Day 9 - Corto Maltes Amazonia & Puerto Maldonado - June 10, 2018
We were sad to leave this amazing off-grid resort in the Amazon, but when we booked the resort, they did not have availability for the night of June 10th. This was unfortunate because we had already booked our flights.
Getting dressed!
Agouti, agouti, where art thou, agouti?
The resident parrots.
My parents make great traveling companions. Senior citizens, although slow and dangerous behind the wheel, can still serve a purpose.
Here we are, waiting for the boat that will take us back into town.
I pulled my drone out for a few aerial shots.
This is the Madre de Dios!
I tried really hard to find the clay lick that we visited to see the parakeets. I could find the little river that ran next to it (bottom), but I never found the clay cliff.
Heading down to the boat. Saying good-bye to this awesome resort.
We saw a caiman lounging on the bank. It looked really cool with all of the butterfly pals surrounding her.
Safety first. Although if this ship goes down, then I'm guessing the caiman would have taken care of us all rather swiftly.
Back in town, admiring the bridge.
We were only able to find one restaurant that we were really comfortable eating at. It was the only fancy restaurant in town.
Riding in a tuk-tuk style taxi.
Lots of fresh pineapple.
Alison and I don't each much fish, but this guy will eat just about anything.
Fish teeth make me very uncomfortable.
While exploring the town we found the local LDS church building.
Alright, so this little place was nice enough, but it was a little more rustic than we were expecting. There was only one hotel in town and it only had double rooms, so four our small group we would have needed 4 rooms. I elected to book an Airbnb and it had some surprises in store for us.
First off animals. That were being potty trained, so they kept peeing on the floor.
We were basically staying with a family in their front two bedrooms. They moved into the back of the house while we took over. The host was a professor at the local college and was able to setup an excursion for us with a couple of his students.
We were able to go piranha fishing in a private preserve area. It was really unique and quite fun.
We used some cheap beef as bait on our hooks and just held the fishing line with hook and bait over the edge of the small boat and waited for nibbles.
I was surprised by how small the piranhas were.
We were on the water as the sun set and it was amazing. This lake was full of palm trees, many of them dead and hollow and this is where the green macaws all lived. As the sun was setting they were all flying back home, dozens and dozens of them.
There is at least one macaw on the tall palm stump. Saying goodnight to all around.
You can see a few groups of macaws in this picture.
The two students who took us fishing were excited that they were allowed to bring the piranhas home for dinner.
Beautiful macaws.
Back to our favorite (one and only) spot for dinner.
We eat a lot of tic tacs when we travel for some reason.
Back at our lodging, watching a kids TV show in Spanish with the locals.
Tomorrow we travel home!
