This morning was the first time we were allowed a lie in - we didn't have to get up until 7:00. We headed up river close to Puerto Maldonado to a site illustrating local subsistence farming techniques. The family own 25has and farm 18has on a rotation. I was reminded that most of the nutrient in the rainforest is in the vegetation so that after burning and clearing an area and then planting crops it is left to regenerate. The speed of regeneration is very rapid - we were shown a balsa tree, perhaps 5m high that had grown that high in 3 months. The trees have long horizontal roots because all the nutrient is in the top of the soil. After an introduction to the medicinal properties of local plants and Brazil nuts we took ... read more

The alarm went off at 5:00 again this morning, breakfast at 5:30 and off at 6:00. Breakfast is just my sort of thing - a chance to select a variety of fresh fruit, pineapple, papaya and water melon with different grains, raisins and this morning dried bananas. The latter were sticky and sweet. A short boat trip took us down river to Tambopata National Reserve. We then walked along a muddy track for about 3km. We passed an entrance hut with a map of nature reserves and national parks in Peru which I felt obliged to take a picture of. We are in the bottom right hand corner. We passed an impressive termite mound and eventually came to a collection of long canoes. The lake is the remnant of an oxbow lake from the main river ... read more

At 2:00 pm we were collected from the hotel by our tour guide for the afternoon, Miguel, and his driver. We were the only people in the small minibus and had a fascinating insight into Peru past and present. Our first stop was Hunca Huallamarca, a pre-Inca pyramid. It is made of mud bricks (adobe) and has lasted because this coastal part of the country receives virtually no rain. The bodies stored in the pyramid were buried in sacks and rather than mummified dried out. The contest between the pyramid and modern surrounding residential area was startling. From there we went to the cathedral. The two most interesting points were the chapel to Francisco Pizzaro and the cathedral's construction. The substantial pillars are not stone but hollow wooden frames with a very light weight wooden roof ... read more

It is 9:00pm in Miraflores, a suburb of Lima, and 3:00 am in the UK. We are very close to the coast and will take a look at the Pacific Ocean tomorrow. As we set off on the 6:15 am flight from Norwich to Amsterdam both of us are feeling tired. We arrived in Lima as the sun was setting around 6:00 pm local time. We were met at the airport by a local guide Dewi and her driver and we're then driven through the rush hour to our hotel. After a shower we are now ensconced in the waiting for our complimentary drink - piscosour, a cocktail with pisco and angostura bitters.... read more

I started preparation rather late for my holiday to Peru by walking up and down Gas Hill in Norwich three times. Living in East Anglia is hardly the best preparation for a trip involving lots of steep hills! I have wanted to visit Machu Picchu since I studied the civilisations of the Incas and Aztecs for my A-Level History. At that stage it wasn't so popular or well known. My son Martin and I are travelling with Llama Travel and doing two main things: canoeing in the Amazon and walking the Inca Trail to MC.... read more