There were 5 from our group that are heading into the Amazon (Me, Cory, Lily, Debbie and Mandy). Our bus left at 9:30 a.m. and we were in Puerto Maldonado by small plane around 12:00 p.m. The air here is pretty muggy. The temperature is around 80 degrees with about 90% humidity. That’s shirt sticking humidity. Anyways we dropped off some of our luggage and then took a 1 hour bus ride and then a 2 hour boat ride to get to the Eco Lodge. The bus ride was a bit bumpy. I had a minor headache from the drinking last night. That along with the humidity made the bus ride a little uncomfortable. The boat ride was refreshing as the breeze of air was a change from the humidity. Fried chicken was served on the boat for lunch. I thought was good. It was popcorn chicken and rice. A quick and easy meal to eat.

The Libertador Tambopata Eco Lodfe is a lush eco-lodge with very few amenities. There was no electricity in any of the room and hot water was powered by solar energy. Our guide was cool however he wasn’t enthusiastic about why the Eco Lodge was eco friendly. The amazon basin is lush with animals from parrots, frogs, snakes and jaguars. As soon as we arrived we saw several monkeys swinging about in the trees. It was quite tranquil listening to the voices of the animals echo through the rainforest. Soothing and calming at the same time.

We spent about an hour doing a night hike and saw some small creatures. We saw frogs, spiders and walking stick insects. I wanted to see a snake or a tarantula but we didn’t see much that night. After the walk we had a buffet dinner which was OK. Not the greatest meal but decent for catered food. After dinner it was off to bed so we could wake up at 6 a.m. to go on an Amazon jungle hike.