We finally left Cusco by air for 35 minutes heading for Puerto Maladonado in the heart of the Amazon. Below us we could see muddy rivers and tributaries and in the distance were storm cloud pockets with torrential rain. As we landed in Puerto Maladonado the storm hit the runway and I could imagine the plane just skidding across the tarmac into the “International” airport. Having journeyed this far we were acquainted for International airports but nothing compared to this one surrounded by seriously thick jungle and airport staff still waving in the planes with flags. We’ve been spoilt by having walkways taking us directly into the terminals and electronic signs – none of this here, not even to pay big $ for parking.
Our stay in the jungle at the would be for only 2 nights but first we would have to off load some of our luggage at the city office of the Tambopato Eco Lodge. And the only clothing and toiletries would be for the 3 days/2 nights stay. Nothing more and for good reason. Due to the sensitivity of the area we had to be mindful about what we could take in especially anything not biodegradable or not recycleable.
Driving through Puerto Maladonato was much like most parts of Peru with markets, people milling around and hustle happening, even passing the local jail.
You will notice the number of Moto Taxis parked outside this establishment. Seems to me there is a lot of activity and action here, thus the need for Moto Taxis. It's also very close to the airport - possibly for those unsuspecting tourists perhaps.
 |
| The Amazonian Jail |
I can honestly say that the next part of our Adventure was something that I hadn’t really thought about, but it was just as good, if not better than the Sandboarding and the Quad bikes – we were to ferry down the Tambopata River for 2 hours in a little ferry boat with lunch served on board. This came in little dilly bags, with hot chicken and rice served up in an aluminium container to keep it warm, with a side of tiny monkey bananas.
 |
| Just cruising on the Amazon |
Now what would the rainforest be without rain and during the cruise we were hit by torrential rain which cleared up just a quickly as it started. At around the halfway point the boat was required to stop, papers checked and here it is basically the entrance into the Eco area to which we were heading. It was also here that we had our passport stamped with the Tambopato mark. Nice one !! We cringed when we looked out of the boat and saw all the steps leading up to the checkpoint, and then some. Our legs were still aching from all the climbing of roads, ruins and Machu.
This part of the trip was pretty incredible already and we hadn’t even reached the eco lodge. We saw egrets, turtles, caymans (crocodiles) and capyberas (worlds largest rodents) on the waterside. On sunset we reached the lodge, another climb up steep wooden, rickerty steps (ouchhh!) checked into our hut and met our two (2) new Amazon guides, Edwin and Ronal. One thing we’ve noticed travelling through Peru is they all love Football (soccer). They are passionate about it so we took it upon ourselves to nic-name Ronal – “Christiano Ronaldo”. He was so humbled by it but insisted, we call him the “Peru” Christiano. We had no problem with it – and neither did he!
The huts were beautiful and set up within a little village with paths connecting each one with fruit trees growing throughout, and the largest huts contained the food hall, servery and bar – all surrounded by rainforest.
They were also connected with solar hot water, had a western style toilet and every inch screened to keep out malaria bearing mosquitoes Each hut was divided into two separate lodgings, and were designed to allow air flow during the heat and humidity. This meant that the walls were 12ft (3 ½ mtrs) high and the ceilings were ALL open. So as you could imagine conversations/noise had to be kept to a minimum so as not to disturb your immediate neighbours.
Check out the size of the spider compared to the size of Christiano’s hand. He also found a few other creatures – until torrential rain washed out the rest of the bug hunt and we had to run through thick rainforest with our torches back to the lodge.
Then just around the corner there was Hercules, another staffer chopping up fresh Brazil nuts with a machete. 
We were later to find out why his name was Hercules!!!
The agenda for our first full day in the Amazon was a trek to Lake Condenado, a short boat trip down the Tambopata followed by a 2-3 kms hike through mud and rainforest, and a cruise on the piranha infested lake (all fingers and toes to be kept on board). 
