ITINERARY
The travel agency came through and we have a paid, confirmed itinerary. Here it is (I highlighted the cool stuff):
LIMA / PUERTO MALDONADO / CUSCO / LIMA
8Days / 7 Nights
April 07 ...../Lima
Reception and transfer from the airport to your hotel.
Arrival Flight 917 with American Airlines at 21:50pm
Overnight in Lima at La Hacienda Hotel
April 08 Lima / Puerto Maldonado
Arrival & Reception by Guide. Our guides are biologists, tourism professionals, or community members. Unless noted otherwise, our guides speak English. Transfer Airport to Puerto Maldonado Headquarters., we will welcome you at the airport and drive you ten minutes to our Puerto Maldonado headquarters. While enjoying your first taste of the forest in our gardens we will ask you to pack only the necessary gear for your next few days, and leave the rest at our safe deposit. This helps us keep the boats and cargo light.
Puerto Maldonado to Tambopata River Port. Skirting Puerto Maldonado, we drive 20 kilometers to the Tambopata River Port, entering the Native Community of Infierno. The port is a communal business. ( 2 hours 30minutes ) Tambopata River Port to Refugio Amazonas. The two and a half hour boat ride from the Tambopata Port to Refugio Amazonas will take us past the Community of Infierno and the Tambopata National Reserve´s checkpoint and into the buffer zone of this 1.3 million hectare conservation unit. ( total is 04 hours more or less Puerto Maldonado port to Refugio Amazonas )Boxed Lunch. Orientation. Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important navigation and security tips. Dinner.Caiman searches. We will be out at the river's edge at night, scanning the shores with headlamps and flashlights to catch the red gleams of reflection from caiman eyes. Overnight in Refugio Amazonas.
Itinerary:
Lima / Puerto Maldonado Flight 073 Departure : 0905am Arrival : 1135am
April 09 Puerto Maldonado
Breakfast. Sachavacayoc Oxbow Lake: A two hour hike takes you to Sachavacayoc Lake. You will then paddle around the lake in a catamaran, searching for the resident family of five giant river otters (seen by about 30% of lake visitors) and other lakeside wildlife such as caiman, hoatzin and horned screamers. We hike out at dawn - when otters are active. Don't forget the two hour return hike! For those who do not want to take the long hike Condenado Lake, thirty minutes from the lodge, is an option.
Farm Visit and Ethnobotanical Garden: Five minutes downriver from the lodge lies a farm owned and managed by charismatic Don Manuel from the neighbouring community of Condenado. He grows a variety of popular and unknown Amazon crops - just about every plant and tree you see serves a purpose. He has also identified and cultivated many of the medicinal plants used in the region in a little backyard garden.
Brazil nut trail and camp: A few minutes hike from the lodge is a beautiful old growth patch of Brazil Nut forest that has been harvested for decades (if not centuries) where the precarious remains of a camp used two months a year by Brazil Nut gatherers can still be experienced. We will be demonstrating the whole process of the rain forest's only sustainably harvested product from collection through transportation to drying. Includes Lunch and Dinner.
Night walk. You will have the option of hiking out at night, when most of the mammals are active but rarely seen. Much easier to find are frogs with shapes and sounds as bizarre as their natural histories. Overnight in Refugio Amazonas.
April 10 Puerto Maldonado
Breakfast. Parakeet clay lick: A fifteen minute boat ride and sixty minute walk from Refugio Amazonas is a parakeet clay lick. From a blind you will see parakeets descend on most clear days to ingest the clay on a bank. Species such as Dusky headed and Cobalt winged Parakeet descend at this clay lick. We visit the lick at dawn, when parrots are most active or in midmorning or early afternoon, when they are active.
Mammal clay lick: Twenty minutes walking from Refugio Amazonas is a peccary clay lick. These wild rain forest pigs show up in herds of five to twenty individuals to eat clay in the late morning. Chances of spotting them are around 15%, but well worth the short hike. Other wildlife also shows up including deer, guan and parakeets. Lunch.
