22nd October

5 pm, the gold mining town and jungle port of Puerto Maldonado. Tucked inside the Amazon basin, the heat here is stifling. Sat on a bed, one eye on the TV watching Rocky V, one eye out of the window, taking in the mighty rio Madre de Dios. We’ve just spent 3 days and nights in the jungle, and reflecting upon it, I seem to have mixed feelings about this particular excursion.

Entering the jungle is something I’ve been looking forward to for so long now. Of all the things we have planned on this trip, the jungle for me has always been the prime objective. When I had originally planned to come to South America a few years ago, I had no plans to come to the jungle at all for fear of it just not being safe. It is very unsafe of course, to those that do not know what to look out for and what to avoid. But in planning the trip this time around, it became obvious quite quickly that the jungle can be visited, and visited safely, if you employ the services of an eco lodge. I was ecstatic at that discovery. Coming away from it this morning though, I feel almost disappointed, but not quite. It was exactly what I expected it to be, but was tempered with unnecessary veneer.

The lodge that we stayed at has, in a way, become a victim of its own success. I selected this lodge specifically because you had the best chances of seeing the many animal species in the area, an excellent record that I planned to capitalise upon. However, with its success, has come just a little lack of authenticity. This lodge has now become, in my view, the jungle for the monied.

The lodge is far from cheap at £200 a night for a double room, and this is because it has transformed into a top quality hotel which happens to be located within the jungle. With that comes a lot of older and retired couples, a lot of people just here to say that they’ve had the experience, without necessarily appreciating what it is that they are doing. Three all inclusive, all you can eat, quality meals a day, with plenty of spare time to recover from the activities of the day, it felt like the jungle for the pampered and the mildly infirm.

I think what I’m trying to say here is that I expected to “rough it” just a bit being in the Amazon, yet I felt like I was often mixing with seniors and being overly cosseted instead. I knew it was a good lodge, but I didn’t quite expect this. I also thought that we would spend more time than we did actually venturing into it, rather than lazily gazing out at it through the insect repelling mesh that formed the lodge walls.

Having said that, spying tarantulas the size of your hand just a few metres from the door of the lodge was pretty grounding. As was having to “de-roach” the bathroom before you took a shower. Listening to the cacophony chorus of the cicadas, frogs and birds as you fell to sleep was also something that made you feel genuinely within the jungle. You were definitely there, I just wish that the lodge was just a bit more down-market and geared towards the more active, if that doesn’t sound too perverse.

All of that aside, the trips out of the lodge with our guide were second to none. We saw, as we had hoped, many species of reptiles, mammals and birds that surrounded the lake next to which the lodge is located. Seeing these animals in their native environment was just fantastic. Always a fan of nature documentaries, seeing these animals in the flesh, within their homes, was a real experience and of course just the way it should be. That at least, was all that I could have hoped for. The guides too, I have to say, were all exceptional.

Viewing three different species of monkeys, a dozen or so species of birds, tarantulas, lizards, caimans, giant river otters and even a sloth, we were pretty lucky it has to be said. We also saw the infamous bullet ant. This fella is an inch long, and has a bite that you really wouldn’t forget in a hurry. I’m really quite glad that we never found any of those in the bathroom.

Unexpectedly though, the thing that left the biggest impression upon you was the humidity. This ranges from between 90% and 100% all of the time. By the time I had been walking down the dirt track to the lodge for around ten minutes, I literally had sweat dripping off the end of my nose. Sweet I know. Seriously though, within minutes your clothes were just soaked in sweat. This happened every day. We all joked that there was no point in having a shower during the day, as within five minutes of getting out of it you were just as sticky as before you went in. Worse still, there was no laundry service and you were only allowed to take limited baggage to the lodge. Despite having three cold showers on the first day, I quickly learned just to give up and adapt to the heat and the stick-on clothes.

Nonetheless, the real star of the show, was of course, the jungle itself. Trees several metres across, leaves bigger than you are, the sheer density and noise, all made you feel like you were a million miles away from home. Taking boat trips on the lake too, spotting wildlife, but equally just enjoying the view, left a real lasting impression.

On one evening in particular, just as the day was turning into dusk, the lake suddenly transformed into life. Mayflies erupted from the water as they flew into the air, to embrace their half hour of life in the atmosphere. A shower of mayfly larvae carcasses shed as they flew higher then rained down upon us. At this point the bats started to appear. Slowly at first, but then streaming by in lines as they scooped up the insect feast on offer. Just swirling round, so close to the boat yet never quite touching it, snapping up everything they could find.

Then the rain of carcasses turned into a rain of mayflies themselves, having had their half hour of life above the water. Now mated and spent, they just fell to the ground, to the water, and onto our boat. All of this in near darkness where touch was more sensitive than sight, as mayflies slid gently across your arms. To finish this particular boat ride, we spotted caimans (large crocodiles up to 6 metres long) lurking at the lake edges. Shining torches into the distance made the eyes of these creatures reflect back bright red. It was quite alarming just how many caimans there were, and had unbeknownst to us been there all day, that were now exposed by the light. A sobering thought as we headed back to the lodge, wondering just how many other dangers prowled in the darkness as we slept in our rooms.

Moments like this made the journey into the jungle more than gratifying. While I wouldn’t say that my time there was exactly what I had expected, it was quite unforgettable and definitely something to be savoured. Visiting the Amazon again when we enter Bolivia however, I will try harder to find the particular brand of jungle experience that I was originally looking for.

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Part of trip: South America 2009 - Ecuador, Peru & Bolivia

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