Amazon jungle

Amazon Jungle

The last adventure on this part of my trip is the Amazon Jungle. 

We flew from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado, a flight of 35 min. I thought it would be a tiny little plane going there, but it was surprisingly an Airbus A380. 

When arriving in the jungle the heat and the humidity slaps you in the face. Phew!

We got taken to the travel providers office to repack our luggage and only bring a small bag with the essential stuff for a few days in the jungle.

After a 2-hour boat ride in a speed boat we reached our lodge. An Eco lodge.

We are four (2+2) in the bungalows. Here is running water. The water is warmed with solar panels, meaning, no sun - no hot shower. 

The bungalows has no electricity. Candles and lighters are provided. The main area; dining room, bar, reception have electricity four hours a day starting around 5.00pm. 

First evening after dinner we took a short walk in the dark. We found some insects to bugger with our torches. 

After a short (hung in the bar last night) but really good sleep it was time for an early star to explore the jungle. 

The boat took us a short distance upstream where we got off and had a walk to a lake . We again saw some insects, a small little frog, plants etc, but the best part was when our guide managed to get a tarantula out of her nest. Really cool!

During this walk the rain in the rainforest got worse and worse. By the time we got to the little lake the rain was quite heavy. From the barge on the little lake we managed to see some birds; stink bird, heron (white), kingfisher, macaw, toucan and some other small ones, most of them in a very far distance.

On the other side of the lake we took a walk to see two very big and very old trees. The rain was now so heavy it was difficult to see anything. We headed back to the barge, over the lake, cross the vegetation back to our boat, and back to the lodge. 

Before lunch we had time to dry and get a bit cleaner.

After lunch a few of us sat chilling on the porch when one of the guides came running asking us to come. There was monkeys in the trees. Small saddle  tamarinds. It was awesome to see them jumping around in the trees. 

After a while we had to leave though, because it was time to go visit one of the local fruit farms. 

It wasn't really like a farm that thought of, it was more like a piece of land looking like a forest of mixed fruit trees and plants. We got to taste most of them too.

In the evening we went for a tour on the river in the dark to try and spot caymans. Our guide was amazing. By sweeping a strong flashlight along the river banks ha managed to spot the eyes and the boat took us really close. 

It was an amazing experience to be on the river with only the stars as lights (except for the searching torch) and surrounded by the sound of the jungle. 

On return dinner was served and than some of us sat in the bar for a while before we headed back to our bungalows for a last night in the jungle.