Tambopata

As great as it was to travel for the first week in Peru with our daughters, DW and I agree that we're an absolute dynamo when we travel together, just the two of us.

Now, granted, Kid 2 really suffered from altitude sickness, heat exhaustion, and was just recovering from an illness before she left for Peru, but there were so many times when she just couldn't come out or, if she did, was suffering. Poor sweetie.

And also, when we returned to Lima, I got sick the first night and sat out the entire next day. DW and the girls visited a museum and explored the Barranco neighbourhood while I suffered in the hotel, and apparently they did fairly well.

But when DW and I travel on our own, we just go go go.

We put the kids in a taxi at our Lima hotel and said goodbye as they headed for the airport. I constantly monitored our Signal group chat, ready to offer any assistance if needed. I also worried until I knew they were safely home, as is my duty as a loving dad.

DW and I had a couple more hours in Lima, and we walked to the cliffs that overlook the Pacific coastline, visiting the park that is dedicated to the Chinese community, the park with the marine lighthouse, and Love Park, where we had watched the sun set two nights earlier (before I got sick). But we also needed to take a taxi to the airport and arrived shortly after the kids' plane took of for Atlanta, Georgia.

(I tell you, I was more worried about them being in the U.S. than I was of them being in the taxi in Lima or any other part of their journey home.)

DW and I flew to Puerto Maldonado, a small town in the Tambopata region of Peru, in the Amazon basin. We arrived at dinnertime, checked into our hotel, which was near the junction of the Rio Madre de Dios (Mother of God River) and the Tambopata River, and then wandered the town in search of dinner, which we found at the Puzanga Bar. We ordered one dish of slider burgers, which came with four mini hamburgers and some really tasty fries. We weren't hungry enough to eat four sliders but we could handle two, each, and the fries were more than enough for the two of us. We washed each down with a dark lager, Cusqueña Negra, which was perfect.

We noticed a karaoke venue, across the street, and decided to check it out after dinner. It was called Bambino Karaoke. When we entered, we saw lots of kids with their parents, and we were greeted by someone who told us, through Google translate, that the venue was for kids only.

We should have clued in with a name like bambino.

The next day, we were picked up by our tour organizer and brought to their main office. We were going to be spending four nights with the folks at Chuncho Lodge, though one of those nights was going to be at another location. We waited for other guests to arrive from the airport, whereafter we climbed into a minibus and driven for about 90 minutes on a newish highway and a very badly maintained dirt road, where we caught up further downstream on the Tambopata River.

From there, we climbed onto a long boat and were taken to a spot across the river and a bit further downstream to our lodge. We were greeted by our host, who explained our various mealtimes, how power to the ecolodge was limited to certain times of the day, only, and warned us that there was no hot water available.

We were in the hands of our guide, Donald, who would be taking care of us over the five days.

As soon as we were shown to our room, DW and I had a nap. Donald said that we would meet at 4:00, when he would take us for a walk through the jungle that surrounded our lodge. Rubber boots were provided to us and the other two couples, who would be with us throughout our stay.

At the appointed time, we set out into the forest, which was already growing dark from the heavy vegetation. Donald stressed the importance of staying on the path and not touching anything unless directed by him.

He showed us the difference between primary-growth and secondary-growth forests, taking us to samples of both. He pointed out various plants and trees, and whenever we heard a sound in the dense growth, he'd tell us what was making the sound.

Squirrel monkeys, often.

As the sun was growing lower in the sky, Donald led us up a 35-metre tower that took us up over the canopy of the jungle. From there, we could watch the sun set and we even saw a few birds making their way to where they wanted to stay for the night.

We stayed above the trees for a long time, listening, in silence, as the jungle seemed to come alive.

Donald led us down to the jungle floor and took us on a night tour, pointing out the lizards, snakes, tarantulas, and other wildlife that we encountered. I don't know how he was able to spot things so quickly, but we were sure to stay close behind him and not touch anything.

On day two, Donald took us down the Tambopata River and on another trek through the jungle, where we came to a creek with a bend in it. There was a small clay lick, where macaws would often come, but we ended up sitting for more than an hour without any birds coming to the clay wall, which was mostly covered and shaded by trees, anyway.

