Back to the Amazon Basin

After being emphatically told that flights to Puerto Maldonado were booked up 2 weeks ahead, we finally found one travel agent who said he would see what he could do. He didn´t have an answer for us until 7 AM the day we wanted to fly, at the airport, when we finally received two boarding passes for the 12 PM flight to Lima via Puerto Maldonado. So we were somewhat surprised to find the flight more than half empty when we eventually boarded! We didn´t mind too much, at least we were on our way to the Amazon again.

Stepping off the plane in Puerto Maldonado was like arriving in a completely new country - gone were the dry, brown arid hillsides of the altiplano, here we were hit by a wall of humidity and greenery. Fortunately it wasn´t as hot as Manaus, but the humidity was draining all the same. Our good friend Alan Lee had arranged for us to stay at Inotawa Lodge, on the Tambopata River, for less than the normal package tour rates (Thanks Alan!) - this arrangement also gave us more freedom to explore the jungle on our own. To our untrained eyes, the jungle here looked much more pristine than what we had seen in Manaus, but the wildlife, even birdlife, wasn´t as easy to see. On the plus side there were far fewer bugs, although we still got pretty badly munched. The lodge itself was really beautiful, built in a style reminiscent of African lodges - very rustic, lots of wood and a nice big stoep from which to admire the jungle. We did a few activities tagging along with other groups and then one evening braved the jungle on our own. It was dusk, and we were hoping to see some cool birds, but instead we scared up a few peccories (small wild pigs) who snorted from the bushes right next to the path and then went running away, crashing through the bushes. Not sure who got the bigger fright, them or us!!

One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to a clay lick. Parrots frequent these clay licks to eat clay, which is presumed to nuetralise toxins in the unripe fruit that is part of their diet. The sites are like meeting grounds for parrots, with about 10 different species gathering at the site in the morning - a birdwatchers dream. The days were really relaxing - we had to make a super-early start (usually before 5 AM) to catch the wildlife, so then spent the afternoons siesta-ing, and with no electricity we were usually in bed pretty early too.

Unfortunately we only had limited time at Inotawa and soon had to head back to the frenzy of Cusco, and then on to the town of Arequipa, in the south-west of Peru. Here we have seen a 500 year old awesomely preserved mummy of a child that was sacrificed high on the slopes of a volcano by the Incas to appease the mountain gods, as well as a huge nunnery that had remained completely closed off from the outside world for 391 years, until it was forced to open in the 1970´s. Tonight we travel to the town of Cabanaconde on the edge of the Colca Canyon, the second deepest canyon in the world, and a prime spot from which to spot condors.