Blogs from Madre de Dios, Peru, South America - page 18

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As Rod saw it, we were practically obliged to go to the Jungle on the basis that “we’re never going to get to go to the Amazon basin again”. That was true, but I wasn’t convinced that it was a good enough reason to put myself at the mercy of tarantulas, anacondas, snakes, piranhas and…..well, you get the idea. Eventually, though, we agreed to a 3 day trip to a Jungle Lodge in the Tambopata Reserve. Day 1. After a half hour flight from Cusco to Puerto Maldonaldo we met our group while we waited for our Guide. Jenny, Shane and Kev were all from Melbourne, Australia and on various South American itineraries and they’d met Hannah (from Worcester) on the Inca Trail…another good group! Our guide was Sonia, a 23 year old training to be ... read more
It's Willie!
The resident tarantula
So much for being the "dry" season!


...the mighty jungle, you´ll hardly sleep tonight! Yes, it was big, it was green, it buzzed with life (mainly insects), it offered opportunities to see a plethora of wildlife, it was hot, it was sticky, at times it was damn scarey but over and above anything else, it was a fantastic experience that won´t be forgotten in a hurry (in fact I´ve still got mosy bites to remind me!). Our first jungle experience started from the town of Puerto Maldonado on the confluence of the Madre de Dios and Tambopata rivers, in the heart of the Peruvian rainforest. The airstrip was a fine slither of tarmac surrounded by lush vegetation welcoming us in and signalling the end of everything that is "urban". A young guidess named Rocio greeted us and gave us the rundown of events ... read more
Boat to the Lodge
Bananas on the Move
The Main Lodge


Hey everyone, we hope you´re all well and enjoying our regular updates. Here´s the latest from Peru....... Day 50 of 180 and we arrived in Puerto Maldonaldo, the gateway to the Amazon Rainforest!!! Arriving at our lodgings we were pleasantly surprised - porchside hammocks, warm showers and mosquitos nets protecting us from the ever increasing termite nest and solitary cockraoch..... Anyway, to the jungle itself. There were many fascinating walks and long-boat rides throughout the 3 days that took us to within touching distance of birds (particularly parrots), butterflies, caymans, piranhas and lizards, but the highlight was watching hundreds of monkeys swinging from tree to tree a la Tarzan!! A real ´getting back to nature´experience with more David Attenborough moments.... After arriving back in Cusco we headed onto Arequipa, the stop-off town for the Colca canyon ... read more
Our Jungle Lodgings
Sunset over the Amazon
Condor Approaching


Where to even begin?! First off, thanks to all for the birthday wishes!! I got all your emails and ecards and the like and really appreciated every thought and well-wish, etc. I had a fabulous birthday, but I´ll get to that in a minute as, in order to be consistent, I need to try and at least pick up where my last blog left off. So, when we last met, I had just gotten back from Machu Picchu (still not over that one!) and was back in Cuzco on the night of 26 March. Monday the 27th began pretty much like any other day with nothing specific on the agenda. I was up much earlier than Nancy, as per usual, and after a shower decided to go for a walk and find some breakfast. I figured ... read more
Some of the Bungalows
Inside the Bungalow
Inside a Strangler Fig

South America » Peru » Madre de Dios » Puerto Maldonado December 18th 2005

Day 35 and 36 Another early one and a flight later we were in Puerto Maldonado, the start of our jungle adventure. We were taken by (a rather rocky) motorised canoe deep into the Amazon Rainforest to a beautiful lodge. After lunch and a snooze in our own private hammocks, we crossed the river to Monkey Island. As its name suggests, it is an island where monkeys live!! We went for a hike through the jungle and were lucky enough to see several types of monkeys, including a cute mummy one with a baby on her back. Our guide had some bananas and called they came down from the trees so we got really close to them. The humidity in the jungle was pretty high so once we were back at the lodge we dived into ... read more
Roughing it in a paradise lodge
Anaconda
View from the top


by tim Hi everyone we hope you are still well even though those of you in the UK are probably cold, never mind suckers. In Cusco our group was joined by three more people Chris( london) his wife Gigi (italian) and Gigi´s friend Ciara (italian). We flew to Puerto Maldanado in the Peruvian Amazon. A really neat 2hr canoe trip down the Tambopata river delivered us to our lodge. This was the part of the trip I had been dreading the most. I hate spiders, snakes, bugs that fly and anything that bites. Come to think of it I don´t like anything that might hurt me. All in all its fair to say the Amazon was´nt going to be a highlight. The first night there the guide suggested we take a night hike into the jungle. ... read more
caroline and wally
some of the group
jumping spider

South America » Peru » Madre de Dios » Puerto Maldonado November 26th 2005

we had a 2 day excursion into the heart of the amazon jungle.... read more
jungle 2
jungle 3
monkey island


I’ve had an urge to go to the Amazon Jungle over the past several years, and I finally got there. It was everything I had imagined: hot, wet, dense, and teeming with strange and dangerous wildlife. Our introduction was provided by a very capable team, Laurel and Pico at the Picaflor Research Centre. Picaflor recently became an official “Concecion Conservacion” - a plot of semi-park land. It is a project in sustainable forest management and a venue for academic projects. Laurel and Pico are an Anglo-Peruvian couple, and they have a small boy named Piquito. Laurel is a PhD biologist and Pico is a lifelong forest resident/brazil nut harvester. We recommend Picaflor highly. The food was great. Being a “volunteer” at Picaflor includes three hours of work daily (in return for the quite cheap lodging). They ... read more
A Bug
Picaflor
Another Bug

South America » Peru » Madre de Dios » Puerto Maldonado October 24th 2005

Here we are in Puerto Maldonado, the Jungle, Peru. It took us 33 hours to get from Cuzco where the air is cold and thin, to this place where we’re 200m above sea level and the humidity is at least 100 percent. The bus from Cuzco left at 3pm on Saturday and was supposed to take 27 hours. Mike had a comical lack of leg room. The lady sitting behind me was extremely drunk and also very upset and got in a shouting match with some guy trying to sell motivational pamphlets. She proceeded to sing out loud and wave her arms out the window pretty much the whole way. She hit us on the head several times while she was flailing, and was kicked off briefly but returned much to our chagrin. Also along for ... read more
The "Drive Shaft"
Bus getting towed
Tha Jungle


September 2, 2005 We are picked up at the airport and shuttled to the lodge´s office. We are awaiting others for the 2 hour commute to the lodge so we head into town to buy some snacks at the market. I get separated from Dan and our guide while they buy flip flops. They are both amazed at how I can be the only white girl in all of Peru and still manage to disappear so well. We take a 45 minute bus ride then a 45 minute boat ride to our lodge in the middle of the rain forest. We see caiman (baby alligators) and toucans along the way. The water is infested with piranhas. Guess we won´t be doing alot of swimming here. We are served lunch on the boat which is more like ... read more




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