Rainforest Tour Day 1

February 13, 2010

Giant Otter

Last night I packed a small bag for my rainforest trip into the Amazon basin in southern Peru.  This morning I stowed my other two bags at my hostel and caught a taxi to the airport.  I flew from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado which only took 30 minutes by plane but traveling by road would take 16-20 hours by bus in the dry season and probably longer now, in the rainy season.  Puerto Maldonado is at the confluence of the Tambopata and Madre de Dios Rivers and is the starting point of my journey into Tambopata National reserve park in the Amazon Jungle.


The Tambopata National Reserve is part of a 3.7 million acre reserve in southeastern Amazonian Peru created in 1990 by the national government working in partnership with local grassroots and international conservation organizations.  The reserve protects the biological diversity of the entire watersheds of the Tavara and the Candamo Rivers and most of the watershed of the Tambopata River. These are some of the most pristine primary rain forests in the world, which include several oxbow lakes such as Sandoval Lake where I will be staying at the Sandoval Lake Lodge. 

Ficus Tree

The Tombopata National reserve protects habitats ranging from the Andean highlands around the rivers' headwaters through some of the last remaining intact cloud forests to the lowland rainforests of the Amazon basin. Over 1,300 bird species, including 32 parrot species, 200 mammal species, 90 frog species, 1,200 butterfly species and 10,000 species of plants are protected within this reserve. Here it is possible to observe groups of rare animals such as the Giant Otter, Collared Peccary, Tapir, Anaconda, Jaguar, Ocelot, Horned Currasow, etc. which can still lead an otherwise undisturbed existence there.

Upon my arrival at the airport, my guide was waiting with a sign with my name on it and we embarked into the jungle.  Our first stop was their headquarters where I picked up a pair of rubber boots because it was going to be too muddy to use my regular hiking boots. 

We drove down to the madre de dios river and set out by boat for a 30 minute trip.  We then hiked 2 miles to an inlet to Sandoval lake which is an oxbow lake that is formed when formed when a wide meander from the main stem of a river is cut off and creates a lake. Sandoval Lake is home to the Giant Otter, an very endangered species which I hope to see.  One family lives in the lake consisting of two adults, one young adult and two young otters. 

My sack lunch on the boat - Rice, egg, beef and vegetables cooked in a banana leaf

The hike was hot and extremely humid making it somewhat hard for me to breath, but the day was hot and clear.  Along the way we stumbled across a band of squirrel monkeys which my guide, Nilton, estimated to be about 100.  The whole forest above us was alive with movement and crashing sounds of the monkeys jumping.  I also spotted a few capuchin monkeys which are known to travel with the squirrel monkeys. 

We arrived at the Sandoval Lake Lodge a bit early so I had several hours to relax and explore.  I took a nap for about an hour then went out with my binoculars to serch for wildlife.  I spotted many varieties of birds in the trees with my binoculars, but they were much easier to hear than to see.  

My room at Sandoval Lake Lodge

About 4 pm, Nilton and I took the boat out to explore the lake, look for the otters and other wildlife. Nilton was very knowledgable and pointed out many species of birds, talked about the varieties of fish in the lake and also pointed out several varieties of trees.  When we arrived at a far corner of the lake we spotted a family of red howler monkeys close to the shore and got the boat up close to them. There were two adults and two babies and they were as curious about us as we were of them.   

Baby Howler Monkey

Papas with Amarillo Sauce

Lomo Saltada - Sauteed beef with wine sauce corn and carrots