good reading! Today is our last in Cusco, tomorrow we head to Lima and the Pacific coast which we shall follow north now all the way into Ecuador.
Thanks to everyone who's emailled me over the last couple of weeks following my plea for more emails. If you have a spare moment please feel free to send me another, they're so welcome! I'm trying to reply individually to everyone who's sent me a message but if I haven't replied to you yet, sorry, I will try to soon!
Take care,
Rich
After 3 days back in Cusco we were off again for a 4-day trip into the Amazon Rainforest to a place called the Tambopata Nature Reserve just south of Puerto Maldonado in southern Peru. The only significant event to tell you about in the 3 days we spent back in Cusco is that we gave our sleeping bags away. They were really useful on a number of occasions since we accidentally acquired them but they're so heavy, they just had to go. We wouldn't have got much by selling them so we gave them to the South American Explorers Club which has an office here in Cusco and they have collections of clothing and camping gear which they donate to the needy folk in the local community. My pack looks so empty now!
So anyway, trip 2 was to the Tambopata Nature Reserve and here's how it went....
Day 1:
It's 2 days in the back of a truck to get to Puerto Maldonado or 40 minutes on a plane. We arrived at Cusco airport for our 07:40 flight and 40 minutes later we landed in Puerto Maldonado airport in the Amazon Rainforest at 250m above sea-level. We've been breathing dry mountain air for 2 months now and so to suddenly be breathing the humid air of this tropical region was strange. This is also the lowest down we've been since we left the island of Chiloe in Chile back on April 29th.
We only took a small day pack of clothes between us, leaving the majority of our stuff back in Cusco. From the airport we were picked up by Rainforest Expeditions (see Links for their website) and driven for an hour along a dusty track to the river port. 'Port' is perhaps too strong a word since the port consisted of one hut and a flight of rickety wooden steps down to the muddy river. Anyway, at the port we tranferred onto a long canoe-like boat for a 45 minute trip upriver to the equally unimpressive port that belongs to Posada Amazonas Lodge and our home for the next 4 days. From leaving the canoe it's about 15 minutes walk through the jungle until the lodge finally appears through the trees.
My first impression when we arrive is not good. I expected us to be in little groups of 4 or 5 plus a guide but we appear to be in a group of about 15 people plus the guide. We take a short detour instead of going straight from the boat to the lodge to look for wildlife and we seem to make so much noise. I wonder how much wildlife we're going to see in the next 4 days if we continue to trample around making such a din. We see a couple of howler monkies which Gerson, our guide, tells us are quite rare in this area but not much else.
At the lodge we are allocated our rooms. There is no electricity and no hot water but it's so hot and humid here that the latter certainly doesn't bother us. Each of the rooms only has 3 walls. The fourth side being open directly onto the jungle which looms only a couple of metres away. We have single beds and each has a big mosquito net over it so atleast we're be safe from the insects if nothing else!
After lunch we head out to the 'Canopy Tower', a 45 metre high scaffold construction that bursts through the canopy and looms above the tree-tops. Lynn, decides there's "no way I'm going up that" so stays at the bottom with a couple of others whilst the 10 or 12 of us start climbing the neverending staircase to the top. I expected there to be a bit of relief from the constantly attacking insects once we were up above the trees but no such luck. Infact, if anything, it's worse - up here we're a target they can see from miles away! We see a couple of small monkies on the way up and once at the top we spot a couple of parrots and a toucan. With 10 people at the top we're a little top heavy so the tower sways quite a lot backwards and forwards as we move about. It won't fall down, it's tied to countless trees every 10 metres or so but it doesn't stop the swaying.
We went to bed at about 20:30 as we have a wake-up call at 04:30 to start tomorrow's itinerary. At night the birds are silent but the monkies continue to shriek and the insects really come alive and start making alot of noise. We also hear bats flapping about above us as they fly in and out of our room and small rodents (mice?) scuttling about on the floor below our beds.
Day 2:
After a breakfast at 04:30 we head down to the river to the canoe. On the way we see loads of insects and a few tarantulas sitting on the trunks of trees near the path. Careful, no brushing against trees as we pass, there's no telling what might grab on and start crawling up your arm as you walk on obliviously! We travel upriver on the canoe for 15 minutes and then walk for 30 minutes through the forest to a lake where we transfer onto large pontoon-like rafts. We seem to be two groups combined this morning so there's about 30 of us. I say again, how can you expect to quietly and invisibly observe the wildlife when you're in a group of 30? I try to watch where I'm placing my feet as we walk - no stepping on dry leaves or snapping any twigs to alert the animals and birds of our presence but I don't know why I'm bothering. Half the group are kicking their way through the undergrowth, talking and laughing like they're wandering around a supermarket.
