The Virtual Traveller - Amazon trek (short version)

Audio transcript:

Our tour was a mix of camping, bunking in a jungle lodge, boating along the Amazon River and a lot of trekking. We travelled in a small 2-decker boat along the river, passing many dugout canoes on the way. We saw pink dolphins and small crocodiles called caimans. Occasionally we would come to a village, with thatched roof shelters built up on poles. We stopped at one such village and enjoyed a fish dinner cooked over an open fire. It was served with plantain, which I had never tried before.

There are fire ants in the jungles of Peru, which can consume a dead animal down to its skeleton in a few hours. Basically, it means you have to cover yourself completely when you go trekking, which I DID! In fact, there are quite a few things that can eat you in and around the Amazon Basin, whole or bit by bit. Let's not even mention giant anacondas or piranhas. I can't name all of the animals I saw, but here are a few: howler monkeys, jaguars, giant river otters, and an amazing amount of colourful birds. Scientists have only recorded a fraction of the species that live in the Amazon.

The lodges were great, mosquito-proof. I discovered when I ran out to the toilet, that in the rainforest, you're an instant snack for mosquitos and other hungry things, flying around in the evening air. The night sounds of the Amazon are amazing. I think I heard a jaguar roar. Thankfully we weren't sleeping in a tent that night!

The next leg of our journey took us to the other end of the Amazon, to a city called Cusco, in Peru. From here we started our trek along the Inca trail. The jungle has supplied food and shelter to the peoples of the rainforest for thousands of years. The Incas once ruled here and one of the most amazing experiences on this trip was seeing the Inca ruins. We hiked through mountainous country to get to Machu Picchu, the sacred city of the Incas. Wow!

Putting up with the mosquitos... tropical heat... mosquitoes... tropical heat... was worth the experience! I've definitely come back from this trip with a different, and I hope, wiser view of the world.