Inotawa Lodge Tambopata National Reserve

... for quite some time while Jack and I took photos and oohed and aaahed over it´s beauty. The rainbow boa gets its name because when the sunlight catches it it has an iridescent shimmer, all the colours of the rainbow. It is the most beautiful snake I have ever seen. It finally decided to slither off to the side just as I tried to get close to it to have my photo taken with it. It went for me. I have never had a snake strike at me before and the speed of my reflexes ...

... flies who like to bite your legs and the mosquitos finish the job everywhere else. So I currently look like I have measles. I am trying to get the chiggers under control though after following local advice to wash myself with laundry soap and douse myself in alcohol (of the medicinal kind obviously, not just a local brew which I dont think would be nearly as effective and would of course be a waste of good beer). A new activity we have started in the last couple of weeks is attempting ...

... to eat their dinner by torch light. I stay at the lodge as one of their Resident Naturalists (there are 4 of us at the moment). Two of them, Jack and Yasmin have already been there for 5 months and George arrived the same day as me although he has already done a 6 month stint there before. So I have been there for 2 weeks now and I feel like I am in the swing of things. We get one day off a week which are generally saved up so you can make the journey into Puerto Maldonaldo to ...

... and my guide was there to pick me up. We headed straight for the office and the second RIP. At the office I was told I had to pay park entry fee of 30s. The lodge is in the reserve so everyone has to pay so why not included in the quoted price? Then we cruised around town for a while then Daniel told me we were waiting for another group cos I would be travelling to the lodge with them. After about an hour we met the other group at the office where they were paying there park ...

... ride, an hour bus ride and a three hour boat ride along the Tambopata River. The "boat", which comfortably sat 35 people, was some sort of a very long, antique canoe thing, powered by a 55hp motor...it was encouraging to see Captain Stubing bail out the water before the 40 passengers boarded. It turned out to be very enjoyable...great scenery, good company, and our delicious "boxed lunch" of hot fried rice that came wrapped up in a ...

... error requiring me to meet with the attendant. So after standing in line for another 20 mins I find out that I have been bumped from the flight and was asked if I would like to spend another night in Cuzco. Seeing how I had a tour planned for that day I put up a stink and they eventually put me back on the flight and bumped someone else. Lesson learned; never be one of the last people to check in for a flight in ...

And so we were off, on the first of our two major trips whilst in Peru - a four day, three night trip into the Amazon basin. We flew from Cusco airport into Puerto Maldonado, the main town in the region of the Amazon we were staying in. And as soon as we arrived, we hit problems. Our guide, a German guy called Tilman, told us that the whole town was on strike over pay. Apparently this happens once every 6 years, for two days. This meant we had a 2 in 2190 chance of ...

... got an early start for the Cusco airport to make sure we had plenty of time to make it through security. After a short flight, a short bus ride, a long bus ride, a long boat ride, and a short hike through the rainforest, we were at Refugio Amazonas. It was well after sunset by this point, and walking out into the clearing where the lodge was built was quite a sight. The lodge is built almost entirely out of local materials. Lighting is entirely ...

La Cordillera Apolobamba era un lloc predeterminat des de garirebé el principi del nostre viatge. Tenia un atractiu especial i quasi indespreciable, molt poca gent el feia, i existia la possibilitat de trobar Kalawayes. Aquests són una mena de bruixots, els quals mitjançant l'ajuda d'herbes et poden vatcinar el futur o fins hi tot curar alguna malaltia. Segons els nostres guies, res més que "xerraires". ( continuarà)

... cayman, huge rodents, big hairy spiders (but difficult to find), and lots of interesting plants. A guide explained all the medicinal workings of plants and trees. Including such scientific facts as placing a certain plant by your door to make the one who passes it fall in love with you.