As we leave Peru I have noted a few observations.

Take all of these with a bucket of salt! Do not take them seriously at all.

Volkswagon beetles are everywhere!

It’s amazing and must be the climate, but they seem to be everywhere. I love it

Peruvian dogs

of those that I have seen they seem really happy, confident, tails up. Even the strays seem to be happy looking,, well fed! One highlight, unfortunately I did not get a picture we saw a mother dog with two puppies in the countryside walking along , while the pups played and tackled each other. Then a 4th larger dog joined them , I’m probably romanticising the image, but I reckon it was the dad.

Houses always look unfinished.

The houses always look unfinished and unkempt. Our guide suggested that this is because finished homes are then subject to tax. Consequently they are never really finished!

There is no vaping!

Nada, nothing , not seen one person vaping and the only people smoking seem to be foreigners. It’s great! Good thing we gave up before we came.

A Rainbow but not as you know it

Rainbow flags are everywhere, but it doesn’t mean they are a super gay city. It’s the flag for Cusco!!

Where are the fences?

The countryside is bizarrely bereft of fencing, certainly in the areas we have driven through, have not seen “herds” of livestock but animals tethered to ropes. The visual effect is one that creates a sense of vastness on a grand scale.

Australian invaders

There are eucalyptus trees absolutely everywhere! It’s a full on invasion. And yes they are Australian origin eucalyptus trees , when and how did this happen I need to know.

Apparently they thrive in the relatively dry environment, grow fast and are a source of construction material, but those things have definitely gone rogue.

Peruvian Food

The food is very carb heavy and protein low, potatoes, potatoes, sometimes with rice.

It’s really not fair for me to comment too much, I get that on these types of tours you have to try and direct groups to reasonably priced, variety typed foods that you know are safely prepared ! You don’t want gastro on a bus. But it does mean you end up with pretty bland middle of the road fare at tourist prices. Add in the odd alpaca steak and Guinea pig everywhere.

I was reading a WHO study that was done between 2019-2022 and malnutrition affected 19.5% of the population. For children that can mean permanent growth stunting which may explain the anecdotal observation that as a whole they appear to be shorter in stature.

Covid

Horrible stat, Peru suffered more deaths per head of population than any other nation in the world. 6600 deaths per million , compared to the 490 in New Zealand.

Politics

The common refrain is that corruption is an ongoing issue . You see political party slogans on walls everywhere ! Our guide mentioned to us that there are 20 parties standing in the 2026 elections.

It’s a poor nation the average salary is about 2500 soles or $1250 Nz a month.

From the little I have seen , the Peruvian people are industrious, hard working , smart people. They have a nation of incredible resources and diversity. The foundations for greatness are there , I hope they find them.

Christmas Day for us was an extremely quiet affair. We were leaving Cusco to get a 7 hour bus south to Puno. On the shores of Lake Titicaca.

Initially there had been plans to make our Christmas Day celebrations on the bus, wine was purchased, cakes, treats but that was all blown out of the water when yours truly decided on Christmas Eve we should go to a gay bar. I had some crappy family news and I was drowning my sorrows a bit. So off we went to Chango , and I danced and danced and drank too much with a lot of the group. David wisely stepped out. So I arrived back at the hotel very late, very drunk and very wet as it was pouring! While I may have took the lead, I was definitely not the only one. So by the time we hit the bus station dishevelled and with sore heads at 7:15am, the Christmas spirit had waned. It was fun, managed to do 30,000 steps that day so the dance floor got a pounding.

Many of you will probably know this, but South American long haul buses are simple next level. Practically lie flat beds, air conditioned, charging ports and phone stands. They are great. So we spent the time driving through some spectacular scenery , nursing my sore head and arrived in Puno 7 hours later. Still I do get to say I was at lake Titicaca on Christmas Day!

We are stayed in an old school hotel in Puno. Expecting chemist as day to be quiet the streets were packed with families walking, we had a quick dinner, some more panadol for me and off for an early night.

