Last day @ Refugio Amazonas

Monday 23 May
Well, I never expected the jungle to be COLD but, overnight, a cool change swept in and even the staff are saying 'es frio'.

So warm clothes are the order of the day. And a sleep-in today - bonus!! - although I should have searched around earlier to find the blanket that had slipped off...

Breakfast was yummy - one of the best in Peru: delicious 'muesli', yummy local honey, scrambled eggs and plantain chips. All nice.

Departed at 8 a.m and walked through the jungle and back again for about 4 hours. We were meant to see Mammals - this was the plan but this came up Zero. Instead, we saw blue and yellow macaws streak overhead, white-bellied parrots high in the trees and saddle-backed tamarind monkeys swing past.

A bird shot:
Really, it's not a zoo and seeing anything of consequence is a lottery; photography? - well the zoom lens is useful in the absence of binoculars (which I had taken out at the start of the trip to lighten the load; the camera works fine).

The wind is much less in the jungle; the cool change seems to be keeping the mosquitoes 'at bay' - bonus!

Locals have a permit to grow and harvest brazil nuts in the jungle - these locals are called castañeros.

We look at lots of plants, fungi, ants carrying leaves (leaf-cutter ants) in a long cavalcade (even crossing a creek over a fallen log).

Lunch again is good. We have 2 hours before setting out again - at 3 p.m.

Our afternoon excursion is an hour's walk to a lake; the lake emerges out of the jungle like another world. It is very beautiful and Juan Carlos takes us out on a boat (or punt really) looking for birds and fish - piranha in particular (I think to please me as I had mentioned I had a desire to see them) but in this he failed. We did see some turkey-like birds called hoatzin that flew clumsily up into higher branches of the trees as we approached. But it was the prettiness of the water, the sky and the surrounding grasses that was most appealing. [read on below]

We walked back in darkness with the aid of our torches; again I could not believe I was in the jungle, slipping and sliding in mud and in total blackness - an OH&S risk if ever there was, if someone were to pitch over a tree root or whatever...

Tonight I had a Blue Morpho as my pre-dinner tipple (passionfruit, lemon, blue carazao and rum) - yum!

Dinner was nice and we took the opportunity to thank Juan Carlos and say goodbye as in the morning we'll be leaving for Puerto Maldonado.