All of the excursions were adventurous!
AND required lots of bug spray!!
We learned about the rainforest ecosystem; especially the native plants and flowers and their medicinal uses. We watched for animals. Animals seen by other guests (the same days) included: monkeys, tapirs, river otters,macaws, toucans, and caiman alligators. Unfortunately, we saw few of these. In all honestly we can't blame the kids, as they were extremely quiet while "looking for silly monkeys." But, surprisingly, they were equally interested in the plants, trees, insects, and 'smaller' animals we encountered.
They loved the thrill of being explorers, with each excursion affording another opportunity to use the magnifying glass we brought from home.
We were all grateful for the boots the lodge provided; in addition to looking the explorer part, they were quite useful in the mud.
Canopy Walk: We hiked a half-hour through the forest to a canopy walk ABOVE the treetops, swinging 30 meters off the ground. It started raining during our hike, but we didn't realize it until we were there because the foliage cover is so thick. After climbing the stair tower, we crossed a series of 7 bridges. The challenge was crossing 7 slippery bridges with the kids, and in the rain. Big Sis was uneasy at first, but made it. Lil Sis was fearless and led the way for all of us. The last picture is the view looking up at one of the bridges from the ground.
Gaitimana Creek: We took a boat ride down the main river, then hiked into the forest from the river bank, then arrived to a creek with these tiny canoes. We skirted the paddling jobs since each of us had to keep our hands on a kid! Beautiful scenery, lots of loud birds, and more huge fig trees on the hikes.
Hacienda Conception: After another boat ride and hike, we visited a working Amazonian farm. Most of the food served at our lodge came from this place. We saw how they dehydrate bananas to make banana flour. We saw cacao and coffee trees. We saw the cocoa plant and learned that in Peru a farm may legally have no more than 7 of them. Other interesting plants included the dragon's blood tree (cured Rick's canker sore), garlic tree (works as insect repellant), and a plant that works as an anesthetic (3 seconds on the tongue and we were numb for about 30 mins). Big Sis liked the natural dyes and came home painted like a jungle warrior.
Lake Sandoval: Rick had the opportunity to visit this oxbow lake, reputed to be the most beautiful in Peru. Getting there required long muddy trekking (in the rain) and lasted about 5 hours; Kara and the girls stayed around the lodge that morning. His effort was rewarded with beautiful pictures and the only monkey sightings for our family.
Monkey Island: It turned out to be just another boat ride. Normally you'd hike into the center of the island to a small lagoon, where you paddle around and watch the monkeys playing around you. Due to the rains, there was mud and standing water covering most of the trail. When we realized the water was going to go OVER our knee-high boots, we decided to turn back. The guide actually intended to keep going through the deep mud! The kids were a nice excuse to decline, but honestly with or without them we were not interested in filling our boots with that brown who-knows-whats-in-there jungle muck!
Night Cruise: After sunset we went out on the boat to search the river banks for nocturnal animals. A guide sat at the front panning a floodlight back and forth until it would catch the reflection of something's eyes. We saw several nocturnal birds, but no luck with the sneaky caiman alligators.
Happy Campers
To state the obvious, the kids were serious troopers this week! Big Sis, who complains about walking 2 blocks to the park at home, put in solid hours of hiking. The same kids who are terrified of ants and flies at home, did not complain even ONCE about all the bugs. On that note, we escaped with remarkably few bites- only 1 or 2 per person. They don't itch as badly as the ones from home and the kids never mentioned them. I guess it was worth it to sweat profusely under our long sleeves and hoods to shield from the bugs. But don't be misled by the pictures, it was over 90 degrees with 98% humidity most days.
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