dennargle
Member
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2012
- Messages
- 39
While I was down In Peru Last year I decided I might as well visit the Amazon. Me and my friend joey started doing some research on possible places to go, we decided the jungle around Peuerto Maldonado would be a good destination. We talked to our peruvian friend gustavo to see what he knew about the area it turned out he knew a guy who owns a lodge in the rainforest right by there. He set up an appointment for us to meet with his friend. we struck a deal and set up three days for us to visit.
The journey began at the buss depot in Cusco. We bought tickets to puerto Maldonado and hoped on the buss. I awoke towards the end of the end of the ride the first thing i noticed was how crazy humid the air was. We arrived at the buss station very early in the morning just as the sun was starting to rise. We meet up with our guide we all hopped on a rickshaw and drove down to the Rio Madre Dios where we boarded a boat and headed down river. The Madre Dios is a very large tributary of the amazon its by far the biggest river ive ever been on.
we arrived at the tambo jungle lodge. we were escorted to our bungalow where we would be staying for next tree days.There was a very beautiful flower growing out front.
After we got situated we meet up with our group which was composed of me, joey, a black guy from the netherlands, and our very short native amazonian guide. We went on a hike on one of the trails by the lodge.
as we began our walk our guide said to me are you afraid of the dengue? I replied whats that? he explained its a disease passed around by mosquito's. The first time you get it its treatable. The second time most people die by bleeding internally and through your teeth and nose. He also said by the way there's one of the mosquitoes that carry the disease biting you on your neck. Needless to say I used A lot of bug spray over the next few days. the mosquitoes in the amazon are gnarly as soon as you walk out of the open into the canopy they swarm you in the hundreds.
As we walked we saw many interesting plant species two of which stick out in my memory above the rest. The first is the walking palm tree. This species can move up to 15 feet per year. It moves towards the wettest soil. It does this by dropping its old roots and growing new ones in the direction its trying to move. Pretty wild ehy?
The second is the chacruna plant. This species holds a very special place in amazonian culture.
The natives in the region mix the leaves of the Chacruna plant with a vine called cappi vine. The mixture is called ayahuasca it contains the powerful hallucinogen Dimethyltryptamine and the monomine oxidase inhibitor Tetrahydroharmine. The shamans in the amazon say that by drinking this tea they have prophetic visions in which they visit the spirit world where they can diagnose and learn what plants to give the sick.
we saw a lot really cool fungi a clown faced dart frog and insect species on this hike as well.
After the hike we took a break this was my first experience with the mid day sun in the amazon all i can say is it is extremely brutal and not for the faint of heart.
We regrouped in the afternoon after it cooled down and headed to isla de monos (monkey island)
After a short walk we arrived at a very tall tree with vines coming off of it. our guide broke out the brazil nuts. He gave us each a couple and told us to hold them up against the vine. Next thing we knew here comes a crew of monkeys swinging down the vines. They ran up grabbed the nuts and ate them. It was a really cool experience. On the way back to camp we spotted a couple really big caiman on the shore.
Day 2 we woke up early ate breakfast hopped on the boat and headed towards lago sandoval which is a very large oxbow lake that is famous for its giant amazonian otters. We saw a plethora of different species of butterfly on the walk and many different types of macaws.
We stumbled across a pink toed tarantula hiding in woven leaf den i found a grasshopper i decided to throw in the web and see what would happen. at first nothing then all of sudden the spider lunged out grabbed the grasshopper bite it and started wrapping it up.
We made it to the dock got a canoe and started prattling around the lake we saw a lot of bird species, one of the largest species of freshwater fish the arapaima, some howler monkeys, turtles, piranha a noteworthy butterly and bats but no giant otters. We headed back to the lodge battled the mid day sun again and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and swimming in the river.
That night we went on a hike into the jungle not more the 100 yards from our camp we found fresh jaguar tracks that was a bit alarming. To make matters more sketchy we found the worlds most poisonous spider at least according to Guinness book of world records. The name of this foe is the wandering spider. This species wanders the forest Floor preying on anything and everything it can take on. One of the scariest facts about this 8 legged terror is if bitten males experience a ragging painful erection that usually results in permanent erectile dysfunction. In the three days i was there I saw 3 of these bastards running around.
That night we also saw some frogs a false corral snake the only species of nocturnal monkey and some tailless whip scorpions.
Day 3 we woke up got on the boat headed up river to a clay lick. The parrots that inhabit the amazon eat berries that contain toxins. In order to neutralize these toxins the birds eat special clay every morning. Seeing so many parrots together at once was really quite the experience. We also saw a sloth climbing down a tree into the shade. After the clay lick we headed into town visited a really nice butterfly house walked around town saw the sights then bought a ticket and headed back to Cusco.
