After an extremely early start, we arrived at a completely fog covered Medellin airport. To this point in our trip all our flights and transport had gone to plan, so we were bound to get a delay at some point. Our plane could not land so had to return to Bogota. We had a connecting flight in Bogota and unless the fog lifted quickly, we would miss the daily flight to Leticia. Quite nervous about the situation, luckily the plane returned in enough time for us to run to the connecting flight waiting for us. As our plane dropped below the thick cloud we got a preview of our next five days. Dense, rich forest went for as far as the eye could see disappearing into the horizon with rivers twisting through it. We landed in Leticia and were greeted with 30degree heat, 0 wind and 95% humidity. Without any plans and no idea what to do, we payed for our tourist entry ticket and jumped in a taxi towards the city centre. We walked around with all our luggage, dripping in sweat in search of a plan for the next four days. Our lack of Spanish didn't help the situation but we managed to work out a few possible deals. Many of them were day trips from Leticia and were less intimate experiences with the amazon. We ended up finding a guy who spoke pretty good English and he put a package together for us and found us cheap accommodation for the night.
The following day we got up and went down to the port to start our trip up the Amazon river. After a short boat ride, we arrived at our first stop, Marasha natural reserve. A surprise visit back to Peru, the right bank of the river is Colombian and the left is Peruvian. A personal guide was waiting for us with two pairs of gummies, then we set off into the jungle. Treading through ankle deep mud, we made our way deep into the Amazon. Along the way we came across many interesting plants and creatures. Amazing sounds came from the massive trees with vines hanging off them and insanely big weird roots. Along the way we found ants carrying leaves 30times their size as well as fire ants. Termite nests so big the trees would bend over. Tiny, incredibly toxic frogs. A centipede, various spiders and other insects, and a million types of birds. We reached our accommodation after an hour of trekking through the amazing jungle. The only way to describe it is a massive bad-ass tree hut on stilts. It was amazing with cool board-walks between the different spaces, lots of hammocks and one section was floating on the lake. We arrived just in time for lunch, which was just as impressive as the place. After the amazing meal we went to observe the animals, including toucans, guacamayas (big colourful parrots) and the weirdest animals we have ever seen, tapir. They look like pig elephants. The build of a big boar, the skin of an elephant but with short stubbily hair and a small trunk. Very strange. They flicked their trunks up and we quickly feed them bananas before they bit our fingers. We then set off onto the lake in legit Amazonian hollowed out tree canoes with our guide paddling at the back. He gave us a full tour of all the plants, birds and wildlife including the ridiculously giant Lilly-pads and visit to the monkeys. We held bananas out and noticed all the trees starting to move along with some screeching. The next thing we knew the monkeys had jumped onto the canoe and were eating the bananas out of our hands and climbing all over us. After a full circuit of the lagoon we returned back to do some Paraná fishing. We threw our lines out and pulled up a tiny feisty Paraná within seconds. Our guide caught another type of fish and gave us an unexpected demonstration of the capabilities of the Paraná teeth. He held the two fish together and before we knew it the Paraná had ripped into the other fish, blood squirted everywhere. The food chain continued as a lingering bird scored a free lunch downing the Paraná in one big gulp. We spent the afternoon fishing them up off the jetty then chilled out on the hammocks until the sun went down. We had another amazing meal for dinner then we set off back onto the lagoon once it was dark to see if we could find ourselves a caimán (croc). With eyes wide open and slightly nervous, we searched the surface of the lagoon for a pair of eyes staring back at us. After a couple of false sightings we began to have our doubts. Before we knew it our guide was hanging out of the canoe. Wondering what the hell he was doing, we soon realised when he surfaced holding a baby caiman by its throat. He passed it back to us to hold onto while he paddled back to show the other groups. It made several decent attempts to escape but we managed to contain the distressed creature that would have happily taken a finger. To finish off an amazing day we spent the rest of the evening having a few drinks with a couple of yanks we had met. And as we were back on Peruvian soil Frano got to enjoy his favourite beer. The next morning we had a early start at 5am. We headed out onto the lake in a canoe with our guide gently paddling so we could experience the amazon waking up. It was breathtaking as the sun slowly came up behind the thick jungle and the static surroundings came to life as the chorus of sounds from the animals signified a new day.