Canopy tower: A thirty minute walk from Refugio Amazonas leads to the 25 meter scaffolding canopy tower. A bannistered staircase running through the middle provides safe access to the platforms above. The tower has been built upon high ground, therefore increasing your horizon of the continuous primary forest extending out towards the Tambopata National Reserve. From here views of mixed species canopy flocks as well as toucans, macaws and raptors are likely. Dinner.
Tambopata National Reserve Lecture. Nightly lectures prepared by the staff of Refugio Amazonas cover conservation threats, opportunities and projects in the Tambopata National Reserve. Overnight in Refugio Amazonas
April 11 Puerto Maldonado / Cusco
Breakfast. Transfer Boat - Refugio Amazonas to Tambopata River Port. Transfer Tambopata River Port to Pto Maldonado Headquarters. Transfer Pto Maldonado Headquarters - Airport. We retrace our river and road journey back to Puerto Maldonado, our office and the airport. Depending on airline schedules, this may require dawn departures. Boat Transportation. All our boats are 20 foot long, roofed canoes with 55 hp outboard motors. Daily arrivals and departures from every port are scheduled to meet every airline’s arrival and departure with a maximum two hour wait.
Upon arrival reception, assistance and transfer to your selected hotel
Visitors should take a short rest in order to adjust to altitude.
Between 13:30 hrs: City Tour visiting the Cathedral, Korikancha and main streets and the nearby ruins: Sacsayhuaman, Kenko, Tambomachay and Pucapucara. Return to the hotel. Overnight in Cusco at Hostal Cusco Plaza I
Itinerary:
Puerto Maldonado / Cusco Flight 074 Departure : 1200pm Arrival : 1250pm
April 12 Cusco / Machu Pichu
Breakfast at the hotel.
Between 05:30 to 6:00 hrs. departure from your hotel to the train station for a full day tour of Machu Picchu, the "Lost City of the Incas"" one of the most renowned examples of Inca architecture, due to their constructions entirely of stone, bearing in mind that modern mechanical devices were unknown in the era in which this monumental work was executed. Surrounded by lush cloud forest, the citadel perches in a mist-shrouded mountaintop.
13:00 hrs. Lunch included at Hatuchay Tower Hotels in Aguas Calientes
Afternoon at leisure.
Overnight in Aguas Calientes at Apu Majestic Hostal
April 13 Machu Picchu / Cusco
Breakfast at the hotel.
Morning at leisure.
5:30 hrs aprox: Train back to Cusco. Arrival and transfer to your hotel in Cusco.
Overnight in Cusco at Hostal Cusco Plaza I.
April 14 Cusco / Lima.
Breakfast at the hotel.
At proper time transfer to the airport to take the flight to Lima.
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Okay, so I'm ridiculously excited about this itinerary. We are spending three days in the Amazon Basin and rain forest - and we'll hike! I am so looking forward to packing in and out, night treks in the forest, canoes across the Amazon, climbing in the canopy. I've always wanted to do this -- it's kind of unreal that I'll be there in just a few short days. My office feels quite far away from this other world.
The Humorous Side of Adventure...
So along with our itinerary, we received a page of Travel Tips. I've included the more humorous of them below, along with some commentary:
Travel Tips
Broad-brimmed hat - Rain suit or poncho - Insect repellent - Small denomination bills - Small daypack Can anyone say "Deet"?
Luggage is hand-carried at various stages in the trip for long distance. We strongly recommend you limit your weight to 15 kilos (32 pounds a piece). If you are visiting other destinations in Peru that require different kinds of clothing, you can always pack separate bags and safely leave them at our offices in Puerto Maldonado on the first day so we won't be carrying them around uselessly. Your bag will be waiting for you at the airport the day you leave. Umm, yes. I learned my lesson when in Europe last time schlepping that huge, stupid, stupid behemoth of a bag that just about outweighed me. No more. I am taking my pack and the bare essentials.
Yellow Fever Inoculations Yellow : fever inoculation is required for travel to Tambopata. Done. And it hurt.
