Peru Trip

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November 10, 11 & 12 - The Amazon

Tuesday November 10, 2009 - Day 1

Leaving Cusco for the last time, my weary legs from the 4 previous days manage to carry me to the local airport where we boarded a plane and transported to a small town by the name of Puerto Maldnado where we will then took a mini-bus to the riverboat - via the office of the tour company where the bulk of our luggage was stored so we all had to pack what we wanted into our much smaller packs (a much harder task for the girls I think!).

The flight into Puerto Maldonado was pretty standard as flights go; that is until the outer edges of the jungle came into sight and the scattering of trees quickly 'grew'and became the dense, lush, very green and seemingly endless vast canopy of the Amazon Jungle. Sitting by the window, I had a prime view of the green below and then like a snaking trail of milo or chocolate milk, the river intersected and wound it's way through the mass of trees, shrubs and other foliage.

The river was lighter than I had seen in photos as recent rain had flooded the river with topsoil changing the colour but also filling it with debris - logs, branches, half-eaten tourists that an anaconda couldn't, or didn't want to, finish. That sort of stuff. It made for an intersting trip upstream as we traversed the river darting from one bank to the next or finding a clear path in the middle of the wide waterway in which we could chug along undeterred.

Taking in the scenery as we sat sideways on the long narrow boat, we were handed a banana leaf that contained our lunch - a fried rice type meal which didn't quite say 'jungle'to me but hey, when in the Amazon... As we ate we were told that once finished, our organic flatware could simply be thrown into the river, appeasing the many fish hidden beneath the murky surface no doubt.

Every so often someone would spot a moving branch or hear a squeak or squawk that would cause us all to turn our heads - moving our body weight too suddenly and/or too far would see the boats balance shift too much for the boatman to counteract, potentially sending us for a swim and with piranhas and an array of mites and unknown organisms that could swim into a certain 'passage', I wanted to ensure I stayed out of the water!

Though really wanting to see a sloth, we only managed a turtle, a few macaws, a monkey and some vultures on the journey to "Amazonas Posadas ". The jungle lodge was to be our home for the next few days and being situated in a 30 minute walk from the river, we were truly deep within the dense, humid and surprisingly silent forest.

After checking out our rooms - very open with a wall that was more like a blacony, overlooking the jungle - I had renewed hope of catching sight of the slow moving mammal. Expressing my desire to see a sloth to our guide, Alejandra, on our dusk walk to a nearby canopy tower, she dashed my hopes once more saying that in her two years in the jungle, she had only ever seen a sloth twice - once was in Puerto Maldonado climbing down a power pole in the rain. Still, there was a chance however small...

Our walk to the tower had to be brisk as the sunset happened sooner beneath the canopy but we still stopped along the way when we caught sight of a moving green path adjacent to our own. Clearing a path through the forest debris, regular size ants in their thousands were scurrying along carrying portions of leaves to the many burrows and nests along the ant highway. Looking along the path, the moving green leaves went back to a unknown source, disappearing amongst the vines, shrubs and tree trunks.

The view from atop the 37 metre tall tower was amazing - the light above the canopy, even though it was nearing sunset, was much brighter than below the tree tops that we were looking down on. I managed to capture a photo of the sun setting behind a very broad tree sitting on the horizon which I have to say, is pretty darn good!

The jungle sounds increase as the light dimmed and donning head my head mounted torch like an underground miner, we started our walk back to the lodge. Kim mentioned that she was seeing white spots not long into our return walk and after ruling out a stroke, we realised that she was seeing fireflies darting in and out of the vines, leaves and branches that grew over or very near to the path.

One of the blue/green bugs landed on my shirt and on close inspection, I noticed that the 'light' was only seen on a certain angle. Wanting to get a closer look at the firefly, I went to manoevoure my shirt when I squashed it - sorry, SCARED it, causing it to fly off into the growing darkness around us. The numbers seemed to grow at one stage, causing us to turn off our torches and see the fast moving lights buzzing around us - it was pretty surreal and cool to see.

