You can find Part I of the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest adventure here.

Day 2
We were up nice and early- breakfast at 5am so that we could leave our lodge at 5:30am. It was also my birthday today!

We headed onto the boat for a short ride through the misty and cool morning and got off for a 30 mins walk to a catamaran. This morning, we were going prehistoric bird, macaw and giant otter spotting. Lucky for us, we were able to see all of them this morning. The rainforest is definitely more alive in the morning. There was so much activity as the animals go to breakfast before moving on to avoid the heat of the day.

Our guides also fished a piranha for us to see- no-one was going to be sticking any body parts into the water anytime soon. It was so cool to see a live piranha. Their sharp teeth but really shiny exterior seemed like a double edged beauty sword. As we headed towards 10am, the sun was really turning up the heat! There was not a cloud in the sky and we were floating in the middle of the river with no shade. We were all sweating so much that butterflies started landing on some of us. We were told that a lot of the birds (and butterflies) supplement their diet by eating clay for the salt so I guess we were just salty deliciousness for them. Fortunately (or unfortunately), no anacondas were seen on the riverbanks during our morning out.

We went back to the lodge for lunch and then hung out until mid afternoon. We were all so glad to be taking it easy at the hottest part of the day. During this time, I was sitting in my room when heard some commotion in the trees. With my camera ready (for whatever was out there), I was able to capture monkeys moving past my room in the trees!
We headed out again for a food plant tour and tried some local beverages. Once night fell, we piled into our boats again to go caiman spotting. We did see some little ones and I was amazed at how our guides would see them from our boat in the middle of the river!

Back at the lodge for dinner, I was surprised with a birthday crown made out of leaves and cake! Not a birthday that I will be forgetting anytime soon.

Exhausted, we all headed to bed quite early as we were in for another early morning wake up call the next day. The weather had cooled down enough to doze off for another night to the sounds of the wild.

Day 3
Today was our last day in the Amazon. Another early morning exploration session, we set off at 5:30am after breakfast, this time to catch the morning feeding from the birds. The most magnificant coloured macaws, parrots and toucans were spotted this morning. The brighest and most beautiful colours and colour combinations flying through the sky and trees! I love the colours of nature.

We headed back at 9:30am to get our duffel bags and loaded up our boat to head back towards Puerto Maldonado where we collected our suitcases and repacked. We said a tearful goodbye to our guides at the airport- who were such a wealth of knowledge and welcomed us to their part of the world with open arms and warmth.
Thank you Rafa and Darwin!
Next stop: Cusco to Machu Picchu.

Have you been in the Amazon? Do you want to go? What did you love most about your experience?

Peru Tour: Intrepid Travel
Amazon experience: Baawaja Expeditions