Trip to Peru: Part 1

 Trip to Peru:

Part 1:

Sometime around September or October of 2025 Minal, my sister brought up the idea of traveling to Peru in spring. She and Priti ( her good friend in Dallas) researched, spoke to a couple of local tour operators and the plan began to take shape. By November we were ready with an itinerary and bought our tickets to and from Lima. A total of 11 days, itinerary customized for 3 couples. 

Abhay and I flew out of Los Angeles directly to Lima on April 9th. Minal, Atul, Priti and Dipen flew out of Dallas to Lima via Miami. All of us reached Lima almost at the same time that night around 10 pm. Diana, our tour guide for Lima received us and took us in a private van to our hotel in Mira Flores. We caught the first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean as we neared Mira Flores. The beach there is well known as a haven for surfers. Our hotel, Souma, was nice. Alas, we barely had time to catch sleep for a few hours before checking out early morning to catch a flight to the Amazon forest.

April 10th Friday we boarded the plane to Puerto Maldonado. It was a small airport. We descended from stairs attached to the aircraft and walked to the airport terminal. From the cool weather in Lima we were suddenly thrust into hot and humid air. Once our bags arrived we were guided to a bus that took us through the town of Puerto Maldonado to the main port where small boats awaited for passengers. Each boat seated up to 14-16 passengers. Rosemary was our guide here, taking us to our resort by boat. It was our first sighting of the vast Madre de Dios river flanked by dense forest vegetation on both banks. This river flows into the Amazon further down. 

Staff at the resort run by Inkaterra were ready to greet us as our boat pulled up to their dock. We were greeted with a welcome drink of Pisco sour which is Peru’s national drink. Check in formalities having completed, we were given a briefing about the programs for the next 2-3 days, then shown our individual log cabins. The place had no air conditioning. WiFi was available only in the reception area far from our cabins. A separate building housed the restaurant/ dining. The log cabins were cute. There was a fan over the bed. Electricity was available from 4 am till 11 pm, except for interruption between 3 to 5:30 pm. Then again no electricity from 11 pm to 4 am. During those hours we had to manage with a kerosene lamp kept in the room. The bed was covered with a canopy of mosquito net. The place was clean and the shower had hot water. I had a hard time getting adjusted to the heat and humidity that first day. With a splitting headache I just had to go take a nap in the afternoon while the rest of my group went for an introductory guided walk in the surrounding forest. Later there was a twilight boat tour. Hugo was able to locate a baby cayman and a few birds during this tour. Once we returned, we had dinner together before retiring for the night. 

The next morning there was a boat ride to Lake Sandoval. We had to be at the dock by 4:30 am. Only Minal and I were ready for this one. Here we met Hugo, our guide for the next two days. By boat we reached the Tambopata national reserve and then hiked nearly 3 kms on a boardwalk through the forest to another docking area. There were wild mushrooms along the way, several birds including parrots and kites and occasionally monkeys and anteaters that Hugo showed us. At the docking station smaller boats took us through a narrow inlet into the vast Lake Sandoval. More birds, cayman, piranhas and monkeys were sighted during the nearly 2 hours boat ride. It was a beautiful morning. We reached the hotel by 10:30 am. Breakfast service was closed by then. We joined our team for lunch. 

That afternoon we had a walking tour to the canopy towers and suspension bridge. Nearly 7 suspension bridges were linked in succession and only one person was permitted on each bridge at a time. It was a daunting walk nearly 70 meters above the ground. From the top of the towers we got a view of the river.

 During this walk we saw an interesting phenomenon of a colony black ants carrying leaves from a particular tree for long distances in a trail to their dwelling. There were worker ants and there were supervising ants as well as some in charge of quality control. Worker ants carried as much as seven times their own weight. They had a system to punish the idling ants. 

At the end of the canopy trail we saw the farming area where they had fruit and vegetable trees. Fresh produce from here was used in the resort kitchen. The resort area itself was surrounded by tropical plants and flowers. A great number of sontakka plants and flowers lined the edges of this garden. There were hibiscus and other flowers as well. 

That evening we signed up for a sunset cruise. The boat took us out on the river for almost an hour before halting to view the sunset. It was one of the most spectacular sunsets I’ve ever seen. We were served snacks and drinks as the boat stopped to take in the views. It was dark by the time Hugo wrapped up the food and we set on the return trip. The skies offered a fleeting glimpse of Venus in the western side after sunset and still higher up was the Orion constellation and next to it shone Jupiter. We had dinner upon returning to the resort. It had been a long day from 4 am till 11 pm.

The next morning again we had a boat ride starting 4 am. This was a longer ride to see macaws and parrots in riverside cliffs. This time the river was turbulent and there were multiple whirlpools seen in the waters. The sky was cloudy and misty. Although we managed to see a great number of these exotic birds, their colors were not quite clearly visible due to the mist. On the return journey Hugo showed us a sloth and several vultures and a horny screamer on the trees along the river. 

It was time to check out once we returned to our rooms. Bags and baggage on the boat we returned to the main port, then on the bus to Puerto Maldonado to board our flight to Cusco. 

The Amazon forest had been a unique experience.