In the jungle, the mighty jungle....

Arriving at the lodge.
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Day 1: After another early start, and a very short flight to Puerto Maldonado (otherwise known as the middle of nowhere) we arrived at Tambopata jungle, part of the rainforest.  It was sweltering, and humid and we´d taken all the wrong clothes for it thanks to the guides misinterpretation of the word "cold".

We met up with our tour guide, Louis, and the rest of our "group" which consisted of an older Israeli couple who looked like Homer and Marge from The Simpsons (or Los Simpson as they call it here).

Home for four days...
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Anyway, after a short coach ride, and a long boat ride, we arrived at the lodge, and it was beautiful!!!  Surrounded by forest, no roads, and on the bank of the river was a small complex of 10 or so lodges, and a large central lodge for meals etc.  We were shown to our own private lodge with our own bathroom, and were left to settle in before lunch.

After lunch we got back in the boat and headed for Monkey Island.  Enroute we were told that there will be lots of monkeys, and that we should be careful coz they´re wild, and can attack and bite.  As you can imagine, Yaz was petrified  : )

Monkey Island.
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The place was amazing, and the monkeys were so cute.  At first a couple of them came down from the trees to greet us and ask us for food, one of them even checked the pockets of my combats, but was very disappointed to find a packet of tissues. Very soon about ten of them followed and we were surrounded, which was pretty scary, especially as one of them was the alpha-male, and very aggressive. Anyway, we made it out alive and headed back, in time to see the sun setting on the river, to the relative safety of our lodge. Once it was dark, we were taken out on the boat again for Cayman (small aligator) spotting along the river banks, it was truely amazing!

Cheeky monkey.
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After dinner it was straight to bed as we had a very early start the next day. bed time was interesting.  We only had electricity in our rooms from 6pm to 10pm. After that it was candlelight and torches.  To add to the fun, we had to sleep under our own mosquito nets, and I can promise you, this is not as easy as it sounds.

Day 2: The next morning, after a night of being eaten alive by mosquitos (I´m sure the nets were just for effect) we had to be up at 5am, and it was still dark outside. Again, candlelight and torches, and I tell you, showering by candlelight, and checking every piece of clothing for lizards, tarantulas, and grasshoppers before putting them on, are definately things I could live without.

Sunset on the river.
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We set off for the jungle again (where else?) and trekked through for an hour, encountering all kinds of birds, giant rodents etc, before arriving at a huge lake, where we proceeded by canoe through the forest. I can honestly say that this was the most beautiful, and fascinating boat rides I´ve ever been on! It´s difficult to explain it, and the photo´s don´t really do it justice, but imagine being on a boat with jungle on either side of you, vultures above you and piranah below you. Incredible!

Our room mate, Jiminy
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After lunch, and a few hours of sleeping in hammocks (it´s a hard life), the night time venture was trekking through the jungle at night... It was pitch black, and I hate to admit it, but it was scary as anything, especially when the guide started telling us about the "spirits of the forest" that lure you off the beaten track to confuse you, and you can be lost forever, and then proceeded to take us off the beaten track in pursuit of a Howler Monkey, using a machete to clear the way - Homer and Marge were absolutely petrified, and stuck so close to the guide, I´m sure he was running to stop them stepping on the backs of his feet. Even scarier was when he found a tarantula hole and started poking it to lure the monster out....!! We practically ran back to the lodge and had dinner.

A rather large Cayman.
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Day 3: A really early start (4am) to head off on an hour and a half boat ride to see a bunch of parrots lick clay (?!?!).  Unfortunately there was a huge vulture nearby and they refused to lick, so we headed back to the lodge for breakfast, somewhat disappointed, and tired, although we did meet up with a new group, from England and Oz, who were a great laugh, so all was not lost.

After breakfast we headed to a project site, where sick and abused animals were being rehabilitated to then be reintroduced to the jungle.  The work they do is fascinating, and really admirable. We were introduced to a rather friendly turkey type creature who proceeded to follow us for the remainder of the day.  Yaz named him Norris, and he seemed to take a particular shining to me. Nearby we were taken on a canopy walk in the jungle, which was basically a rope bridge which led you to a tree house in the top of one of the trees, seriously high up! It was beautiful although you couldn´t help but wonder how many times the bit of rope suspending you so high up, had broken in the past... Norris, being the chicken that he is, refused to join us on the canopy walk, and decided instead to wait for us at the end.

A rather large tree.
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Day 4:  Departure day.  Enroute to the airport we stopped off a a rather grim market, and then onto a butterfly farm before arriving at the airport and finding out we were too late to check in for our flight (seems to be the theme of our trip so far).  After much pleading and begging from Louis, they agreed to let two people on the flight, and two would be transfered to a LAN Peru flight a few hours later.  We decided to let Homer and Marge get the first flight as they seemed a bit panicked about the whole thing, and for us, well, we´re getting used to it.  I must admit, I was half-hoping we´d have to stay another night in the jungle...

Fruit bats, quite well camouflaged.
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Backpack status: Iberia are now avoiding our calls...  hmmm...