Tambopata National Reserve and Bahuaja-Sonene National Park feature some of the most pristine primary rain forests in the world. After picking up two of the new seven wonders of the world on the trip, this was undoubtedly to be another highlight of the trip. We jammed a four night/five day tour into our schedule, one that would include a camping night, and it turned every bit as good as I had hoped.
Having arrived very late the previous night from Machu Picchu, we did not rush out into the streets of Cuzco in the morning, and instead enjoyed a slow breakfast at Rumi Punktu. Knowing how much taxis cost, our taxi ride to the airport was about a quarter of the cost of that from the airport. Knowledge is power, or just saves money... The flight took us over the Andes, their eastern slopes and finally over the flatland jungle near our destination, Puerto Maldonado.
We were met at the airport by a van from Wasai Expeditions. They took us to their Puerto Maldonado lodge where we would leave some of our luggage. The rest would come with us on a boat to Wasai Tambopata Lodge. We met Paul, our guide for the next four days. He started pointing out animals already on the stairs to a boat launch area just below the lodge. There was a sloth in a tree there. It was still there when we came back three days later. It might still be there. Sloths are known to move slowly.
We started down Madre de Dios River but soon turned up its tributary, Tambopata River. It is some four hours to the Wasai Lodge even though the distance as the crow flies from Puerto Maldonado is only some 30 miles. The river meanders a lot. It was a speedy ride at about 20 miles an hour most of the way except for a few shallow places where our driver would have to slow down and look for the best route.
We received lunch on the boat. Its packaging was unique and stylish. Rice with chicken or fish came wrapped in a banana leaf. At times, the boat would slow down when one of the guides spotted an animal near the river banks - we saw caymans and capibaras. Our first stop was at a check point near the boundary of the Tambopata National Reserve. We had to sign in at the ranger station and received a great looking stamp in our passports. Paul found a monkey in a nearby tree. Green macaws were hard to miss as they tend to be quite noisy wherever they are. I shook off a tick from my forearm. There was more movement in low branches of a tree. It a was a green tree snake - quite long and very thin. It was interesting to see it move effortlessley through branches as it quickly climbed out of sight.
The sun had already set when we reached the lodge. An airy design of the social area and walkways made of brazil nut shells caught my attention first. With all the travel warning still fresh on my mind, I could not help but wonder upon walking into our room. The planks of wood with gaps between them would hardly stop any insects from coming in. At least our bed had a mosquito net. There were candles to use outside of hours - from 7 to 10 when lights were on. There was no hot water. I had not had a cold shower in a long time. A shadow of doubt crawled in. (Read on - Wasai Tambopata lodge was a great place to stay!)
The two of us and Paul and another bigger group with their guide headed out for a walk in the jungle after the dinner. Everyone was armed with a flashlight or a headlamp and tried to spot something interesting. It was mostly the guides who had any luck at that - finding various insects. The biggest catch of the night was a big black tarantula.
Our day started well before the dawn. We got on the river again, but it was only a short ride. We proceeded through the jungle to a lookout over a clay lick that attracts a lot parrots, parakeets, and macaws every morning. Paul explained that many tropical fruits are toxic and parrots need to ingest some amount of clay to neutralize them. Toxins or not, I tend to think of my grandmom's chicken who would also eat some dirt, supposedly for good digestion. The birds show up at dawn, and it is quite a ruckus. At times it would seem that different species would take turns, other times they would all mingle noisily. Green parrots and scarlet macaws, among other species, paid a visit. It was impressive to hear a hum of their wings when an entire flock got startled and circled around. Having had enough dirt, some would pose for us in nearby trees, before disappearing into the jungle...
Paul showed us many native trees and plants on the way back - walking palms, erotic palms, iron trees, curare plants, and many more. Paul spotted a bullet ant. It carries a very poweful sting the pain of which can last for 24 hours. Paul commented that there are very few dangerous critters in the jungle. Most are equipped to hunt other critters, and as such can inflict only a very limited damage to us. Morpho butteflies would never sit still to take a photograph. It was extremely humid and my lens kept fogging up.
We spent a couple of hours around the lodge before accepting Paul's invitation for another jungle walk. We went to the same area near the lodge as on our night walk and everything looked different in daylight. Paul heard peccaries. Before long we could both smell them too. Abandoning the trail, Paul lead us on a peccarie chase through the jungle. Having picked up a tick the day before during a brief stop, I expected to be covered in ticks. I did not get a single one. Every time we would get close, the entire pack would storm off in another direction. We caught glimpses of them quite a few times, never getting very close to photograph in the dense undergrowth. Then they crossed a trail right next to us. It was suprising to see how fast they were...
In the afternoon, we set out for our camping site another two hours up the river in Bahuaja-Sonene National Park. Mario, the owner of the lodge, accompanied us a part of the way up just to the border of the park, where he is building an observation platform. He was fun to talk to. Photography is his hobby too, and he took interest in our photo equipment.
The river got shallower in places and there was a lot of drift wood, some of it large tree trunks, both in the river and along its banks. The current got a bit faster in places too. We passed a confluence with River Malinowski and soon after reached our campsite. Paul and a couple of his assistants set up our camp site while we explored the river banks.
Just as the sun was going down, Paul offered a walk along the beach further down the river banks. He spotted a jaguar track. He showed us how to look for animals in the dark by looking for a reflection of their eyes. We found a number of birds this way. Flood pools in a dead branch of the river were full of small caymans. It was a spooky sight to see reflections of their eyes. Paul volunteered to catch a small one, but they must have grown since his last visit - they were much too big and much too quick. We found peccarie tracks. While Paul tried to attract the real thing, as he seemed to be quite fond of them, but we heard them but did not see any.
The stars were out. It was completely dark, just as one would expect this far from civilization. We fell asleep to the sounds of the jungle.
I woke up to the calls of macaws. A mist was rising from the Tambopata river as we waited for a boat to take us a half a mile upstream to the biggest clay lick in this area. As the guides put it, the traffic on the site was really good - hundreds of parrots were taking turns on the wall of clay or sitting in the trees of the jungle behind it. Paul directed us to keep a large distance so as not to disturb the birds until most of them would have fed. Then, we approached a bit closer, but still not quite close enough for my 100-400mm lens. Nevertheless, it was an unforgettable experience in an great setting - the river behind us and a pristine jungle of the Bahuaja-Sonene National Park park stretching for miles on all sides. The rising sun brought out all the saturation of the colors of scarlet macaws, yellow-blue macaws, green macaws, and a number of other parrot species that we got to see and hear that day.
The ride back down the river to the Wasai Tambopata Lodge took about an hour and a half. We saw a toucan up in a tree on the river banks, but it was hard to concentrate after the early morning spectacle.
Paul gave a choice of activities for the afternoon. It had been a busy number of days since we arrived in Peru, including getting up before dawn several times, so we opted for a leisurly walk through the jungle and a bit of fishing rather than a peccarie chase this time. Paul was the only one to catch a small fish. Two of mine escaped narrowly letting go just as I was pulling them out. The hook was a bit too large for their size... After a while, I started entertaining myself by photographing our pond and its surroundings
We spent the evening by the bar. They have satellite Internet in the bar area. The connection was slow and I competed for bandwidth even with the bartender himself who was busy chatting on Facebook pages. Can one get away from it all anywhere anymore?
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