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Published: June 21st 2010
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Boatride Out
To get to where we were going, it was a boat ride.... Well, we're back from the jungle and no one was eaten by jaguars or caymans so we're good!
The trip was fun. We did it through the hostel (Tambotata hostel in Puerto Maldonado). Because there were 7 of us on the tour, it cost us less and we were able to do the whole thing for about $150. This included transportation, lodging for 2 nights, ALL meals for 3 days, and our guide/tours. About $50/day and totally worth it considering how well they fed us and all the things we got to do!
On the first morning, we all woke up and enjoyed breakfast at the hostel together. It was bread and jam but ALSO an egg and fruit salad with yogurt! Then we walked about 5 minutes down to the dock where we caught a boat with a slow motor that took us out onto the Madre de Dios river. From there it was about 45 minutes to a place where we got off and walked. We then hiked through the jungle for about 2.5kms (with our bags, that were feeling heavy due to carrying a 2.5L bottle of water each as things are not easy to come
Hiking
...then a hike... by in the jungle!).
We then got to a dock where we all boarded a canoe-type boat and off we went into the jungle. About 2 minutes in we see this HUGE snake sunbathing and all think it's way too perfectly placed and too "on the path" for it to be real. We all joked that Johnny (our guide for 2 days) must have put it there. Well, we were wrong. After some pokes from a stick, it moved slighty (apparently in a food-coma) and we were all impressed.
We eventually came out on the lake which is beautiful. We then made our way around and ended at the lodge. The lodge is owned by a local family. It was nothing too special but great for what we needed. We were all split up into doubles and given our rooms. The rooms were cabins made from wood and two rooms shared a larger cabin separated only by a thin/short wall that didn't go all the way to the ceiling. We each had a foam matress on a wood bed with a mosquito net. We all kept commenting on how much we felt like we were at summer camp.
Boating
... then another boat After that we had lunch. Lunch was rice and chicken wrapped in banana leaves. It was delicious. We just unwrapped our banana leaf package and there was our meal; easy cleanup too! After lunch we had a siesta. Each day after any meal is downtime, plus it's too hot to do anything midafternoon. A bunch of us played cards (we all got REALLY got at the game "president" by the end of our weekend).
Our afternoon was then spent out on the boat on the lake. We went looking for the family of about 6 river otters that live out there but weren't able to find them. We also went fishing (despite the rule that you're not supposed to) and were trying to catch piranhas. One of the guys caught one so we were all about to hold it and get our photos. We also saw a great sunset from the middle of the lake though, and then once it got dark we went spying for caymans. That was fun. In the dark, their eyes glow red when they are hit with your flashlight. We spotted tons and then Johnny even caught a baby one for us and
brought it all into the boat. I of course wanted to say I'd held a baby cayman so I got my photo taken with it before we put it back in the water. We got back to camp around 7pm and had dinner - soup, chicken, rice, and veggies. GREAT food.
The next day we woke up and were out on the trail hiking by 5:45am. The sun came up as we hiked out to a spot to watch a bunch of macaws feeding from dead trees. Apparently they suck the minerals up through the trees. We saw quite a few, although none came super close. We then hiked back for breakfast of eggs, toast, tomatoes, and potato wedges.
After our morning siesta (more cards), we went hiking in the jungle more (we did TONS of hiking this trip). We saw lots of monkeys, cool trees, and cool insects. Got lots of photos too. Lunch was a huge portion of pasta with chicken. Like I said, the people who run the place fed us so well (well, most of us: poor Sarah was feeling sick again and didn't eat much).
After our afternoon siesta, we were back
on the lake to seach for the otters. We never did find them but thought we did when we saw something jumping in the water. Apparently just fish, although Johnny said it also could have been an anaconda.
We watched the sunset from a high tower in the forest. GREAT photos yet again. Sitting on the lake in the boat with such an amazing view was fantastic. The colours of the sky were so pretty and we loved seeing all the stars. I have now seen the Southern Cross and the Big Dipper upside-down! Beautiful. We then did a little more cayman searching before heading back to our lodge.
Dinner was fantastic again of course and then we all decided (minus Sarah who needed to rest) to hike back to another (fancier) lodge we had seen while hiking that day to get some drinks and play some more cards. We met some really cool people on this trip and were glad we were able to do it with them.
Today was another early (not AS early) morning and then a 5km hike back to the main river. We ate breakfast (tamales and hardboiled eggs!) in the boat
First Cayman Sighting
See his red glowing eyes? on our way to a conservation area. This place was cool. At this spot we hiked lots more, climbed a great suspension rope bridge and saw some animals that had been injured or abused by locals that were in a zoo-type rehab place. The bridge was cool. It was a lot more like what you would expect a "hanging bridge" to look like. I had been on some in Costa Rica with Walter over Christmas, but they were well built structures that didn't move or sway or anything--totally solid structures. Estelle and I had been to one in Collingwood too that we were somewhat disappointed with. Well, today I was not disappointed. This bridge was narrow and built with ropes. It was swinging and wobbly and totally hanging over the jungle. At the end you have to climb the bridge upwards towards a ladder that climbs up into the highest tree: a Kepok (spelling?) tree. It's like a little treefort at the end.
The "rehabilitation section was cool but also questionable. We had heard it was for injured animals or ones that were being sold on the black market, etc. We heard they kept the adults who couldn't be
Hollywood Palms
These trees reminded me of the ones you see on TV shows for Hollywood, lining the streets ;) reintroduced into the wild, for breeding. and that the babies would be reintroduced. When we got there it was more like a zoo. We saw a janguar (beautiful!) who was 8 and had been there since a cub. Shouldn't she be getting back to the wild? Johnny told us the place wouldn't be a business without the jaguar. That made us kind of sad but I guess he was right. We also saw tapurs, monkeys and birds. Cool visit. We ate lunch there before getting back in the boat and heading here.
We're now back in Puerto Maldonado. Our flight to Lima is tomorrow and then looking forward to seing some friends from when I worked on the cruise ship (who live in Lima and are home right now!)
Wrapping things up... will be sad (and happy at the same time) to head back.
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