We had a 4am wake-up call on day two in the Amazon.  We ate breakfast at the Gryffendor table. In lieu of coffee, I tried the hot chocolate, which was fantastic. After several cups, we ventured out on a trek to see some otters in a nearby lake.  We walked down to our boat through a blue mist and when arrived at the river we could see the sun rise in the distance.  

We took the boat up river about 10 minutes and then we had to hike about 20 minutes to find the lake. The lake used to be a turn in the river and eventually was closed off due to sediment. It's home to a variety of animals including a family of otters, caymans, piranhas and birds.   Once we arrived at the lake, we boarded a jury rigged pontoon boat, which consisted of two canoes connected by some wooden boards with benches nailed atop.  As we began to float across the small lake, the sun began to rise and light up the jungle around us. 

We never spotted those wily otters, but we did see our fair share of birds and we even fished for piranhas.  Piranhas are difficult to catch because they nibble at the bait instead of swallowing it one bite. They are fast and agile and your bait quickly disappears from your hook.  We used bits of raw beef and those picky piranhas only ate the red meat and left the fat.  I was the first non jungle native to catch one! 

After spending about an hour on the lake, the sun began to strengthen so we headed back to the lodge for a snack of cheese croissants and passion fruit juice and then prepared for our next expedition: the Macaw clay lick. 

The clay lick consisted of a clay wall along the river bank.  Macaws gather here to lick the clay when they feel completely safe from predators. Therefore, we had to sit in a hidden hut and remain very quiet while we waited for the macaws to show up. 

Question for class 2A: Why do macaws lick clay?

When we arrived, we noticed a hawk perched on a branch near the clay lick.  This was bad news for us because macaws are afraid of hawks. Eventually the hawk flew away and we noticed 8 or 9 macaws in the tree tops above, still very far away.  Our guide noticed that they began to descend little by little toward the clay lick and we were very optimistic that we'd be able to see them up close. However, another hawk showed up and scared them away.  Then a couple of loud boats came by and sealed the deal. No macaw close-ups for us.

Now, it may sound really boring sitting in a hut waiting to see macaws for an hour, but it turned out to be quite entertaining. First, the interaction between the hawks and the macaws was fascinating to witness.  We also had some human entertainment from the other guide, Willian. He had been assigned to the Indian family with the young child (about 3 years old). They showed up after we had been waiting in the hut for about 30 minutes.  The baby was sleeping, so we were in good shape. However, as the macaws started to descend the baby woke up and Willian tried his best to keep him quiet. This consisted of breaking off pieces of nature and pretending they were toys, dancing, and then finally he resorted to attempting to rationalize with the baby, asking him politely to go back to sleep. None of these tactics was successful and the baby's mom had to take him away from the hut.  While Willian did not succeed in calming the baby, he managed to make us laugh. 

We later witnessed Willian wearing the baby Bjorn with the 3 year old in it while hiking back to the lodge. He was sporting an supressed grimace on his face.  

On our way back to the lodge we happened upon a group of squirrel monkeys eating fruit in a palm tree. We had to go off the main path to see them but it was worth it! We enjoyed watching them jump from treetop to treetop. Our guide, Robin, got really close with our camera and snapped a couple of great shots:

After lunch at the Gryffendor table, we had a little siesta before our afternoon adventure - visiting the chaman.  The people of the Infierno often can't afford modern healthcare. Therefore they turn to the local chaman who uses native plants to treat a variety of aliments. The chaman also serves as a spiritual guide, and many people from the area take a hallucinogen called Ayahuasca while in his care, in order to see their future and understand their purpose in the world. 

We had to take a boat about 15 mins along the river to arrive at his farm/clinic.  We then took a tour of his farm.  The chaman doesn't speak English so Robin (who once trained as a chaman's apprentice) translated for the group. Here were some of the things we saw:

We saw a few other plants including:
-Chuchuhuasi - painkiller
-Cordoncillo - used to make Novocain.  We chewed some of the leaves and sure enough, our mouths went numb. 
-Sanipanga - used as a red dye

At the end of the tour we sampled a couple of elixers which all tasted the same - like strong cough syrup.  

