Day 239

We were leaving Cusco for the Peruvian Jungle. The Cultural Zone of Manu National Park (Biosphere Reserve) was our destination for the next couple of days (4D/3N).

Our tour operator was Expediciones Vilca. Accompanied by fellow travelers from England, Norway and Canada and Taiwan our tour started early in the morning around 6ish. We had opted for the scenic bus route (not plane for us).

This route should take us from Cusco from about 3400m above sea level right down to the jungle which lies at 500m. Soon after Cusco we left sealed roads and continued on tiny dirt roads along mountain ridges and steep cliffs. The ride turned out to be fairly challenging. The mysterious cloud forest below offered some decent panoramas.

On our way down we stopped numerous times so we could explore some local flora (like orchids or ferns) and fauna (plenty of birds). We also managed to witness the renowned Cock of the Rocks (Rupicola Peruviana) showing off its red feathers.

The final destination was a jungle lodge in Paucartambo. We arrived there after nearly 12 hours’ time around dusk.

In order to get to the wooden lodge we had to hike through thick rain forest and also cross a white river in a rudimentary cable car. The setting was very adventurous. We had no electricity–only some candles and our flash lights.

Right after dinner we all sought a good night’s sleep.

Day 240

Yet again we started early, had breakfast and crossed back over that river by cable car.

Our first stop of the day was at a local (animal) farm. This place not only featured a few nice coca plants, but also a number of beautiful wildlife. There was a monkey, some wild boars, a tortoise, a few parrots and an anteater I guess. The animals appeared very tame. At some stages even too tame. The pigs had no respect at all.

Then we found ourselves back on the bus heading to the port town of Atalaya crossing through waterfalls and over fancy bridges. At the town we encountered a very lovely cat, put on some wellingtons (little did we know what was waiting for us) and boarded a boat that was about to take us to our lodgings a few kilometers down stream on the Alto Madre de Dios river.

After we arrived at the Paititi Lodge, we first had to get out of the boat and climb up a very muddy trail to get to the jungle camp. This should become business as usual.

We had lunch and consequently were split up in two groups. My group took the boat further down the river. From a beach we continued through thick rain forest always looking out for the local fauna. We had to conquer various streams and walk over incredibly muddy sections of the jungle trail. Eventually we arrived at the Machuhuasi Lake.

On basic floats we showed of our steering skills (it’s actually not as easy at it looks) and enjoyed the company of a lot of birds near and far. Once on the other side we did some further walking where we encountered more mud pools, and a fair amount of soldier ants, very dangerous bullet ants and other way to big insects and giant butterflies.

While the sun was setting we were even able to spot a number of monkeys jumping around in the nearby canopies.

It was dark when we got back to the lodge. Unfortunately Bettina was attacked by a dog that is owned by a family that lives at the lodge. The dog appeared to be in serious distress and snapped at Bettina’s hip. Although there were bite marks clearly visible everything turned out well.

Day 241

We had no mosquitoes in our room during the night. The day started at 6am. We took the boat to a bird watching site down the river. There we observed hundreds of parrots on the far side liking clay from the cliffs.

We were very lucky. It turned out to be a sunny day after breakfast. The jungle was calling again.

Lucho, our primary guide, took us yet to another section of the nearby jungle. We commenced our hike among giant plants. Having a decent machete was imperative there. Unfortunately all I got was a stupid wooden stick that bent whenever I put some weight on it. It was actually not really helpful… and only for the peace of mind.

At some stage we were almost attacked by wasps but managed to escape. This was just before we faced the end of the jungle trail: Or was it? Lucho was not impressed and simply cut our way over a number of huge trees “that have not been [t]here before the rain last time” as he commented…

Bettina and I skipped the afternoon activities that covered swimming in the mighty river (which I would have loved to do seeing the photos now). The rest of our group also climbed up the mountain behind the lodge and were greeted with a fantastic view of the surrounding jungle. Glad, that Berne took some nice photos.

The final hours of the day we relaxed around an open fire outside the lodges.

Day 242

It was time to say goodbye to the forest. And to the mud.

There had been some rain during the night that made the whole area a very challenging place to keep walking in a straight line.  So we slid down to the river and traveled back to the port at Atalaya where the bus was already waiting for us.

Our ride back to Cusco was fairly straight forward. It was pretty much the same itinerary with a few exceptions and different stops. Climbing up the narrow road yet again offered some magnificent views of what lied below. We met more cats in one of the villages. At some stage we had to stop and wait for the dirt road to be fixed since a landslide got rid of most of it… nice!

Also, our driver picked an alternative road back to Cusco. This lead us by some hilltop pre-Incan ruins.

Later we even had to get off the bus: We joined forces to move a number of huge rocks off the road that happened to fall down a few moments before. Perfect timing I’d say!