Amazon jungle lodge

Fresh off a late night return from Salkantey and Machu Picchu we caught an early flight the next morning to Puerto Maldonado, our gateway to the Amazon. We booked three nights at the explorers inn, the only lodge in the tambopata reserve. At the airport our prearranged driver picked us up in a tuk tuk (fun!) And took US to our connecting shuttle with the rest of the lodge guests. But first I have to say the airport was pretty cool. Really small and with the heat and humIdity and jungle all around we felt like we were already deep in the amazon backwoods.

After a 40 minute drive through the jungle to the tambopata river we got to our panga-type boat and took that an hour and a half up river. Along the way we saw howler and dusky monkeys, capybara, and macaws. Once at the lodge we were pleasantly surprised at how rustic it was. Kerosene lamps guiding the walkways, no electrity in the rooms (only candles). Brown ass water coming out of the sink and shower whenever you first turn it on haha. But still flush toilets which was cool. All the meals were family style, where meal bells ring and you all sit at the same table. The food was amazing. Each meal we ate so so much, and it was delicious. Soups, meats and curries and potatoe and corn dishes I can't even describe.

The first night after dinner we went on the boat up the river to spot caimans. We saw a couple little ones. The boat driver put us right up to them so I'm glad they were not any bigger. Then on the way back we had a silent time to enjoy the night time sounds oc the amazon. Hectic but beautiful and peaceful. The was also great because no mosquitos on the river. Back on land we got chewed up.

The next morning we started a 5k (mostly muddy) jungle hike to an oxbow lake where we saw giant river otters from a blind, and then took out a catamaran (two canoes lashed together) on the lake to look for more birds and wildlife. In yeah, piranhas in this lake.! Our guide crumbled some crackers and sprinkled them in the water below us and it looked like the water was boiling because all the ferocious activity of the piranhas. Dip and a cut finger and they would eat it up in no time! Do after this we hiked back had lunch and had a siesta. Then around sunset we hiked into the forest again to go up the inn's 42m (126ft) canopy tower. Here we watched the sun set over the canopy while taking in the jungle sounds and (unsuccessfully, save for a bunch of macaws) looking for wildlife. On the way back was a night hike where we only spotted various frogs. No jaguars :/

The next day at 530 am we went to a clay lick down river. Here we sat for an hour in a blind watching the morning rituals of parrit's and other birds go down. Afterwards was breakfast, followed by a trip to a nearby farm that grew yucca, bananas, papaya, avacados, and some bean. They polycrop arrangement of the farm made it very productive without the use of pesticides and herbicides. We ate all of the off their trees along with some other random amazon fruits. Tasty! Then it was time lunch and siesta. I woke up early to play volleyball with the staff and resident biology researchers. Then a sunset hike and dinner.

The next morning was breakfast and a journey back up river and through the forest to the town of Puerto Maldonado for two nights.

All in all, our time at the lodge exceeded our expectations. Hard to leave, although I won't miss the mosquitos.

Salkantey Trek - Day 5 Machu Picchu

We made it! Up at 345 am to check out of our hostel and start the hike to Machu Picchu by 420. The gates fir the hike open at 5 but the lines builds up fast. Once through its an hour long hike up a couple thousand feet of incan stairs to Machu Picchu. For the first time in our trek it was pouring rain while hiked. WIth the rain and sweat combined, we were freezing when we made it to the top and during our 2 hour tour with Roy. However the sun finally broke out after the tour and a sad farewell to our great guide. We all thawed out and had some snacks before saying goodbyes amongst each other. Everyone but Kelly and I were going to hike Waynapicchu (that peak behind Machu Picchu) so we figured we would not see them as we were also catching an earlier train. Turned out they caught up to us on the hike back later that day since rain drove most people to leave early. But that was around 2pm. All in all we spent about 8 hours up there wandering the massive ruins and doing a couple nearby hikes to incan sites like the sun gate. Great views. Don't know what to say about machu picchu. It's incredible. Would have been cool to live there in its heyday. And no clue how they built it along sheer cliffs. Its overwhelmingly awesome. We saw it with every face of weather too so that was also neat. This place is just incredible.

