Day 95 13.10.15
Welcome to the jungle! It was time for us to move out of the mountains and into the jungle. Lower in altitude and warmer in temperature we were looking forward to this change in environment.
After breakfast we headed out to the airport, where we would fly straight to Puerto Maldonado the capital of this district.
We got to the airport, and checked in with no problems.
Waiting for the flight to take off I was called to the front desk, and then the thing that has never happened to me before occurred and I was upgraded to first class!!! Of course this being just a 30 minutes flight produced a slight damper on the whole situation, but hey, you don’t get upgraded any day do you :).
From my seat eventually I could see the jungle, which just got me more excited.
We landed in the middle of the jungle and had been warned by our guide of the strikes all around Puerto Maldonado.
Hence we repacked our bags, our essentials into duffle bags, the rest would be going to the office in Puerto Maldonado, and the duffle bags went onto our bus. From hereon every bus, van and agency that had just landed with us followed each other accompanied by a police escort through the airport, on a couple of side streets heading straight out of Puerto Maldonado to avoid any strike that might keep us in the city and not let us continue to the lodge we were staying at.
We drove about 1,5 hours on a pretty bumpy road heading towards Puerto Infierno (the port of hell by the way :) ) and were ready to get into the motorised canoes to head to the lodge.
It looked similar to the jungle in Quito and I was excited to see the wildlife and how it differed to Ecuador.
The canoe ride took about 1,5 to 2 hours and along the way we got to spot one or two animals.
For example some Macaws.
Or, something I had never seen before – capybaras! Or Che Guevaras how I used to call them before I could remember their name…
We saw some hawks and also some turtles! (Thanks Mo for the photos, your zoom is just so much better!)
We received some packed lunches for our boat ride and look at the cute little bananas we got handed!
This is the view from the bank onto our lodge!
When we arrived at the lodge we enjoyed the different sounds of the birds, especially those of the weaverbirds. Look at their impressive nests!
After dropping our stuff off at the rooms we decided to relax a little at the terrace on which several hammocks had been attached. This is the view!
And of course, we declared it cocktail o’clock!
It eventually got dark and we headed out for a night walk, similar to the one I had had in Shiripuno.
We saw several different insects such as stick insects, little butterflies and moths, beetles and ants, grasshoppers and cicadas (some looking like leaves!), spiders of any format, and the sounds of the birds and the jungle at night. We even saw a sleeping little bird that wouldn’t wake even though flashlights were constantly shown at him. Probably under the mentality, if I don’t move, they won’t see me..
We headed back for dinner and here we started off with an appetizer of beetroot, potatoes and peas, I think they might have been from their own garden.
As a main we had some Aji de pollo, which is rice with shredded chicken and a curry cream sauce. For desert we had some normal caramel flan. Delicious! Happy we headed out to our cabins and on the way enjoyed the beautiful star filled sky, including a very profound milky way. I just love stargazing!
We headed back, as the next day we were to have another early start.
