DAY 17

An early start today, a 1.30am pick up from our hotel to the airport and 4.30am flight to Lima.

We got to the airport and only I had a secured seat for me.. the airline told us the flight was full and because we didn’t check in we lost our seats. After a long 2 hours of fighting for our seats, we were finally allocated seats. Shane and I got to sit together luckily. Deb and Julie weren’t able to get on and poor Deb had her kids waiting for her at Lima.

We finally arrived at our hotel, paid $40USD for an early check in which included breakfast. We had fresh bread and scrambled eggs finally, then headed out for a walk by the beach. We came back to the hotel with enough time for an hour nap before meeting our new group and tour guide.

Our guide Edwin gave us a good run through of the rest of our trip. After the briefing we met the other intrepid group (some from our last group) who are going directly to Cusco and then Machu Picchu. We all walked to the “metro” a bus system like our T-Way’s. They are so packed the public transport here, you have to be pushy to secure a spot. We went on a walk to the Catacombs of Francesco, a big church that had amazing detail and was covered in artistic paintings. There were massive books on display, they were so big so the whole choir could see the one book. The books were covered back to front in leather and the pages were made of an animals skin. Underneath the Church was a grave site for the people of Francesco, 25,000 people were buried there. They would bury people on top of each other meters under the ground and when the bodes decomposed, they would arrange the bones. Some had the skull in the middle and bones around the skull pointing out in a circle. There was a section for skulls, hip bones, leg bones. There was a well for the slaves, the slaves didn’t have a burial. It was amazing to think how long ago it was all built and how in tact it all still is. There are still 35 Francesicans still living there today.

We enjoyed a beautiful dinner at a restaurant in Parque Kennedy (Central Park) before catching a few hours sleep for an early start again tomorrow.

DAY 18

An early morning again today, up and ready for breakfast at 4.50am. Our beautiful big coach transfered us from the hotel to Lima airport for our flight to Puerto Maldonado in the Amazon Jungle, where we'll be staying for two nights. The flight was delayed and the gates kept changing. We were delayed a few hours so the early morning wasn’t worth it and we were all just dying to get to the Amazon. Finally we boarded luckily Shane and I were sat together and sat next to a lovely German lady who happened to be an Intrepid Influencer working in marketing. She was German but had a mixed accent, she has a Scotland partner and is currently living in the UK. Shane and I got chatting to her but as soon as I got comfy I fell asleep and woke up when we were landing and had to change seats. All round it took about three hours, including a 30-45 minute stop in Cusco (we didn’t need to disembark but we needee to change seats to further back in the plane).

We finally arrived at the airport, got a transfer to the office and had 20 minutes to pack a small duffel bag for the two nights of our jungle stay. We arrived at the river and got a 2.5hr motorised canoe upriver to our jungle lodge; Explorers Inn in the Madre de Dios area. Lunch today is a packed lunch that you will be given during the boat ride. We spotted some fresh water side neck turtles and birds on our way to the lodge. As soon as we arrived at the lodgeC we had 20 minutes to drop our bags and get everything needed for a night tour in the jungle! I was surprised with how beautiful our lodge was. It was wooden covered in fly nets so you can hear the wildlife and it had fly nets over our bed. There were extra thick blankets that we used so I snuggled up in my PJ’s after washing myself with wet wipes (the water is solar panelled and there is only one tap!).

DAY 19

Finally a nice sleep in, breakfast at 7am to leave by 7.30am. We had fresh scrambled eggs, bread, yoghurt and granola (that tasted like a yummy soft wheat cereal) and fruit.

We were given gumboots to wear for our walk and we were off. Out of the lodge, down the stairs and on the boat on the Amazon River. Once we arrived we went on a bit of a walk through the jungle, we seen an Amazon Redish fun in front of us, it looked like a little fluffy raccoon. After our little walk we hopped on a smooth, wooden, catamaran that was run by a man and a wooden owe at the back of the boat. We seen lots of birds; fly catchers (tiny little yellow birds), king fishers, heron, tocans, macaws and one skinny one in the water fishing for its food and then fly away. On the way back we seen a family of Capibara’s, five little babies and it’s mumma on the river bank.

Lunch was delicious; tuna pasta for entree (which was big enough to be a main for me), meat with sauce a pyramid of rice and beans, star fruit juice and watermelon for dessert. After lunch we had an hour siesta! Shane and I went back to our room for a freezing cold shower freshen up and a lay in our hammocks before our next excursion.

We went on another walk, two and a half hours total out to the canopy tower to look over the tree tops. We spotted a weasel climbing the tree right beside us.

Fun facts:

Banyo Leaf is used to make the top of the lodges, feels like plastic

Hot lips flower - Shaped like lips

Black constrictor

There are four types of Crocodilians; Gharials, Crocodilse, Alligatora and Caimans

We will probably see white or black Caimans; big face and strong nose

At night we went on the boat again to spot some more animals. On the boat, toward the end of our tour, we had 5 minutes of meditation with all torches off to hear the sounds of the Amazon.