Puerto Maldonado

Coming back from Lake Sandoval, I watched traffic Madre de Dios River in Puerto Maldonado. The river is more than a half a mile wide. Some boats seemed precariously small to carry their large loads, including large trucks. Ferries are the only way for vehicles on the Interoceanic Highway to cross the river until the Continental Bridge is finished. Paul mentioned that construction had gone on and off for the last ten years... It looks close to finished now.

Puerto Maldonado is a small town, yet by far the largest in the area, and serves as a hub for logging, gold mining and most recently tourism. With its mostly unpaved streets, it is still very much a jungle frontier town as some website I had visited before our trip had called. Wasai Puerto Maldonado lodge is located one block from Plaza del Armas, the main square. The square was a very busy place on Sunday night. There was a show which attracted a lot of people. We caught a part of it that consisted of a bigger guy would slap around a small guy repeatedly to the laughs of the audience. Unfortunately, I could not make out what the point was - I might have been laughing too.

We set out to see more of the street life in the morning. Motorcycles and small tricycles are a mode of transportation of choice for the locals. It was curious to see a four person family to get on a motorcycle.