I had always intended to visit the jungle on the trip to Peru, but I hadn’t fixed how to do it. I had ideas of volunteering at the Amazon Shelter in Puerto Maldonado deep in the jungle which rescues and relocates wildlife displaced by humans, or flying to Iquitos (there is no road access) in the North, from where it is possible to travel along the Amazon River to Brazil. However, once I was on the ground, I decided that a four day Manu Jungle tour was probably the right balance. I’ll give money to the Amazon Shelter, which is probably more beneficial than any skills I could bring! https://amazonshelter.org/

There are so many places offering various tours, it was difficult to know where to start. I started in the tour operator that arranged our ATV ride to Moray (an Inca agricultural test centre!), and the Maras salt mine. I haven’t blogged about this trip – so here are a few photos to rectify that omission.

Anyway Willky Tours didn’t offer Amazon trips, but they provided a number (which wasn’t answered the few times we tried it), along with the advice to look for advertising in the main square. Impatience, with the phone and fate, led me to Bloody Bueno Peru Travel Company and Marco (after he had fed his children). I was looking for a three day tour, which he talked me out of, unless I took an overnight bus each way to Puerto Maldonado, because of the time it takes to get into the jungle. He offered the perfect four day tour to and from Cusco, with two nights in a Lodge accessible only by boat, which sounded ideal. It was due to start in two days’ time, which again was perfect for a last look around Cusco, and say goodbye to Cathy and Kimrey, who were heading south to the Colca Canyon.

The tour started at 5:45am when I met Moises, who I discovered later was our guide, in the reception of my hotel. A brisk walk across a dark and deserted Hauqaypata (Cusco’s main square), and the only time I wasn’t asked to buy a painting, to our tour minibus parked on Plaza Regocijo. Only hours earlier on this plaza, I bought an engraved gourd and various weaved goods under intense sales pressure, from quiet nice people! It was very quiet this morning, although who knows what it would have been like if word that I would be there had got out to the street sellers.

Already in the van were Johanna, a German teacher working in Chile, and her mother, Bettina. As an early note, everyone seemed to be able to speak Spanish very well, and I was relieved to find I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t as Bettina couldn’t either. We then drove around Cusco, picking up Conor from London, Tom from Tilburg in the Netherlands, and Jorg and Larrisa from Germany. With driver Nico, we headed off over the Andes and to drop down into the Amazon Rain Forest. Our first stop was in a small town for breakfast. I think the tour normally stopped at Paucartambo, but a huge festival was occurring there (according to Wikipedia one of the biggest in Peru), so the impromptu stop was in a small town with an offering of street food. Fried chicken was unappealing at 8am, but luckily, the hotel had prepared a packed breakfast. The minibus continued into travel chaos around Paucartambo as we joined the crowds trying to get to the town for the festival of Virgen del Carmen. Moises said there would be lots of drinking and dancing for three days, which sounded like fun.

We kept climbing into the Andes, and our next stop was at the entrance to the Manu National Park. From here, the road would drop 3,000 metres down in a few hours. Initially through the Cloud Forest, then the Rain Forest. We would drop to about 350 metres above sea level. From this point, the rivers flow to the Atlantic Ocean, probably over 4000 kilometres away through the Lowlands (as a hydraulic engineer, that is not very much gradient! – 1 in 11,500, dropping 1 metre in every 11.5km, no wonder rivers silt up). Only a small part of the National Park is accessible to tourists (cultural zone), with large parts only accessible to scientists, and even some areas protected for some indigenous tribes which have not integrated into modern society and live separately. They are not true “uncontacted” tribes that do exist in the Amazon but are fairly close to it. Most of the people in this area have come from or descended from these tribes. It was all very fascinating, being so close to such alien concepts to us in Europe.

We drove slowly along the only road into the National Park. Moises would be hanging out the window, making noises to unsettle the wildlife and expose where they were. We stopped for a nice picnic lunch at the side of the road, where we had our first proper sightings of a couple of birds. The Cock of the Rock (Peru’s National bird) and a Toucanette. Initially they were hard to see but we all gradually got our eye in. Johanna became our official photographer as she was able to get good shots through the telescope viewfinder. I was glad I had brought binoculars, and would be sure to wear my contact lenses for the next few days. While we were eating a motorcycle came around the corner and slipped off on the muddy road. As we all rushed over, the pillion who had fallen clear, got up and whacked the driver around the head for bad driving! We picked up the bike, the rider was limping a bit, but was OK. We left them as he was removing his broken mirrors.

