http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Peru , Madre de Dios , Puerto Maldonado , Amazon Rainforest en-us Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:14:18 +0000 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:14:18 +0000 When they say the roar of the jungle I now understand what they mean. We slept for 3 nights in a lodge set deep in the rainforest right on the banks of Lake Sandoval called Sandoval Lake Lodge. During these nights we were aided to sleep by the many fascinating and sometimes quite disturbing noises of the rainforest. You would not believe what sounds can come out of such tiny insects fragile l http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-447897.html 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. Wersquove 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 jungl http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-447602.html The Amazon TripTuesday 13thLeft Cuzco at 6am to fly to Puerto Maldonaldo and then our group of 16 enjoyed a 3.5 hour motorised canoe trip up the Amazon to the Libertador Tambopata Eco Lodge. The scenery along the banks of the river was great with palm trees and banana trees plus lots of other tropical vegetation. We spotted caiman heron the largest rodents in the world canrsquot remember its http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-446787.html Buenos Nochas Blog ReadersSo this is our final blog of this incredible journey. Weve found a really nice hostel in Lima just down the road from the Stop and Drop Inn but a hundred times better. Weve just found out that the airport charges a 92 Soles tax on anybody going on international flights so to save us having to withdraw any money from an ATM which costs about 5 a time were saving http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-439776.html It started raining as I sat on the sofa in the lodge waiting for my group to leave. It wasnrsquot just any rain either it was a torrential downpour reminiscent of the rainy season and I wasnrsquot really all that happy to see it. As I sat and talked to the three tourists that would be making the journey up river with me my mind wandered to my lonely backpack the one that I had left leanin http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-416182.html By my fifth week living at Posada Amazonas I was ready for a break. The eight to ten hours I was spending on the trail every day while immensely enjoyable were taking their toll on my body. To make things worse the lumpy sagging mattress I had been sleeping on had resurrected an old pelvis injury which I had earned in a fit of stupidity during a mountaineering trip in Yosemite many years be http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-411462.html For those of you who have been following my blog you will notice a large gap. I have decided to start writing about my current travels but I will fill in the gaps as quickly as I can so stay tuned and enjoy.A quick glance through the window revealed a seemingly endless blanket of green where a few minutes before there had been huge snowcapped peaks. Just below us a wide ribbon of muddy ora http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-408782.html Greetings from Puerto Maldonado We had a very brief stay in Lima. The hostel seemed very nice though we didnt spend much time there.. arrived about 11pm and left at 8am to catch our flight to Puerto Maldonado. They served us breakfast very good eggs We met two other travelers from the US two guys who work for Motorola in New York. Adi was originally from India and Miroslav from Yugoslavia I http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-406010.html Hi allJust to let you know that we are both still very wellon the day we published the last blog post on the jaguar we returned to the lodge and saw him again on the way up This time we got half decent photos so here are some more as well as the most recent pick.Aside from that yesterday we had a very exciting morning following a herd of white lipped peccaries wild pig type things. We wa http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-403563.html Hi allWe have almost made 6 months in Peru and so are down in town on the way to Brazil to get another passport stamp. We are making a bit of a holiday out of it and have 4 whole days off accompanied by books and newspapers sent by our parents.We are fully enjoying the onset of dry season which has brought with it two new RNs George and Shelley. This has greatly changed the dynamic of the pl http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-397379.html 8th April 2009After our long trek we had a well deserved lie in. When we finally got up we headed to the highest Irish bar in the world to watch Liverpool play in The Champions League. Although the score wasn't good the food was. Today was Mike's one of the guys from the trip 30th birthday so in the evening we all returned to the Irish bar to help him celebrate. After a good night a few beers http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-396883.html We flew from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado possibly the shortest flight I've ever been on at about 25mins We were met by our latest set of guides Delford and Manuel and set off on a boat trip down the Tambopota spelt something like that... river to our jungle lodge. It was about 3 and a half hours on the boat and we saw lots of wildlife on the way cayman crocodiles including one huge one http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-395426.html Ok we're on our way in the morning. We'll post something when we get to Cuzco so that will be sometime after the 19th. We fly all day May 15th and arrive in Lima the morning of the 16th well it's 12am. We have several hours to wait for our next flight. So we're hoping to find a bench to catch a few hours of sleep.Our first four days will be spent in the Amazon Puerto Maldonado we'll be st http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-393866.html Hi allhere are some more photos including those of Chun and Shabanas visit and more beasties.hope you are all welllots of loveYaz and Jack http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-392517.html After going bird mad when Gary the birdwatcher was here a couple of weeks ago we have since changed our recent mania to herptiles reptiles and amphibians due to the arrival of a rather mental Swiss herpetologist called Conrad Mebert PHd. He is really a genetecist back home but evidently has enough money to go on a mad snake frog spree in the Neotropics catching as many things that creep as p http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-375365.html Well we are here in Lima for another camp out think we are in double digits now in this airport we ARE the GIAs hereOk were we left off was the canopy and you can see how it better fitted Andrea than Roberto That was Wednesday and then on Thursday we got up early and headed for the the Tamabopata Reservepark and hiked 5 km into it mostly through mud lots of techniques were discusssed and http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-367171.html Hola los todosAs we arrived by plane to Puerto Maldonaldo via a short trip 45 mins we quickly saw the canopy of trees covering the earth. And yes there was the RIO winding continuously throughout the jungle. We stepped off the plane expecting the slam of humidity and heat yet it wasnt that bad at all. The airport building was open air we loved that it was very small and unassumming. Ou http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-366980.html Hello againhope youre all well and enjoyed the last lot of pictures. Here are a few more pics from the selva decidedly more wildlife orientated this time with particular emphasis on frogs Tom weve been thinking of you a lot. We have been enjoying ourselves as always and have been busy clearing trails and doing other very important resident naturalist duties such as searching for caimans o http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-364782.html 18 We got up early this morning to try and see the famous clay lick that the TRC is known for. It then began pouring rain. After getting up at 345 to see them we watched the clay until the boat came back instead of the birds. That was the only rain we suffered for which were really lucky during rainy season On the walk to the clay lick we saw a tarantula which we later visted twice more. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-362461.html Were back Our jungle trip was very exciting starting on the 6th of January. Were now in Puerto Maldonado in the pouring rain so we have plenty of time to give a long account of it day by day haha. We booked our trip through Mondove.com and Rainforest Expeditions planned all of it. After speaking with a guide we learned that they form partnerships with area communities to staff and run t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-362423.html