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So again when leaving Cusco i had to pay a departure tax and to be honest im getting pissed off that im paying so much for flights and its not included and also having to pay to use bathrooms that worse than some found in Asia?, well rant over i landed at Puerto Maldonao and no gap representative and then i was met by Fernando a guide for Amazona Rainforrest and apprently they do the trip i had booked and then i saw a flash bus and i was directed to a naff one and i was thinking hey between flights and the trip this has cost me nearly 500 pounds.
The bus then went to the office and then we headed to the port to get a boat to the Lodge and we got a snack box with local juice, brazil nuts an banana chips which was cool and i then spoke to a couple on the bus and they were John and Gemma and a married couple form the UK and John is french and they have been traveling for 5 months and have 5 weeks to go and after the Amazon the were heading to Brazil and
then home, While on the bus Fernando explained the local way of life was slash and burn farming, forresty and gold mining and now eco tourism and the government are trying to encouraging less logging and multi crops instead of slash and burn.
We got to the boat and the group from the bus split to two boats and we were going to the lodge and the others to the amazon refugio. We saw turtles on the way and porters carried out bags which took the strain off us.
When we got to the lodge which was 20 mins hot sweaty walk from the port we were greeted with a wet towel and juice which was welcome and then we got shown our rooms, the rooms were lovely and were open air so no windows and then i found out our activity for the afternoon the canopy tour had been cancelled and so i then went to complain to our Guide Fernando and he said it was cause two big groups had gone there and so it seemed as i was in a small group with john,gemma, two danish ladies and a peruvian family that we were being
cast off for these bigger groups, also i was not happy as John and Gemma had paid way less than me for there tour. So id say one thing dont book with Gap and also Gemma and John had used gap for the Inka trail and said they were rubbish too.
I then had to kill several hours till dinner, then had dinner fernando then handed me a small salad plate i was veggie but did not tell me if i could have anything from the buffet such as the soup, so i had a further word with him and well things went better from then on with Fernando and he promised we would fit in the canopy tour on the third day.
We had dinner and i chatted to the Peruvian Family which was Jose,Melisa and susi and Jose is a travel guide and was having a break with his mum and sister and i spoke to the Danish ladies merte and hannah who are cousins and Hannah has lived 40 years in Peru and lives in Lima and is married to a Peruvian and has a family out here.
We said our goodnights and went
to bed and i had a shower which was cold but refreshing in the heat and 95 percent humidity and used the nice bio degradable washing stuff they had in the rooms. I then put the mossi net down and tried to sleep which was difficult at first with all the noise, but i managed in a nice double bed and then Fernando woke us up at 4am and we had breakkie at 4.30 am and it was buffett again and the was fruit and granola and pancakes etc so it was good. The lodge provides wellies and so we got wellies and headed off and Jose,Susi and Meli stayed as they were chilling, we headed in a boat to a lake and went on a cataraman and we spotted a normal and a black cayman and various types of birds and then bats and also we saw some yellow belly piranhas as these had been caught by the guides and we then headed back to shore back on the river and we spotted various birds flying over. We headed back to the lodge and had time to shower and chill and then we went to a Macaw clay lick
as they go here to line there stomachs with clay so they can eat un ripe fruit as otherwise it could do them damage we saw nothing and nearly fell asleep.
every trail we took Fernando showed us plants and wildlife and gave explanations which was cool and on the first day i saw howler monkeys and also turtles and on the second day after seeing nothing and falling asleep at the clay lick i saw more monkeys but smaller ones and a red amazon squrriell.
We headed back to the lodge after the clay lick and were offered a snack and the meat eaters got a ham sandwich and i got crackers which left me fuming as what would it take to make a cheese sandwich and the cost of the tour aswell.
We had a break and i hung out in the hammock in my room and then we all met at lunch and lunch was good and we all chatted and then we went to a local shaman and botanical garden and we got to smell and try plants and even swallow some shaman medicines which was interesting and fun.
We then headed
back and had some chill time and then we all met for dinner and i chatted to John and Gemma and found out more about them and spoke to Meli who is dating an English guy and is going to study in Barcelona. Every meal Fernando joined us and he was a cool guy and i pissed off with Gap to be honest.
The third day was an early rise again and we went to the canopy tower which 37mtrs high and we saw some parrots and a toucan and then we headed back for breakkie and i think i have never had so many showers, at least 4 a day.....lol.
After breakkie we went to the clay lick again and saw amazon pidegons and parrots and we went and saw the kapur tree which is massive and is the biggest tree in the amazon and second biggest in the world after the red wood. We saw tracks also for a peciray which is a wild pig but we did not see and we saw when insects and spiders and a chicken tarantula which grow up to 30cm in size.
Also while there i spoke to some
Canadian girls and this American father and son who run a business and did machu pichu by train. In the afternoon we went to a multi crop farm, this is were they have many crops which return the nutrients and can be continued to be farmed and so no need to slash and burn more fields.
In the evening a few of us went out on a night trek after dinner and spotted stick insects and toads etc and it was fun and we hung out together and meli got our facebook details. The morning was a 6.30am lie in but i was up way before that and i have now developed a cough and saw throat.
We had breakkie and then a boat to the port and at the office the group said goodbye to John and Gemma as they were getting a collectivo to the Brazillan border, a collectivo is a latin american taxi.
At the airport i said goodbye to fernando and to meli and her family and i flew on the same flight as Merte and Hannah so chatted with them to the flight, again at the airport the was another airport tax
and when i got to cusco i got a taxi to the loki and went to an agent and got a cama bus ticket to La Paz which leaves at 10pm tonight and until then im waiting on my washing and hanging out in the Loki to kill time.
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