After lunch, we did some more slow driving and walking short sections where Moises thought we might see something. One area is frequented by monkeys, but there was nothing to see, and Moises proposed we stop on the way back. One thing to note; The road was incredibly quiet, with pretty much only tour minibuses and the occasional lorry. I think this may have been due to it being a Sunday. When we returned on Wednesday, the road seemed much busier, including lots of construction and queuing. On one section we followed a Tayra (a type of otter, apparently not a rare sighting, but uncommon, was how Moises put it) along the road for quite some distance. I’ll put a list of all the wildlife we saw at the end of the blog, and only include the real highlights in the text – otherwise, I’ll be writing forever!

We made it to our first lodge in Pillcopata in the early evening, just long enough to take a stroll around down to the river and enjoy the noises all around us (I started to record some of the sounds, and I’ll post them in the blog somehow). I shared with Tom, while Conor enjoyed his first private en-suite bathroom in a month of travelling. We had dinner with a couple of beers from the bar, and the group started jelling.

After dinner, we headed out in the dark to a nearby water hole. Straightaway, Moises picked out a set of eyes with his torch, which I thought was a frog. I was given the task to hold the torch while Moises set up the telescope. As I was looking along the beam, I was really aware of lots of bats flying in close, which wasn’t so apparent when you were away from the beam. After a few unsuccessful attempts to locate something, Moises, somehow, spotted a Caiman (Alligator) on the bank. I couldn’t really make it out, but a few photos were taken, which showed it well. I certainly could see it with my bare eyes, when it suddenly slithered into the water – amazing. It sounds like not much was happening, but the noise all around us the whole time was immense, together with a variety of insects that reminded me, and others, that we hadn’t applied any insect repellent.

The next morning after breakfast, we were driving a short distance to the river, not before we stopped at the side of the road for our first glimpse of monkeys. The point was well marked as a group of French tourists, with their guide, who were already observing them. These were Squirrel Monkeys, and we had a very good view. We walked along the road a bit further for a better view and to see what else we could find. A feature of this tour was that it was very unhurried and, because of that, very relaxing. We also stopped at a small site that had hummingbird feeders set up so that we could have a close up view of how the birds hover and remain completely stationary while their wings are going like the clappers (up to 70 beats per second according to Wikipedia). There was also a big Toucan and an Emerald Tree Viper, lurking around the grounds. However, a tiny (chicken, I guess) chick stole the show when it waddled into the viewing area.

At Atalaya, we were catching a boat on the Madres de Dios river, which is a tributary to the Amazon, to our next lodge where we would spend two nights. We were told there would be no electricity, except for lights, and if we wanted any creature comforts to buy them before we boarded. I had learned that it was Conor’s 25th birthday on the second night, so I grabbed a slab of beers so we could all celebrate. Conor contributed unnecessarily, as I wouldn’t have allowed a fellow Brit to have a quiet birthday! We all boarded the boat, not before being asked about going swimming and whether we were ready. I already had my trunks on and was looking forward to a gentle swim, how wrong I was! All the food was loaded onto the boat. It was apparent that the roof rack of the minibus was loaded with everything we needed for the two days. We were each equipped with Wellington Boots, and were ready for the jungle.

The boat motored up the river and parked next to a huge rock, which we were supposed to clamber up, and jump off. I had one look and hadn’t felt so scared in many years. Initially, I thought there was no way. As soon as I got near the edge, my stomach just let go with huge butterflies, and fear affected my whole body. Most of the others jumped off. However, the big surprise was that Moises couldn’t jump off either, despite leading us here! After a couple of false alarms when I just bottled it, I did jump. I must have gone in bum first, as it really stung on hitting the water. The current was surprisingly strong and needed a good couple of strokes to get back to the boat. The younger ones had a few more jumps but one was enough for me. A lot of effort was made to cajole Moises into jumping, all unsuccessful, even off the lower rocks, and even after being pushed! We all made a final jump from various heights and floated downstream to meet the boat on a beach.

We all boarded the boat to head off downstream to the Lodge. The boat was surprisingly nimble and crossed some small rapids and shallows with ease. We eventually moored and clambered out of the boat and up a small bank. We had to pick up all our gear and anything else we could manage. I grabbed the eggs and bread and headed off on a path through quite dense foliage. This ended at another river bank, and we needed to wade across another river, hence the rubber boots. This leads to a path through quite a dense forest and ultimately a steep climb into the lodge. It was a collection of small buildings/shelters with one big shelter for cooking and eating. We, Tom, Conor, and I were assigned a triple room. It actually had about six beds, but only three were made up, together with mosquito nets.

We went for a short walk into the Jungle around the lodge, it was remarkable, lots of sightings of various animals (see the list at the end), including hearing monkeys making the strangest of noises (I made a recording). It was also very memorable to see a rubber tree and the rubber come out of it. It only took a very shallow cut with a stone to have it exuding rubber very quickly. It was very sticky, and after getting it on my hands and fingers, I couldn’t operate my phone for a few hours, and my fingerprint couldn’t be read for days! It is no wonder that Rubber Plantations were set up everywhere. It must have been seen like a miracle plant when it was discovered by the european explorers.