On returning to the lodge and after a cold shower (the bathroom too had a wall that overlooked the jungle - luckily, there were no rooms on the other side looking in!), we had a really nice buffet dinner by candlelights and kerosene lamps - no TV's or radio reception here!

After managing to get underneath the tightly secured mosquito net and into my bed, I fell asleep easier than I thought given the many, many bugs that could fly in with the 'open' wall and curtains for doors. Oh well, it's the jungle and I was under a net, surely I'd be safe from any tarantulas that might make their way into my room....


Wednesday November 11 - Day 2

With a planned early start to go bird watching - specifically, Macaus and Tucans - I awoke early (about 5am) to the sound of rain, jungle rain! Knowing that the trip would be cancelled, I lay awake for a while underneath the protection of my mosquito net, watching the gathering of bugs on top crawl and creep across the white mesh as the sound of the rain affected jungle made it's way through the open side of the room.

Being impatient and eager to see what animals might be out in the rain, I crawl beneath the net and go for a walk around the raised platform decks between the huts, taking some photos and trying to spot a monkey, a bird, an anaconda - ANYTHING that I could snap a photo of that nobody else would get given they were still sleeping (no doubt the sound of the rain helping in keeping the others soothed and relaxed!) - everything is a competition, right?!

Unfortunately, nothing of any significance surfaced so I ended up taking a few rainy scenic shots - still pretty nice pics! After an hour or so and with hunger starting to surface, I meandered my way to the dining hall where a bountiful breakfast buffet awaitied - fresh fruits and cereals but most importantly, coffee!!

With the rain subsiding and stopping, we were able to still do the second planned activity - a trip to a nearby jungle garden tended to by a Charman or jungle doctor. A short boat ride downstream showed the recent rainfall had washed the river clean of the debris from the day before and the increased flow of the river ensured a speedy trip to our destination.

The jungle garden was pretty indistinguishable from the jungle proper apart from the signs showing the names of certain plants used in treating a gammit of ailments - bites, antiseptics and some you wouldn't think of! After a tour of the garden where there was a strong smell of garlic from broken tree branches, we came upon the Charman's shack where he proceeded to gather a selection of three potions we were soon asked to sample - but not before a description of each one....

The three potions were -
1. An anti-cancer treatment; sampled
2. An Amazonian "Red Bull"/ energy drink - sampled
3. "Pare Pare" which is alleged to provide the same benefit to men as Viagra - "Pare"means STOP in Spanish with "Pare Pare"the phrase allegedly what the women shouted to their male partners after they drank the potion!

Returning to the Jungle Lodge for a buffet lunch, a few of us take part in a few rounds of Uno, which following the Inca Trail, had become a highly contested game amongst the group. Taking in a brief walk before our next trip, we spot a few Tucans overhead and try to stealthily approach some Howler Monkeys we can hear in the tree tops somewhere... we spot about three or four of them nearing the path down to the river but they were somwhat quiet for 'howlers'.

The afternoon activity was a trip to a lake that was formerly part of the river but had been 'eroded away' and had become a banana shaped lake - black and still, in stark contrast to the muddy brown, fast flowing river it once was joined to.

From deboarding one boat, we got onto a raft and were paddled out to a section of the river where the piranhas were said to be biting - perfect as we were planning to fish for them (purely catch and release of course). Though I tried, I was unable to snare a fish, instead feeding them chunks of meat. Though Megan and Stephen both managed to get themselves a snappy little bugger each - they really do have sharp and plentiful rows of teeth!

As the sun set over the black lake where alligators once swam, we were paddled back to the track that would lead to the motor powered boat which would then take us back to the lodge where we could shower and change out of the sweaty clothes, unable to dry in the humid air beneath the canopy of the jungle.

Deboarding the boat and walking back to the lodge in the hazy undergrowth, we were hastily shusshed as a few Howler Monkeys leapt from branch to branch and tree to tree as we stood beneath them hoping to avoid any bodily waste that gravity would send our way... With the darkness encompassing us, we retreated to the lodge for dinner - the last night in the jungle and a marker for the tour as a whole nearing it's completion. We head back to Lima tomorrow and for one last dinner together before we head off at different times and for varying locations...

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