We arrived by air into Puerto Maldonado, Peru to enter into the gateway of the the Tambopatu National Preserve or the gateway to the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest. Our chosen lodge Inkaterra Hacienda Conception picked us up by bus and took us to their river headquarters where the bulk of our luggage was kept locked up in storage.
We were allowed 22 lbs of luggage in the canoe to get to the lodge and that included our CPAP Machines. We boarded the vessel and had a lovely ride up the Amazon to our Lodge.
The staff were very attentive and professional and showed us to our beautiful lodge for the next 4 nights. I was not expecting much but was blown away by the attention to detail and the hand-crafted Amazon wood furniture. We each had a sink and JW Marriott didn't even have that. We are in the middle of the Rainforest and this company has thought of everything.
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Our lodge #11 |
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On the way to our lodge |
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The Big Lodge |
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The Stinky Bird which is so beautiful |
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A snack was provided to us, delicious passion fruit. |
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A cheeky Monkey |
We arrived back at the lodge for our lunch and some free time and to meet back at the Eco-Center so that we could take the boats for a quick ride upriver to the Suspension Bridges which were a series of bridges suspended 47 meters up into the tree canopy. The walk up the 14 floors was good exercise but the view was worth it. One person was allowed on the bridge at a time otherwise it is too swingy. I was scared at first and then kind of got used to it. The longest bridge was 100 meters.
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It was raining for the boat ride to the bridges and then stopped, which was very lucky for us. |
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Steam rises from the jungle. |
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The Amazon is in the background. |
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The walkway to the bridges. |
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Walking the bridges. |
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Ann and Damien-the Aussies. |
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Platform |
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Going down |
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Darren on the bridge. |
We indulged in Happy Hour and I had a couple Pisco Sours which Peru makes the best ones, since it is their National drink!! We geared up for a Night Safari around the Rainforest and everyone was having fun until the Fire Ants decided that we were too close to them and they aggressively had their way with our feet and lower limbs.
We fell asleep to Rainforest sounds including tree refuse falling on our thatched roof which does startle you.
The next morning we woke up to Howler Monkeys but they should be called Growler Monkeys. It is a very distinctive growling which sounds frightening when you first hear it. The males are responsible for the howling and they do have to keep their harem of women safe from predators. We did see many Howlers and we certainly heard them throughout the days in the Rainforest.
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Mommy Howler Monkey with a baby attached to her. |
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There he is looking around her back. |
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Beautiful plants in the Amazon that you would find at your local greenhouse for purchase for indoor plants. |
We went for breakfast and a la carte is offered but I was so full from last night that I just went with the Buffett.
We went for a canoe ride through the mangroves for a little water safari concentrating on the trees and sky for flora and fauna. We saw a lot of Macaws always flying in their monogamous pairings. The Stinky Bird is also monogamous and also seen as a couple. We felt that the Stinky Bird deserved a new name because we couldn't smell them and they were beautiful and they huff loudly when you come near to them and flap their feathers about most likely to distract us from their nest.
The Sleeping Bird always asleep and picture-perfect rarely flew away from us.
A multitude of butterflies were about. Large ones and small, turquoise and red and yellow.
The flora was very interesting and pretty.
We saw tiny Day Bats that stuck to a tree and were quite camouflaged, then would fly away to eat mosquitoes.
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Tiny bats on the tree. |
We saw Tumeric Root and Ginger Root.
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Tumeric Root |
We talked about the harvesting of Brazil Nuts, the work that goes into the collection of these nuts and how they end up on your tables in North America. The Blood Dragon Tree was cut by a machete from Dauger and it can provide salve for any wound to heal.
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Dragon Blood Tree |
The Rainforest of Peru can provide every kind of medicinal plant or tree that you need for any ailment. Dauger our Peruvian guide grew up in the jungle and made his way to University eventually and trained to be a teacher. He missed the Rainforest so much that he left the classroom There is so much to eat and shelter can be provided from the trees that you can easily survive and thrive.
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The Metal of the old Steamship that was left to rust in the Amazon when this part of the tributary dried up. |
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This tree is covered in thorns. |
We had another superb lunch and had 2 hours of free time and I got to know a fabulous couple from Australia even better. Ann and Damien have been super fun and they are from Melbourne and we have both invited each other to come visit.
We met for the last excursion of the day to visit the salt clay licks for birds and animals of the Amazon. Macaws are frequent visitors. The one problem is that they only visit the clay bank when it has not been raining for at least two hours. They don't like to get their feathers wet because they then can't fly. There was a break from the rain that day for a bit so we decided to chance it and made our way to the screened-in shack to potentially watch Macaws, Tapirs, and other animals. Unfortunately, it had rained too much so Dauger talked about growing up in the jungle and what that was like, also interesting.
We went back for Happy Hour and had another couple of Pisco Sours that were oh-so-good and then went on to have another great dinner. I ordered another Amazon River fish that was delicious again and Peruvian fruit for dessert.
Another day in Paradise came to an end.
This next morning we woke up to the Howler Monkeys very close to our Lodge. We watched them for a while, with their babies and then went for breakfast.
We did see a sloth up in the tree and I videotaped him slowly ever so slowly making his escape from our peering gaze. It was a great excursion.
We opted to not go out on another night safari to see Caiman, they are reptiles and don't really interest me that much.
We loved our place in the jungle and would highly recommend it and we would highly recommend visiting the Amazon Rainforest, it has been quite a memorable trip for us.
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Taken on the morning we left for the airport in Puerto Maldonado. |
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