Peruvian Amazon to Sacrd Valley

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The trip to Puerto Maldonado and ultimately Reserva Amazonica was again smooth. Contours Travel are really coming through on admin. Nice cabin in the jungle, and excursions started with a jungle walk. I crashed and Pete and Chris went on a dusk river cruise and Chris filled her ambition to see a family of capybaras in the wild. Also spotted some caimans. The following day saw a trek thru the jungle and a canoe on Lake Sandoval trying to spot wildlife. Day was completed with a visit to a local family but we believe that it was more showbiz than reality. Overall stay in the jungle was very good - and I did manage to have a snake slither by with a frog in its mouth, but I was surprisingly untroubled. The other highlights would have been the visit by a tapir and a sloth up a tree! Plethora also of very attractive butterflies.
Midday flight to Cusco and the delights of altitude management, but so far so good for the three of us - although others have been troubled. Mild headaches so far for us. In a whirlwind day and a half we have seen the markets in Pisac, a cameloid farm, a weaving demo, a visit to an archaeological site in Moray (google it), some Inca salt works creating salt from mountain streams, and the Inca ruins at Ollantaytambo. Big push to climb those so early in acclimatisation to altitude, but we each got there. About half the group reneged. Train to Macchu Picchu tomorrow, and we are looking forward to our fist ‘day off’. All great so far, and Peter remains thrilled with his camera.

Pete here, just to add a little spice to a great trip. It’s hard to believe we’ve been travelling only a week. We enjoyed a magnificent Peruvian wood fired pizza in the Inca Valley today, washed down with a quiet beer. The altitude takes a bit of getting used to and we seemed like a group of sloth trying to walk uphill.

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Comments

[Mandy]

Camera
Oh, da, forgot to mention, we bought a new camera today. Is pretty nifty - Canon IXUS 970IS. We have 4 weeks to work out how it can be so different from our previous IXUS (although i concede that the other one is 6 yrs old!). Have fun... ADxx

[Tim]

Pottery
Ok I'll bite - it looks as though its a jug of some sort given it has a handle yes??? And the water looks amazing - good enough to ski on but I'm thinking the caimans might have a bit to say about that. Keep the photos coming - looking forward to seeing the next batch from macchu picchu!

[John]

A new member of the tribe... Owen James
Just to let you know that Ged had a baby boy, Owen James, on Saturday. After almost a week of hard labour I think she thinks three is enough! Yes the pottery is something else isn't it!! After that climb to 11,000 feet I imagine a cool beer was the only thing on the mind on the way down. Keep the pictures and commentary coming, it's great to see what you are up to. John

[Marilyn]

Where has that week and a bit gone? Looks very interesting. Can't wait to see the dvd version with commentry when you get home. Alls well here. Love to you All xxxMer