Hola! The Amazon is the hottest, most humid place I’ve ever been, 99% humidity gives one a very dewy glow!

 

After a flight to Puerto Maldonado and a minibus ride to the river, I excitedly arrived at Tambopata Eco Lodge on a motorised canoe. Along the way there was some fascinating wildlife to see… I spotted monkeys hiding in the trees, stunning rainbow coloured macaws and curious looking capibarras licking the clay mud riverbank.

The lodge is all thatched cottages with mosquito nets for windows and candles instead of electricity. The hot shower and hammock on the balcony signified major luxury to me! The lodge has a pet piranha, it lives in a fish tank, that just cracked me up. There is also a very cheeky green parrot called Homero who struts around amusing the guests.

Armed with just a torch and a camera, my new buddies and I were taken on a night time rainforest walk to seek out wildlife. We saw snakes, poisonous frogs, giant crickets and pretty birds. Our eagle eyed guide (and talented photographer) Jose was drawn to creatures that I couldn’t even see! Although the moon shone brightly in the dark, I couldn’t shake off the sense of unease that I felt. Luckily the local Anaconda didn’t put in an appearance, Jose showed me a photo of it.. and it is the size of a car!

The best feature of the rainforest is the sound, it is buzzing loudly with intriguing animal noises. There is constant chorus of chirping, caw cawing and monkeys laughing. I never realised how loud it is and it goes on all night long! I lay there every night just listening in wonder and feeling so lucky that I’d got to hear this awesome music of nature.

The next day we woke at dawn to board a boat to a beautiful lake where we fed the piranhas crackers… I jest not! [below photo is a piranha skull]

I had some great fun exploring the jungle, climbing trees, I even climbed up the inside of a giant tree and swung off a vine like Tarzan! This incredible day was followed by a night time boat trip to spot Cayman (croccies) they were so cute in a yellow eyed reptilian kind of way.

During my visit to the Amazon, the best animal I saw was a big hairy Tarantula.. they are actually very shy creatures and in order to see one, you have to coax them out of their hole. You get a leaf with a long stem, you wiggle it down the hole until the Tarantula runs out fighting the leaf. They soon scurry away so you have to be camera ready!

Tambopata amazingly has a well stocked bar.. so the late evenings were spent consuming rum and sharing hilarious anecdotes with fellow travellers. What I’ve learned is that although people travel due to simple wanderlust.. many solo travellers have a sad story to tell, many of them are healing a broken heart. I would highly recommend taking the brave step to travel alone. It’s liberating, it’s a great distraction, an escape from the rat race, and it enriches your soul. Personally, I take any opportunity to explore this beautiful world because tomorrow never really arrives and I want to look back on my life with no regrets.

For cool wildlife pics

Joselo Barazorda Wildlife Fotography