After our visit to the chaman, we went back to the lodge for dinner. Right after dinner a few of us went on a night hike with Robin which turned out to be almost deadly.  

We made our way through complete darkness in search of creatures of the night with only a few flashlights to guide the way.  The first thing we happened upon was a colony of bullet ants having their way with some sort of shrub.  Robin cautioned us to keep our distance from these massive, venomous ants, before proceeding to get bit by one of them.  All was well, however, as he claimed he'd built up an immunity to them over the years (though still very painful!).  

We were all now thoroughly worried about what other sorts of things we might unknowingly brush up against in the darkness of the Amazonian night.  A few minutes later, someone's flashlight caught a spider descending from a tree right between the two Canadian girls.  Intrigued, someone asked Robin what sort of spider it was.  Robin immediately freaked out and pushed everyone away from the spider.  He explained it was a Wandering Spider, one of the world's deadliest.  He then proceeded to probe the spider with a stick, which I'm sure the spider appreciated.  At this point (about 10 minutes into the 40 minute hike), Robin decided it was best to head back.  On the short walk back to the lodge we also saw a tarantula and a wolf spider.  All in all, a short but successful night hike, mainly because we made it back alive. 

Upon our return to the lodge, folks were hanging out at the bar. William called me over saying he had something to show me.  Already suspicious, I slowly approached him knowing he had something up his sleeve.  He literally did.  He straightened his arm and out crawled a giant tarantula.  I was worried the spider would bite him, especially after our encounters on the night hike, but he told me that even if it bit him, it would just itch like  a mosquito bite. He then passed the tarantula off to one of the other guides at the bar who escorted it back into the woods.  

We spent the next few hours draining a bottle of Pisco with Robin, the Canadian girls and their Peruvian guide.  We learned a little more about Peruvian foods (including brains), marriage customs (most don't get married because they can't afford it) and shared a few laughs.  

I slept a lot better that night, and the next morning we departed around 8am for our journey back to Cusco.  Below are a few more shots from the beautiful Amazon.

When thinking about the Amazon many words come to mind - humid, colorful, bugs, sunsets, monkeys, piranhas , wonder, mud, terror and spirituality.  The jungle is not for everyone and if you are looking for a relaxing vacation, skip it all together. However, if you are looking for an adventure, enjoy viewing exotic wildlife in its natural habitat, don’t mind sweating for a few days straight, and love serene views like the one below, then make the trek out to the jungle.  

We spent two nights at Posadas Amazonas, an eco lodge on the Tambopata river which is part of the Amazon region. To get here you must take a plane to Puerto Maldonado, Peru which is about a one hour flight from Cusco.  In order to explore the Amazon, you need to book through an authorized tour group (in our case, a company called Rainforest Expeditions).  They picked us up at the airport and brought us to their “office”  which was basically an open air hut with a few computers, a bar and a storage closet. We were the first in our group to arrive so we waited for about an hour, sipping passion fruit juice while the other group members showed up.   From this point, you have to take a small boat to your final destination, so passengers are only allowed to bring small bags.  Upon arrival at the office, most people pack up small bags with enough supplies for the next couple of days and then lock up their larger bags at the office.  We didn’t have to do this since we were already carrying backpacks. 

At the office we met our guides - Willian (yes, it's spelled with an n) and Robin. They are both 20 something guys from the Tambopata region and grew up in the jungle. Willian was definitely the class clown and regularly made us laugh throughout the trip (often times unintentionally). Robin was more serious, super nice and very knowledgable about the jungle. 

From the office we took a bus for about an hour across dirt roads and rickety wooden bridges (not kidding – sometimes they were just wooden planks that went over a five foot ditch) until you get to the boats.   As we found out later, if it were raining, we would not have been able to use these roads. 