Once back in Aguas Caliente we killed time in a redtaraunt and the market before catching a train and bus to get back to Cusco at 11pm. Another long day but well worth all the patience and effort :)

(Any pics where you see the river, that's where we hiked the day before)

Salkantey Trek - Day 4

Waking up feeling warm and good, despite many bug bites from the previous evening, we had our farewell breakfast with the cooks which was a feast. From our camp area we went off track for a little bit so the group could go zip lining. It was a nice establishment we went to, with the largest zip lines in Peru. 6 lines spanning over the two nearby jungle valleys. A couple were HIGH. Kelly and I hung back however (sorry mom, if you were there I would have done It wIth you). we never had It on our mInds nor were we seekIng thrIlls so we opted out. It was nice to just sit calmly after the past 3 days too. I also really enjoyed the quality bathroom they had with its face open to the river and mountain it sat adjacent too. Oh to have that toilet every mornIng! Anyway we played fusball, walked around nearby coffee crops, and sat along the river to watch the others (little dots in the sky) zip across the valley above.

After the ziplining we rode further up along the Urubamba for nearly an hour to the hydroelectric dam and train station. Here we stopped to eat our boxed lunches and the started a 10k hike along the railroad tracks to Aguas Calientes, which is the jumping off point for Mach Picchu. The hike was nice and flat, with train passing every so often. From the trail we could also see parts of Machu Picchu high up on the mountain top. We also stopped a couple times to admire the rapid Urubamba and listen to more lectures on the Inca by Roy.

After a few hours we arrived in Aguas Calientes and our hostel. Shower! We settled in then went to our included restaraunt dinner before calling it an early night because we needed to be up at 345am the next morning. Though we walked around the town a little bit to pick up snacks. Its actually a cool town. Really overpriced because its made for tourists. But still had a fun vibe and beautiful location on the river surrounded by jungle mountains.

I have a lot more pics and video of this day on my go pro.

Salkantey Trek - Day 3

Day 3 is a walk in the park after day 2. From the cloud forest we descended into the jungle on a nice gradual slope on a smooth dirt road. From the peak of our hike the day before, we would ultimately descend about 8 thousand feet. Hot! Oxygen! Mosquitos!

After our 14k hike we arrived in a small town where the cooks fed us really well yet again. From here a bus picked us up and drove us 21k to Santa Teresa where would set up camp on the second floor if a half built cinder block structure. Great views from here. We quickly set up our tents and headed to the natural hot springs. This place was amazing. Pools ranged from mid 80's to mid 90's. There was no sulfur smell. And right next to them was the rushing Urubamba river. I have never seen or heard of a river this strong. It was nothing but massive rapids jumping and churning all the way down and across the river. After a few hours melting away here we went back to camp, ate dinner, and capped off the great day wIth a bonfire and a couple beers. Good times!

Salkantey Trek - Day 2

This was the long day. 21km, or about 14 miles. The first 3 hours took us from camp to the pass under Salkantey's peak (the peak itself is not climbable). Over 4600m (14000ft.) ! It was an uphill 3 hours that's for sure. Oxygen was pretty low for the final stretch, but we all made it. 3 members of our group were sick so they took horses. At the top we spent some time taking in the scene, admiring the snow capped mountains, then form a pray circle where Roy educated us some more on incan beliefs and we then made offerings of coca leaves to mother earth before spending a few minutes in prayerful/grateful/peaceful silence.

Then we started our long descent; for 4 hours until lunch in a beautiful pasture-valley. That first descent was all rock. The second stretch after lunch was thick soil/mud (fun with the trekking poles!). The second stretch also dropped us out of the highlands and into the cloud forest. It started heating up really fast.

We finally made camp after 10 hours of hiking. Our tents were set up on the second floor of a house/barn on a small family farm. Here we could buy beer and water. And there was a small creak to clean muddy pants. We had dinner, chatted for a bit and played card games, then went to bed. Long day!

