Well, I figured better late than Never…… Here’s the final
instalment of our travels in Peru!
On Sunday April 15, 2012 we boarded a plan at the Cuzco
Airport to begin our journey to the Amazon Rainforest! After a quick 35min
flight we landed in Puerto Maldonado, the capital city in the Peruvian
Rainforest. The heat and humidity was crazy after spending weeks in the fairly
cool highlands. 35c and 90% humidity! It was nice to see the sun though!
Once we re-packed our bags for our jungle excursion we loaded on a bus and drove for an hour down a dirt road into the heart of the Jungle and to the shores of the Tambopata River. The bus drive was something else, full of mudvholes and sketchy bridges where we had to get off the bus and walk across as to not overload them.
Once we re-packed our bags for our jungle excursion we loaded on a bus and drove for an hour down a dirt road into the heart of the Jungle and to the shores of the Tambopata River. The bus drive was something else, full of mudvholes and sketchy bridges where we had to get off the bus and walk across as to not overload them.
Once we reached the river we boarded a river boat where we
had a picnic lunch during our 2.5 hour trip upstream to Tambopata EcoLodge,
located in the Tambopata National Reserve Forest. Along the way the animal
sightings started immediately. We say Macaws, red Monkeys, Caimans and Capybaras (aka giant
swimming river rats). 
Once we arrived at the lodge we were shown to our very own
jungle bungalows lit by candels and with mesh walls so that you can hear the
animal and jungle sounds at night.
They were very cool! We quickly picked out some gum boots and headlamps
and headed out for a nightwalk. It was
cool, but a bit creepy hiking through the jungle at night. We say all kinds of
big spiders and bugs. We stopped once and turned out our lights to listen to the animals scurrying about. It was sooo dark and there was so much life hiding out there in the bush; it was crazy! After our walk we had a tasty dinner and dessert back in the lodge before heading to bed for an early morning.
The next morning after a 5am wakeup call and a fruit filled breakfast
we headed out for a jungle walk. Once
again we were outfitted in gum boots for some sloshing around though huge mud
bogs along the trail. Along the hike we saw a HUGE tarantula, lots of birds and
wild pigs.At the end of the trail we came to an oxbow lake where we paddled
around to see bats, piranhas, monkeys, vultures and lots more birds. We also saw some huge trees along the way
that we could climb into and take turn at climbing some jungle vines.
After the walk we came back to the lodge for a swim in the river, but it was too flooded to safely swim unfortunately, and a rest in the hammocks while we waited for a yummy chicken lunch.
After lunch we explored around the Lodge and saw lots of monkeys and a jungle racoon type animal. Later that day we boated down to a fruit farm where we tasted lots of fresh tropical fruits and explored the orchards. That night we went out in the boat in the dark to look for caimans by spot light before retiring to the pub for drinks and dinner.
On April 17 we had our final breakfast in the Jungle before
b beginning the journey back to Lima to end our Peru adventure. It took us the
better part of the day to get to Lima from the Lodge starting with a river
boat, then the dirt road bus (which got stuck in the mud for almost an hour
before we managed to pull it out!), then a flight to Lima and another bus to
our hotel. After we checked into our hotel we all went for a nice steak dinner
at a great restaurant called Panchita, where we enjoyed everyone’s company for
one last night and said our goodbyes to our travel group.
Mike, Dave and Debbie and I spent the next 3 days in Lima
exploring the city before heading home from our trip. While in Lima we went to
the Plaza de Armas to see the changing of the guard and the esquisite wood
patios, we went to San Francisco Monastery to see the art and wood carvings
from the 1500s plus the creepy catacombs full of human skeletons, we explored
the Miraflores neighbourhood with its beautiful parks and tasty happy hours and
we hung out in the diners off Larco street.Mike and I also did a half day walking tour where we explored the seaside parks, drove around and saw the fancy houses and olive trees in Lime, checked out the old city wall, the post office plaza, explored downtown, Chinatown and the Santa Domingo Monastery. After our tour we had a great lunch at a diner near Kennedy park and spent the afternoon shopping for souvenirs and exploring the local markets before a seaside dinner overlooking the ocean cliffs at sunset.
On April 20 we enjoyed our final day in Peru exploring the Barranco
area of Lima before heading to the airport for our 30hr journey home from our excellent
South American Adventure.
