Puerto Maldonado, Peru

Having enjoyed my jungle trip in Ecuador I decided to do another here in Peru.

I flew from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado. It was only a 30 mintue fly, but by car it would have taken 7 days due to the condition of the roads. It was a 20 minute car ride and then a 30 minute boat ride on Rio Tambopata. The ride was quite relaxing and included a very delicious lunch. We arrived at Explorer's Inn where I would spend the next couple of days.

The Inn is located inside the Tambopata-Candamo Reserve. The Inn is open to tourist but is open for researchers. They are always looking for volunteers (www.explorersinn.com). The area is one of the most biodiverse areas of the rainforest and is said to contain over 500 types of birds and over 1200 different types of butterflies. So it's a great spot for researches and nature lovers alike. They provide a lot of information about the plants, birds , mammals, and reptiles that you may run across so that you can be as informed as possible. In the main dining hall they have a dry board where guides and guest can record their sitings, which included a jaguar siting in late 2009.

There were several bungalows and the rooms were very simple but included candles (no electricity), mosquito nets, and of course cold showers.

Since I had already eaten lunch on the river my guide Edson gave me some time to settle in and then we were off into the jungle for our first hike. This meant once again donning the knee high black rubber boots that I so loved in Ecuador. The raining season had just ended so it was a little muddy in spots. We could hear and see a number of birds flying above us. This included red and green macaws, parakeets, tocans and a couple types of woodpeckers. Edson would stop me to explain to me the different types of plants that were all around us. This included a walking palm, and a erotic palm, which I could have guessed the name just from the looks no I did not take a photo, not running that type of blog). There was a tall garlic tree, but it was not the type to be used for cooking, it was for used for medicinal purposes. As was the tree that contain quine which they use to treat malaria. There was ivy that reached to the sky like something out of Jack and the Beanstalk. Often times we would stop when we would hear rustling noises. One time we were able to see a couple of Coati which are in the racoon family. We of course added this to the board upon our return. All in all the first walk made quite an impression with me and already I was wishing my stay would be longer.

We got back to the lodge just in time for me to go and watch the sunset on the river. Dinner wasn't until 8:00 and I was to meet Edson at 6:30 for what he called a nighttime hike. My instructions were to wear my boots, long pants and shirt and bring my torch (flashlight). So there I as at 6:30 not exactly sure what I was in for. Edson was there with his 2 torches but I immediately noticed the absence of a machete or some other protective weapon. In Ecuador the machetes almost never left their sides day or night and there was no mention of jaguars or other jungle cats. So of course I asked Edson about this and his response was "we do not need a machete, you are with jungle boy". Needless to say this was not quite as comforting as he probably thought it was, but we headed off anyway. I was reminded once again not to touch anything without asking first, like that was going to happen. Edson told me I was to use my torch and the 2 of us would be on the lookout snakes, spiders, and whatever else the night held. I began to wonder how I keep getting myself into these situations. In less than 5 minutes I spotted a enormous spider, I was both excited and scared at the same time. I think the fact that Jungle boy had walked right passed it and I spotted it gave me a little jungle cred. I was informed that it was a chicken spider, which I assumed got it's name due to the fact that people were afraid of it. Actually it was named that because when the female has babies they walk behind her in a line just like baby chicks. I'm really glad we did not run across this scene. At one point Edson told me to stop and to turn off my torch and he did the same. Even though we were not that deep in the jungle I could barley see the sky due to the coverage of the trees. Then he said we would stop talking and listen to the sounds of the jungle. Between the absence of light and then all the various noises it was quite the experience.

While waiting for the dinner bell to ring Edson showed me a pink toed tarantula. It was actually knid of cute, it looked as if it had just had a pedicure.

The previous night after dinner Edson explained the plans for the next day which consisted of a very early start and a hike to a lake to try and get a glimpse of the giant otters that are residents there.

The day started with a 5 course breakfast at 5:30am (good thing I'm a morning person) which included fried bananas (so good!), a freshly hard boiled egg, fresh fruit, toast, and freshly squeezed juice. Fernado the cook explained I would need lots of energy for our morning hike. By 6:00am we hit the trail.

Another reason for the early start is that we would be more likely to see more wildlife. About 20 minutes into the hike we saw a couple of saddleback tamarin which are very small and cute monkeys. Edson tried to lure them closer with a leaf that looked like a banana, only one of them fell for it, but it got close enough for me to take a couple of photos. We heard a some howler monkeys but they were not close enough to see. There were wild turkeys and chickens throughout the walk.

The floor was covered with various types of ants including large red ants, army ants, and leafcutter ants. The leafcutter ants were really interesting as they would climb trees and cut pieces out of the leaf and take them back to their nest. Edson informed me that their nest could get as big as 100ft wide. They use the leafs to grow fungus which they eat. At one point there were so many leafcutter ants that we could hear them walking.
The sound of cicada filled the jungle and we ran across their little mud homes many times.

