For shorter trips we prefer to pick destinations close to each other. For this trip we made an exception and gave ourselves a full day of travel in the middle of the trip. It went like this:
8:00 – last breakfast in the jungle, bid a fond farewell to our guides and the staff and the flock of birds that played a constant soundtrack at the lodge. Bid good riddance to the many many many mosquitoes.
9:30-11:30 – boat from jungle lodge to Iquitos (stop mid way through for unscheduled repairs. Yikes!)
11:30-12p – bus to airport
12-2p wait at airport (get cash, snacks and souvenirs)
2-4p – fly from Iquitos to Lima
4-7p – wait at airport (try unsuccessfully to get an earlier flight, get food)
7-830p – fly from Lima to Cusco
8:30 – 10:45 – bumpy windy bus ride from Cusco to Ollantaytambo.
11:00 – brush teeth and collapse into bed (without writing the blog post)
The lodge was rustic but has just enough comforts for us to enjoy our 3 nights. We all agreed that was enough for us for this trip.
We had a two story family cabin with two bathrooms. The shower water never got above tepid but the water pressure was good and the bugs were held at bay (mostly). The windows only had screens so we got the live version of ‘sounds of the rainforest’ to help us sleep every night.
There were no chairs in our cabin, only beds so any awake time was spent in a little sitting room nearby or the main hall which was a combo dining room, living room and bar.
Each meal was a buffet style, Peruvian enough to be interesting but pretty easy to find things the kids would like.
Attached by elevated walkway was a hammock room. It immediately became a clubhouse for the 5 kids – they loved hanging out there. Eventually we had to start rationing their time there so other guests could use it.
Right outside the lodge was a giant tree with a thriving g colony of yellow-rumped cacique. It was as if they had a lodge right next to ours. From dusk to dawn the birds would fly in and out of the nest scattered around the tree, calling loudly to each other with news of the day. The sound was constant, not to be ignored, and after a while, kind of part of the place.
We were aghast again at the size of the Amazon River as we returned to Iquitos by boat. The kids of course figured out some sort of game to occupy them during the ride. It involved secret assignments, the mafia and closing your eyes
The rest of the day wasn’t terribly noteworthy, we eventually got to our next stop in Ollantaytambo and that was good enough.
5 Adventures Together 