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Day 12: Amazon Rainforest - Welcome to the Jungle

5/24/2013

8 Comments

 
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.  
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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. 
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Loading up the bus that brought us to our boat!
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!
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On the boat, ready to go to our lodge.
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These are the boats they use to travel along the river.
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! 
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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. 
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Our room - Room 4
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Bathroom - those bamboo sticks are the only thing between you and your neighbor's bathroom.
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You pretty much wanted to shower 3x a day.
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. 
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Walking Palm Tree trunk. It moves or "walks" a few inches per year in order to get more sun.
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Brazil nut tree
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. 
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The tower we climbed
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Birdwatching from the tower
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Sunset view from the tower
After our hike we were in desperate need of a shower. Our shower didn’t have warm water at first but we didn’t care- we just wanted to cool off.  Before dinner, we had a couple of beers at the bar, played a destructive game of jenga (glasses were broken) and got to know some of the olther folks in our tour group. 

Dinner was served at seven pm and we ate at long wooden tables complete with candelabras and large wooden chairs.  It conjured up images of Hogwarts, and Chris quickly claimed our table the Gryffendor table.  Unfortunately, no one else in our group got the joke. 

We were so tired after dinner that we went to bed. Chris fell asleep under the mosquito net rather quickly but I barely slept because giant bugs kept flying into my net – including a rhinocerous beetle. I heard bats and birds in the room and animals rooting around outside. Eventually I dozed off but we had a four am wake up call so my slumber didn’t last long. 

The next day were in store for many more treats and a little more terror ...

8 Comments
Maria Wallman
5/24/2013 02:45:11 am

It's beautiful what an experience

Reply
Rebekah
5/24/2013 06:54:17 am

Did you, by chance, meet a man called Steve Teams anywhere on the river? I've been lookin' for that guy.

Reply
Eva
5/24/2013 08:14:38 am

We didn't spot Steve Teams. However, the locals told us about a legendary river hero named Esteban Equipos. Possible connection?

Reply
Mom Barbier
5/24/2013 01:37:22 pm

Can't imagine those sleeping conditions...but Chris, you always could sleep through anything. What an amazing and unique experience. I've seen pictures of Goliath beetles. WOW!

Reply
Chris
5/25/2013 01:56:36 am

Yeah, I actually caught some pretty solid shuteye in the jungle!

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Richard DeMaria
5/24/2013 11:28:41 pm

It took me awhile to realize that I was reading "backwards" in your trip. I didn't stop until I got to the end. I could probably read about these things on other sites, but it is more interesting to read about it through the eyes of someone I "know." I can't imagine having such an interest in learning about other cultures to be willing to put so much time and energy into travel.

Of particular interest as a reader: the magical room in Hotel Rumi; the Taquile wedding three-day kneel; the floating islands; a 72 hour squatters' law. Two questions remain: What does "unisex" mean when appended to Tejidos de hombres? I don't quite follow the interpretation of the Inca Cross.

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Eva and Chris
5/25/2013 01:27:17 am

Hi Brother DeMaria!

It's wonderful to hear from you and we are really glad that you are enjoying our blog! In response to your questions:

- Tejidos de hombres - unisex: We think this means unisex clothing knitted by men. We checked out the store on the island and it was full of sweaters, hats and scarves that could be worn by men or women. The clothing was very soft, color and of great quality. We wish we could have purchased a few items but we had no room in our overstuffed backpacks!

-Inca Cross: Little is certain about the Inca culture and there are many interpretations of the Inca Cross. We received a high level overview from our tour guide based on some of the more widely accepted interpretations. Our basic understanding is that the top half of the cross (top three terraces) represents the three worlds that the Incas believe your soul cycles between - Heaven, Earth and the Underworld. Each of these worlds have a corresponding totem and god. Sometimes you would find temples built for one of these three gods. They believed in reincarnation, but only for the noble classes. Our guide said that reincarnation didn't apply to the working class. The Incas also believed in balance which is why the cross is symmetrical. They believed that good could not exists without bad. In the ruins you would would often see the top half of the cross in stone which would cast a shadow, creating the bottom half. It's their version of yin & yang. The center circle represents the supreme god that created everything.

Other interpretations say that the center circle represents Cusco, the center of the Inca world. Another interpretation says that the cross represents the Southern Cross constellation, which was important to the Incas because each star represented one of the cardinal points on the compass.

There are many other interpretations of the cross but no one knows for sure what the true meaning was. The cross is omnipresent in all the ruins so it was definitely very important to these people!

We hope all is well in Africa! We will be in South Africa next week and are excited to explore a new part of the world.

Take Care,
Eva & Chris

Reply
Rich link
3/26/2016 07:12:05 pm

Hi Eva
I loved some of your photos, especially the squirrel monkeys. I saw them, but they were so shy, I couldn't get a good photo of them.
Here are my recent adventures to the Amazon (including the clay lick) ... <a href="http://www.richtrek.com/2016/03/penetrating-amazon-jungle-exploring.html">huge trees of the Tombopato Reserve</a> and ... <a href="http://www.richtrek.com/2016/03/the-macaw-clay-lick-of-tombopato.html">the macaw clay-lick on the Tombopato River of Peru</a> hope it adds to discussion :)

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    Eva has been traveling for 15+ years, including an 8 month journey around the world.  

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