So next day it was onto a boat to have a look around Lake Titicaca. The lake is the highest navigable lake in the world at 3800m, and even though it’s the middle of summer the altitude makes it cold. We woke to 3c. Brrrr..

So off we went in our little boat and about an hour and half later we hit our first destination one of the 150 Reed islands that families have been living in for centuries!

It’s was raining and cold so we felt a bit miserable, as we hopped onto the spongy squelchy raft. We had a bit of presentation and then when the rain stopped we could have a look around.

The island is bloody tiny. 5-6 dwellings with a family of 11 , traditionally they would have lived off fishing and trading. But in recent years tourism is creating a new economy for these families.

It looked like such a hard life. Despite the new income from tourism.

So back on the boat to head to our next destination which was for a homestay.

Fair to say there was a fair amont of trepidation about the honestly, the Intrepid description had said it was basic accommodation in mud brick homes and that there were no showers , language is also a barrier and with it being cold and wet we didn’t know what we were getting into.

I expect for our hosts it would have been equally as nerve wracking, they have no idea who they are going to end up with either, right?

So we arrived. We were greeted by two women in vibrant traditional dress and taken to our respective rooms. Ours was super cute and way exceeded expectations.

We then sat down for lunch with our host and tried as best we could to get to know each other. Our host Yula was 33, married, two kids Sébastien and Natalie. Her parents in law lived next door.

It’s never easy communicating when you don’t share a language, but it’s amazing what a big smile, an open attitude and some sign language could achieve we felt very welcome immediately.

We had a wee bit of free time before we had to do some “chores” so wandered up to the plaza. This is a remote area with a tiny population the inhabitants spoke Spanish, Quechuan , and Aymara. All completely different languages.

The hat with the two baubles indicates she is married , while there is a different hat for those who are not married- more on that later..

We made it back to the house where we were assigned jobs to assist the household, we got to sort dried potatoes, from those that were whole to those that were broken!

After our jobs we got together to play volleyball, locals versus visitors and talk about an ice breaker – it was so much fun and really brought everyone together!

They then gave us the option of dressing up in traditional clothes , ordinarily I may have resisted but it’s incredible what a few hours of camaraderie, laughter and good will we do. Before we knew it we were all in our outfits.

From there, while in attire we all had to go upstairs and help cook dinner , chopping, peeling vegetables,

We then ate together, laughed some more and were all back on our rooms by 8pm.

It was a wonderful experience, and so wholesome!

This has been an intrepid initiative, they have supported the set up , and done so in a respectful way, using local resources, and local guides. It doesn’t feel contrived, and the response from those we are engaging with feels genuine.

They structure thing’s themselves, so at this time of the year when it’s low season, there’s only one group a week coming through, so each community group gets rotated through so the whole community benefits. It’s been rough since Covid and with the ongoing political instability, but things will hopefully continue to recover and more people get to engage with these wonderful communities.

It was then time for dinner, which we had to help prepare.

It was a nice touch, and once we had eaten , we all had an early night. No TV , no WIFI so no choice but to sleep. Bliss.

Next morning breakfast was fried bread, herbal tea and an egg.

So simple yet so delicious!

And then our host walked us back to the boat. but before she left she presented us both with a wee flower and it was hugs all round

Next stop was a trip to tequil island, population 2000 about an hour away and with completely different cultural identities… extraordinary! A hike for an hour up over the hill to the main plaza. This was the hometown of our guide so he had a few things lined up.

The walk is tough at altitude, at almost 4000m, slow and steady. Views were great but as it was raining it felt a wee but miserable. While I haven’t been the landscape, stone walls and clear blue water made me think this is what Greece must look like.

When we arrived at the plaza we inundated the tiny local cafe, especially when it was here , for the first time in weeks we heard the whir of freshly ground coffee beans. Yum!

Then the locals came out to perform. Which was fun. There were school mates and family members of the guide. The change in local dress remarkable!

We then had some lunch and then it was back on the boat to Puno for a free afternoon, catch up some packing. Package up the latest fabric purchases and then try to find a post office to send them home.

Lake Titicaca is friggin huge. 8500sqkm and shared by two nations Peru and Bolivia.

Three native fish, all very small and two introduced species , trout from Canada and kingfish from Argentina.

The lake is in serious decline, pollution is an issue from the 5 rivers that flow into her, mercury from gold mining as well as sewerage discharges. Local species are under threat. Add to that the changes from global warming where the essential rains each year are getting less and less and the largest fresh water catchment in South America is in trouble. Interestingly it’s not purely fresh water , with 1% salt it makes the water unsuitable for irrigation! It’s am amazing piece of water and we only got a glimpse. It is absolutely well worth a visit if you get the chance, Lima and Cusco get the lions share of tourist visitors.

So that’s about it for Peru. Tomorrow we are back on a luxury bus and head to the Bolivian border. It’s been an absolute blast. Can’t believe we have such a long way to go on this trip. We have 4 nights in an Airbnb before we start this all again with another Intrepid trip for 13 days.

Peru so far has been about under promising and over delivering.

Christmas Eve here is a free day, so can rest from the full on pace or do your own thing.

I had heard about Rainbow mountain and spoken to Marco our guide about it. He was nonchalant, you know a lot of those pics are with filters, it’s rainy season there may be cloud, it’s 4 hours there and 4 hours back- and then there’s the altitude it’s over 5000m, let’s just check the weather closer to the time and see..

Well we are closer, and the weather looks good , so Marco how about it?

Four of us were interested in going, so with a quick word and $109us we were booked and told to be ready for a pick up at 5am for a 4 hour drive to cover the aprox 200km.

I had heard about rainbow mountain, seen teams of two puff their way up on Amazing race , seen various versions of pictures from relatively bland to over the top technicolour. They are a new attraction, first “discovered” in 2016, the result of snow melt from climate change. Yeah, I know that does put a lense on things.

But undeterred I confirmed and was ready for the pick up at 5am and the long drive with our guide and a huge mini bus.

Breakfast was arranged and included ( thanks intrepid) and then we turned off the main road where we started going up, and the roads got narrower and windier, up and up we went. Ears started to pop, the landscape thinned out and we saw less and less vegetation. The housing we passed was becoming more and more basic, lamas started appearing, then we were above the snow line and still we kept ascending, to 4700m. Looks like I was going to get a white Christmas after all.

Our intrepid guide had decided we would go to Palcoyo , a new site only open in the past year. Less tourists , less of a big incline hike, and the chance to see multiple rainbow sites. Folks this is a brand new site the roads have only just been graded to allow tourist vehicles, and currently they are averaging 20 visitors a day. That is about to change. Once the IG crowd get hold of this it won’t be that way for long. I’ve got mixed feelings about the whole thing but I’ll talk about that in a bit. The scenery was unlike anything I have seen before. Trust me , these pictures do not give it justice. The scale, the colours even. Just incredible!

You immediately felt the altitude, but that shouldn’t be a surprise Everest base camp sits at 5200m and we would peak at 5000m, for me it starts with a headache, breathlessness and then my eyes hurt, dizziness from the lack of oxygen, I had my blood oxygen reader with me and I hit a low of 74. I’ve been in the 90’s and at sea level below 90 is hospitalisation level , so that’s you’ll definitely notice it and that became evident as I ascended!

There was so much to see up there, glaciers, Lamas, mountain ranges incredible rock formations, people and these pictures do not give justice to the colours we could see. Partly it was overcast so that dulled things , but on the ground, there were blues, green, yellows, reds…just incredible!

We also got to see some glaciers these are particularly important as they were where their mummified ancestors were kept. They are, like everywhere in retreat.

And then there were the rock formations, just incredible.

With more rainbow on the background.

