Rainforest Adventure

Manu National Park, where I’ve spent the last few days, is a place of abundant life like I’ve never seen before, and really is a place to marvel at God’s creation. For the most part, we’ve been looking for wildlife in its natural habitat, venturing deep into the jungle, armed with mosquito repellent, binoculars and a telescope (to boost the zoom on our cameras)!

I have raided two photos from another member of our party with a better camera though, as he got some brilliant shots of the cock of rock we saw on the day 1, and of one of the monkeys that stealthily approached our lodge through the trees at breakfast on day 2:

Here are a few more highlights from our early morning wanderings:

We next went to a wildlife rescue centre, which enabled some thrillingly close encounters:

From the Rescue Centre, we drove down to the great Madre de Dios river, a tributary of which we had followed down through the cloud forest, and which itself is a tributary of the Amazon.

After lunch we set off by boat to visit a lake, and it was quite an adventure getting there…

With the humidity, the tropical Sun at the zenith of the sky, and warnings from Willy to look out for snakes, it was tough going, but we were treated to more exciting sightings. There were many squirrel monkeys running and jumping through the trees, and Willy remarkably managed to find a baby alligator at the water’s edge, although even he was scared that its mother would disapprove of our proximity!

When we finally reached the lake it was a hive of bird activity. We saw macaws, “prehistoric birds” and many other colourful species. Michael (in our group) and I took it in turns to steer our raft. It was fun trying to remember my punting skills and I then had to remember my new-found “dealing with heights” skills as we ascended the viewing platform!

Night fell as we headed back, so an extraordinary day ended with a final look for wildlife in the vicinity of the lodge, using our head torches. Within a few minutes, Willy had located both a (non-dangerous) snake and a (very dangerous!) tarantula in the undergrowth.

Exhausted, very grateful for all our encounters and somewhat relieved none of them had ended badly, we took refuge in the lodge’s dining room, with a storm brewing in the distance. It was a jovial evening with a brilliant group of people, rounded off with a celebratory rum as our nightcap!