Salkantay Trek - Day 1

Writing this now, after completing the trek, I can't believe it's over. What a great experience. First off, we had a great guide, Roy. Second, we created a temporary family, made up of us Americans (plus a 1/2 American 1/2 Belgian), Australians, a Columbians, Romanian, and Spaniard. Hiking 40 makes over 5 days together, we all got to know each other and it was nothing but positive energy (which Roy attributed to the great weather we had. It only rained at night tIme and we got sun at machu picchu). Third, we trekked 40 miles through multiple climate zones as high as 14000 feet and as low as 6000 feet. It was an accomplishment.

So the first day we met with our group and shuttle at a plaza near our hostel at 430am. Then we had a 3 our ride to a small mountain town. The second half of this going up a valley wall on a muddy dirt road. I looked for some catholic paraphanalia hanging from the rear view mirror for good luck, but instead saw a Ferrari tag hanging. This explained the driving; hualing ass around blind turns on a wet, sIngle wIde dirt road, with no signs or guardrails, above sheer 500-1000+ drops. One time we did slide a turn in the mud. Me and a couple others were so very thankful to make it through that drive alive. Everyone else muddy have been asleep. Good Lord!

After a meager breakfast, the trek began! There was a horseman with mules that went fast ahead of us, haulIng our big bags and (also setting up) our camping gear. A cook and his assistant also had a mule and went out in front of us. These guys were huge behind the scenes players, keeping us well fed. The food would consist of first a soup and then rice, potatoes, or pasta (once we had all three. Carbo load to the max) with meat and maybe some vegetables. Sometimes chicha (blue corn boiled with pineapple, lime, and cinnamon. Think real good kool-aid) and always coca or mint tea. Breakfasts were either omelets or pancakes with coffee and porridge juice (think liquid cinnamon roll). Roy would always wake us up at 5 with coca tea too...which was a good morale and energy booster.

The first days trek took us from the highlands to much higher lands. We started in some low key, high altitude farmlands and went up through some lush jungle like bullets to gain a bunch of elevation. After lunch we stuck on a dirt road and headed further up this large valley, ending in the big pasture land closely surrounded by snowy mountain peaks. It was pretty cold. And fortunately our tents and dinner were under a larger tent structure, because it started to pour as soon as we arrived. After 18km we passed put by 9 and easily slept through the cold night.

Downday Cusco

We never had much of a down day here, but here are a few random sights in between rushing around planning errands or activities.

Moray, Maras, Chinchero

On Tuesday we went on a group tour though three important Inca sites. First was the small town and ruins of Chinchero. Here were given a demonstration on indigenous crafting making with alpaca wool. Their produces was all natural. A root was grated a mixed with water too become really sudsy and perfectly clean the dirty wool. Then things like purple corn, coca leaves, and this bacteria that grows on cacti were  mixed with boiling water to make dyes. They were intensified when mixed with a little salt or like juice. Pretty cool. Afterwards we walked out to the ruins.

Next we headed out further into the countryside (some of the most beautiful landscape in the world) to Moray, an amazing archaeological sites. Here the Incas built sets of terraces to experiment with genetic modification/experimentation of their potatoe crops (kelly holdIng some In pIc). Each the 4 sections of the sites somehow miraculously/ingeniously reflected the 4 climates of the 4 regions of the incan kingdom. And each terrace has its own microclimate. so thIs place was basIcally an agricultural labratory. The incan were brilliant. On the way to the site we also saw large man made lakes the Inca created to keep their crops warm during freezing weather. Brilliant. And the backdrop for this site was an expansive section of the sacred valley....rolling green hills, deep valley, backed by huge snow/cloud capped Andes mountains.

Last we went halfway down into a valley to the Inca salt mines of Maras that are still in use today. The Inca really had it all figured out. A hot spring feeds into the particular soil to produce salt. The terrace up the hillside and flood the place in the wet season. The overflow crusts up on the walls as pure salt and they bag it up. There was a woman doing this while er we there (see pic)

This was a really good tour. It would have been a challenge to find their places on or own