Then there is the flora and fauna , delicate and unique,

So why uncomfortable, well, a few things. Firstly , we were, as you can see from the pictures, trampling all over these sites. We were within the rules , and they did have guidelines, but still, once numbers increase, I hate to think what will happen.

The local people are it seems desperately poor, no services, subsistance living on potatoes and lamas and it feels like they’re about to be exposed to the world of mass tourism. I have no idea how this is being managed, if at all for their benefit , but you had grandmothers posing with their lamas for a few soles and children selling bits and pieces to the passing tourists.

What this means for them, I have no idea, we bought a couple of key rings from the boy. We told him to keep the change ( probably $2.50) he looked at us and said. Thank you for your gift, now I must give you something and gave us both a chocolate bar. I fear how that type of innocence will be exploited but in the moment it was so lovely!

Am I participating in this? Probably, even writing this with good intention is not necessarily helpful, and I strongly suspect that is why this was not a formal part of the intrepid trip , I don’t think this would meet their community standards. Which is great.

As a tourist, it was an incredible experience, and I was very fortunate to get in when I did, I do hope that this is being done in conjunction with the local people.

Could this trip be any more diverse ?

It’s hard to put in words experiencing something that you’ve read about and seen in pictures, but then you’re in that pinch yourself moment where you’re there. I’ll try, but I’m still processing the magnitude of being there, seeing and experiencing what we did today.

It was an early start. And from what I had previously read and seen in videos can be an absolute nightmare, but Intrepid took care of all that, leave your bags they’ll be at the station later , 5 minutes later and we were on a bus.

But what a hair raising ride, narrow steep incline up a series of hairpin turns where it constantly felt like you were going to go off the edge, huge drops, and yet somehow or another it was two way and buses would pass each other. serously look at that road!

It was very cloudy and moody when we arrived, we disembarked and started the trek up to the viewing platform in what seemed like a relatively thick fog. Were we going to see anything at all? even the sun was straining to be seen

So we waited , and waited. and we wondered if we would see anything at all,

But slowly it started to turn, but it needed to hurry up as the next allocated group were hot on our heels.

And then the clouds started to part and the cameras came out as we all hustled to find our spots, friggin hilarious. Our guide warning us not to give up our “territory” hotly guarded territory at that

I should probably about now give a little Incan history, our guide had time to fill and I took notes so here it goes.

By the 15th century the Incan empire covered area in what we now know as Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia and Chile. A vast population of 10 million people. Cusco was the capital , designed specifically to have paths in each direction of the empire. However, the ruler had a brother who had a falling out with his brother , who had set up a secondary capital in the north in what we now know as Ecuador. The Spanish arrived in 1532 , with their religion, in search of gold and silver and Malaria and other diseases. There were only an initial 152 Spaniards , they sought to exploit the brotherly feud and got lots of details on who was who and what the politics were in Cusco and used that information to assassinate the leaders in Cusco, and for his efforts , they murdered the brother too. I suppose that dealt with that feud. Colonisers, they’re special aren’t they?

By 1536 the invaders had got into sacred valley and word spread to Machu Picchu who at that time decided to abandon and retreat to another site.

And so it lay abandoned for centuries, slowly being consumed by the surrounding landscape. And given how remote it is , it could have stayed that way.

It was rediscovered by a local farmer in 1902, but he was not believed. And it wasn’t until 1911 when an American archaeologist from Yale university on the request of the Peruvian government came to start looking for a lost city. He offered a reward that was picked up by a young boy and in 1911 he was taken to the overgrown site.,,

It wasn’t long before his discovery was being published and Machu Picchu was back in the eyes of the world, opened up to tourism in the 70’s and named a unesco heritage site in 2007.

History lesson over. Back to the blog.

There is so much to see and do, I still csnt get my head around why there , it’s so remote , so inhospitable. But they had their restons.

The Incans like many indigenous societies were deeply connected to their environment, a deep sense of balance that they saw around them. Machu Picchu means old mountain. But it is balanced by new mountain , and either side of that are happy mountain and sad mountain.

