Off to the Jungle

After 4 weeks of huffing and puffing up and down the high altitude streets and hills of Cusco, we decided it was time for a change. Off we went, on a long and windy (and somewhat nauseating) 8 hour drive way, way, down into the Amazon Basin. Eventually, we made it to Rio Madre de Dios at the sleepy end-of-the-road town of Atalaya.

A sign like this lets you know you are about where the sidewalk ends. This sign was at the dock, and basically says, "Caution, you are entering an area of uncontacted tribes. Avoid conflict. Do not try to contact them. Do not give them clothing/food. Do not take photos (they might mistake a camera for a weapon.)" There have been several issues with uncontacted tribes on this river recently. Just downstream from where we were. (recent attack on loggers, recent Mascho Piro contact)

From there, we made our way downriver by boat for two hours at which point we transferred to a smaller boat, called a Peke-Peke. These are tiny open-air boats meant for shallow water and are named for the sound of their two stroke motors. We then headed up a small tributary, the Rio Palatoa, for another couple of hours - needing to stop several times to drag the boat up shallow spots in the river. We had amazing luck, and spotted a whole famiy of cappybara (the world's largest rodent) along the river that we spent some time watching. Needless to say, we were greatful to make it to the lodge after a long day.

On the first boat

The aptly named Peke-Peke

The long prop shaft is designed to help in in very shallow water

There was no rest for the weary however. As we dropped our bags and, as soon as the sun hit the horizon, set out into the jungle on foot for a night hike filled with tarantulas, insects, and a Fed-de-lance (spotted by Tim).

A bizzare mushroom we found. It only grows at night and lasts just a few hours. It was gone by morning.

We ended up spending the next 5 days having a great adventure, hiking to different parts of the jungle 3 or 4 times a day. One of the best things in the area was a nearby enbankment of mineral- containing mud that was visited every morning by huge flocks of parrots and macaws. It got amazingly hot in the afternoons and we were thankful to have a river to jump in. Two evenings, they took us upriver a few miles and dropped us off with tubes to float back to the lodge.

Tim practicing his photography with a macaw

Tim's macaw picture

Learning about leafcutter ants

The ants hard at work

Tasting termites (not like chicken, they actually taste like mint)

On our way out we stopped on a cobblestone riverbank to watch some monkeys going by. As we watched them, our guide looked at the stones and realized that one of the stones was actually an artifact - likely an Incan axe head. History, it seems, is never far behind out here.