The Amazon was not in our original plan at all. A stay and activities in a jungle lodge was prohibitively expensive or the quality of the forest and wildlife in the cheaper lodges was compromised. I had nearly dropped it before speaking a travel organiser who recommended Jungle Pro for their reasonable price and a comfortable lodge in a better area of the rainforest. So it came back into our plans after I booked with them.

Jump to:

• Day 1 of our Amazon expedition
  1. Finca Sachavacayoc
  2. Night walk
• Day 2 in the Amazon Rainforest
  1. Macaw Clay Lick
  2. Afternoon walk
  3. Cayman hunt
• Day 3 – Leaving the Amazon and to the Sacred Valley
  1. Arriving Cusco and onto Sacred Valley

After a restful night we woke up a few hours later than we would have at home. Traveling west has its own advantages! We made our way down to breakfast for some decent spread. I wanted to try some coca tea and I asked the staff for some leaves. Shash said it was from the cocaine family and I was actually drinking Cocaine!! 

We checked out of the hotel soon after and made our way to the airport in a taxi arranged by the hotel. The traffic in Lima continued to be chaotic and worse than most I have seen in different parts of the world. We were dropped off right outside the terminal. I had print outs of our boarding pass but the security guard at the entrance to the terminal asked me something in rapid Spanish and I went blank. Hours on duolingo doesn’t quite prepare you for this! Assuming he must have asked about the airline I said Latam and he checked our boarding cards and let us in. There were automatic check-in kiosks and a staff member helped us with printing our luggage tags. I had booked the full fare for this flight and that included check-in luggages and seats. When we went to drop our luggages off one of our luggages was over weight. They were very strict with a weight limit of 21 kgs. So we had to rearrange our stuff to ensure they remained under that limit. Latam was very strict with the weight in all our flights with them. There was a kiosk for Peru rail and we enquired with them if the trains to Machu Picchu were running. The “yes” from her gave us a lot of relief!

We reached the boarding gates and the domestic flights to the different parts of Peru were listed in adjacent gates. It seemed business as normal and it was reassuring. The boarding was by zones though we took a bus to the aircraft all together! Our flight to Puerto Maldonado was smooth. We got served a bar of chocolate each and some water or coffee. Sam seemed to really like them and gobbled up all our chocolates. We arrived at the humid Puerto Maldonado about 2 hours later and were met by our guide, Freddy from Jungle Pro, who took us on their air-condition van to their office in the city of Puerto Maldonado. 

Day 1 of our Amazon expedition

Puerto Maldonado is the largest town in this part of the rainforest and its location at the confluence of the two rivers – Tambopata and Madre de Dios made it the starting point for all expeditions to the Peruvian Amazon. We chose a jungle lodge along the Tambopata river as the chances of seeing wildlife was higher and the lodges more rustic compared to those along the Madre de Dios which appeared very touristy.

After paying for our all inclusive Amazon expedition and transferring the things we needed for the next 3 days into smaller bags we walked down to the river right across from the office and boarded the boat for our ride to our jungle lodge. We were going to be off grid for the next 3 days and I remembered to message our families and friends about it.

Due to the strikes and disruptions many had canceled their trips to Peru. The last week of December is the second high season and businesses had taken a lot of hit due to this. So we were their only guests! We were served lunch as soon as the boat left. It was delicious fried rice wrapped in the leaves of a native plant.

Finca Sachavacayoc

The journey to our lodge was upstream and we stopped along the way for spotting some capybaras and turtles. We reached our lodge, Finca Sachavacayoc about 3 hours later at about 5 pm. Since we were the only guests the lodge was eerily quiet and we were welcomed with a glass of cold passion fruit juice. We were shown our cabin and were asked to meet at 6:30 pm for our night walk. We were too excited to relax and walked around the lodge awing at the landscaping, the tropical plants and flowers and the distant calls of macaws! 

Night walk

We filled our bottles and started our night walk with our guide. There was some light in the lodge but as soon as we entered the forest it became very dark. We used our flashlights and Freddy had a brighter flashlight and he led the way into the rainforest. He also carried a sickle with him and SC was wondering what it was for and he assured that it was only for chopping of plants or trees that got into our way. As we walked deep into the forest all we could hear was the sound of our feet on the leaves on the forest floor and the sounds of the insects and frogs. The frogs were really loud! We saw some frogs, tarantulas, grasshoppers, spiders and giant trees on our walk. Our guide was very familiar with the path and he had very strong eyes for spotting wildlife.

