Amazon Jungle

March 12, 2014, back to Lima after our Amazon experienceFlew to Puerto Maldonado from Cusco, picked up by G, repacked luggage at storage spot and only took a small duffel with our things for three days. Here is our picnic lunch for the boat on the road to the river. It included a hot chicken dinner and dessert.

Boats waiting for us

This road on the way home was gumbo after a night's rain and was like driving on ice

Unloading duffels

That's our boat. They had huge floods two weeks ago which washed away a lot of the river bank and vegetation as well as all the stairs and ramps, rather precarious getting down to the yacht!

Other lodges had their guests arrive on the same plane

OK, show me some wild life

That flood caused a lot of damage

A capabarra, an overgrown rat!

More flood damage

Check point. We all had to get checked in to the park, half way to the lodge, sign in and register our passport number.

Ready for our first night walk in the jungle

Saw lots of interesting bugs

and fortunately, no snakes or jaugars

gotta love the boots~

our home

and our neighbor Ash

Next morning 6 am, ready for a five hour outing

Two capabarras on the opposite bank this morning.

cocoa bean with all the seeds inside

more mud

Penis root tree

Our war paint, Jo did this to us, have some on my capris as a permanent reminder, thanks Jo

Leaf cutter community. These guys can strip a tree in a day

are you sure there are no anacondas?

The inside of an ironwood tree which has been strangled by the strangler fig

Tarazan tries the vines but whines about sore arm muscles the next day

you should see what I see

an incredible palm canopy

The much larger group need a bigger boat

But the five of us have Josmell, take us home now

He insisted on a different trail back

with mud  everywhere

so that he could show us his pet tarantula!

which he lured out of a hole in the ground with a whistle and a stick

Our bedroom with optional mosquito nets for the beds, I know the bed was not made yet this morning

Next night experience.. caymen hunting on the river, found four

This little guy was invited on board

Nice smile

Farewell the next morning, boat to the van had water in the gas tank when he switched tanks so we floated for a while. The one and a half hour trip took two hours, a van ride in the gumbo for 40 minutes, a repack of our luggage in Peurto Maldonado and a flight to a Cusco stop, then Lima.

Picked up Olly in Cusco and met by Lindsay in Lima then dinner with Tom, Laura, Helen, Ingrid and Ash in Miraflores, at Larco Mar to enjoy the sunset in the ocean before sending everyone off in different directions.

Ash to Galapagos, Tom and Laura to Costa Rica, Olly to New York, Helen and Ingrid home to Norway.

Thanks for being such wonderful travel companions for the last 13 days.

We have one more week in Peru and fly to Vancouver March 22. It has been an eye opening, exciting winter.

I cannot say enough about the G Adventure company, based out of Toronto, is the most organized, focus on detail tour company we had ever used. These two tours in South America have made travel so easy and comfortable, relaxing to know our every need will be met. At no time did I hear a complaint from any of the fellow travelers.In addition, their involvement in Planterra warms my heart.

Will definitely use this company in future travels.

meanwhile, here in Lima, we were to go to a resort in the hills for a week of bike riding and chill time but once again, Mother Nature had a different idea. two weeks ago, coming in to the end of the wet season, some real issues happened on the 65km dirt road.

At km 22, I felt sure that our private car driver's car was going to fall apart so we asked him to take us back to Miraflores, where we have settled very nicely back into our original Hotel Castellana for the week.

RCI was gracious in returning our time and money back to our bank so all is well.

being very lazy!! Breakfast included at the hotel, morning walk to the beach, 12 minutes away, lunch by the seaside, walk to the lovely mercado but no more room for purchases, and a lazy afternoon. At six, head to Larco Mar for sunset and evening spent visiting with fellow travelers coming or going from the Inca Trail, four folks from Saskatchewan today as well as folks from Denmark, Australia and UK, all with different reasons for doing the trek, most interesting.

As we wind down and reflect on winter experiences, we once again realize how very fortunate we are but do truly miss the family and close friends. Thank goodness for Skype and wifi  but the hugs don't feel quite the same!!

See everyone over the summer. God Bless.