AMAZON JUNGLE

Day 255

Puerto Maldonado, Peru, South America

Day two of tour

We finally met out fellow travellers in the lobby of the Hotel Boulevard at 7am and also met our contact in Lima who ferried us to Lima Airport ready to check in for our flight to Puerto Maldonado, via Cusco. It was a smooth trip although we were separated in our seats..but that was ok, because somehow Greg and I both ended up with window seats, which was one of the things that was written on the trip notes, so we could have the view of the Andes from our window!

And they were spectacular..such incredible brown rolling valley's and desert crevices and deep within we could see villages nestled in between the great expanse of the Andes.

We refuelled at Cusco and headed towards the Puerto Maldonado, where we were to go to the Amazon Basin. The view from the window changed..and we saw deep jungle...

It was quite breathtaking.

When we arrived both in Cusco to refuel and in Puerto Maldonado the whole plane clapped, which was a bit disconcerting!

We were met at the airport there by our Guide, Rodolfo calling out our names amongst the scramble of people, guides and luggage. Trish and Barb were busily getting the attention of the tour people and had successfully also found where they were.

They had a mini bus waiting so we loaded up our baggage and headed for Headquarters where those who chose to could leave their luggage and only take what they needed for the two days we were to be in the jungle.

We decided to take our back and front packs, choosing to keep all our worldly possessions together! We didnt't want to lose our luggage!

Headquarters wasn't very far, but there we met a gorgeous little girl who decided to tag alongside us. I took her picture, so cute!

Then we headed for our Lodge. The little shacks on the way were reminiscent of third world countries. After being in Lima we felt this was a huge contrast. Such a poor place, but such wonderful scenery. A plant, Helicnia, was scattered around looking so majestic. They reminded me of the stralitizia (Bird of Paridise)..so pretty.

The tumbling, bumpy road took about an hour..and as we entered the Lodge we thought it just looked so tropical and lush. We could see all the Amazon birds, that we had only seen in David Attenborough shows! Screamers, terns, macaws and kingfishers. We were told this was the area where the toucans were abundant as well, although we didnt see them straight away.

Then, the boat ride to the Lodge on the Rio Tambupata. It was like a long boat with seats across from each other. We were told to put on Life Rafts (that didnt do up!) and we thought their sense of safety was good! We did wonder what instigated this! The boat driver was a gorgeous peruvian boy who had the biggest, widest smile. We wondered whether there were piranha's in the river!

As soon as we arrived our activities were organised and the first one was to go for a jungle walk to the canopy where we were to observe the bird life from a tower. It was 4.15pm. One of the things the guide asked for was headlights or torches and we thought, yes we have those! (Thanks Alena and Mum for these gifts before we left!) Theyve come in so useful!

Due to the lack of organisation we didnt have a list of things to bring so we were gratful we had the insecticide from Africa and the headlights and torches and things for a safari otherwise we would have come not knowing what to bring.

The room we were allocated was a jungle room. With an open area where we could view the jungle trees. No electricity, no hot water. Candles only. Very practical rather than romantic seeing the adjoining rooms were not closed off...there were only rafters!

Preparing for the first walk through the jungle was uncomfortable. We had to fit wellies and that was an initial challenge as i couldnt fit my orthodics in them! Finally i went for the men's shoes again!

Once we got used to the slush and uneven ground it was ok. I actually started to revel in the walk. So many birds and wildlife and sounds of howling monkeys could ble heard. I felt nostalgic and emotional at the beauty.

The Canopy Tower was 187 steps high. 120feet (37m) and from there we stayed till sunset and watched the toucans flying together as well as a myriad of other wild and very beautiful birds.

This is nature at its perfect best. In the Amazon jungle!

Dinner was fresh, healthy, and we slumbered to bed by 9pm looking forward to a 4am wakeup and a cold shower!!!!

What a day.

I can only say i was in awe of this massively dense and almost secretive forest.

What does it hold within?