Thursday 2 May 2024

Day 68 - Flying into the Amazon (in Peru)

We found this morning that Jeff was very unwell, after I saw him in the breakfast room at the Wyndham "Costa Del Sol" hotel. We do like these hotels as they are not truly five star but are very acceptable with larger rooms and working WIFI. 

There had been no message from JC, but at 8am he said he was taking Jeff to the Clinic and would meet us at the airport where we fly to the Amazon inside Peru. Willy was in charge of getting us there, presumably in a hired mini-bus. I am actually glad I am not riding today. (My approximage mileage so far is 78,500 km minus 61,157 starting odometer reading on the BMW, so is 17,343 km so far give or take).

We took a mini bus to the airport at Cusco, which is small but modern and flew 45 minutes to Port Maldonado. It was a small local strip but large enough to take the A320, then we took another bus on some very rough roads for a hour to the Tamopata River. This is a subsidiary of the Amazon river, but nearly 2000 km from the mouth of that river. It runs through Peru and Bolivia and into Brazil, but even here, is about 180m wide. Still more travel required in a long boat for an hour then we walk for 25 minutes to the lodge in the forest. 

The lodge was large and traditional with a thatch roof and wooden walkways. Our room is spacious but there is no wall on the jungle side! We did have mosquito nets to sleep under at night. And the bar and lounge provides good food. 

After settling in, we travel upstream and see some wild life. It is like being on another planet, with Caymans on the river bank - they are like a small crocodile but basically harmless, as children in the village are swimming in the river. 



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