Featured image for slideshow:
The journey began at the buss depot in Cusco. We bought tickets to puerto Maldonado and hoped on the buss. I awoke towards the end of the end of the ride the first thing i noticed was how crazy humid the air was. We arrived at the buss station very early in the morning just as the sun was starting to rise. We meet up with our guide we all hopped on a rickshaw and drove down to the Rio Madre Dios where we boarded a boat and headed down river. The Madre Dios is a very large tributary of the amazon its by far the biggest river ive ever been on.
we arrived at the tambo jungle lodge. we were escorted to our bungalow where we would be staying for next tree days.There was a very beautiful flower growing out front.
After we got situated we meet up with our group which was composed of me, joey, a black guy from the netherlands, and our very short native amazonian guide. We went on a hike on one of the trails by the lodge.
as we began our walk our guide said to me are you afraid of the dengue? I replied whats that? he explained its a disease passed around by mosquito's. The first time you get it its treatable. The second time most people die by bleeding internally and through your teeth and nose. He also said by the way there's one of the mosquitoes that carry the disease biting you on your neck. Needless to say I used A lot of bug spray over the next few days. the mosquitoes in the amazon are gnarly as soon as you walk out of the open into the canopy they swarm you in the hundreds.
As we walked we saw many interesting plant species two of which stick out in my memory above the rest. The first is the walking palm tree. This species can move up to 15 feet per year. It moves towards the wettest soil. It does this by dropping its old roots and growing new ones in the direction its trying to move. Pretty wild ehy?
The second is the chacruna plant. This species holds a very special place in amazonian culture.
The natives in the region mix the leaves of the Chacruna plant with a vine called cappi vine. The mixture is called ayahuasca it contains the powerful hallucinogen Dimethyltryptamine and the monomine oxidase inhibitor Tetrahydroharmine. The shamans in the amazon say that by drinking this tea they have prophetic visions in which they visit the spirit world where they can diagnose and learn what plants to give the sick.
we saw a lot really cool fungi a clown faced dart frog and insect species on this hike as well.
After the hike we took a break this was my first experience with the mid day sun in the amazon all i can say is it is extremely brutal and not for the faint of heart.
We regrouped in the afternoon after it cooled down and headed to isla de monos (monkey island)
After a short walk we arrived at a very tall tree with vines coming off of it. our guide broke out the brazil nuts. He gave us each a couple and told us to hold them up against the vine. Next thing we knew here comes a crew of monkeys swinging down the vines. They ran up grabbed the nuts and ate them. It was a really cool experience. On the way back to camp we spotted a couple really big caiman on the shore.
Day 2 we woke up early ate breakfast hopped on the boat and headed towards lago sandoval which is a very large oxbow lake that is famous for its giant amazonian otters. We saw a plethora of different species of butterfly on the walk and many different types of macaws.
We stumbled across a pink toed tarantula hiding in woven leaf den i found a grasshopper i decided to throw in the web and see what would happen. at first nothing then all of sudden the spider lunged out grabbed the grasshopper bite it and started wrapping it up.
We made it to the dock got a canoe and started prattling around the lake we saw a lot of bird species, one of the largest species of freshwater fish the arapaima, some howler monkeys, turtles, piranha a noteworthy butterly and bats but no giant otters. We headed back to the lodge battled the mid day sun again and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and swimming in the river.
That night we went on a hike into the jungle not more the 100 yards from our camp we found fresh jaguar tracks that was a bit alarming. To make matters more sketchy we found the worlds most poisonous spider at least according to Guinness book of world records. The name of this foe is the wandering spider. This species wanders the forest Floor preying on anything and everything it can take on. One of the scariest facts about this 8 legged terror is if bitten males experience a ragging painful erection that usually results in permanent erectile dysfunction. In the three days i was there I saw 3 of these bastards running around.
That night we also saw some frogs a false corral snake the only species of nocturnal monkey and some tailless whip scorpions.
Day 3 we woke up got on the boat headed up river to a clay lick. The parrots that inhabit the amazon eat berries that contain toxins. In order to neutralize these toxins the birds eat special clay every morning. Seeing so many parrots together at once was really quite the experience. We also saw a sloth climbing down a tree into the shade. After the clay lick we headed into town visited a really nice butterfly house walked around town saw the sights then bought a ticket and headed back to Cusco.
Featured image for slideshow:
