Howdy all! Lorna is back with brand new act…

well part 2 of a fairly new act 😉

I hope you all are having a great week so far! I would love to hear from you on your life and adventures and any questions you have about our adventures as well. So reach out and share with me! I wanted to continue my post on the Peruvian Amazon.

Funny little fact – after my last post I had quite a few people ask me about bugs, creepy crawlies, creatures of your nightmares, or whatever you call them. I only jest, because in reality I am fascinated by bugs. Not like I want to Netflix and chill with them but I find their design and appearance alien-esque and neat. I include in this strange interest, spiders (please don’t burn me at the stake my dear entomologists). But people’s main concern… can we guess? MOSQUITOS!

Yes, the dreaded mosquito. Friend of none. Hated by all. They are just trying to survive man, and unfortunately they need your blood to do it. There are a good amount of mosquitos… we are in a damp, warm jungle, their favorite type of location for breeding and chowing down. Was it unbearable? No, but best believe we were covered from head to toe in repellant and reapplied often. It was only noticeable when we were trekking through the jungle. Our lodge was covered in netting and on the boats the wind kept them at bay. We left with quite a few war wounds (bites). But, as long as you are aware there are mosquitos and bring repellant, you should be fine. **Also consider the source: I love nature and I am not deathly afraid of critters giving me a little nibble, and they do itch and can bite through leggings. So if that stuff is a problem for you, just because I said it doesn’t bother me, wont make it any less bothersome for you. For those that have a hiking, nature, adventure background or live in areas with mosquitos then I say it is not a deterrent at all. I have had the worst mosquito bites in Wyoming. Waaay worse than anywhere else I have been. Those suckers (pun intended) are on a mission!

Now, back to the fun stuff. We stayed in two lodges. One was for short term stays and the other was deeper in the jungle on a reserve. It is the only lodge allowed to be on that reserve so you are out in the sticks, for real. The lodge has a shared bathroom and I don’t mean just with people. You may very easily come across a tarantula on your showerhead or a moth the size of your face on the window sill. They are not going to hurt you but may give you a start on those late night trips to the bathroom. But, can I tell you how peaceful it is to sleep with only the sounds of wildlife, the sounds they record for you to sleep at home, in surround sound, lulling you to bed each night? Glorious!

We were up early each morning, as that is the best time to see wildlife. There was a family of monkeys living in a tree behind the lodge that just peered down at us as we walked below. Enormous termite mounds. I have seen this similar size of termite mounds but in this area they are built high in the trees and not on the ground. Can anyone guess why? (I am full of pop quizzes today) It’s a flooded jungle! If they built them on the ground they would be flooded and washed away with each rainy season. Smart little buggers.

We saw several types of monkeys including the smallest monkey in the world, anacondas sun tanning on branches over the river, frogs as small as your pinky nail, 6 foot caiman in the water we had just swam in, butterflies, bats, birds birds birds, you get the idea. Just chock full of friends everywhere, and what would you expect, we are in the Amazon!

We were also given “jungle boots” upon arrival. Wouldn’t my hiking boots be fine? No way, Jose! At some points in our hike my rubber jungle boots were knee deep in mud, which had me doing the old back and forth motion to get enough umph to free my foot from the death grip it had on me. So, wear the jungle boots.

And I can’t possibly forget to mention the PINK DOLPHINS! There is something eerie about looking down a river and seeing pink fins half moon out of the water, when you are used to only seeing them in an open ocean. Pink dolphins are quite a bit larger than regular dolphins and, well, they are pink. While we were boating on the main river we saw huge pods of them! Fins everywhere, big ones, little ones, just everywhere. On the smaller river tributaries we saw two of them slowly creeping down the river which gave me a little chill. Just a weird site to have such a large creature swimming so close in such a small river. Side note: I love the show River Monsters with Jeremy Wade. If you have never seen it, you should definitely check it out. End side note.

So here concludes my post for the day. It tickles me that you chose to come back and read more of our stories. I hope you have as much fun reading as I have writing them for you. Have a great rest of your day, or night depending on what time you are reading this.

And Remember to Always,

Travel Nomader What