Emergencies In case of emergencies we have a first aid kit that is equipped to deal with most cases that may reasonably arise in the area. Our guides are all certified by the Red Cross, which means they are prepared to deal with foreseeable emergencies (broken bones or snake bites, for example) but not complex emegerencies (such as an appendicitis). For snake bites, we have a stun gun, extractors and an anti-venom at the lodges. In case of evacuation, we need to travel by boat by to Puerto Maldonado. During the day, evacuations take about 20% less time than our regular boats. During the night, evacuations take about 30% more. In Puerto Maldonado there is access to a state clinic. OH. MY. GOD. Snake bites are foreseeable in the Amazon - I get that. But not a "complex emergency?" I can promise you that if I ever get bitten by a snake, that qualifies in my book as a "complex emergency." And stun gun??? What the hell kind of snake needs a STUN GUN? Wait, don't answer that ... I'd rather not think about it.
This reminds me of the book A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Bryson was preparing to hike the Appalachian Trail and began reading up on various safety measures he should take, which naturally included precautions against mountain wildlife. He ran across a book warning him, "If you see a bear, don't run." His response was, "Right. This is clearly the kind of advice given by someone sitting at a computer when he gave it. If you see a bear, run. You might as well. It will give you something to do with the last seven seconds of your life. And when the bear catches you, as he most assuredly will, remember this: you don't have to outrun the bear. You just have to outrun your friend." Here, here. Maybe I'll start reading up on what to do if you encounter Amazonian snakes in the rain forest. If the answer is "scream like a girl and run," I'm *golden.*
Use rubber boots when heading to the forest or gardens at night. They reduce the risk of snake bites. Umm, yeah. I take it we're quite concerned about slitheries. I'm packing full body armor.
Guests Code of Conduct and Security Recommendations (Highilghts)1. No smoking in the forest, nor in the boats (which carry gasoline). Clearly. I'm presuming that "fiery inferno on the Amazon" is one of those "complex emergencies" that they're not really equipped to handle.
3. Do not harrass wildlife - when sighting wildlife follow your guides instructions. No wildlife collection or manipulation, unless specifically authorized by Inrena. If you should come across hurt wildlife, leave it be. It is part of the natural processes of the wilderness. Yes. I will refrain from harassing or trying to help injured wildlife. Because what THIS American would *really* like to do is get Amazon wildlife good and pissed off just to test the warranty on those snake boots and the response time of the crack emergency team.
7. The lodges are highly flammable. Do not leave candles unattended and locate the nearest extinguisher. Why wouldn't "flammable" suffice? "HIGHLY flammable?" I guess if I am bitten by a snake, lighting up to calm my nerves wouldn't be such a good idea (No, I am not a smoker. But I could see how an Amazonian snake bite could make it comparatively not a bad immediate option).
8. Never go swimming on the Tambopata without a guide. Excuse my language, but no shit.
10. Always use life jackets on the boat, and wear light shoes that are easy to take off. Never have rubber boots on when in the boats. Okay, so we're concerned about the seaworthiness of our craft. Inspiring. And as for the "never have rubber boots on when in the boats:" Yes, but what will protect me from the fishies with razor sharp teeth in case of a capsize? On second thought, seeing as how many of those fishies will be as big as I am, the rubber boots wouldn't do much good anyway. Drowning might not be such a bad option. Maybe I'll invest in some shark mesh and a SCUBA tank.
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Well, those are highlights from our itinerary and travel tips. This is going to be such an adventure - I am tingling with excitement! In my pre-trip reading, I learned that of the 103 ecological zones in the world, Peru boasts 83 of them. And 60% of the Peruvian population still speaks Quechua as a native language - Quechua being the language of the Inca. It is evidently a land of diversity, mystery, ancient civilizations, globalization and poverty, and precarious hope. I can't wait.
T
2 comments:
Wow! That sounds EXACTLY like the kind of trip I would want someone else to go on, and then tell me all about it. Fortunately, it sounds like it's right up your alley. So take lots of pics for me, k?
I changed my mind, I don't want a llama - bring me a caiman please!! (much more effective against nasty nosy neighbours)
wow Peru sounds REALLY exciting! and don't get scaried by all that safety stuff, anytime one goes to some new place and hears about all the possible dangers one wonders how people can possibly survive there. (ARE people actually living in those places you are going?) just take care and have fun!!
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