No more llamas: we head to the Amazon

Saturday 21 May
We leave Cusco amidst religious festivals taking place outside the Cathedral. We have 3 days now on the Amazon - something completely different!

For once we don't set the alarm as we don't have to be ready until 9:45 a.m. Had to pack last night the stuff for the Amazon - as you can imagine, a very different set of clothes!

I managed enough time this morning to top up on some Peruvian Soles from a casa de cambio and the charming Jamie who brought us in the car from Ollanta yesterday afternoon collected us to go to the airport.

Alex the Setours contact in Cusco came too. He seemed very keen to see our original itinerary for our trek! I think the matter is still being investigated; certainly Sebastian from the Lima office indicated to me that they were still trying to work it out. He was grateful that I had documented for him an outline of what took place in our briefing with Carlos (the first trek guide who got replaced by Alois).

Our flight left 40 minutes late to Puerto Maldonado which is the capital of Madre de Dios department with the Tambopata River running through it; is a city in SE Peru in the Amazon rainforest 55 kilometres west of the Bolivian border.

The people at the other end were very efficient. I had my stuff in bags in my suitcase ready to put in my duffel bag - it was a quick transfer. We were given a basket of snacks and after the 30-minute drive to the river we were given a rice-based lunch wrapped in papaya leaf for lunch on board the boat.

It was to be a 2 - 2.5 hour trip to our lodge which we arrived at in the dark after a 15-minute walk from the river. We lit our way with various devices - I had to use my i-phone as my torch was in my duffel bag being transported by the porters. [read on below]

The lodge looks amazing, appearing out of the darkness all lit up - 2 storeys high in the midst of the jungle: a real paradise. Wood floors. Lounge areas. Bar. Reading room. There are brown agouti running around. [read on below]

We had a lecture on caimans before dinner. We had seen a white one earlier, lying on the river bank as we motored to our lodge. We had also seen 2 jaguars (a rarity in these parts apparently) relaxing after a feed of capybara, the carcass lying nearby; also butterflies feeding off the salt on the clay riverbank. [read on below]

It was nice to get in. I ordered a Maracuya Sour before dinner (pisco, passionfruit, egg white, angostura bitters).

It was a nice dinner. Our guide is Juan Carlos and we have been told the start time for tomorrow is 4:45 a.m. for breakfast. Ugh!

Lights out early; the robust mosquito net over the bed looks very reassuring, especially given the room is open to the jungle on one side and the windows in the other walls have no glass... Dengue is prevalent in these parts; they are saying Zika is not such a concern ...