So just when I thought nothing could top Machu Picchu we left for a 5 day visit to the Amazon rainforest. I honestly thought with a guided tour (you’re not allowed in by yourself) that it would be quite commercial and I didn’t really know what to expect but it totally blew my mind! It was such an amazing experience and I met some lovely people who looked after us so well, including a real-life Mogli who had spent his whole life in the jungle and was one of the nicest people I ever met!

We saw so many different species of plants and animals, bathed in a variety of rivers and thermal baths, travelled down the Alta madre de Dios river (which eventually becomes the Amazon river), ate insects and sweated our asses off (it was the most humid place I’ve ever been to and it felt like 100°C all the time) but it was the experience of a lifetime and I am still recovering from it as I write the blog!

Manu is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is one of the most protected rainforests in the world. It still contains tribes with no other human contact such as the Mashkopiro tribe which is illegal and dangerous to contact. Our guide saw one of them from afar once and he said they are always completely naked and only the men use a piece of string to tie up their penis so it doesnt get in the way when they run. Luckily we stayed in the South so we were pretty safe.

Manu also has one of the highest levels of biodiversity of any park in the world, with over 15,000 species of plants, 1000 of birds (more than the whole of the US and Canada put together), and one of the highest abundences of land vertebrates ever found in Latin America.

What was most amazing for me is meeting the people who live in the jungle and seeing how different their lives are. Our host Cezar (otherwise known as Mogli) was 20 years old and had lived in the jungle his whole life. He walked barefoot everywhere when I was scared to walk in wellies, he never sweated when I sweated about 5 litres a day and he didnt even use insect repellent (apparently he’s been bitten so many times by the jungle’s most painful ant he doesnt even notice it any more). Plus his bravery had no limits and he even killed tarantul-esque spiders with his bare hands. He speaks three languages, his parents’ native Piro and Machiguenga and Spanish in order to communicate with the rest of Perú and he looked after our Lodge in the middle of the jungle all by himself. But most importantly all the people that we met were so friendly and helpful and positive and happy I think there is a lot we could learn from them.

So my jungle blog dragged on a bit this time but I hope the photos will give a little indication of what an amazing experience this was for me!

Coca leaves. 300g of Coca leaves are needed to produce 1g of cocaine. Each family is legally allowed to produce 100m2 of coca leaves. The problem is that the locals can sell one bag of Coca leaves to Cusco for 7 soles to be sold as leaves for energy, or the narcos offer 10 soles for the same quantity which they use to produce cocaine...you do the maths