Welcome to Peru - last country on THE BIG TRIP.
Lima was our first stop in Peru. It's a huge sprawling Latin American metropolis of 9M people. Lima is quite different to other cities such as Buenos Aires or Rio. It feels poorer and it is certainly more chaotic. So, this is us in the main square in the centre of the city. There are many fine colonial buildings in the centre.
The Peruvian Congress building ..
Franciscan monastery which we were able to take a tour of. The crypt was interesting - it contains the bones of thousands of people - so a little grisly!!
When you land in the city it is not immediately apparent but when you drive out of town you realise that Lima is actually a desert city. The Attacama desert starts in the Northern half of Chile and runs along the Chilean coast. The desert continues on the Peruvian side of the borer all the way up the coast of Peru. The above picture was taken on a day that we drove about 40KM south of the city to visit a Pre Inca archaeological site.
On landing you drive for an hour through the jungle. To clarify - driving does not mean on tarred roads. There are very few sealed roads in this part of the world. The roads are mud, carved out of the jungle. When it rains they turn to a quagmire and are forever collapsing and being washed away.
After an hour or so driving the next stage of our journey was by motorised canoe. Took us another hour to get to the lodge by river. This place was really remote. This is the favoured way of getting around out here.
Actually being on the river with a bit of a breeze is the most comfortable place to be. The heat here is punishing - temperature is normally in the high 30's with 100% humidity.
It is also a nice way to see the rainforest.
Most activities in this part of the world involve getting up early - meaning 4.30 AM. Here's L out on the river as dawn breaks. These shots were taken on the Tambopata river around 6AM.
First thing in the morning is cooler, atmospheric and is a good time to spot wildlife.
This is a Howler monkey - named for the loud noises they make particularly at sundown and sunrise.
Another great way to see the forest is from above. This is made possible by climbing the 60FT tall tower that the jungle lodge eco-project has erected in the middle of the forest. The climb to the top is rewarded with stunning views over the canopy in all directions.
Transport on the Tambopata river
This is the bedroom wing in the jungle lodge. Rooms are fully open on the other side which means that you go asleep and wake up looking directly into the forest with nothing between you and ....well whatever is roaming around out there.
This is the public area of the lodge - it all hammocks and beer.
The Peruvian Congress building ..
Franciscan monastery which we were able to take a tour of. The crypt was interesting - it contains the bones of thousands of people - so a little grisly!!
When you land in the city it is not immediately apparent but when you drive out of town you realise that Lima is actually a desert city. The Attacama desert starts in the Northern half of Chile and runs along the Chilean coast. The desert continues on the Peruvian side of the borer all the way up the coast of Peru. The above picture was taken on a day that we drove about 40KM south of the city to visit a Pre Inca archaeological site.And now for something completely different ....
Peru is a country of real contrasts. On the coast you have hot dry deserts. The spine of the country consists of the high Andes and altiplano ( the high Andean Plateau) - we'll come back to that in the next post. Once you cross the Andes you descend into the Amazon basin.
The Amazon is the largest rainforest on the planet. Most people associate the Amazon with Brazil. There are in fact large tracts of the Amazon in many countries including Colombia, Venezuela and of course Peru. In fact outside of Brazil, Peru has the largest amount of rainforest in South America. 60% of the country is covered by the Amazon rainforest and the Amazon river actually starts in Southern Peru. There are of course thousands of rivers that make up the Amazon basin.
We flew to the jungle city of Puerto Maldonado in Eastern Peru. The shot above is the Rio Madre de Dios river ( meaning Mother of God). We were headed for a remote jungle lodge.
On landing you drive for an hour through the jungle. To clarify - driving does not mean on tarred roads. There are very few sealed roads in this part of the world. The roads are mud, carved out of the jungle. When it rains they turn to a quagmire and are forever collapsing and being washed away.
After an hour or so driving the next stage of our journey was by motorised canoe. Took us another hour to get to the lodge by river. This place was really remote. This is the favoured way of getting around out here.
Actually being on the river with a bit of a breeze is the most comfortable place to be. The heat here is punishing - temperature is normally in the high 30's with 100% humidity.
It is also a nice way to see the rainforest.
Most activities in this part of the world involve getting up early - meaning 4.30 AM. Here's L out on the river as dawn breaks. These shots were taken on the Tambopata river around 6AM.
First thing in the morning is cooler, atmospheric and is a good time to spot wildlife.
This is a Howler monkey - named for the loud noises they make particularly at sundown and sunrise.
Another great way to see the forest is from above. This is made possible by climbing the 60FT tall tower that the jungle lodge eco-project has erected in the middle of the forest. The climb to the top is rewarded with stunning views over the canopy in all directions.
Transport on the Tambopata river
This is the bedroom wing in the jungle lodge. Rooms are fully open on the other side which means that you go asleep and wake up looking directly into the forest with nothing between you and ....well whatever is roaming around out there. Not an especially great place if you have a phobia about insects. The reality is that there are lots of them - and big ones too. But actually most of the big scary ones are really pretty harmelss - just walking about going about there business, whatever that is! So you kinda get used to it and learn to ignore them after a while. I guess they were here before us so what the hell. The bed has a mosquito net over its not actually so bad!
This is the public area of the lodge - it all hammocks and beer.Below is a typical street scene in the city of Puerto Maldonado. Not many cars here - its quite poor and is very much a developing city full of rickshaws and motorbikes. That said, I think if we come back in a few years the place may look quite different.
The city if on the Rio Madre del Dios. A bridge is planned for this crossing and will form part of the trans- Amazonian highway which will cross Brazil and Peru.
That's it for this post - we leave you with our last view of the jungle - from the air as flew out and headed on to the Andes.
The city if on the Rio Madre del Dios. A bridge is planned for this crossing and will form part of the trans- Amazonian highway which will cross Brazil and Peru.
That's it for this post - we leave you with our last view of the jungle - from the air as flew out and headed on to the Andes.
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