We got fun ‘n’ games
5:42 pm Sunday, 16 November, 2008
Alright so with the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu over and done with we don’t have any time to relax or anything like that. The next morning it’s up and off to the Sacred Valley to visit a number of Inca sites. Now this should really be done before the Inca Trail but because of some time issues on our tickets we had no choice. It’s a good day out but it’s long and most of the bus are shattered. We have four new people that day, Mick and Kathleen from Northern Island and Brenda and Colin from England. The day isn’t bad but all of the sites pale in comparison to what we have seen over the past few days and it’s a shame we couldn’t have had them as the buildup towards Machu Picchu.
That night though we head to the pub and have a nice few pints. The next morning we loose Conor and Andrea and Maree which is a great shame as I had been really enjoying their company but with no time to waste we are off to the Amazon jungle!
It’s a quick flight out of Cusco to Puerto Maldonado and then a while on a bus before we transfer into a boat for about a 90 minute cruise up to a proper jungle lodge. It’s lovely lovely stuff and looks like it’ll be a good few days. We have some lunch and then it’s off to Monkey Island which is just like it says on the tin. We spent about an hour there and then it’s back to the lodge for some down time. Downtime in the jungle involves beers and card games and there are a couple of great nights entertainment there.
The first night though we take a boat out in the dark and head up river with the guide shining a torch along the bank in places spotting crocodiles.It’s excellent stuff but the best is yet to come. We have gone about 20 minutes against the current with the motor running and then we drift back.
So there we are in this little canoe in the Amazon Basin with nothing but the sound of the jungle and we drift for 10-15 minutes back to the lodge. There is the hint of a distant sunset, there are glorious stars and there is just the sound of the water and the jungle and it’s perfect. Everyone in the boat is on the same page and it’s just perfect, great stuff.
The next day we go for a walk, 12km through the jungle around a lake and things like that that and it’s good fun…but with one added complication. We are taking a less trodden path because we as a group decided that we didn’t want to do the same 5km in and 5km back and that we’d rather walk a little further and take two different paths. This is all good until we find out, the hard way, that because the path is less trodden there are a number of wasps nests along the way. Of course the first to find this out is the 10 year old Robin who we actually thought was being eaten by a snake from the sounds coming out of him. Shortly we’d almost all get a turn and well it wasn’t fun. Luckily these wasps won’t follow you, so at a command from our guide…or a scream from someone in the group we run and make it through them. Two stings, another first for me, but it wasn’t so bad. Our guide had some cream and after about an hour I never noticed them again. We spot some tarantulas, some deer and a hint of an anaconda. One early highlight are termites which we are amazed to discover have a minty fresh taste to them!
So we take a canoe through a little “lost” lake and spot some tortoises and things like that and we climb a viewing point. The viewing point involves some wooden steps nailed into a large tree. It is rickety as hell and would not be allowed in most countries in the world but it has to be done. The views are okay and then a march back and we spent the rest of the day in the bar drinking and playing cards and it’s good fun, proper jungle life!
The next day it’s back to Cusco and time to catchup on some stuff. That night we head to Paddys for some pints and it just gets silly. There’s two random English girls who start playing a version of charades with us and the rest of the night descends into madness. There’s some Guinness early on and then some local beer and I distinctly remember exclaiming to Mick that if I’m to carry on with this shit there better be some whiskey and lo and behold there’s some Jameson.
The next day I am hungover and we head to Puno on what seems to be a neverending bus ride…
Peru October 30th - November 2nd
No comments yet.