At one point, Donald pointed out that two black squirrels had made their way to the clay, but because we have black, grey, and red squirrels in abundance in our backyard, I didn't even turn to look.

I did see a pair of scarlet macaws fly overhead and I managed to get just one shot before they disappeared.

After lunch, Donald took us up a small creek where he taught us how to fish for piranhas. We saw red-bellied and silver piranhas, and I managed to catch three. Donald would carefully take the fish off the hook and point out characteristics of the fish before letting them go. Our boat driver caught a particularly large silver piranha that was badly snagged on the hook, so we decided to keep that one to cook up at dinner.

I talk about that fish in another post.

The next morning, we met in the wee hours, at 4:30, and climbed onto a boat that took us upstream, to the famous clay licks, where macaws, parakeets, and parrots flock to to obtain the salt from the clay. I've also already talked about that adventure in a previous blog post but thought I'd share some of the photos from that morning adventure.

 

On day four, we packed up all of our belongings and returned to Puerto Maldonado, where we had to economize space and only pack our day bags, leaving our main backpacks at the lodge office. I opted for bare essentials: my passport, my D-SLR with the 200-500mm lens, spare batteries and chargers, smartphone, a raincoat, shower shoes, toothbrush and toothpaste, and fresh underwear.

Everything else was left in Puerto Maldonado.

We took a boat down the Rio Madre de Dios and made our way to Sandoval Lake, which was easily one of the highlights of our time in the Amazon basin. We saw baby Giant Otters, cayman, monkeys, and countless species of birds.

I'll never forget our sunset paddle, which lasted until we only had starlight by which to navigate. Whenever we turned on a flashlight, bats as big as seagulls were fluttering around us.

The next day, we left camp early enough to take another leisurely paddle around the lake, when we saw even more wildlife.

Back in Puerto Maldonado, we said goodbye to our fellow travellers and to Donald, and DW and I hung around in this small town for one more day before we flew back to Lima, where we spent another 24 hours or so before heading home.

As I've said before, Peru had its challenges, from effects of high altitudes, to gastrointestinal issues, to the heat and humidity of the jungle, but it's a place I'd like to visit again, if given the opportunity. The people, the scenery, the culture, the rich history, and the food are worth every minute.

I still have more pictures from my trip but I'll wait and share them in upcoming Wordless Wednesday posts. But from here, I think I've presented enough of Peru to give you a taste for it. I have videos that will be popping up in the next few weeks, so stay tuned for those.

Happy Friday!

Welcome to the Jungle

Because DW and I are deep in Peru's Amazon basin, Internet is spotty, at best, and I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to post anything for the rest of this week.

I had written yesterday's post while we were still in Cusco and I was suffering the effects of a high altitude on my already weakend lungs. We've been at altitudes for which I'm more accustomed and so I've been feeling fine since last Thursday.

Except for that day I lost, in Lima, due to traveller's diarrhea. I'll spare you the details. 

We said goodbye to our kids as a taxi spirited them to Lima airport, and to their respective homes. As their dad, I was in constant touch and tracked their flights back to Canada.

Meanwhile, DW and I took our own plane to the southeast section of Peru, not far from the Bolivian border, in a town called Puerto Maldonado. For a tiny town that borders two rivers of the Amazon system, it's lively and people were partying until 4 in the morning.

Not great when your room has no glass windows.

The next morning, we were picked up by folks who run a resort a few hours down the Rio Tambopata, were we have a bungalow that backs onto dense jungle that is teeming with life. Two other couples (one, from Switzerland and the other, South African who now make their home in North Carolina) are with us and a guide, who is nothing short of amazing, is taking us all over this region for five days.

Days are action-packed and worth the heat, humidity, and hungry insects.

I'll have more to say, in the coming days, assuming I have Internet. Tomorrow, I'll share some images that I've captured in the jungle.

Stay tuned.

Last Sunset in Dominicalito

I never tired of the view.

Whether I was waking up and looking through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the bedroom, sitting at the kitchen table, or standing on the deck, my eyes couldn't stray from the jungle that surrounded us, with a gap that offered a window below, to the Pacific Ocean.

For the first four nights in Dominicalito, we were right by the ocean for sunsets. On the first evening, we pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant, it's view looking southward along the coast. The glowing coastline, though it didn't look toward the sun, was still spectacular.

