The jungle is very hot...obvious, but has to be said.

While in Peru and after hiking the Inca Trail, I decided to visit the Amazon jungle - not sure if it was a wise choice as I am terrified of spiders.

The bus journey to the river port was a lot better than I thought but still very long,  about 6 or 7 hours on dirt roads.  Not for the feint of heart as the roads were on the side of very steep hills that dropped away to nothing. We stopped often to view Inca sites, had breakfast in a lovely little town, visited a museum and learned more about the Amazon area of Peru.  We ended the first day high in the Cloud Forest at a modest lodge. The views were wonderful.

The trip down the river on a large covered canoe was interesting and long! The driver was very experienced at navigating the rapids, and our guide pointed out numerous birds and wild life along the way.  Having to stop along the way for a bathroom was another interesting experience!

We spent 2 nights at a remote lodge in the middle of the Manu park (pictured above), surrounded by the sights and sounds of the jungle. The Howler Monkeys were an amazing wake up call. We made a number of hikes into the jungle to observe the wildlife and fauna, including a couple of night hikes - which was more scary than you can ever imagine.  I was so glad when it was over.   Our guide was excellent at explaining how all the jungle species worked together and pointing out many fascinating things. We were very fortunate to have a young jaguar run out onto the trail in front of us, a site I will never forget - however when the guide said 'lets follow it!' I was a tad nervous.   After that going to the bathroom at night took on a whole new way of risking my life - but maybe thats just me!

The trip back up the river took a lot longer due to the fast current downstream, but we were able to break the journey at a wonderful thermal spring.  We kept getting stuck on the upstream commute and the young man on the front had to pry us off the every moving sediment of the river. 

Another once in a lifetime experience in Peru, however, if you don't cope well with heat and high humidity you may not enjoy it.   Having experienced the jungle I'm glad I did it,  but it won't be something I care to do again.  

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