The Peruvian Amazon with all it's Wonder

It’s always been a dream of mine to visit the great Amazon ever since I was a youngster.  After all, my favorite magazine back then was National Geography.  Their award winning photos brought the mystery of this wild and far off world to the center of my imagination with each and every article.  The next leg of my travels through Peru would take me twelve hours east, out of the Andes, and into the deep jungles of Puerto Maldonado near Bolivia and Brazil .

true story from the Amazon

No horse or machete could defend me from the Zika borne mosquito.  Still, I was willing to take the risk and what better outfit than my fabulous red short shorts, lathered down with as much repellant my skin could absorb.

Zika Busters in effect at the hostel

Puerto Maldonado

rolling on a scooter around town with my fabulous red short shorts

I arrived by bus to the terminal just after sunrise with no hostel reservations.  I decided to take a tuk tuk to the central plaza and just find something adequate on arrival.  The town was surprisingly dusty and urban from what I imagined.  Scooters buzzed around like something from the Jetsons.  There were far less tourists than what I experienced in the rest of Peru, but it was still a tourist town.  It wasn’t hard to find basic accommodations, so I checked in with no problem.  After showering and having some breakfast, I headed out to shop for a tour of the neighborhood.  I had avoided booking any tours back in Cuzco, because I always like to get direct feedback from other travelers and that’s usually best done in the place where the tours begins. 

Puerto Maldonado

Not only was I looking for a tour that took me deep into the jungle to stay in a jungle lodge for three or four days, but I also wanted to experience a slow boat down one of the Amazonian tributaries like I always imagined as a kid.  To my surprise, none of the agencies provided this.  What they offered was roundtrip jeep transport to the river, followed by a ten minute boat ride to the lodge.  I was told that any long boat rides from the town to the lodge on a tributary would take all day and cost nearly $1000 USD.  You MUST BE CRAZY!!!  However, I was not deterred to give up on my childhood dream of slow rolling down an Amazonian river.

another view of Puerto Maldonado

I decided to return to my hostel and see if I could negotiate for something more reasonable.  And the jungle gods must have taken a liken to me because there would be a boat returning the six hour trip from the jungle lodge in four days, so I worked it out with them to let me be one of the passengers for about $275 USD.  This included two nights and three days at the lodge with all meals, jungle excursions, and kayaking.  Great example, as to why it’s better to hold off on booking anything before you get to the final stop before leaving on a tour. 

town market

Since we weren't leaving for the jungle tour until morning, I decided to make the most of the rest of the day and explore the town of Puerto Maldonado and have some local amazonian fish.

all the green is cocoa

DAY ONE

Our group of seven was as international as you can get:  Spanish, French, German, Turkish, and American, along with our local Peruvian guides.  We piled into the truck for the two-hour ride deep into the Tambopata Reserve.  The river by the same name cuts through the jungle like arteries.  Once we arrived to the riverbank, we loaded our supplies into the boat that was waiting for us.  The humidity reminded me of South Florida, but there was nothing urban about where we were.  It was a bonafide jungle up in here! 

the United Nations up in here

how we roll in the Amazon

Tambopata River

Twenty minutes upstream and we were at our lodge.  There, waiting for us was a buffet style lunch that really surprised me.  They weren't cheap on the food and I appreciated that. 

the jungle lodge maid building

After lunch, we settled into our rooms, each had a porcelain toilet, private shower, queen bed and mosquito net.  Not bad.  Outside on the porch, each room came with a hammock.  We had the rest of the afternoon before we went on our first excursion through the jungle.  It was just too damn hot to do anything for the next few hours but cool off, so a few of us headed back to the river for a swim.  You’re probably thinking we’d have piranhas or caimans to worry about, but we were assured we’d have no problems in the water.  What they failed to tell us is how subtle the sand flies are, and after about thirty minutes I was itching like a dog with fleas.

meditation & sandflies

About two hours before dusk we began our hour excursion on a trail in the jungle.  Indiana Jones would have been disappointed.  This was quite basic but I appreciated that because it was easier to pay attention to the guide who had a wealth of knowledge to share about the fauna and trees.  I was surprised to learn that animals and any creepy crawlers pretty much stay out of sight during the day light hours.  I don’t even recall seeing any birds.  It’s like Whodini said, “The freaks come out at night”.  And I’m sure being a group of seven hairless monkeys toting cameras didn’t help.  It was all good though, as we had plans to be back again the next day for a night walk.

After dinner, we headed out by boat to see if we could find any caiman on the banks.  Caiman are the smaller cousin to the alligator.  In the nights are when caimans come out.  We were lucky and caught a few red eyes peering back at us as we moved slowly through the water.  As we approached they disappeared into the muddy waters.

DAY TWO

We woke up well before sunrise, as our mission was to catch the macaws feasting on the clay banks as they do every morning.  I woke up extra early to take in the kaleidoscope of colors stirring on the horizon just above the jungle canopy.  It was breathtaking and to have it all to myself was insane.  I had never seen such shades of deep purples and oranges interchanging as the sun unleashed its light show.  

Once everyone joined me on the riverbank, we all piled into the boat and made our way upstream about an hour for the colonies of parrots.  There, on the other side of the river we caught the frenzy of dozens of blue headed, mealy, and scarlet macaws licking the clay bank for the nutrients it depends on.  After an hour or so of bird watching, we had our breakfast picnic right there by the river.  On our way back to the lodge, we heard the piercing cries of howler monkeys high in the trees marking their territory.  The jungle was waking up.

After lunch we lounged in the hammocks until the hottest time of the day passed and then grabbed some kayaks to slow roll down the Tambopata River.  We decided to take in the spectacular sunset on the riverbank before returning to the lodge.  Dinner was ready once we returned and everyone was anxious for the night walk.  We went through the exact same trail we did the day before but it might as well have been another planet, because the night jungle is completely different than the day jungle.  The most obvious, was the cacophony of sound from both insects and animals than one doesn't hear during the day.  We were unable to actually see any of the animals but the crawlers were everywhere, including big ass leaf cutting ants, scorpions, frogs, wasps, grasshoppers, and tarantulas.  I was exhausted by the nights end, as the humidity sucked all my energy.  The others stayed up drinking whiskey, but I decided to retire as I was spent.

more hammock time

rescued parrot living on at the lodge

epic battle scene between spider and wasp

spider

scorpian

grasshopper

tropical frog

wasps

tarantulas

DAY THREE

They let us sleep on our final day, as we would embark on our final jungle excursion just after breakfast.  Our mission was to see if we could catch any wild boar keeping cool in their watering hole.  After a fantastic hike through the jungle we could hear the boars in the near distance.  As we quietly approached, they got quieter.  We barely got a glimpse of them before they darted into the thick brush.  We turned around and walked back to camp with the occasional Howler monkey screaming high above the canopy as we passed.  An hour later we returned from our hike and had our final meal before packing and getting on the boat for the six-hour boat ride back to Puerto Maldonado.  

wild pig pen

I have to say, I’m so glad I negotiated for the boat ride.  Would have been a pity to take a jeep back from such a natural wonder.  It was a perfect punctuation for this Amazon trip.  The boat ride back was almost a childhood dream come true.  However, no jaguars, or toucans, or anacondas.  Just the large guinea pig looking Capybara.  But no worries… the Sun made up for it, as it danced marvelously  and twirled its colorful magic paintbrushes across the sky while the Tambopata’s water mimicked it all before bowing and kissing one another goodbye. 

mining for gold - they average about 120 soles a day