Our second evening was spent in Uvita, and we were once again at a restaurant during sunset. Again, though we couldn't see the sun, the sky above was colourful.

We decided to stay close to our Airbnb for the third and fourth evenings, driving across the highway and down to Playa Dominicalito. The sunsets, both nights, were spectacular.

Because our view from our Airbnb was amazing throughout the day, we wondered how sunset would appear, so on our last night in Dominicalito—indeed, our last night on the Pacific—we stayed in and gazed off the balcony.

The view did not disappoint.

Today, we drive inland, heading up in the mountains, once again, to Quetzal National Park, with our friends in tow.

We're down to the final days of our vacation. Of all the places we've been, Dominicalito is the one place whose view I'm going to miss the most when I wake up.

Monteverde Sunset

We are surrounded by rolling mountains of lush jungle. One of the highest points of Monteverde is a "cloud forest," full of incredible diversity of flower and fauna.

We hired a guide who carried a spotting scope, and he was so fast at spotting creatures and setting up the scope that you would almost think the wildlife wasn't real, was set up exactly were he knew to find them.

They were real, of course.

After our guided tour, we wandered the cloud forest (named as such because it is at the top of the mountain and has clouds passing through it constantly) and took a trail that ended on the continental drift. We couldn't see anything because of the clouds but the wind was fierce due to the conflicting weather systems of the Pacific and Caribbean coasts.

It's always windy in Monteverde.

We had lunch at a small brewey and wandered the town of Santa Elena before heading back to our hotel for a rest. We had walked more than 15,000 steps and climbed the equivalent of more than 80 flights of stairs!

Our hotel is on a west-facing hillside, and the owner told us of a path that he made that climbs to the top of his property. He told us that from there, he had a spectacular view of sunset.

He said it was a short walk but he didn't say how steep the walk was. I added another 20 flights of stairs to my daily total. I cursed like a drunken sailor the entire way up, but when we reached the viewpoint, I shut up. 

I took many pictures with my D-SLR but haven't looked at them yet. Here's a shot that I captured with my smartphone. 

Happy Friday!

Waterfalls and Volcanoes

Well, it was clearish at sunrise, when I stepped out from our hotel cabin and onto the front porch to check on the volcano. It was still there.

I could tell, because I could finally see it. There was still some cloud cover on top, like a cap that was too big for it.

But DW and I said we'd take what we could get. The weather forecast in La Fortuna, Costa Rica, called for rain off and on throughout the day. 

We quickly readied ourselves and hopped into the SUV to make it to our first destination in time for its opening. We've learned that to get to a tourist attraction as early as possible meant that you'll beat the tour buses and most of the crowds.

We didn't have far to go: as the crow flies, it was only 7 kms away, but to drive, it was about 11. We were headed to La Fortuna Falls. 

We made it with about two minutes before opening, and the parking lot was cordoned off. Only one vehicle was waiting ahead of us. 

There's a lookout across from and above the 70-or-so metre-high falls, that emerge from the jungle and drop to a small pool, below. To access the base, you must descend a 500-step, winding stairway. But the view is worth it.

Thing is, what goes down must go back up. The months without using my spin bike cost me dearly, but I eventually made it back to the car park.

From there, we headed into town for a traditional Costa Rican breakfast at a coffee roaster and soda (the term for a small restaurant that serves simple and inexpensive food). It was so tasty and the service was so good that we promised to return (we ended up going for dinner and had the same server).

Next, we chose one of the many nature trails in the area, in search of sloths, monkeys, and whatever else we could see. By the time we arrived, Arenal Volcano was once again shrouded in cloud but the rest of the sky was clear.

We decided to leave our rain jackets in our vehicle. Big mistake. 

While most of our hike was under cover of the forest, there were some open areas, where we could catch cool breezes and see more of the landscape. We had chosen a trail that took us to part of the lava fields from the 1968 eruption that lasted for 42 years. Massive black boulders also covered the trail area from the initial eruption.

It was at this open area that the rain came down hard. We got drenched but it was worth it, even if we couldn't see the volcano.

We had already seen the volcano in all her glory.

It's too bad that we didn't spy any sloths or monkeys, but we have only been here two days. There is still time.

Today, we leave this region and will do more exploring. I'll try to keep posting as much as I can. 

Stay tuned.