Massive stone sculptures designed to only reveal their secrets st sunrise on Solstice.

As well as a sun temple they had a moon temple and it is from there you can see that Machu Pichhu as a whole is designed in the shape of a soaring eagle. Representing the sky , where Cusco is in the shape of a Puma, ( the earth) and a neighbouring town is a snake representing the underworld.. it’s tingling the parallels to Te Ao Māori.

But that wasn’t all the flora was fascinating too, over a thousand types of orchids grow here too

What a treat we had. Truely incredible! And I’ve even managed to write this on the bus on the way back to the hotel. Tomorrow for us will be Christmas Eve and I’m heading up to Rainbow mountain, a 5am start , a hike up to 5200m. Yikes. Wish me luck.

Today we covered old ground, back to Ollantaytambo from Cusco to get the train to Agus Calientes , the closest “town” or point to Machu Picchu. From there it’s a 25 min bus ride up to the site ..

In recent years it’s been highly regulated, the number of visitors allowed each day is capped. You have to do a certain time and you have to do all that timing your arrival and departure with the trains which can often get full. Put simply it’s a logistical challenge, but as we are with Intrepid it’s all taken care of. They’ve got us here in a lovely hotel and we will get up early in the morning, and our “leader” will coordinate everything for us. Love it.

But first we have to get here, another stunning clear day with incredible mountain views. And we arrived. Ushered through seamlessly to a waiting room and then it started.

The first clue was a band playing on the platform. Ok. So be it. Probably a busker I’m thinking and then the train arrives.

So on we get, plush seats, all very organised, and we are off.

It’s important to note here that the scenery is absolutely stunning. Next level stunning. Snow capped mountains, glaciers, a stunning river on one side, your passing farmers , live stock , wait , is that a waterfall coming off a glacier. I mean it’s that next level. So they’re well ahead of your average train journey.. but things were only getting started.

Firstly we are all presented with a wee herb bouquet, rosemary , sage and some local herbs.

And then the “included” food cart arrives , bespoke cookies, iced tea anyone ? Let me give you some chocolate while I’m here.

Why thank you, wait what are we passing now, was that another waterfall? How can I be focused on a cookie with such splendour going by ?

And lo and behold , there is an Incan blessing with coco leaves..

This bit was a bit performative for my liking , but still interesting enough. Followed by being spritzed with something that resembled poppers near the end.

So that must be it right .. no.

Off to the open cart for the band who are hitting their stride and yes there is dancing too

All in all it was the most surprising train trip I have ever taken. All up about 1hour 40 minutes of sensory overload.

We arrived, checked into our hotel ( best yet on tour by long way) and we went for a walk to explore this tiny town hemmed in by soaring mountains ..

Here’s the view from the hotel

It’s an odd town. Welcoming in thousands each day for maximum of one night , then the next load come in. Packed with souvenir shops , eateries and bars. In this absolutely stunning environment.

And of course this is all preparation for one of this trips highlights which will be Machu Picchu in about seven- eight hours time. So I’m going to post this and get some sleep. Excited! Bit of a bucket list item this one.

Gosh this is all becoming a bit of a blur.

Today in Cusco a walking tour of some of the Inca Sites was arranged. About 8km , mostly downhill. It’s kinda hard to get your head around how this was all constructed..

But before we left I decided to find a local supermarket, and I stumbled on a local market. God I love those finds. This was no disappointment…

Then it was off up into the hills where we saw a variety of sites starting with Tsmbomachay , a ceremonial site followed by Pukapukara ( sounds rather Māori right?) pukapukara was a lookout zone.. getting great views in all directions, handy for warnings of unwanted visitors!

It was quite a walk about 8km all up and while it was not hot, the sun is very strong and I did miss a few spots with the sunscreen. Back to the hotel- and dinner before hitting the hay… gosh only half way through this particular tour and it’s full on! But would I have ever been able to do this independently. Highly unlikely!