After a really good lunch, and after a brief rest before we headed out to the lagoon for more wildlife. Just before we left the heavens opened, and torrential rain started. It was all change, and we all got prepared to go out in our waterproofs. I had brought a heavy waterproof coat with me to Peru, but before the Inca Trail, I had replaced it with a lightweight poncho (in a very fetching pink). I’d not needed it on the Inca Trail, but I had left my coat in Cusco, so I was modelling a bright pink plastic bag for the day. The boat took us down river and dropped us on the river bank, where we disembarked and took a long walk, initially along the edge of the river flood plain, and then through dense forest. It rained the whole time, and there wasn’t too much wildlife to be spotted. Eventually, we made it to the Machuwasi Lagoon, where there were balsa wood rafts to cruise around the lagoon. We all sheltered, with a few other groups, under the only roof, waiting for the rain to stop or for us to give in. The rafts were wet, the rain was continuing, and the whole thing seemed rather unappealing. However, it seemed that agreement of what to do was reached. I, along with a few others, thought we had decided to go back, so we were very surprised when everyone boarded two rafts, and we set off punting up the lagoon. Initially, it turned into a bit of a sea battle between the boats, with us crashing into and splashing each other, but our raft soon pulled ahead, and we set off for the observation tower. From the tower, there was a really good view of a few different bird nesting sites, with the birds generally sheltering from the rain (and a good view of the other group still struggling to master the raft!). We had to punt the rafts back to the starting point, which obviously involved a lot of banging and barging.

It was getting dim, both due to the time and the inclement weather, as it still had not stopped raining. Most of us had forgotten to bring lights, so we walked back in close procession, retracing our steps. It was a bit more erie, not knowing what was in the jungle just beyond the light of the torches. I was very impressed when Moises led us to the exact point on the river bank where our boat was waiting in the pitch black. The boat ride upstream in the complete darkness was epic. No torches were allowed, and the skill of the boatman was amazing. I was vaguely aware of the rapids and faster moving water below us and sensed the various banks and shoals near to the boat, but could see practically nothing. Any moonlight that would have been available was dimmed by the weather. A vague skyline was visible, and the water splashing right next to the boat, but everything in between seemed like complete guesswork. Without anything visual, the sounds of the different parts of the river were quite distinct, and I am sure they were the main way of navigating through the faster flowing water and shallow rapids. With the boatman heading towards or away from the water noise to find the right part of the river. Eventually Moises flash on a torch and instantly picked out our beaching point on the river, all in all a very impressive piece of navigation and I’m sure the result of years of experience of the boatman on the river. We walked back to the lodge, across the island, wading across the shallows that were teaming with tiny frogs and tadpoles (Cain Toads apparently) in our torch light for a well deserved dinner. We also risked sharing a few beers, making sure there was still enough for Conor’s birthday the next day.

The next morning there was supposed to be dawn trip to the “clay lick”, where a variety of parrots go to feed, however it was declared that if it was raining it would not go ahead, Therefore at 5:30 am most of us assembled to be told that the light drizzle constituted rain and the boat trip woud not go ahead. Everyone except my two roommates had got up, so I returned for another two hours in bed, with Conor and Tom feeling fully justified in not getting up! After breakfast, it was still raining lightly as we headed off for a walk up through the jungle to a viewpoint at the top. It was a really nice walk, broken up with a variety of creatures that were discovered. It started with a very small venomous snake, which became very feisty as Moises prodded it with a stick. It struck out rather than running away, which surprised me given the size difference. A troop of Woolley Monkeys then took our attention for over an hour halfway up the climb. We could see a big family group, hanging around and swinging through the trees. It was magical. Anther notable observation was a tarantula spider, which scared the living daylights out of me. I was peering into a hole in the tree roots and was trying to light up the hole so that Johanna could get a photograph. I was staring at what I thought was the spider when a huge hairy leg came into view, completely freaking me out! We got to the top and relaxed as the view varied from complete cloud to marvellous views over the river stretching out downstream and the town of Salvation across the river. We retraced our steps down for lunch.