About 30 minutes into the walking we decided to return as Sam was getting annoyed and there were just too many insects and it was beginning to get into our eyes and hair despite our DEET spray. We made our way back to the lodge and had some time to clean up before our dinner. Dinner was excellent with three delicious courses and a jug of fruit juice. We chatted with Freddy as we struggled to finish our dinner. The portion sizes were huge and we trequested for smaller portions from the next meal. We had an early start the next day and we went to sleep after all the excitement of the day. The insects, however, made it a little difficult for me to doze off. The cicadas were chirping incessantly and I was anxious despite the protective mosquito nets around our beds. However Shash was fine and said it actually lulled her to sleep. 

Day 2 in the Amazon Rainforest

We had to start at 4 am and we were up at a little past 3 and got ready for our most anticipated sight of the trip – watching the macaws at the clay lick. We made our way out of the lodge and into the boat in complete darkness and started our ride further upstream. Soon day broke and we could see the river and rainforests around us.

Macaw Clay Lick

After about 2 hours we reached the Ocho Gallinas clay lick inside the Tambopata Reserve. We got out of our boats and walked to a spot from directly across the clay lick. Though the clay lick was right across on the other side of the river it was too far away to be able to spot the birds but we could hear them all around us. There was one other visitor at the spot as we continued to realise how the unrest in the country has affected tourism.

The clay licks are a special feature in this part of the Amazon ecosphere. Three species of macaws and several species of parrots ingest clay that is rich in minerals to help them overcome the toxins released by the fruits and seeds they eat. There are few clay licks in the Tambopata reserve and the species that visit these clay licks vary. The biggest uncertainty is that the birds don’t come to the clay licks every day. It depends on a lot of factors including the season, the weather, the presence/absence of predatory species and perhaps, their mood too! They don’t turn up if it’s raining. They stay in the trees and never get down to the clay if they feel threatened. Or they just don’t turn up even if the weather conditions are right. And they also move to exposed clay if they can’t spot clay in their usual spots. Freddy told us they had moved down stream several times in the last few years. So actually seeing the various species of Macaws and Parrots come down to eat clay had a lot of luck involved. I kept my expectations very low since we were traveling in the wet season and it could be raining or the birds might just not feel like eating clay! Thanks to my lucky stars once again, we were actually able to witness the event.

Freddy set up binoculars and tuned them so that we could spot the birds on the other side of the river. My furthest lens was at 300mm and I cranked it all the way to grab a few pictures. It was almost like a rehearsed event. The various species of parrots were on the clay lick, calling out to their mates between pecking at the clay. There were no macaws at the clay lick at that time but were up in the trees and tree hopping spreading their brightly coloured wings for us to marvel at. Soon the parrots flew out of the clay lick into the trees and the clay lick appeared empty. Due to their size and colour it wasn’t easy to spot them on the trees. Then a few macaws came down to the clay lick and started pecking on the clay. This time they had chosen another exposed part and Freddy had to readjust the binoculars to spot them. Then slowly more Macaws came down to the clay while the parrots flew away. And as the saying goes birds of a feather do flock together. There were three species of macaws at the same on the trees or the clay and they only grouped with the same species.

We spent over a couple of hours on the Clay lick before we boarded the boat to take us for our picnic breakfast. Our boatman took us a little closer to the clay lick and idled while we clicked some more pictures of the birds on the clay lick. They were not done yet but we were getting hungry. We were taken to a small island that the river Tambopata had created where they set up our picnic breakfast. Only then I realised we hadn’t even had our coffee in the morning! After having some coffee and pancakes in the scenic setting the early morning wake up and the excitement hit us as we made our way back to the lodge. We spotted a few capybaras and herons up close and then drifted off to sleep before arriving at the Finca. We felt beaten as we walked to our cabin to chill deciding not to do anything. After yet another delicious meal at lunch we hung around in the hammocks and walked around the lodge spotting some agoutis, mango and banana trees reminding us of our homes in Chennai.

Afternoon walk

We started at about 4 in the afternoon for another walk in the forest to a rope bridge and spotting some giant trees and monkeys along the way. This time it started to rain though we could spot the sun shining through the rainforest canopy. Surprisingly the rain water didn’t make it down to the forest floor. We took shelter under a large tree waiting for the rain to stop and made our way further into the forest. Freddy heard the calls of squirrel monkeys and he was trying to see if he could spot them. Sam was completely annoyed by this time and started whining. But we still wanted to the see the monkeys so we hung around for a while. They were tiny and very quick so we were struggling to spot them or get their pictures. They live in troops of 500 or more and are constantly on the move looking for fruits and food from the trees in the rainforest and the farms in the region. More monkeys started to arrive and moved through the trees in the canopy. After watching them for a while we went to the rope bridge and took some pictures before returning to our lodge. We were completely drained at this point but refreshed ourselves and got ready for the cayman hunt by boat.