The boats didn’t have much clearance between us and the water level so the balance had to be just right. I’m sure I was specifically placed on the boat for that purpose (LOL).
 |
| Muddy boots and Butterfly landing on me |
Now I don’t know who had the big idea but we were issued with a little lunch pack – while we were floating on the Piranah infested lake. There wasn’t much of a breeze but as soon as cracker biscuit crumbs landed on the water you would suddenly hear splashing from the competing pirahnas. Suddenly the fingers and toes moved closer to the centre of the boat. Some smart ar**e on our boat started humming the JAWS theme. Then back to the lodge, back up those long wooden stairs and pain! Once we arrived we were asked if we wanted to visit an Amazonian farm just a little way down the ver (down and up those stairs), and it was an opportunity to good to miss. Christiano showed us native fruits, vegetables and herbs which is commonly used in the jungle for a variety of things. Living in the tropics I was already familiar with quite a lot of them, but the one that took my interest was the “Wild” coriander. It was growing all over the farm and nothing like the coriander (Cilantro) we see in Australia, but the smell and flavour is exactly the same, and is used with rice dishes. Plantains were also in abundance on the farm and they are used in the jungle with just about every meal. We even saw Salted Plantain Chips, just as you see Smith’s Potato chips at home. We also saw a herd of Capybaras, the world's largest rodents which just eat lush grass, swim to cool down and are related to guinea Pigs. This is where Tony got very interested inn these animals and starting
asking questions and jungle food. Then he got onto the topic of Capybaras and BBQ. I could see he was drooling at the thought of these little guys on a roasting spit or similar, preferably a Weber.
Getting back to the hut we found we had neighbours next door in our open ceiling hut, but we didn’t get the opportunity to meet them, but now we had to be especially quiet. Even the flushing loo seemed so loud in the jungle against chirping crickets. Tony and I ended up following a couple of trails through the rainforest. We ended up at a swimming hole which was flowing fairly fast and high above the water line because of the rain which continued to fall that day. We would have loved to have gone for a dip, but after hearing the horror stories about those nasty creatures that swim their way up into your cavities in the water.... we decided to stay safe and just watch the rushing water instead!
That night we boarded the motorised fibre glass jungle boats and went out for a spot of Cayman spotting. And the only one who could use a spot light was Christiano (Ronal). But the trick was that we couldn’t even have any lights on in the boat whilst we were travelling down that river. No lights on the banks. No houses for as far as we could see. It was the jungle and somehow, the boat driver manouvered the boat, in absolute blackness for miles along that winding river. It was almost as much sheer terror as we had experienced going along the Pan Americano. You know my thoughts about those GUTSY Peruvian bus drivers, I’ve realised the boat drivers are the same.
After we had cruised for about 45 minutes we turned back around from the way we came and the big Spotty came on. The boat drifted towards the banks and all you could see were the Cayman eyes in the lights. In all Christiano spotted about 6 Cayman that night.
What a day and we were exhausted!
Getting back to the lodge we relaxed with a bottle of Pisco which had to be finished before we fly back to Cusco the next day. It would have been great to spend more time at Tambopata.
Later in the evening we retired to our Hut, went about our business such as packing our belongings, Tony farting, toilet flushing and just being us. We didn’t hear our neighbours at all. It was such a peaceful lull, there wasn't any jungle noise at all, not even rustling trees, just so quiet. And even the rain had stopped. Our Brit buddies in the next hut had also quietened down for the night and unusually quiet for a change (LOL), so I decided to stir things up a little. After about 5 minutes I put on a funny American accent and said “Good Night Jim Bob” and in another strange accent said “Good Night John Boy”. Well the reaction I got was totally unexpected, everyone within ear shot of our hut roared with laughter, even our neighbours, who laughed to loudest – with an American laugh. I think everyone got the Walton’s joke.
After that little chuckle there were some almighty claps of thunder and the torrential rain started again, and continued all night. And was still raining the next morning. The river had risen about 15ft overnight. The current was running at about 40kms an hour and filled with debris including huge logs. Our hero driver had to stop the boat a couple of times to remove grass and other debris caught up in the propeller. At times the rain was torrential and blowing into the boat. We had a deadline to get to the “International” airport and couldn’t afford any more delays. After collecting our gear from the office, we were back on track to catch the TACA 101 to Lima. On our side was that the fast flowing current of the Tambopata River was flowing in the direction we were going! We made it to the airport in plenty of time, passed all the security checks and we were saying Goodbye to the Selva (jungle).
