When in Rome…you do whatever the Romans do. When in South America, you visit the Amazon. Nine countries share the Amazon rainforest, and 13% of it is in Peru.

We flew to Puerto Maldonado where we were met by our guide Esau. We were then taken to a boat which would carry us towards our lodge, on the banks of Lake Sandoval. While on the boat, Esau told us a bit about himself. We were incredibly lucky to have a guide with excellent English who also absolutely loves wildlife and his job. He also told us about his girlfriend and their one year old son, who I thought was called something like Eeee-aaan. It actually turns out that Esau named his son Ian after one of his first ever (English) customers!

The boat dropped us off on the river bank and we started a 1.5 hour walk towards our lodge. The track through the forest was incredibly muddy and at times quite difficult to navigate. About three minutes into the journey I heard a cry from behind. Graham’s welly had become stuck in the mud but for some unknown reason he had continued walking, plonking his sock straight into a squelchy patch. He had no choice but to put his muddy foot back into the boot and carry on.

We were incredibly lucky to see wildlife right from the start. As we were walking along we heard a commotion in the trees and saw a troop of capuchin monkeys followed by a noisy group of howler monkeys. After stopping to take some photos, we carried on.

Further along the path we were ‘lucky’ enough to see a tarantula sat in a hole. Apparently any spider which doesn’t spin a web is dangerous. Often the female spider will kill the male spider and devour it after mating. To get around this problem, this particular breed had come up with an ingenious solution. The females have eight normal legs, whereas the males have one leg which is shaped a bit more like a scoop or a spoon. They use this limb to carry semen which is then quickly deposited with the female and the male scarpers before he is eaten.

Eventually we reached the shore of lake Sandoval, where a canoe was waiting. Esau rowed us across the lake to our lodge. After lunch and a nap we went back to the canoe to row around the lake for a few hours and look for more wildlife. At this point we were joined by a Ukranian couple and a 69 year old New Yorker, Anibal. The Ukranians were very quiet and we didn’t hear much from them for the next two days. The same could not be said for Anibal!

As we rowed quietly around the lake, Esau told us about the birds that follow the monkeys around. The squirrel monkeys also follow the capuchin monkeys as the capuchins break into fruit and often drop it on the floor, where the weaker squirrel monkeys can pick it up. We spent a long time watching the monkeys and the birds as the sun was setting. We then rowed around the lake with a torch, looking for some of the nocturnal creatures.

As we shone the light over the surface of the water, red eyes shone. These belonged to the black cayman. We spotted one and all shone our torch on it while Esau rowed us over. We stopped less than two metres from this huge creature, at which point Anibal loudly and excitedly exclaimed that there was a cayman next to the boat. Oh dear!

We then moved closer to the bank and shone the light into the trees. Here we were lucky enough to see an Amazon tree boa and also a large frog. We then headed back to the lodge for dinner and an early night.

Over dinner we asked Esau whether they offer any more active trips in the jungle. Apparently there used to be one where you trekked into the Amazon and spent the night with a local tribe who hunted with you. This was facilitated by a local woman who accompanied the groups and acted as mediator between the tourists and the tribe. This trip went smoothly for a few weeks, but then one day a group turned up and couldn’t find her. After a disagreement with the tribe, it seems that she may have been cooked and eaten! They don’t offer that excursion any more….

The next morning we got up early and went back to the lake to search for the giant otters. We didn’t manage to find them but we did see lots more monkeys, caymans and birds, including macaws, toucans and parrots.

After breakfast we went for a walk around monkey island. Unsurprisingly, there were lots of monkeys! We also saw an amazingly well disguised lizard. There are some very interesting plants in the rainforest. The walking palm moves to find the best access to light, so leaves these tripod like roots around it for stability. There are also strangler fig trees which grow around another tree, enveloping it and eventually killing it.

In the afternoon we did another circuit of the lake. This time we were incredibly lucky and the giant otters popped up just next to our boat. They are HUGE! They are extremely territorial and normally stay in family groups, with one family per lake. Lke Sandoval is currently home to a family of five, although we only saw two. When the young reach maturity, they often leave the group to search for a mate. If they are unsuccessful however, they return to the family. They are quite nervous animals, and if they get stressed the mothers stop producing milk. For this reason, the boats must stay 50 m away from them. Thank goodness for zoom lenses!

On our final evening we went on a night hike. I didn’t enjoy this too much because all of the creepy crawlies come out at night. We saw more tarantulas and huge wolf spiders, as well as some bullet ants. A bite from one of these inch long ants leaves you in incredible pain for 24 hours! We also watched the leaf cutter ants. These are truly fascinating creatures that build a burrow up to 25 meters wide.

The following morning we got up very early as it was time to leave. Esau walked us back to the river and we were joined by Anibal. Anibal had ignored all advice about bringing a rucksack and instead had brought a wheel-along suitcase. Of course the forest floor is incredibly muddy and our poor guide had to heave this heavy case along on his back for a couple of hours!!

On this final walk in the jungle we saw a giant macaw and a sloth. In just three days in the Amazon we had seen an amazing variety of animals and plants. Sadly it was time to return to civilisation!