With the USA leg of our trip behind us, we were on our way to Lima, Peru to begin our South American adventures, starting with four days in the Amazon Jungle.
We had an overnight stay in Lima before flying to Puerto Maldonado. There we were met by our guide Moises who took us to our main mode of transport, a motorised canoe.
It was an hour and a half cruise down the Tambopata River to reach our accommodation, the Cayman Eco Lodge. The lodge is located in one of the best preserved areas of the Amazon and along the boat ride Moises pointed out monkeys, birds and cabaneros.
After settling in to our bungalow and enjoying the peace of no power, no wifi and jungle hammocks, Moises took us for a night time walk through the jungle to search for sloths, insects and tarantulas! While I’d rather we spot a sloth, we instead found the home of a mummy tarantula and her spiderlings who were feeding on a freshly caught caterpillar.
Our second day we were up early (3am) for a two hour cruise up the river to see the clay lick – a clay wall where macaws and other birds come down and eat clay, which neutralises all the fruit in their diet.
It is one of the most colourful and interesting experiences in the Amazon and we saw hundreds of birds, including different coloured macaws, visiting the clay lick.
We were back at the lodge by lunch for some down time. That night we were back in the canoe for a night cruise down the river to spot some caymans, which belong to the alligator family. They’re a little shy but we managed to spot a few.
While spotting the caymans was fun, looking up at the Milky Way in the middle of the Amazon was truly something else!
The next morning we were up at 6am for a 17km return hike through the jungle. We were heading to a lake to look for anacondas and along the way we enjoying listening to our guide point out the different flora and fauna. We also came across some spider monkeys who seemed just as interested in us as we were by them.
When we reached the lake, we paddled up to the swampy grasslands looking for anacondas. Moises was confident as the weather was warm and there were fresh trails, but we didn’t have any luck (much to Jess’ relief).
Returning to the lodge late afternoon, we spent our last night relaxing on the hammocks with a good book and admiring the Amazon sunset.
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