After Machu Picchu we return to Cuzco. From here we take a forty minute flight to Puerto Maldonado in the Amazon Jungle. We cross over snow capped Andean peaks before descending to flat tree covered land with large brown winding rivers.
Any area down from the mountains that is part of the catchment area of the Amazon River is referred to as 'Amazon' and this makes up about forty percent of South America.
It is a three hour boat ride up river to our jungle lodge. Along the way we see a couple of boats with crude pipes and mechanisms that sift through the silt of the river looking for gold.
On the shore there is a small family of capybaras, the worlds largest rodent, about the size of a pig. We also spot a juvenile red howler monkey.
The lodge room is large and spacious with high wooden ceilings. One wall is open to the jungle. The en suite is comfortable but the shower only has cold water.
Several years ago when I first visited the lush tropical rainforest of Northern Queensland I thought how much like a jungle it seemed. Now that I am in the jungle I have to admit, it reminds me very much of Northern Queensland.
We climb a tower thirty metres high to stand above the upper canopy. Even though it is late afternoon, the direct sun is uncomfortably hot and I soon descend to the warm shade of the jungle floor.
The next morning we rise early and walk to a lake where we board a large row boat. In the trees we see a group of stinky birds - brown fowls with beautiful wings, long necks and small heads. As there name suggests, they are not good eating.
A dozen small bats roost on a tree trunk sticking out of the water. They are well camouflaged but start to jiggle as we get closer.
Towards the end of the lake I think I see a couple of ducks on the surface.
"Ooh, ooh, look!" cries our guide with great excitement. "Ooh look. It is the giant otters. Ooh, can you see? The giant otters. Oh, you are so lucky. Oh look."
Our guide is breaking her own rule of being quite so as not to disturb the animals. "Oooh look! Oh, I haven't seen for so long. Oh, you are so lucky."
She has reason to be excited. Giant otters are rare. They are the largest otters in the world. Perhaps fifteen hundred in the world and only one hundred and twenty in this area of South America. She hasn't seen one for two years.
In my best photo from fifty metres away I can make out the heads of the two otters. They look like potatoes.
Our guide gives us dry crackers and directs us to crumble them over the side of the boat. The water is in turmoil as voracious piranha fish rush to the surface to devour the crumbs with their razor sharp teeth. At least, I imagine they have razor sharp teeth. I can't actually see them in the murky water. Some of the others in the boat have a better angle to catch a glimpse of them.
I think a school of goldfish would be just as animated with the prospect of feasting on cracker crumbs.
In the jungle, we visit a huge capok tree and ginormous Brazil nut trees. The fruit of the Brazil nut is like a small hard coconut, about half the diameter of a coconut and without the surrounding thick fibrous husk. Inside the sphere are the nuts we know and love encased in their tough wedge shaped shells. Cracking open these shells, the raw nut has a kind of coconut taste. Despite the similarities the Brazil nut tree is no relation to the coconut which is a palm.
In the night we don head light torches to look for insects. Five minutes into the walk I am already regretting it as we study a spider, a beetle, some ants, a cockroach. All insects that could be studied better in the daytime. Where are the jaguars?
On the way back from the walk I turn off my light and try to navigate using as much of the sparse moonlight that manages to penetrate the thick jungle canopy. This is also a way of avoiding having to stop and look at every cockroach and spider we pass.
The next morning I bid farewell to my travelling companions with whom I have shared my Peruvian adventures. They return to Lima to finish the tour.
There is no going back for me however. I have elected to stay an extra two days in the jungle before resuming my grand adventure.
That morning I head out with a group of people to a bird hide to look for parrots and macaws. A few show up at a distance. I spend half of the time reading a book. A couple of monkeys drop by to relieve the monotony.
I realise I have a bit of a cold. Back at the lodge I have a nap before lunch. I decide I should rest so I spend the afternoon in bed reading and watching TV shows stored on my mobile phone - my last remaining functional device of advanced technology.
That night it begins to rain with determination. I realise I have a lot of a cold.
After breakfast I spot an agouti wandering around in the rain. These large rodents have sharp teeth which they use to eat Brazil nuts.
I continues to rain all day. One of the guides describes this as "female rain". The male rain lasts for ten minutes. It is quickly over and people return to whatever they were doing. The female rain goes on and on without respite. Nobody can do anything.
I spend most of the day resting and sleeping. The next day I rise early to catch a boat out of the jungle.
Despite my illness I still appreciate the beauty of the enormous wild greenery. I huddle from the cold wind as our boat speeds down the swollen river. The dawn light through the early morning clouds and the mist hanging over trees and water is something I will long remember.
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