The last major stop on my two week trip was the Amazon. I honestly did not know what to expect but I will admit I was a little nervous. I was primarily scared about the animals, insects and heat. I flew a quick 45 minute flight from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado. When I landed I was immediately hit by the heat and humidity. A taxi collected me and took be to a dock about 20 minutes away. The boat I was traveling an hour and half up the Madre de Dios River was surprisingly (scarily!!!!) small and simple.

I arrived at the lodge without incident (whew) and had lunch. The chef focused on Amazonian fare and it was simple but tasty. I was concerned to learn that we had no electricity, hot water or internet…okay maybe we really were in the jungle. My “hut” was clean and ample with no windows (just screens) and lots of mosquitos. I will admit it was quaint but I did question what exactly I had signed up for. After lunch we did a jungle walk. There were tons of interesting plants and trees, lots of birds singing and screeching and, of course, plenty of tarantulas.

After dark, we got back into the boat to do a night tour of the shores of the river. We saw several Caiman (alligator family) which were black and white. I have to say I am glad we did not see anything else! At night the jungle is even louder than during the day. And the jungle “talks” all night long with so many different sounds. Also the fauna drops leaves (or ?) all night long, as I heard it on my thatched roof throughout the night. Not having windows means you are truly in the middle of the jungle as an active participant. I truly cannot describe it and wish I had recorded it. It was also pitch black.

The next morning after a delicious breakfast, we took the boat an hour downriver to the Tambopata National Reserve. After entering the reserve we walked a path about 45 minutes to the entry point of Lake Sandoval where we got into a paddle boat. The lake is quite large and lush with trees and palm trees. We saw tons of birds, bugs and squirrel monkeys and more Caiman. As beautiful as it was, I was nervous. There were five of us in this paddle boat and one wrong move and we would be dumped into the lake which was full of fish and more importantly, piranha. After two hours in the boat, it started pouring…it is the rainy season in the jungle after all and we were pretty lucky that it didn’t rain at all the previous day.

The rain was relentless and so we pulled to the shore where there were some random steps. After an uphill climb, we landed at a home/bar/restaurant where we were going to eat our lunch. And then about another hour and half of pouring rain, which we decided to wait out. The paddle boat was filled with rainwater when we got back to it. Nine hours on this adventure was plenty and a cold shower when finally getting back to the lodge was pretty welcomed! The entire evening and next morning it poured, thundered and lightning lit up the sky and it was a long boat ride back to the dock in Puerto Maldonado. But I made it and had a quick hour and half plane ride back to my last night in Lima.