I should probably apologise in advance for typos etc, eventually I’ll edit and get this printed as a photo book.. but writing this on my phone is not that easy! But I’m getting there and staying on top! For now at least.

Half our tour group have decided to walk the Inca trail. 4 days , 3 nights ending at Machu Picchu. It’s pretty tough walking at altitude, at times over 4000m while porters will carry your 5kg bag and you only need your daypack. And while it’s highly organised, wasn’t really going to be part of this trip.

So, while the others got ready to go on the trail I decided to take a relatively short hike up to see some Inca ruins in Ollantaytambo , the town we were staying and to head up to the ruins. I went with a couple of others as David is struggling with the altitude.

Started well. Lamas in the garden as we went to breakfast and the clouds had cleared so we could see the glaciers. Great signs.

The Inca empire hit its peak in the 15th century, ollantaytambo was a central town for an Incan emperor who made the town a stronghold against the Spanish invaders. But in the meantime they created some pretty impressive bits of architecture…. The sun temple being one of them. It’s stunning, and mind boggling as to how these were constructed, the engineering involved, the precision, and yet archeologists cannot explain how they are where they are, no tools have been found. Yet they are still here. And they are indeed incredible! They have established connections to the sun, with certain shadows happening on Solstice days. And the construction was added to in the defence against the Spanish invaders. So there is construction on construction.

It was pretty tough we started at normal pace but very quickly ran out of breath. So we had to slow down , right down. Just could not get enough air in. But we got there.

We decided to continue up and go to the peak to see the top Inca Watana, a place of ritual, but also apparently a place of potential punishment or sacrifice. Magnificent views.

With the hikers dispatched. The rest of us were on a bus back to Cusco with the obligatory stops on the way.

Then we stopped at a sanctuary for Condor rehabilitation. Another unexpected highlight.. we had first seen this on the show LongvWat to with Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman. It’s a community based rehab centre looking like it’s doing its best on a shoestring with animals no one else will take in.

It was a short flight from our jungle experience to Cusco and we arrived around 11am.

Cusco sits at an altitude of 3400m so the air is thinner and we both noticed it almost immediately! It affects different people in different ways, for me it was like a head cold pressure headache and very sore eyes , a few hours in I was seeing blue spots! For David headache , shortness of breath, lethargy and headaches. Thankfully we had medication and started on it immediately. But I’m not sure it made a huge difference!

Checked in, and it was off on a short orientation tour and some lunch. This is where being part of Intrepid is amazing, no thinking just follow the instructions, you arrive at the hotel and your check in details have been pre populated, it’s been 4 days now, so leave your laundry and it will be back to you tonight. Honestly that stuff saves hours and a lot of stress.

It’s a very buzzy place Cusco, lots of tourists and locals and the Christmas buzz is definitely here. But the altitude was getting to us , so we left the group and got a taxi back to the hotel to rest( again having the guide arrange this, sort payment in minutes is priceless) .

Dinner and a night tour was great. I was distracted with some work stuff so headed back to the hotel and tried ( unsuccessfully) to sleep. Another altitude sickness symptom!

Next day we headed out to an Indigenous women’s cooperative. I’m always a bit cautious about these things , locals becoming the attractions in their local costumes. But those reservations quickly disappeared… we had driven 90 minutes to their home , and it was clear we were being hosted but some pretty incredible women. They welcomed us with song and a flower necklace . They each introduced themselves, then got each one of us to stand and do the same. I loved this as I was really wanting to mihi to them too…

For the next few hours they showed us elements of their daily lives, how they clipped, cleaned, dyed, spun and then wove their fibres. An incredibly labour intensive process, it was fascinating…all natural dyes, all hand spun and a shawl would take 4 months to complete working 4 hours a day.

Using cochineal Beatles that live on cactus , crushing them and thrn adding other minerals and ingredients they could change the colours.

