Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Back in Cusco again, this time after an Expedition into the Amazon Jungle in the Tambopata reserve near Puerto Maldonado. We started out with flying to Puerto Maldonado, which is a small Peruvian town near the Bolivian boarder. The main industry there is gold digging in the rivers and jungles around the city and we did leater see some gold digging boats, but we did not try our luck as gold dealers even though the guide book wrote that one could get gold for a good price when the local banks sometimes ran out of cash.
We then sailed about 4 hours up the river to the Refugio Amazonas lodge to get our first taste of the jungle. The sailing trip was longer than planned because part of the roads were flooded by the rains and we only arrived at the lodge after it was dark. Here we quickly got a taste of what was to come whn our guide pointed out a Scorpion Spider in one of the hollow logs beside the trail leading to the lodge... It was about 15 cm across with long legs and a huge body... Then we got to the lodge where we got a nice dinner before seeing our rooms where we found that the speciality of our tour company was to let you get close to the jungle and to ensure this all their rooms were build with only 3 walls the 4th was completely open to the jungle also they did not use doors so all door openings were just closed with white drapes. At least the houses and paths between them were built on stilts and raised 1 m above the jungle floor where you could see countless lizards running around chasing fireflies. Otherwise the lodge was far
more luxurious than we had expected. It was buildt with beautiful mahogany floors, a bar and bathrooms that looked as if they had been designed by a scandinavian designer for a good hotel. It was almost all lit by petrolium lamps and candles which gave it all a very magical atmosphere.
Early in the morning the next day we went to a tall loockout tower where we could overlook the jungle and see Tucans, Macaws (Ara Parots) and many other birds, on the walk we also saw the first small Tamarind monkeys from the jungle. I did however feel a little bit cheated that I could not buy Guniss beer there, now when I finally were at a place where there were actually wld Tucans. Later we took the boat 5 hours further into the jungle to the Tambopata Research Center inside the Tambopata reserve itself where we stayed for two full days. There I managed to see all the seven monkey species they had in the reseve as well as wild jungle pigs, Capivara (giant guinea pigs) and wild jungle pigs. We also went to the biggest known Macaw clay lick which was close by where we saw the macaw Parots comming to eat clay. It is not excactly clear why the macaws eat clay but it is related to them needing some of the minerals that the clay contains and is something that also many of the mammals of the area does.
We also had plenty of oppertunity to see the macaws up close because there was a Macaw preservation project running from the lodge which involved hand raising some Macaw chicks which otherwise would not have survivied in the wild. Some of the chicks which had been raised previously kept comming back to the lodge even though they had found wild mates and otherwise integrated with nature. The reason they came back was because there was food so at breakfast and luch one also had to be very observant or risk a wild Macaw sudenly swooping down and grappimg the food on your plate. The Macaws would also go through all the rooms every day to check if there was any food hidden there, opening backpacks to get it if they had to. One very quickly got used to looking around suspiciously when the sound of Macaw wings was heard. The 5th day we saile back to the Refugio Amazonas lodge, which in comparison to the real jungle now felt almost as civilization later in the day we saw one of the local fruit farms, but otherwise we mainly relaxed. The 6th day we took the boat back to Maldonado where we stayed for the night and saw a bit of the city before flying back to Cusco yesterday.
Altogether I think it was a great trip and I think even Lara ended up enjoying it after acepting the jungle after the first couple of days. We did not get terribly eaten by masquitoes even tough we did get some bites despite constant application of mosquito repellant. However the jungle was very warm and humid and it rained frequently so I did not mind getting bck to the cool and clear mountain air. Even though I dod feel that I have to readapt a bit to the altitude after returning to Cusco.
I plan to stay here in Cusco a few days and Have already met one of the guys I trekked with in the Colca canyon at the hostel and one of my friends from Lima on the street and Hallie who lived with my family in Lima might also be comming here tomorrow.
- comments