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The following morning we slept in and left for the airport at around 11:00 AM. We flew into Puerto Maldonado where we arrived at around 3:00 PM and immediately went to the office for the rainforest hotel we would be staying at. We packed the belongings we would need into small duffle bags & ate our lunch before driving about an hour to the port where we boarded a boat for a 45 minute ride to the lodge.
When we arrived, we got off the boat and walked up some stairs and down a path for about 15 minutes before we arrived at the lodge. We took our shoes off and headed to our rooms which were composed of 3 walls with the fourth wall being an open wall with a view Amazon Rainforest.
After dropping our bags off, we headed out for a night trek for about 45 minutes where we saw various bugs, a snake and a few venmous spiders.
After dinner, a few of us stayed up and chatted until about 9:30 AM as the lodge was an eco lodge and cut power at 10:00 PM.
The following morning, we woke up at 5:00 AM for a bird watching cruise. We took a boat for about a half hour, walked for another half our to a lake & eventually arrived at our catamaran for a 2 hour tour where we saw various birds, a caiman (baby crocodile) & even went fishing for piranhas. They are fast & only our Trip Manager was able to catch one!
After the cruise, we headed back to the river where we boarded our boat and were taken to a spot where 6 of us got off to kayak the final 12 kilometers to our hotel. It was my first time in a solo kayak & I was pleased by how well I did. The views were spectacular as well.
After kayaking, we went back to the lodge to get out of our wet clothes before walking a half hour through the jungle to a canopy tower which was about 130 steps to gain a view above the trees! The view was worth it.
We then headed back to grab lunch before leaving the lodge to go to our next hotel which was located in the city of Puerto Maldonado.
Once we arrived in Puerto Maldonado, we checked into our hotel, showered and relaxed before going to our final group dinner. The city of Puerto Maldonado itself was not very safe, according to our trip manager, so this was not like the end of other Contiki trips I’ve done before in that everyone ate, some of us went out to a bar for a drink & we all headed back to the hotel for the night. There was no late night party at the end of this trip.
The following day, we flew out of Puerto Maldonado to head back to Lima which took us most of the day. We arrived around dusk where the group split up – some of us wound up back in the city of Lima while others stayed at the airport for their flights back home. I took a cab along with a few other friends into the city where I was dropped off at the hostel I decided to spend the night, Pariwana Hostel. Although it is known as a party hostel, I took it easy that evening as I had a 5:45 AM pick up for a tour the following morning, so I went to grab dinner with a few people that were still in Lima from my tour and was in bed by 10:00 PM.
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