Going on an adventure in the Amazon Rainforest was something on the top of our list. Where to visit the Amazon Rainforest was something we had trouble deciding for a while. We new that we wanted to see animals and go fishing. But where would we have the best experience without spending all of our savings? After some research, we opted to take a trip into the Amazon Basin out of Puerto Maldonado.
From Cusco, we took a night bus to Puerto Maldonado. We booked through Cruz Del Sul, and I have never seen a more luxurious bus! We had blankets and pillows and the large leather chairs reclined to about 140 degrees. We had our own individual screens to watch movies or play games like on an airplane. We were served a light meal and drink. Wow, it was impressive! I was even impressed with the security. They screened each passenger by checking their passport, taking a photo and scanning for metal. It was very thorough.
Travelling through the night is never easy, even on a luxury Cruz Del Sur bus, and so, for only the second time on our trip so far (other than our arrival to Lima), we opted to get a taxi to the city centre. The first thing we were able to hail was a three wheeler tuktuk. Honestly, I didn’t think the driver would really stop to pick up a four person family with two large hiking backpacks and small daypacks but he did and we all fit with all of our luggage! When our driver dropped us off in the town centre (centre for the tourists anyways), we realized that he had dropped us off right in front of probably one of the more expensive hotels in the area and, under the spell of the incredibly humid heat of the morning (and hearing that the hotel had a pool), we splurged and booked a room right then and there and headed to the pool! Since it was an expensive night we were encouraged to go find a tour into the Amazon quickly and we did. We booked a tour leaving the very next day.
Overall, the trip was a lot of fun. It was three days and two nights filled with interesting and somewhat laid back fun. We went to an animal refuge the first day where Adeline and Charlie were in their heaven. Our guide probably thought our children have never seen animals before as they were oohing and ahhing at every single animal they saw, from the caged puma to the wild butterflies fluttering in the mud puddles on the path as we walked through. We had a few hours to rest and relax back at our lodge, but Adeline and Charlie found the cooks son to play with, which was great. The parents sat back in the hammocks and relaxed while the kids were busy chasing chickens and climbing trees. That evening we went on a night walk, which started at one of the trees Charlie and Adeline were climbing, and what did we see? Tarantulas!! Ha! If they only knew that there was a tarantula nest in the tree they were throwing sticks at and climbing! They didn’t play there the next day.
The second day, we went on a trip to Lago Sandoval (an oxbow lake), where we were told we were going to see lots of wildlife including the Giant River Otter! At the beginning of our hike, we were greeted by some Howler Monkeys. They must have been pretty sleepy because they just sat and watched us as we invaded their space and took pictures. We were arriving pretty early, which was lucky because there was lots of activity with birds and lizards. We were pretty excited to see Leaf Cutter Ants for the first time! Finally we arrived to the lake and David and our guide paddled us around the lake and finally we saw the “Giant” River Otters...hmm...I’m not so sure how they got the name “Giant” River Otters, but they were cute all the same.
Later in the day we went to Monkey Island, where monkeys from the animal refuge are released and many tourists go to this island to feed the monkeys and get their monkey fix. It didn’t seem very authentic, but it was exciting for the kids all the same. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, there were several tourist boats already there, so by the time we hiked in, there weren’t many monkeys interested in a snack, but luckily, right before our guide gave up on the monkeys, one decided to make an appearance. But it was the aggressive and lazy monkey that we had to throw food up to while it sat for its meal up in the tree, and it was picky too!
The next day we went to visit a “Native Village” where we were shown some typical songs, dances, and games of the people that used to live in the Amazon Basin years before. Unfortunately the person who usually leads this tour had a machete accident and had to go to the hospital in Puerto Maldonado. So an older man substituted for him. He was pretty good at singing and dancing!
We also had a chance to go fishing on our last day. All we had was a stick with line attached to the end, a hook and some chicken as bait. David was the first to catch a fish, and our driver was pretty excited (I think that he was going to get to eat it later). Charlie was the next to catch a fish. It looked like a baby shark, but it wasn’t, it was a fish that you aren’t allowed to touch (we didn’t even get to take a picture with it) because it has some sort of parasite that is easily transmitted. And then Charlie caught another, bigger version of the same fish, but luckily it jumped off by itself. Sadly we did not catch a piranha.
