In the Amazon Basin

Day 1

The flight was short, the pickup seamless, repackage enough clothes for two nights, an hour in the bus and then on the boat.

An hour to the eco lodge. Here if they don’t have enough tourists to the 10 eco lodges , they could loose the their certificate. If so the rights would be sold to gold or logging companies. Rangers come from the local villages to protect the areas.

Weaver bird calls sound like water droplets falling into a pond.

How do you feel about walking in the jungle at night? Worried about creepy crawlies and perhaps a snake or two? Well we are going anyway so grab your torch and bug spray.

Scorpions vary in colour. Here in this part of the Amazon, they are quite dark to merge with the tree bark or leaf litter. If you shine an uv light at them , they change colour to a lovely shade of turquoise.

Enough bitees for one night? Okay bedtime as we are leaving at 5.30am to go exploring.

Day 2

Sleep well? Sunscreen, hat, bug spray. We going in a boat to a lake called Tres Chimbadas. The lake was formed when the main river cut off one loop forming the ox-bow lake. Eventually the lake may become a swamp and then part of the forest as the reed beds cover the lake. After the relaxing boat ride, you will walk and then get on another boat. No complaining…. You didn’t think you could sit back and relax all the way.

You can’t swim in the lake because there are caimans, electric eels, sting rays, and giant otters. Humans enter at their own risk! We will let the guide manoeuvre the catamaran. This one used to carry logs

How about these bats?

I hope you are appreciating all the animals because we usually see zilch. Apart from the amazing butterflies that are everywhere. Look over there. It’s Macaws.

You can have a rest now before lunch and prepare for the 4km hike this afternoon. We are off to a huge tower designed to watch for fires, study the weather and look at the forest ( us) . It is 48 metres high.

Yes. We did see some more animals: bull ants(very poisonous, flying queen leaf cutter ants (their bums are considered a delicacy, and more monkeys. These ones posed.

Now grab your torch as we are going for a short nighttime boat ride to see if we can find any white Caiman. Looks like buddy ,your it as the river is high.

You’re hungry , okay let’s head back for dinner. Don’t get too excited , but you get to stay in bed till 7.00am tomorrow as it’s back to the airport and off to the next region in Peru.

P.s this cute but now dead opossum thought it should climb into bed with me. We both got a fright but unfortunately it was to big a fright for it 😢