Blogs from Madre de Dios, Peru, South America - page 3

Day 61 5th November This was our last day in the Amazon; I had been looking forward to being in such a magical place and was sad to know I would be going and was adamant to make the most of it. The weather had turned rainy... and boy when it rains in the Amazon it really rains! Luckily it didn’t rain for very long and I spent the morning taking pictures around the lodge as animals would often wander in, there was a Macaw nearby the restaurant area who always stayed in one tree, almost certainly because it had its wings clipped, pretty sad to be honest. I also saw an Agouti under our lodge. At 10:00 we hopped on the long boat and went on a long ride along the river, because it had ... read more

Day 59 3rd November – Tampobata reserve So much for a lay in (I am rather keen on getting out of bed in my own sweet time) the woman at the reception desk in our hotel gave us the wrong pick up time so while I was still in the shower the phone rang in the room, Liz answered it and freaked as we hadn’t even started packing and the chap was waiting downstairs at reception to take us to the airport 45 minutes earlier than we expected, it wasn’t even 09:00 and I hadn’t had a coffee or even a coca tea and instead had to pack all my stuff in record time... however I think I remained pretty calm about it as it wasn’t our mistake so I said to Liz “it is what ... read more

In dense, exotic and pristinely preserved cloud forests, on the isolated "buffer zone" of Parque National Manu on the Amazon basin frontier, I watch the forest treetops sway tentatively in the breeze as still grey clouds and fresh oxygen usurp the heat, humidity and stale air of the morning, all in ominous anticipation of the approaching storm... Then the rain starts to fall... A steady, cumbersome shower that progressively builds into a heavy deluge as the clouds turn angrier and the river, usually reflecting the lush green jungle landscape in tranquil glassy brilliance, is transformed into dark, muddy and malevolent rapid, reignited by the aggressive downpour... Distant thunder draws closer and the impenetrable ink black blanket of night falls over the forest until brilliant white sheets of lightening illuminate the sky, spidery silhouettes of the treetops ... read more

Posada Lodge After departing Lima in the dark we flew to Puerto Maldonado where we found a tropical daint airport awaited us with scorching humidity. We met our guide Armando, repacked the basics and bumped along a dusty road to the river port. An hour up river by a motored canoe, we arrived at the secluded Posada Lodge. A surreal but simple open aired structure, no doors, just curtains and mosquito nets. Over the next day and a half we climed a 32m tower to look above the tree tops, watch the sunset over the jungle, spotted endangered river otters, caimens (aligators), fished for paranha, spotted brillant red macaws and went on a night hike to see the trantulars. We also made a visit to the local Shaman (medicine man), who talked about the local plants ... read more