After lunch it was supposed to be the zip-lining activity. Unfortunately the rain continued so we all relaxed around the lodge waiting for the weather to subside. There were a few breaks in the weather, and we all put harnesses and helmets on, only for it to start raining again. So we sat around chatting until it was declared slight less wet. It was a really good activity, with three zip lines, and skill required on the braking. It was a fine line between crashing into the tree at the end, or getting stuck on the wire too far from the landing point, all good fun. The final element was an abseil down a huge, and very old tree. It was a long time since I abseiled, but the technique came back very quickly. Afterwards we returned to the lodge for dinner, and a special birthday cake for Conor. It was very impressive (as was all the food) especially as it was cooked in the rudimentary kitchen in the lodge. We all sang Happy Birthday, I can’t remember which language it was predominately sung in, but I definitely sang in English. We then broke out the last of the beer, enough for one each, and played cards. I looked up the rules for “Shithead” which I’d (re)learnt and played with the Canadians on the Inca Trail. The rules I found on the internet looked different but we carried on regardless, and had a good few games. There were a number of adaptations to the rules, when we found ourselves with one too many people for a single pack of cards, yet way too many cards when using two packs. As the rules were adapted, on the fly, this created some language issues with the game being carried out in English and German, but the internationally accepted “dummy hand” overcame almost all the issues. The only remaining problem was Moises insisting on calling a King, a Thirteen!?! We just ignored him and carried on ;)

The next morning was another 5:30 am start, with a boat trip to the clay lick regardless of the weather conditions. When we met (everyone except Conor who was recovering from his birthday!) it was still raining and Moises explained that it was unlikely to see any parrots, but we would look for other animals.He found the site of some Coypus where there was evidence of them gathering wood, but no sign of any animals. There were a few cormorants fishing, but other than that, it was all we saw. However, it was good to be up early and on the river as the morning dawned. We headed back for breakfast and to pack up our luggage, ready to leave. We made the final hike down the path from the lodge, wading across the shallow river with tiny frogs jumping in front of us, across the overgrown island and onto the boat. The trip up river was chilly, I’d sat at the front and was paying the price with a brisk head wind and spray coming over the sides. Once back to Atalaya, we were soon unloaded, and Johanna (our spokesperson and best spanish speaker) thanked and tipped the Lodge team. Soon the minibus appeared with the next group to go to the Lodge, I was pleased that we had had almost two days of good weather before the rain, as while it was good to see the rain-forest in the rain, it would become a bit miserable for the whole time.

We drove back up the road that we had driven down three days before (on a sunday), and it seemed like a completely different road. There was so much construction traffic, and we had to queue a few times while we waited for traffic to be allowed in each direction. There was usually a marshal, sat in the rain, controlling the traffic, saying it would be switched to our way in 30 minutes or so. The road is really in a poor state and, in some areas, is very narrow, with the edge disappearing down the cliff. It’s the only road into the area and is the key road to get tourists into the Manua National Park, which probably explains the amount of construction. On areas with no actual construction work, there were a number of teams of surveyors surveying the road. We eventually reached the entrance to Manu National Park, where a few days earlier we had first seen the Cloud Forest. This time, the mist was low, and it was pretty cold. A quick toilet stop, and we were heading back over to the Pacific side of the Andes. We stopped for a picnic lunch after 30 minutes or so. There was a big difference to the landscape with sandy coloured parched fields and warm dry atmosphere, a really big difference to the green and humidity on the Atlantic/Amazon side of the Andes.

We reached Cusco in the late afternoon and were reminded that today had been a “General Strike” day in protest against the government. There were squads of police and army on each street corner, groups of about 10 men (or women) leaning on their riot sheilds. The number of security people available was staggering, considering Cusco is only one town of many. We tried to drop Johanna and Bettina off at the airport, but the gates were closed, and a ring of police surrounded the area. We were able to drop them off, but they had to walk in from the main road through the security. The town itself was quiet, in the main square there was a person wth a microphone, supported with one or two people with banners, but otherwise very quiet. There was a high level of police around, which probably kept the street hawkers at bay. At one point a police (sniffer?) dog bounded over, and took a great deal of interest in me, I was slightly alarmed expecting to be questioned by the handler, but she just waved me on and gave the dog a big stroke. I got back to my hotel at about 6 pm to get my big rucsac out of storage and pick up my laundry. I had booked another night, although I had been in two minds whether to catch the night bus to Puno. In the end I was pleased to stay and catch a bus in the morning, it was nice to have a shower, sleep in a proper bed and slowly repack my bags for the next leg of my journey.

Sightings, in chronological order – with a link to the most likely wiki page (many of these were hurriedly written down, so errors expected!).

• Black Buzzard Eagle
• Cock of the Rock
• Toucanette (Blue Banded Toucan)
• Green Jay
• Tayra (Manco like otter)
• Parrots
• Caiman (Aligator)
• Bats
• Squirrel Monkey
• Red Howler Monkey
• Emerald Tree Boa
• Hummingbirds
• Toucan
• Cormorants
• Cane Toad (as tadpoles and tiny frogs)
• Heron
• Fer-de-Lance Poisonous Viper
• Pocket Monkey
• Woolly Monkeys
• Tarantula spider
• Hoatzin
• Dusky Titi Monkey

I have some audio recordings from the jungle – just recorded on my mobile phone – but gives a flavour!