Puerto Maldonado, Peru
After we hiked to Machu Picchu, we took the train from Aguas Calientes to a nice bed and breakfast in Huaran (we highly recommended the Green House). We relaxed for a few nights and then had to wake up early (again) to take a taxi from the Sacred Valley to the Cusco airport where we boarded a plane and hopped over the Andes to Puerto Maldonado (near the Bolivia border). Flying in was amazing as it was almost all "downhill" and the untouched rainforest looked like an endless plate of broccoli with a big red piece of licorice (the Tambopata river) squiggling through it.
The airport's runway was roughWe were picked up by our tour company and taken by bus to the office to drop off our luggage that we didn't need to take to the selva (rainforest). Seth and I had re-packed our stuff in the airport into one small black bag and it was amusing to see the office packed with people and their HUGE suitcases trying to shuffle things around.
Our favorite animal of the trip - the saddle-back Tamarin (pocket monkey) - that jumps sideways from tree to tree.
QUICK NOTE TO ANYONE GOING TO THE SELVA: 1) go in the dry season; 2) if you can't do #1, make sure to pack lots of bug spray and ONE main outfit to wear over and over that you don't mind getting mud, more mud, bug spray, sweat, purple rainforest dyes, and more mud on with another outfit to lounge around the lodge in at night. You only need flip flops as you have to wear rubber boots to go hiking on any of the trails. Don't bring electronics since they only have electricity from 5-9pm, but don't forget your camera charger (like I did).
Since it had down poured the past two days, the road to the port was flooded which meant we had to go to a port farther down river. That doesn't sound so bad except that the river was SUPER high and it added a few hours to our boat ride up river to the Refugio Amazonas lodge. We saw lots of wildlife on the boat (see photos below - P.S. thanks Mom and Dad for the early Christmas/Birthday gift). We navigated up a very fast current in our narrow wooden boat around lots of logs and we arrived in time for a delicious dinner.
The highlights of the animals we saw are shown below. My personal highlights were seeing monkeys, going to a local farm and learning about (and tasting) all of the different rainforest fruits and learning how cheap they are in the local markets (the farmers are definitely not making money on the prices we pay in Lima or you pay in the USA), and seeing a big bicolor-spine porcupine at night chewing on the plywood in the laundry room (glad he wasn't in my room)!
Our guide saw Capybaras (the world's largest rodent) and weirdest thing we saw. The porcupine is the third largest rodent behind the capybara and beaver.
Red Howler monkeys at the Tambopata rainforest control checkpoint. I loved listening to them call out to the forest and mark their territory - very unique grumbling sound.
Macaws at a clay lick on the Tambopata river.
A Hoatzin in need of a haircut.
Giant chicken tarantula. Luis fed him grasshoppers that he caught.
Long-nosed bats that camouflaged very well into a dead tree on the side of the Oxbow lake.
White-lined fruit bat on a tree on our first hike. One night when Seth and I were playing cards, we saw a bunch of big brown bats flying into the lodge eating all the insects! They are really swift: quick and quiet.
Wild turkey in the tree. One of the many common animals that I didn't know lived in the rainforest. We also saw a red brocket deer, red squirrel, mosquitoes (lots of them), giant grasshoppers, fireflies, and others.
Super cute squirrel monkey that was spotted by our awesome guide, Luis.
Seth behind the blind at the clay lick nearly falling asleep waiting for the macaws and parrots to come down from the trees to lick the clay. We hiked over an hour on a trail that was flooded and had water nearly to our knees but it was worth it.
It rained, a lot.
Can, can, can you do the... toucan!
Strangler fig tree in the Tambopata Reserve.
Hiking in the mud. Do I look like a wilderness explorer or what!?
Seth and I on the boat on our way to kayak down the Tambopata river. The current was so strong that we hardly had to paddle and we basically floated sideways (next to logs) as the rainforest passed us by. Too bad there wasn't much wildlife as the river was over 13 meters (usually around 3-5 meters in the dry season) and we couldn't see the shore.
Our bedroom with a nice hammock next to the wall that is missing/open that overlooks the rainforest. We had bednets to keep out the mosquitoes and giant grasshoppers and spiders.
Seth and our local (and short) guide, Luis, and I. He was awesome and very knowledgeable!
Better get back to work on my Fogarty projects (the PREVENCION papers, Center for Excellence projects, Heart attack perceptions retrospective analysis, and writing a few protocols for projects to start after the new year). Chau!
Your 'wild turkey' is a Spix's Guan and the 'squirrel monkey' is a Brown Capuchin. Interesting report.
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