We reached our destination, Lake Cocococha, by about 9:00am. We took out one of the boats on the lake in hopes of spotting the giant otters. There is a family with babies on the lake. However the otters are an endangered species so there was only a small part of the lake that we were allowed to go. We did hear the otters but they were on the other side of the lake. Still it was a very beautiful setting.

We got back to the lodge around 12:30, definitely the longest hike I've ever been on, but worth every step.

During the course of the morning hike Edson had asked me if I would like to go for a swim in the afternoon as we had some free time. At the time this sound fun and relaxing to me. So after a very filling lunch and a very short siesta we met to go to Rio de La Torre.

La Torre ran right into Rio Tambopata and so I thought it would be a short little walk. I just had on my regular shoes but Edson showed up in his knee high boots and so I asked if I should also wear my boots. He said no it's just a short little hike. I only have 2 pairs of shoes for the next 7 months so I'm very protective of them. On this walk Edson did carry a machete which I was surprised by and made me wonder where exactly we were going. The walk was about 20 minutes (which was short compared to the morning hike).

We reached what appeared to be the end of the trail and I could hear the water but could not see it. This is where the machete came in. Edson chopped his way through to a small cliff overlooking the riverbed. The clif wasn't to high but the ground was made of very soft moist dirt. I was warned to not get to close as it could crumble under me. I was begining to wonder how badly I really wanted to go for a swim. Edson wandered along the cliff until he found a spot that seemed to make a good entry point. We got down to the riverbed and made our way to the water.

Several times before getting into the water I inquired as to any possible inhabitants with my main concerns being caimans (related to the crocodile), piranhas, and anacondas. Edson had sighted a baby anaconda on the banks of Rio Tambopata and the two rivers were linked. He assured me there was none of these things in this river. Since he was getting in the water with me I figured it was safe.

Getting into the water was interesting as I kept sinking down to my knees in the very soft squishy mud. It didn't feel to great at the time but did wonders for my feet, they were so soft and smooth afterwards.

We spent about an hour in the river. Edson warned me to stay under the water to avoid the mosquitos. This worked fine until it was time to get out. Then I think every mosquito in a 100 mile radius headed our way. I covered myself with my towel but they still kept coming. I suspect that Edson self proclaimed "jungle boy" may also have been a mosquito whisperer as when I checked the next day to see how many bites he had there wasn't one. Meanwhile I looked like a had the chicken poxs again.

The great thing about the folks at the Explorer's Inn is that they had activities planned for both day and night.

After my afternoon swim and a refreshing cold shower I relaxed by the by the soccer field (yes, the Inn had a soccer field) talking with some of the other guests. Then at 6:15 it was time to hit the river to try and see some caimans. First one of the guides gave a small presentation to educate the group about caimans. Once on the river Edson was the only person allowed to have a torch lit up. We sailed down the river with just the one light. Edson searched both sides of the banks in search of the caimans. He used his light to signal the boat driver when he had spotted one and we would get closer. We saw several baby ones, and medium sized one. When we got close to this one of the guys in the boat had a really nice camera and was just shotting away and suddenly the caiman quickly jump from the bank to the water. The guy with the camera jumped about 2 feet backward.

On the way back to the lodge Edson shut off his light and the boat engine was turned off so that we could meditate to the nighttime sounds on the river. I have never in my life seen so many stars. We just glided down the river with the stars above us and the sounds of the jungle as our soundtrack. It was a very peaceful way to end a long day.

After the caiman search on the river and a tasty dinner I headed to my room for bed only to discover I had a new roomate. The rooms are closed off pretty well to try and discourage any insects or other wonders of nature from entering. However there are some things that you just can't keep out. I went to brush my teeth and realized that I must not have done a very good job of sealing the ziploc bag that my toothbrush and toothpaste was in. Inside the bag was a decent sized cockroach, which of course startled me pretty good. My first thought was I wouldn't be brushing my teeth again until I got back to Lima, but I'm a creature of habit and could not go to bed without brushing my teeth. I had to figure out a way of getting it out of the bag without coming into contact with it. I took one of the lit candles and waved it over the bag, not enough to catch it on fire but enough to make the cockroach feel the heat and want to get out of the bag. This worked, although the cockroach didn't stray too far. Now I flushed the toothbrush with almost all my good drinking water and proceeded to brush my teeth trying really hard to not think about what had just been touching it. I was later informed that the cockroaches like to suck off any remaining toothpaste from the brushes.

Having had my share of excitment I headed off to bed. About 5:30am I was woken up by the most unusual sounds I have ever heard. It sounded like the folks at the inn decided to wake up the guests with various sound of the jungle on loud speakers. I tried to go back to sleep but it was just too loud, so I got up and got ready for breakfast. I of course asked what was up with the unique wake up call and was informed that it was some howler monkeys that were close to the inn. I could not imagine the noises I heard came from some monkeys. If you want to hear what I heard you can go on to YouTube and listen some howler monkeys, it's unbelievable.