True to their word, the guides had us up at 5:00 am. Mikhaila did not enjoy this at all. A quick buffet breakfast and by 6 am we were getting ready for our jungle hike.
We split into two groups and did the morning tour in opposite directions. My group started on the 4 km hike where we were told about many of the jungle plants and how they are used by the indigenous people for medicines and ceremonies. One highlight was the tarantula. We saw a monkey, a few birds and butterflies and one part of the group saw an anaconda poking it's head out of the water. The other group saw a black cayman and several monkeys. Sawyer even said "cool" when the guide demonstrated an emergency call from a tree that when hit with a log can be heard for 2-3 km.
We paddled around a lagoon, viewed the rain forest from an 11 meter platform, canoed down forest canals, and then returned to camp on a motorized canoe. After washing the mid off our rubber boots, some swam in the pool and others relaxed until lunch at 1:30. It is amazing how they can keep the pool water colder than the air temperature.
At 2:30, and after lunch, we went across the river to visit a local family. There were part of a community that is normally further down river, however they moved upriver for more land. We met some members of the family, they sold some handcrafted items and showed us around their home. A few tried the handmade bow and arrows with some success. The Papaya that we practiced on is alive and well.
We then went by canoe to monkey island. This is a sanctuary for monkeys that have been sold to tourists and then bought back because they cannot be taken out of the country. The offspring from the monkeys are put back onto the wild. There were about 4 species of monkeys that were fed bananas and helped themselves to Johanna Graf's water.
We are waiting around for supper and then some relaxing time tonight. It gets dark very early so we cannot just wander off into the jungle. We will head back to Puerto Maldonado in the morning and tour the town for a couple of hours before flying out at 3:00 pm. The election is tomorrow so very little will open.
We have started our flights home and I hope that I can post this and some pictures on the blog in Lima before we fly to Miami. We have not had much luck with wi-fi in the airports. This will also be the last post before we arrive in Calgary on Monday night.
A great trip and I am sure there will be many stories to share when we get home.
And next on the travel planner is.....
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Puerto Maldonado
We arrived in Puerto Maldonado in the pouring rain. There were a few "amusement-park" like drops on the plane as we were coming through the clouds. We were told that it had been sunny yesterday and just started raining about an hour before our arrival. Our luggage was stored and we took what we would need for two days.
The group loaded into two canoes for a 75 minute boat ride to the east of Puerto Maldonado to our lodges. The rivers are quite wide, even at this point of the headwaters of the Amazon. We are within a few hours boat ride of the Bolivia border.
It was starting to get dark by the time we arrived, but we went for a short tour of the botanical gardens. It had stopped raining by this time, At 7:00 pm we had a nice buffet supper. At 8:00 we went back into two smaller canoes to search for Cayman, small alligators. Each group got to see 3 or 4 even though the waters are too high for optimum Cayman spotting. It was very relaxing when they turned off the engines and we silently floated with current. Then it was bed time as we had a 5 am wake up call for our walk in the morning.
The lights are run for only a few hours a day as they are power by generator. There is no Internet so I will have to post these blogs at a later time. The lights do go out, exactly at 10:00 pm.
Buenos Notches.
The group loaded into two canoes for a 75 minute boat ride to the east of Puerto Maldonado to our lodges. The rivers are quite wide, even at this point of the headwaters of the Amazon. We are within a few hours boat ride of the Bolivia border.
It was starting to get dark by the time we arrived, but we went for a short tour of the botanical gardens. It had stopped raining by this time, At 7:00 pm we had a nice buffet supper. At 8:00 we went back into two smaller canoes to search for Cayman, small alligators. Each group got to see 3 or 4 even though the waters are too high for optimum Cayman spotting. It was very relaxing when they turned off the engines and we silently floated with current. Then it was bed time as we had a 5 am wake up call for our walk in the morning.
The lights are run for only a few hours a day as they are power by generator. There is no Internet so I will have to post these blogs at a later time. The lights do go out, exactly at 10:00 pm.
Buenos Notches.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)