That was the end of our trip into the Amazon Basin. There were definitely some highs and lows, but we had a great guide and there was great food, the kids had a great time, the bugs were not as bad as we thought, and nobody was bit by a tarantula, so it was a win in our books!
From Cusco, we took a night bus to Puerto Maldonado. We booked through Cruz Del Sul, and I have never seen a more luxurious bus! We had blankets and pillows and the large leather chairs reclined to about 140 degrees. We had our own individual screens to watch movies or play games like on an airplane. We were served a light meal and drink. Wow, it was impressive! I was even impressed with the security. They screened each passenger by checking their passport, taking a photo and scanning for metal. It was very thorough.
Travelling through the night is never easy, even on a luxury Cruz Del Sur bus, and so, for only the second time on our trip so far (other than our arrival to Lima), we opted to get a taxi to the city centre. The first thing we were able to hail was a three wheeler tuktuk. Honestly, I didn’t think the driver would really stop to pick up a four person family with two large hiking backpacks and small daypacks but he did and we all fit with all of our luggage! When our driver dropped us off in the town centre (centre for the tourists anyways), we realized that he had dropped us off right in front of probably one of the more expensive hotels in the area and, under the spell of the incredibly humid heat of the morning (and hearing that the hotel had a pool), we splurged and booked a room right then and there and headed to the pool! Since it was an expensive night we were encouraged to go find a tour into the Amazon quickly and we did. We booked a tour leaving the very next day.
Overall, the trip was a lot of fun. It was three days and two nights filled with interesting and somewhat laid back fun. We went to an animal refuge the first day where Adeline and Charlie were in their heaven. Our guide probably thought our children have never seen animals before as they were oohing and ahhing at every single animal they saw, from the caged puma to the wild butterflies fluttering in the mud puddles on the path as we walked through. We had a few hours to rest and relax back at our lodge, but Adeline and Charlie found the cooks son to play with, which was great. The parents sat back in the hammocks and relaxed while the kids were busy chasing chickens and climbing trees. That evening we went on a night walk, which started at one of the trees Charlie and Adeline were climbing, and what did we see? Tarantulas!! Ha! If they only knew that there was a tarantula nest in the tree they were throwing sticks at and climbing! They didn’t play there the next day.
The second day, we went on a trip to Lago Sandoval (an oxbow lake), where we were told we were going to see lots of wildlife including the Giant River Otter! At the beginning of our hike, we were greeted by some Howler Monkeys. They must have been pretty sleepy because they just sat and watched us as we invaded their space and took pictures. We were arriving pretty early, which was lucky because there was lots of activity with birds and lizards. We were pretty excited to see Leaf Cutter Ants for the first time! Finally we arrived to the lake and David and our guide paddled us around the lake and finally we saw the “Giant” River Otters...hmm...I’m not so sure how they got the name “Giant” River Otters, but they were cute all the same.
Later in the day we went to Monkey Island, where monkeys from the animal refuge are released and many tourists go to this island to feed the monkeys and get their monkey fix. It didn’t seem very authentic, but it was exciting for the kids all the same. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, there were several tourist boats already there, so by the time we hiked in, there weren’t many monkeys interested in a snack, but luckily, right before our guide gave up on the monkeys, one decided to make an appearance. But it was the aggressive and lazy monkey that we had to throw food up to while it sat for its meal up in the tree, and it was picky too!
The next day we went to visit a “Native Village” where we were shown some typical songs, dances, and games of the people that used to live in the Amazon Basin years before. Unfortunately the person who usually leads this tour had a machete accident and had to go to the hospital in Puerto Maldonado. So an older man substituted for him. He was pretty good at singing and dancing!
We also had a chance to go fishing on our last day. All we had was a stick with line attached to the end, a hook and some chicken as bait. David was the first to catch a fish, and our driver was pretty excited (I think that he was going to get to eat it later). Charlie was the next to catch a fish. It looked like a baby shark, but it wasn’t, it was a fish that you aren’t allowed to touch (we didn’t even get to take a picture with it) because it has some sort of parasite that is easily transmitted. And then Charlie caught another, bigger version of the same fish, but luckily it jumped off by itself. Sadly we did not catch a piranha.
That was the end of our trip into the Amazon Basin. There were definitely some highs and lows, but we had a great guide and there was great food, the kids had a great time, the bugs were not as bad as we thought, and nobody was bit by a tarantula, so it was a win in our books!
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