Madre de Dios River and Inkaterra Camp Amazon

This boat was our mode of transport down the Madre de Dios River to our eco-lodge an hour away. The boat was VERY low in the water and the man with the oars cautioned us to keep our hands inside. This, after admonishing us to strap on life jackets. Yeah, like if we went in the water our worst problem would be drowning. No, evidently, he wanted us to stay afloat while the local crocodiles chomped on us at their leisure!

We soon arrived at the Inkaterra Lodge and were spirited away to our tent which was located right on the bank of the river among some of the most exotic scenery on earth!


We soon met our guide Percy who took us on an afternoon trek through the surrounding rain forest to give us some information about the flora and fauna of the area. No easy task considering there are 2200 identified species of plants in this 40,000 acre forest. The canopy is 50 feet high and consists of 4 levels: the bush, understory, canopy, and emerging forest at the top. Each level has its own eco-system of animal and plant life.

Observation: the birds in the Amazon are very musical and very LOUD. We saw the russet back oropendia, blue morpho butterfly which was a gorgeous iridescent lapiz blue. The strangest plant was the walking ficus that literally grew upstanding leg like roots that would "walk" the tree toward sunlight. The tallest trees in the Amazon are the Kapock trees. All plants have extremely superficial roots because the nutrients in the soil exist to a depth of only 6 centimeters!

Percy warned us not to touch ANY of the plants because several are poisonous. He hastened to add that the jaguars come out at night, but are not known to attack humans in groups (only those wandering about alone)! Note to self, do not wander about the camp unescorted.

Tarantulas live in the bark of trees and are nocturnal as well. Yes, they are poisonous, but happily are not lethal unless the human sustains several bites at one time! Well, isn't that a relief! So, are these creatures repeat biters?


In the dining area we were assigned to Roberto who was to be our trusty server for all meals during our stay. I don't know when the man slept, but he was very gracious and reveled in helping me to pronounce Spanish words. The food was incredible and I learned to like the Picsos (Peruvian specialty cocktail) at Happy Hour.

On our quiet walk through the dark back to our tent, my mantra was..."Don't pet the tarantulas and stick with Gene to ward off the Jaguars!" The only light was coming from the moon and the kerosene lanterns placed around the campground. The night cacophony was lovely and soon lulled us to sleep.