We spent four days at two different beautiful lodges in the middle of the rainforest. We spent the night before we headed into the jungle in a town called Puerto Maldonado, which is just on the outskirts. I was not too excited about out trip at that point, because the amount of humidity was overwhelming. I was sweating buckets while lying on my bed. I was not excited to head into the real heat of it in the jungle.
Sunset in Puerto Maldonado
When we arrived, however, we quickly came to realize that while yes, we would be smelly, sweaty, and gross for the next few days, it wasn't unbearable. The only way to get to the lodges in the jungle was by boat, so we headed off on the Tambopata river for a 3-hour boat ride. It was incredibly beautiful, and I took way too many pictures. Here are a few of my favorites from the two boat rides.
Our lunch the first day on the boat. Fried rice in a leaf. Quite delicious!
On our way!
The first animal we saw, a capybara!
Sunrise over the Tambopata river.
Our first night was spent at the main lodge, where we also went on our first walk through the jungle. Our guide took us to a canopy tower that allowed us to look out over the expanse of jungle. It was really amazing to see the sea of green stretching away from us for as far as the eye could see in every direction.
The tower, as seen from below
Our first view of the canopy
Sunset over the jungle
We then headed deeper into the jungle to another lodge, where we spent our last two nights. Most of our time was spent walking through the jungle with our fantastic guide Aldo leading the way. He (along with, to a lesser extent, the other guides) was a huge highlight of the trip. He joked around with us and teased us, but knew when to be silent and how to spot the tiniest frogs or insects, as well as the bigger monkeys and birds. He was incredibly knowledgeable, and fun to be around. He was by far the best guide we've had in all of the touristic sites we've visited so far in Peru.
Our group with our wonderful guide, Aldo.
There were a few other tourist groups there, and I really enjoyed getting to know many of them. Most of the tourists that go to Tambopata don't speak Spanish, so it was kind of fun to be able to surprise the guides there with the fact that we could. That's been a pretty common theme in these three weeks. Since we've been in pretty touristy areas, where many people don't speak Spanish, people assume we don't either, and are pleasantly surprised when we do.
After our 4 days in the jungle, we were all sad to go, but considering the pungent aroma that surrounded all of us, it was time to leave. I don't know if I can say that the jungle was my favorite part of these three weeks, but it was definitely an incredible experience, and I know that I'd love to return some day. Here are a few last pictures of our adventure in the jungle.
These trees are so cool! They grow around existing trees and eventually kill the inner tree, leaving the inside of this one hollow.
Birds!
A lagoon in the middle of the jungle.
Our group. Look at Sonja, so strong!
A jungle path.
Monkey! This one's a saddleback tamarind.
The guides from our trip. Great guys!
