canoe transport to the lodgeAnother early start to the day, we were on the canoe by 5:30 am paddling across the lake to hike to a special Macaw area. Much of the the lake area is made up of Mauritia Palm trees which produce "Pan fruit". While the birds (and other wildlife) eat the fruit there are a few specific species of the palms that have another special property. When the tree dies the birds will eat the soft inner wood of the trunk which provides them with some kind of minerals which help them to process the more toxic plants and fruits they eat throughout the day. Starting around 6 am it is an excellent place to bird watch. We saw Blue & Yellow Macaws as well as the Scarlet Macaws (shown in the photo). The only bummer during our time in the jungle was that my camera, which is great for most shots, just doesn't have the reach for decent wildlife photos. I missed SO many great shots that I'm thinking a new camera is in my future (Morry? Are you still reading this?).
As well as the Macaws we saw White Bellied Parrots, Crimson Crested Woodpeckers, and a Curl Crested Aracari which is a type of Toucan.
At 10 am we walked again, spotting the Casques Oropendola as well as the Red & Green Macaws.
At 4:30 we hit the canoe again and were lucky enough to see the Giant River Otters returning home after a day of fishing. We got the see one of the babies, briefly climb out of the water onto a log, again a great photo opportunity but my shots came out a little blurry, darn it. As we slowly made our way around the lake we rounded a bend a surprised a HUGE caiman. He spent a couple of minutes checking us out and we drifted extremely close, our guide estimated him to be 3 meters (about 10 feet long)!
Right before dinner we took a quick night walk and saw a baby caiman from the shore, as well as a tarantula nest with mom, dad, and babies. Seeing the tarantulas on the trees didn't bother me, but I have to say walking past a nest on the ground and passing within 12 inches of them creeped me out a bit.
One last tasty dinner and 2 passion fruit daiquiris (for me) and a Mojito (for Grant) later and then it was off to bed as we have an early start to tomorrow for our return to Lima.
We've used Adventure Life for several trips in the past and have always been very pleased with them. The staff is personable and professional at the same time. Erin put this trip together for us in just a few days, and it has everything we were looking for! I recommend them without hesitation.
benn
1 month ago
I served as the person responsible for planning a trip to Galapagos and Machu Picchu for a group of 14 people. Jane with Adventure Life was very helpful throughout the process. Making suggestions, offering insight, and in the end helped me overhaul an initial plan into something even better. Also, Jane makes all the plans including the flights within and between Peru and Ecuador. Thanks to her this is going to be a stress-free adventure. After making the final decision about the trip, Jane gathered the contact information for all the travelers and sent out the details to each traveler individually with links to pay deposits, upload passport info, and personal preferences. She also ensured a group email was sent out to the entire group welcoming us to the trip preparation process. Our trip is a year from now and we are excited to make this once in a life time trek. I am happy to have organized things through Adventure Life. However, two small issues came up that were a little off putting. First, Adventure Life adds $50 per person to the cost for each traveler as a donation to a Galapagos conservation fund. I think this should he offered as something that can be added at each traveler’s discretion. Instead, it is automatically added, and each person must ask to have it removed if they do not want it included. Second, although the trip deposit may be paid with a credit card without incurring an additional fee, the balance must be paid in another way to avoid a 3% credit card fee. Maybe this is standard with all travel agencies. In the end I would definitely go through Adventure Life for the next big trip.
Brenda Nielsen
2 months ago
I think it was very helpful that Franny and I spoke on the phone. I think she had a better idea of what we were looking for, and she planned a great itinerary for us!
Elizabeth
3 months ago
My representative Kevin was very responsive generally and in crafting our itinerary to our specific priorities.
Rocco Labella
3 months ago
Easy.
Great work on the follow up and details by Waru.