Cayman hunt

Sam cooled down after that sweaty afternoon walk and was ready to ride the boat for the cayman hunt. So we left around 7 pm when it was completely dark. Freddy switched on his flashlight and waved them at the banks every few minutes and turned them off again. We were wondering what he could see as it was complete darkness and he had his flashlight turned on only for a few minutes before turning them off. Soon he signalled to the boatman and we made a U turn to stop at the opposite bank. When he turned his flashlight on we saw a huge white Cayman right in front of us along the river. We marvelled looking at the cayman up close and were snapping away pictures. It got tired of us snapping pictures and wiggled away into the darkness. The boat started its return and Freddy spotted one more for us. It was quite close to the boat this time and Freddy tried to catch but it ran away. We spotted it holding its catch in its mouth.. most likely a piranha. Close to our lodge we spotted a black cayman. Apparently black caymans can be as long as 6 meters but they don’t like the noise of the river and prefer to stay in the oxbow lakes. The black cayman we saw was a small one. We realised Freddy spotted them by the reflection of the flashlight from their eyes! 

At dinner Freddy entertained us with stories of anacondas and the happenings in this region of Peru. He had been raised along the river and had spent all his life here. He told us about an alternative itinerary that took guests to an oxbow lake to spot otters and other wildlife on the return. But that was a 2 hour trip each way which would have been impossible for us. He also told us of a guest that stayed all 8 days in the lodge without going out anywhere while his wife was enjoying all the expeditions alone!

After dinner we returned to our cabin for our last night in the lodge. We finished our packing for our departure the next morning. This time the insects didn’t bother me much and I drifted off to a restful sleep.

Day 3 – Leaving the Amazon and to the Sacred Valley

After an early breakfast we left the Finca for our ride downstream to Puerto Maldonado and to civilisation. At this time we didn’t know what was happening in Cusco and if we would still be able to fly there. We had a short nap on the boat as the contentment of a fabulous trip crept in.

We reached the Jungle Pro office at about 9:30 and were relieved to hear our flight to Cusco was on time. We repacked and after ensuring our bags weren’t overweight we were transferred back to the airport. We couldn’t thank Freddy, Oscar, Marco and the whole Jungle Pro team enough for making a memorable trip for us with great food, service and attention.

The service at the tiny airport left much to be desired – the check-in was slow and they decided to declare one of suitcases already damaged. The waiting lounge was small with multiple flights lined up. However the boarding was fine and we were on our way to Cusco on our second Latam flight. Since it was a very short flight we were handed out the same chocolate as soon as we boarded.

Arriving Cusco and onto Sacred Valley

As we descended over the Andes I could spot glaciers and snow capped peaks all around and it was a blissful sight. I felt the impact of altitude as soon as we landed at 10,000 ft above sea level. It was quite a breathless walk to the baggage claim. Blame it on my lack of fitness or just my body type but I seemed to be the only one huffing and puffing. Our bags arrived minus the beautiful luggage tags I had on them and there wasn’t anything we could do about it.

We had booked with the hotel we were staying at in Ollantaytambo for a transfer from Cusco airport. Since the airport was closed to non passengers we walked out to the exit gate and spotted our driver. He was a native who had lived all his life in the Sacred Valley and spoke Quechua. Spanish was as much foreign to him as it was to us. He was relatively better at it but spoke very little English. So we conversed with him in a little bit of English and little bit of broken Spanish!

We made our journey out of crowded Cusco into the Sacred Valley and soon clouds descended upon us. We reached Ollantaytambo after a couple of hours. Though Ollanta was about 2000 ft lower than Cusco I could still feel the attitude when I got off the car. We were staying at the Apu Lodge that was a couple of hundred metres up a narrow lane from the main square. I was nearly fainting by the time I reached the lodge. I felt better once I stopped walking. Was greeted by Nancy with whom I shared a lot of good times over the next 3 days! We fixed our pick up for the SV tour the next morning at 9:30 with Eddie.

Lunch was pizza from a restaurant in the town square with some Inca cola. SC offered to go out and buy and we gobbled up the pizza in no time. It was pretty delicious especially with the red sauce that was served along with it. I was glad to be resting in my bed the rest of the evening as we had a long day the next day.