Peru Part #3: Tambopata (The Amazon Basin)

Dad note: Our trip to the Amazon basin was definitely the craziest family adventure of the year. There aren't a lot of families with young kids heading that way and the ones that do go tend to stick to the lodges closer to Puerto Maldonado. We kinda stood out as the oddballs hauling kids all the way to the Tambopata Research Center but it was SOOOO worth it!!   TRC is focused on macaw research but they have also discovered new species of spiders (we saw one on a hike, btw) and so on. In addition to housing scientists/researchers/volunteers the lodge rents out some rooms and provides uber-knowledgable (and I mean CRAZY knowledgable) guides to take those visitors on hikes, trips to the clay licks, etc. 3x a day. It was a super cool experience that blended hiking, exploration and sort of a "luxury meets camping" lodging experience (the floors are basically just decking with gaps to the clearing below...the rooms only have three bamboo walls with gaps and are open to the jungle...tarantulas live in the shared-bathrooms...electricity is only on a few hours a day and even the kerosene lamps go off at 9:00 pm...mosquito nets are a MUST...etc. But they still manage to cook AMAZING meals...the guides are awesome...macaws that were hatched and raised by the researchers years ago still come back once a day or so to steal food...etc...). Although it was an unforgettable experience for all, we are going to leave the blog write-up to Charlie, for whom it was a particularly meaningful experience. This is a kid who can (no exaggeration) tell you the English, Spanish and Latin names of HUNDREDS and hundreds of Central and South American birds (plus a lot of animals, bugs, etc. too). It is a genuine PASSION that we have luckily been able to fuel a bit while away this year. It was cool being able to see him "find his peeps" and be able to talk shop with naturalists who share a similar passion and who have similar stories of spending hours as kids drawing birds, reading books, etc. Charlie is already talking about returning to TRC when he is 18 to volunteer with the macaw project. And they have already said they would take him in a heartbeat. : ) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recently we went to the Tambopata river in the Amazon Basin Region.

First we went to the airport in Cusco. We flew over a rainbow (on planes it is really cool to fly over a rainbow).  Arriving in Puerto Maldonado, which is only a little town city, a bus was waiting for us in the airport and we met our guide, Saay. We drove on dirt road for an hour to the port (which is only a dock on the giant Tambopata river).

It was two hours to the first lodge by boat BUT we saw some wildlife along the riverbank (capybaras and caiman and cowbirds and egrets!).

The first amazon lodge was the first time I stayed in a room that had only three walls!  But the rooms did have a bathroom (the second lodge at the research center had shared bathrooms far away from the bedrooms).

There were LOTS of BUGS (the beds have mosquito nets and you have to be coated in mosquito repellent always). Huge spiders came down from the ceilings sometimes, which was weird in the dark. We stayed there for one night. In the evening me Ella and my dad heard a talk about caimans [very interesting] from a scientist.  And then most of us went to BED because we were TIRED but Ella and my dad and Saay went hiking in the dark and on a boat in the dark and saw glowing caiman eyes!

Early in the morning (5:00 am!) Jack, my dad and I hiked with Saay and then went up a tall lookout and tried to see the birds in the morning.  It was too foggy but the lookout was VERY high.

Breakfast was annoying because the flies where everywhere trying to eat the food! We went on another boat to the second lodge which was right in the middle of the national park WAY up the river.  The closest people were hours away down the river!

The rooms had no bathrooms and only three walls again but the lodge was really cool.  You ran around in your bare feet and sat in hammocks and drew when you weren't hiking.

We went on a lot of long hikes – some in day, some at night and some before DAWN!!!!!

On one night hike, Dad, Ella and I went with Saay and saw the most deadliest spiders on earth AND got to hike THROUGH an Amazon swamp (I almost fell on a root covered with bullet ants.  Ouch!)  Then we turned our flashlights off for a few minutes and it was pitch black and you couldn’t even see your hand.

The food was great like one meal ‘Chancho’(wild boar) and the spaghetti. One morning (well I should say dawn) Ella and Dad and I went on a 2 minute boat ride when it was completely dark to a macaw clay lick (that is where macaws and parrots lick the clay to get the salt and rid the toxins from the fruit they eat). First the parrots were flying around than the macaws!! It was amazing!!  We got really good pictures.  I liked talking about the birds with Saay.

  Last thing about the clay lick.  Saay helped us get an AWESOME video by putting our iPhone up to his "binocuscope" (super binoculars).  We captured what they call a "flash" in slo mo! (when all the birds take off at once).  Here it is on YouTube (go to about 2 minutes and 45 seconds to see the start of the flash at 2:50).  LINK TO SLO MO VIDEO OF MACAW FLASH Someday I want to go back there again! A little later was breakfast then the whole family went back to the clay lick and tried to see more macaws. They were gone by then so we went to a little pond where we saw a lot of turtles and lots of other kinds of birds.

Back at the lodge, Chuchuy and Inocencio flew in for some bananas (they are both macaws who were raised years ago by the scientists).  Macaws are everywhere around the hotel.

Later before our hike, our guide had a little scorpion hiding in his shoe!  Then we went on a hike in a swamp and saw amazing insects.

The last day we woke up at dawn and went all the way back to Puerto Maldonado (I seemed to always wake up at dawn there)!!

I can't wait to go to Tambopata and the Amazon basin again someday.  :) By Charlie