During our bus ride, one of the guides explained a bit about the region. Althought the land is protected by the government, they have a problem with squatters, or people claiming the land as their own. In Peru, if the government doesn't kick out squatters within seventy two hours, they can stay and make a case for ownership that they have to take to a special court. Therefore we passed by many tents and shanties that serve as shelters for the squatters.

They also gave us an overview of the agreement that Rainforest Expeditions has with the local community called El Infierno.  The company has a 20 year contract with the local people of the Infierno where they split profits from tourism 60/40 (60% goes to the locals).  Rainforest Expeditions also employs the people from the local community to work at their lodges as tour guides and staff.  The only other jobs in this area are mining or collecting Brazil nuts, so this is a pretty coveted job for the locals. It works out great for the company because nobody knows the jungle better than the people the people that grew up there. Also, Rainforest Expeditions runs 'eco-lodges' and therefore do little damage to the jungle, something that is very important to the people of El Infierno. 

As we approached the boats, one of the guides explained that Rainforest Expeditions owns three lodges – Posadas Amazonas, which is a one hour boat ride up the river, Refugio Amazonas which is about a three hour boat ride up the river, and Tambopata Research Center which is an eight hour boat ride. Eight hours on a small boat is a really long ride so the last one is for those folks who are really into wildlife, birdwatching and nature photography. I would not recommend such a long boat ride for first time adventurers! 

We then boarded our boat, which is basically a long, thin covered canoe with a motor.  When boarding the boat, the first thing you notice are hundreds of butterflies fluttering around. I’ve never seen so many in one place in my life. I attempted to film them but put the camera away when the boat almost tipped.  Since the boats are so thin, weight must be evenly distributed on each side of the boat or it starts to tip.  It's a little un-nerving at first, but you get used it.  The boat ride turned out to be quite pleasant.  The breeze felt amazing in the humidity and we managed to cool off for a bit.  They served an amazing lunch on the boat– fried rice in a plantain leaf.  Luckily for me, we had a family from India on our boat and they were vegetarians. Therefore I didn’t have to worry about the staff serving birds for lunch. I think the fried rice was my favorite meal during our stay!

About an hour later, we arrived at our lodge, climbed out of the boat and then hikeed about ten mins to the lodge. Thankfully, porters carry your large bags so you don’t have to navigate these stairs with your luggage! 

They welcome  you to the lodge with a seat in their open air lobby and a glass of fresh juice or water.  Since it's an eco lodge, they must explain how everything works:

- All rooms have three walls – one is open to the jungle
- Electricity is only available from 5pm to 9pm. Flashlights/headlamps are  a must after 9pm.
- They serve breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner at set times and you eat with your tour group. We really enjoyed eating with our group as we had the chance to get to know some of the other travelers. 

We then went to  our rooms which were pretty cool at first glance. I'd consider this glamping, but we certainly were anything but glamorous at this point. 

The room was pristine and we later discovered that it takes a lot of work to keep the rooms this way every day. 

After unpacking, we met up with our group for an afternoon hike out to the look-out tower.  The groups are intentionally small - our group consisted of five other people - two girls from Canada who were a few years younger than us, and an older woman accompanied by her grown son and daughter, who were treating her to a Peruvian vacation!  On our way our guide, Robin, pointed out some interesting trees like the Walking Palm Tree and the Brazil Nut tree. The Brazil nut is really important to the people of the Infierno. During rainy season, when tourism is slower, they gather and sell brazil nuts. It’s another way they make money. 

We arrived at the tower which was essentially a scaffolding tower with wooden landings connected by stairs and supported by cables tied to nearby trees. It was rickety and really high up (150 feet) and Chris is afraid of heights so he had a hard time enjoying the view.  The tower platform was about 4' x 8' and there were nine of us up there at once.  At one point, Robin was sitting on the handrail on the top level without holding on!  The view was fantastic and from up here we were able to spot many birds.