Still wondering about Hercules ?? On one of the many occasions climbing up and down the high rickerty wooden stairs on the banks of the Eco Lodge, I noticed the supply boat had called into the landing. They had unloaded supplies of potatoes and other vegetables, Casava, 20 kg bags of rice and sugar and other goods. Hercules had by himself carried those huge bags on his shoulders up the stairs to the kitchen storage area of the lodge. Seriously, those stairs were killers just with the rubber boots on, and here was Hercules doing this each time the supply boat calls in (about every 2-3 days). Another Gutsy Peruvian!!
Lima (Mark 2)
Arriving back in Lima for a second time was both happy and sad for us. Happy for the fact that we were now familiar with Miraflores and we felt really comfortable with the people and area, and our Spanish was a little better than the first time. Sad for the fact that we would be saying goodbye to our new friends after being on the road together for the past 3 weeks. We celebrated with a “Last Supper” at a restaurant called Norky’s whose speciality was charchoal chicken and desserts, lots of desserts. But before this, as a group, we decided to all travel to the “Parque De La Reserva” Water fountains which are a laser light Night Show.
Later that night we watched TV for the first time in weeks and just by chance one of my favourite shows was on. You guessed it Ley y Orden (Law and Order), in English with Spanish sub-titles. And it was one I hadn't seen before or have in my collection.
Later that night we watched TV for the first time in weeks and just by chance one of my favourite shows was on. You guessed it Ley y Orden (Law and Order), in English with Spanish sub-titles. And it was one I hadn't seen before or have in my collection.
Now you will recall from my first Blog from Lima where I mentioned those buses where people hang out, yelling out something that we couldn’t understand, and where the buses are supposed to fit about 16 people but fit in 36. We were to catch one of those. After all of us managed to squeeze onto the same bus and travelled to the park – IT WAS CLOSED!! It is only open from Wednesday to Sunday – it was Tuesday. Back to the dinner plans – Norky’s, just a short walk from Hotel Brittannia. It was a great night, lots of laughs and sharing of desserts. We were all going our separate ways and across different countries. Alim would be starting another trip in 2 days this time Peru and Bolivia. As for us we have another 2 days in Lima before we fly back to Miami to hit the beaches and sunshine and continue on our Adventure. Hard to believe that the last fun filled 3 weeks passed so quickly!!
Our G Adventures group:
Thanks everyone, we’ve enjoyed our time together and hope you keep in touch with us through our Blog and emails. And if you ever plan a trip to Australia and to Cairns, make sure you look us up.
Our G Adventures group:
 |
| L-R Alim, Tony, Adam, Hannah, Johnny, Quin-Lu, Xio-Min, Glen, Stephanie, Raina, Andy, Heather,Nicola, David, Liz (Clare absent) |
Finally, a BIG THANK YOU to Alim. Without your guidance and advice, translations and understanding we would never have enjoyed the trip as much as we did. (And don't forget those Aussie slang words we taught you)
Not forgetting G Adventures ........they organise fantastic trips and look after their travellers by having in place guides like Alim. They do wonderful things for different local communities around the world and if you ever decide to go on a small group guided trip make sure you check their website.
And FINALLY we didn’t get “Banged Up Abroad”.
FOR THE RECORD - In total we travelled more than 3200kms using mini and tour buses, taxi, trains, ferries, Bicycles (Peru limosines), High Speed Outboard Motor boat, Quad bikes, Reed boat, Fishing boat (Row boat), Amazon canoes and lots of Foot Falcon.
*************************************************************
At the Casa Rodas II we were welcomed and hugged like we were long lost relatives. It was heartwarming to say the least.
The following night, we dared to catch the public bus on our own to the Parque De La Reserva. We actually could understand where were we going and what the tout was calling out from the bus –and the harrowing bus trip was worth it as was the 1.20 neuvo soles (about 50 cents) fare. There are 15 in total and all just as amazing as each other.
 |
| Hologram of Dancer in the water |
No comments:
Post a Comment