jungle hospitality

Our nights in the jungle were spent at the Wasai Lodge on the Tambopata River. It was really beautiful and comfortable and the food was excellent.

Some photos taken around the lodge: 

The dining room.

Can you spot the lizard? They were scurrying around everywhere.

Our bungalow.

The view of our bungalows from the river.

for the birds.

We headed out around 4:30 Monday morning and watched the sun come up while traveling another hour up the river to the world's largest macaw clay lick. This place was amazing. Hundreds of colorful macaws and parrots lined the trees. We saw some monkeys as well. It was fascinating to just sit and watch all the action. And the sounds! So many sounds. We were the only people there which was also really cool.

We had a yummy breakfast when we got back to the lodge and then relaxed a bit before heading out on the river again in search of a nice swimming spot. We stopped at a waterfall and then our guide suggested the sandy shores of the river. We tried not to imagine what could be swimming in the water with us, though our guide assured us the caiman don't swim during the day. We were dying from the jungle heat and humidity and the water felt so refreshing, even if it turned us orange.

Rodents of unusual size?

We spotted lots of capybaras along the river.

These capybaras had birds feasting on their parasites.

camouflaged parrots.

red howler monkeys.

early morning snack.

 

nocturnal observations.

After settling into our bungalows, our guide took us on a night hike. Having recently confirmed the existence of jaguars in the jungle, a walk through the complete darkness seemed like an excellent idea. It was actually really cool to head into the jungle with our flashlights and search for interesting bugs and other creepy crawly things that only come out at night. We found some really cool bugs and spiders, heard some strange noises, and Juan Carlos teased a gigantic (bigger than my hand) tarantula out of its hole.

I also confirmed that there are more mosquitoes in my backyard than there are in the Amazon Rainforest.

(My night photos aren't the greatest and I don't remember what most of these things were...)

the gigantic tarantula.

walking sticks.

The food at the lodge was so good. This chicken was steamed inside bamboo.

Our cozy mosquito net beds.