“Welcome to the jungle,” our guide greeted us, unaware that for once, that well-worn phrase was uttered in exactly the right setting.
We were snaking down a wide river which banks were home to Peru’s slice of the Amazon Rainforest. “Here, everything is big,” the local seemed to add with mixture of awe and caution. He was right.
Once we stepped off the boat and ventured into the coverage of the jungle’s canopy it was easy to become awash with the fear that we too ate Alice’s biscuit and had shrunk into a most vulnerable size.
It’s shocking how large the leaves are hanging off every tree. How big the butterflies are that flit closely to you. How freakish the tranchula spiders are that would cover your whole dinner plate (not that you would ever invite them there) and just how the snakes that inhabit this wild part of the world challenge the lengths of the very river they live beside.
Where is it
The Amazon Rainforest spills over into Peru from both Brazil and Bolivia. It’s to the country’s north and stretches about 782,880.55 square kilometers – just 11.05 per cent of the Amazon rainforest resides within Peru’s borders.
What to see
Peru’s Amazon Basin is home to more than 50,000 plant species, the largest number of bird species in the world (1,700 bird) and the third-largest number of mammals (400) mammal, and 300 reptile species so bring the binoculars.
Unlike other places you might go, the wonders promised in the Amazon are in abundance and aren’t hard to see. You won’t have to wait too long before you catch a glimpse of something rare and beautiful.
Where to stay
Staying at a jungle lodge is almost obligatory when visiting the Amazon Basin if you really want to experience the rain forest.
Inkaterra’s Reserva Amazónica Lodge is a perfect place to call home while exploring the wondrous Amazon. Situated in a private reserve, surrounded by a vast Peruvian Rainforest it is an unforgettable introduction to this amazing realm of incomparable biodiversity.
As guides will tell you, the jungle is no place for an amateur to wander so try to take up lodging where you will be offered varied excursions. Inkaterra manages to offer day and night jaunts out on the river searching for wildlife, treks through the trees as well as canopy walks and trips to the nearby Lake Sandoval – home to 1.5 metre giant river otters.
How to get there
Take a boat down the river – it’s the best way to see and experience everything.
Most accommodation along the river will provide you with transfers from the local airport in Puerto Maldonado.
Best time to visit
Peru’s Amazon experiences two very distinct seasons – wet and dry – but being a rainforest you are likely to get some downpour no matter what time of the year you choose to visit.
Bottom line though the months to seen and enjoy the jungle at its most attractive is December to May when temperatures are slightly cooler (that’s Amazon cooler so it is still hot as heck!) and you can get around without too much squelching.
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