These women set this up 8 years ago and Intrepid have been bringing their tours here ever since , I got the impression it was a very symbiotic relationship. and a really lovely one at that.

Of course we could then buy their products. Expecting the whole presentation to be a lead in to a heavy sales pitch , it was not that at all, hats and gloves for $nz15 and a beautiful table runner depicting the land and skies beautifully hand woven for probably 2 weeks , was being sold for about $75us. In thrilled we have it.

Really was the experience of a lifetime and if you get the chance you must go.

By now we were at an altitude of 3800m and the altitude was really kicking in. We drove down to sacred valley about an hour away stopping to take a few pics

We then stopped at another cafe for a brownie and got chocolate. Operated for local single women it was another great partnership with Intrepid.

While most of our group will now leave us to hike the Inca Trail for the next few days ..a separate programme for the non walkers has been arranged. I’ve been told the details, but can I remember? Nope. The beauty of the tour. If it’s more days like this I’ll be thrilled.

When you book these things, you get a bit of a blurb, this one mentioned a flight to the middle nm of nowhere, a boat ride up a river and only being allowed 5kg of luggage, limited electricity and wifi.

That translated into my head as an off grid camping experience!

I was wrong. Quite the glamping experience is more like it.

Am early flight to Porto Maldonado, a township on the banks of the Madre de Dios river. Very close to the Brazilian and Bolivian borders and more importantly the Peruvian Tambopata national reserve .

So a quick repack at the Intrepid offices and onto our transport up the river. The forecast had been for rain, but it was thankfully fine and a super relaxing trip up the river. Warm breeze , although those boats sit very low in the water and while I’m sure they are fine. They felt like they could easily unbalance.

About 45minutes to an hour later we arrived and a 5 minute walk into the jungle revealed our lodge.

This was no camp site!

Lunch was served and then we had a briefing of what was to take place, to be honest I missed half of it , lots of walks and that’s about it… that’s the beauty of these things. You just need to turn up at the prescribed time and things happen. No checking itineraries or tickets , location maps etc it’s all done for you . Love it.

The first “excursion “ around the lodge introduced us to our environment. A blog can’t capture the sensations of sound and smell. Suddenly you’ve been dropped into a David Attenborough special. What this ecosystem is capable of, the adaptations it’s made are incredible!

Seems like humans will be humans , if the stories that are being told are true, the lengths men will go to give their sons big penises!🙄.

While we were walking, listening to the birds, monkeys and goodness knows what else.. the rumble of Thunder could be heard getting closer and closer .. by the time we got back to camp it was pouring down. This postponed the “nighttime” walk – so it was dinner and up for a wait for it – 5am start.

It rained pretty heavily all night , and I thought things would be canceled, but thankfully after an awful sleep I dragged myself out of bed and away we went… should have been paying attention because we ended up in a canopy walk.

It was a schelp getting up that high, and by the time we got to the top there were 19 of us on the top and this thing swayed and wobbled. I really didn’t like it, but the views were great of the canopy, not as many bird sightings as we had hoped for – but still. Pretty cool.

The Madre Dios eventually flows into the Amazon. Its biggest tributary accounting for 15% of the total Amazon volume. It’s huge! I’d heard that Peru was ecologically diverse, Lima is so dry and arid and then over the Andes you get dense rain forest. It’s wild to me that the geography of this area means that despite our proximity to the Pacific Ocean this water will flow thousands of kilometres across a continent to the Atlantic Ocean.

Anyway, off the platforms and we had to do a series of rope bridges. No time to think about them- just go them. They wobbled like hell. And it was head down and just get on with it.

It was then back to the lodge and a few hours off before we headed off to the next excursion! Back up the river, bit of a walk to an inland island for a bit of a canoe.

Then it was the long walk back to the boat, a tarantula or two on the way and the last glimpse of the sunset. Long, long day

Tomorrow we head to Cusco , first time at altitude so will be interesting to see how we cope. Another early start but we will be thete by 11am… looking forward to another change in scenery…