Out on the lake we spot a few birds including a magnificent Tiger Heron. This lake is home to a family of giant otters but unfortunately we didn't see them. I guess they heard us coming! Gerson brought some small pieces of raw beef along and using a simple line we manage to catch a few fish, mainly Yellow-bellied Piranhas. Their jaws are incredible! Gerson places a leaf in the mouth of one of them and we all watch as it takes big chunks out of it like an out-of-control hole-punch going through a sheet of A4 paper!
After a couple of hours on the lake we head back through the forest to the canoe. On the way we break into a small section of a giant termites nest and try eating a few. They're actually quite tasty once you stop them running about inside your mouth - a bit nutty, a bit maizey, a bit fried chickeny!
About 11:00 we head to a 'clay-lick' where animals and birds come to eat the clay. The two reasons we are told for this behaviour are either to eat minerals valuable to their diet which they can't get elsewhere, like salt, or to neutralise the toxins in their stomachs after eating unripe fruit. The observation hut has room for about 6 people of which only 3 can comfortably see the clay-lick. There's another group already there when we arrive and they are occupying the best seats. Again I wonder - why are we in such big groups? Why build an observation hut with 6 viewing holes if only 3 of them are any good? And if only 3 people can see anything then why put people in groups of 15? At any one time there are atleast 12 people standing around, scratching their arses and wondering what they're doing here whilst in the background the lucky 3 are muttering "Wow! Look at that, isn't it amazing!"
At 16:30 we head downriver to see a local shaman and his garden of medicinal plants. On the way we see a capybara (a sheep-sized rodent like a guinea-pig) lying on the riverbank, it has a wound on it's shoulder and a large crow-like bird is pecking at the wound. It looks really painful. The capybara struggles to it's feet and hobbles down into the river where it tries to swim off to get away from the bird. After 10 seconds it struggle back ashore again. As it stands up a big piranha falls out of the wound and plops back into the water. Owwww!!! Somehow I don't think it'll last the night caught between the bird and the piranhas.
The Shaman tour is very interesting and we are encouraged to try a few of the plants - one you chew and it immediately makes your mouth go completely numb. Another is a plain, green leaf but when you rub it in your hands the sap is bright red and dyes your hands. "It'll wear off in a week" Gerson tells us with a laugh!
Before we head off for bed that evening, Gerson asks if we want to be woken at 05:00 for an early morning visit back to the clay-lick. Most go, some don't including Lynn and I. Apparently the first stop AFTER breakfast at 07:30 is going to be to the clay-lick again so we decide to have a lie-in until 07:00 instead.
Day 3:
Those who visited the clay-lick at 05:00 return disappointed as they didn't see anything. After breakfast some of the group are leaving as they are on a 3-day trip and not 4 like us. Of the rest, not all want to go to the clay-lick again, especially those who saw nothing this morning. In the end 5 of us go to the clay-lick after breakfast (including Lynn and I) plus Gerson. Those who didn't go this time really missed out as we saw 9 macaws. Gerson says it's the most he's seen here in a year. I wonder if it's because we're in a smaller group so make less noise! I'm lucky that the others insist I have the best seat because I have Lynn's camera and manage to capture some good pictures. Some take photos through the telescope that is set up but most appear to be blurred.
In the afternoon we take a long walk to a Kapok tree. It is absolutely gigantic. It is the biggest tree in the reserve and the locals believe it houses the spirit of the forest.
After dinner at 19:00 we head out on a nightwalk into the jungle. We encounter a wide range of insects but not much else. Lynn spotted a snake, a bright red one with a creamy coloured head but it slithered off before I could get a good photograph.
Day 4:
This excursion is described as a 4 day/3 night trip but since we leave at 08:30 today it's really a 3 day/3 night trip. It's a 2 hour journey back to the airport and by 13:00 we're back in Cusco where it feels bloody cold again! Despite my annoyance at the size of the groups, on the whole I really did enjoy our 3 days in the rainforest. The part I enjoyed the most was the nights. Lying in bed only a couple of metres away from the strange noises of the jungle is an exhilerating feeling and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who has the chance to go.
So that's it, it's taken 5 hours to type this lot up so I hope it makes good reading! Today is our last in Cusco, tomorrow we head to Lima and the Pacific coast which we shall follow north now all the way into Ecuador.
Thanks to everyone who's emailled me over the last couple of weeks following my plea for more emails. If you have a spare moment please feel free to send me another, they're so welcome! I'm trying to reply individually to everyone who's sent me a message but if I haven't replied to you yet, sorry, I will try to soon!
Take care,
Rich
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