It's like America, but South.: Puerto Maldonado, Amazon

Geography: This weekend, we went on an extra excursion to Puerto Maldonado, which is a city area in the southeast part of Perú near the Bolivian and Brazilian borders. The region of Perú and the river there are both named Madre de Dios, and it has many specially enforced environmental regulations. The river is a tributary of the great Amazon, and this part of Perú is the southwesternmost part of the Amazon rainforest.

We flew there from Cusco, which took about half an hour, and then took an hour-long boat ride on the river from Puerto Maldonado to our lodge. The first day, we went across the river to an island called (fittingly) Monkey Island and trudged around in the mud there for a bit before heading back to play around in the pool and get dinner. After dark, we went out on the boat again to look for nocturnal feeders.

This was the hottest, most unbelievably humid place either of us have ever experienced. The first day, everyone's faces looked wetter than when one steps out of the shower, and all of our clothes were entirely wet and sticking to our skin. I'm talking full-on drops coming from anywhere you have skin. What's more is that many of us were wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants to avoid the malaria-carrying mosquitos. It was hugely unpleasant, but the beauty of the Amazon made it worth it.

The next day, breakfast is at 4:30 and we leave on the boat at 5am. We went up the river to the start of the 5K trail to the entrance to Lake Sandoval, a hugely protected lake in the Tambopata National Reserve. No motors are allowed, and most of the lake is not accessible because it is reserved for endangered species there like the otters. We sploshed, hopped, and nearly fell through a muddy path through the jungle for almost 2 hours to get there, but it felt like an Indiana Jones movie! We took a boat tour around the lake and headed back in time for lunch. After lunch, we went kayaking and swam off the beaches of Monkey Island. The water was so warm! More fun in the pool and playing around with friends ended the night.

Last day, we met at a hugely tall wooden tower at 5:30am. We all climbed up it, and were allowed to walk around on the rope bridges (likely over 100 feet above the ground) to see the jungle canopy and go ziplining. Then we had breakfast and made the trip back.

Less than 10 bug bites each, and believe me, it took a lot of effort. We are looking forward to the next holiday season, when we will hopefully be able to confirm that we did not contract Malaria. :-)

Okay, so this wasn't in the Amazon, but what's a blog post without a picture of Gidget?
Did you know she is going to have babies soon? But that'll be another blog post.