After breakfast it was time to move on. We set off into the jungle to get a boat further up the river. While we were waiting, a local lady came along with a sloth. Officially the laziest creatures on earth. They have the tiniest face, a long neck, a fat torso, big long nails, and move so slowly we have no idea how they survive in the amazon. We both held the strange thing. They cling on to you with their long nails with no intention of letting go.
We hoped on a boat up river and our first stop was a tiny amazonian village. All of the kids from the village had caught animals to make tips off. Strange birds, turtles, a caiman, monkeys, but we were only interested in the baby jaguar. It had the most amazing pattern. It was 18months old so it was so cute, but big and ferocious enough you didn't want to mess with it.
We then set off to an indigenous village further up the river. There was a big traditional style hut with a group of native ladies dressed up in ceremonial clothes. The did a dance and some people joined in on the "ceremony" but it really wasn't entirely authentic, just a show for tourists and a chance to make some tips.
Next stop was a bush walk through another type of jungle and what we had previously seen. We did a circuit looking out for animals and creatures. Half way through was an enormous Sabre tree with the biggest roots and huge gorge of the jungle vines you could swing off.
We got back on the boat and headed for Puerto Narino which is a small town on the Colombian side, famous for the rosaro (pink) dolphins that hang around in the lakes.
We had lunch at the place where we would spend the night before heading out to spot some dolphins. Unfortunately it started pouring down just as we got there so the boat turned around to take us back to the town for a city tour. Other than an ambulance, and a tractor for the rubbish, motor vehicles are banned which made a pleasant change as you could freely walk the wide footpaths. As we missed the dolphins earlier, we decided to take the kayaks back out. We paddled up the lake in a double kayak. The coordination proved to be more difficult than expect and involved us both flicking water on each-other and our paddles clashing. We eventually worked out a rhythm and hooned it up to the dolphins favourite spot. As it was late afternoon all the tourist boats that disturb the shy dolphins had gone home so it was just us and the weird dolphins surfacing around us. Unlike the dolphins we know, these ones are strange. For starters they are pink. They are also fresh water, have strange heads and fins. They are extremely shy which made it impossible to photograph. None the less, very cool sitting in the kayak as they would surface around you. We paddled back to the lodge with an amazing Amazonian sunset behind us. Similar to the northern lights, the sky had a rainbow effect, a wonderful spectrum of colours in the clouds as the sun dropped.
Once again we stayed in a wicked Amazonian cabin and another amazing meal was included. We spent the evening playing cards with another traveler.
The following morning after breakfast we walked through the jungle to Puerto Narino. We climbed a large lookout tower which has a panoramic view of small city, the rivers and lakes and the never ending forrest. We met another kiwi up the top and had a yarn to him about our travels while we waited for our boat.
Our boat arrived and we set off to monkey island. We set off into the jungle with our guide to find some monkeys. We didn't actually have to do much finding. Our guide armed us both with a banana in each hand and within seconds monkeys were swarming us. From every direct and out of every tree, monkeys were crawling all over us fighting for their share of the banana. Very strange experience to have a dozen monkeys on your arms, body, head and face!
We continued our trek through the island and the next thing we heard was ridiculously loud thunder that shook the ground. And of coarse within seconds, the rain followed. This wasn't just normal rain, but heavy, heavy amazon rain. Within a minute we were completely saturated from head to toe and had no choice but to embraced it. It wouldn't be a proper visit to the amazon without walking through the jungle in the pouring rain, and it was also quite refreshing as it was so hot and humid.
The path quickly flooded and before we knew it we were trekking through ankle-deep water. By the time we got to the canoes to cross the lagoon they were half full with water but we hopped in anyway. The lagoon was completely covered in lilies and the ginormous lilly pads. Our guide fought his way through the obstalcals with his awe as we sat and observed the amazing scenery but more so the ridiculously sized lilly pads. We reached the other side of the lagoon and continued our trek through the dense jungle back to where we started where a full buffet lunch was waiting for us.
We spent the afternoon chilling with the baby howler monkey and the other collection of animals before getting a boat back to Leticia. The following morning we had one last amazon experience before we had to fly back to Medellin. We hoped in a mototaxi (a three-wheeler covered motorbike) and went to see some serpents. We arrived at the place and had a small walk through the jungle. We saw all the infamous snakes, including boa-constrictors, anacondas, and a whole range of tiny to massive snakes, the largest was 8metres long and 80kg. A great way to end an extremely exciting and amazing trip to the amazon.
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