Our last morning in the amazon jungle proved a few things… first of all that I’m glad to be leaving and that I’m not sure I’d come back. It’s been a great experience overall, but it’s the little things. More than once, I’ve had to wash ants out of my toothbrush before I could use it. Last night I awoke and needed to use the restroom (something that is done here by flashlight as the electricity goes off at night to save the generators), and when I lifted the toilet seat I found it covered with hundreds of very small ants. This was new, and I figured maybe something that only happened at night, so I thought I’d wait until morning instead. As it would turn out, there were fewer ants this morning but still a substantial amount. I’ve never had to deet a toilet before I could use it before, but I guess there is a first time for everything in life. Thinking we’d sleep in, we were surprised by a 6:00 AM wake-up call. I was already up as it was, but it seemed a little odd. I found a note by the door with our final bill, and I think they wanted to be sure we didn’t miss our opportunity at the gift shop during breakfast to pay it.
We took our time getting to breakfast, took our time paying the bill, and still had a few hours to kill. We’d done most of the expeditions by this point, so more book reading and relaxing in hammocks for both of us this time as we watched life take place on the Madre Do Dios. In hopes of not stinking too terribly bad the entire way home, I took a shower shortly before we had to go, but was sweaty again almost instantly due to the heat and humidity. I packed my backpack, threw out some things I wouldn’t need, and we left Inkaterra River Amazonica.
The walkway to the lodge
In our final full day there, we had met a lady named Dalia who was traveling with her brother and also stayed at Inkaterra (I’ve mentioned them before). We discussed our long layover we had in Lima, and as it would turn out were were on the same flight! Dalia gave us what may have been the most-important insider tip we’d get on the trip. The hotel across from Lima airport not only will let you take a shower, but they’ll check and keep your bags while you’re there! We had about a four-hour window where we were wondering what we’d do with our bags (you can’t check in more than three hours early in South America in most places), and this fit the bill! Dalia said their restaurant was fantastic, and the bar was good too.
She was right on all counts, though didn’t join us in the hotel (Lima is home for her family). While we elected not to take showers (as it was a little pricey and our clothes were all dirty anyway at this point) we did get dinner and they checked our luggage for about four hours as our plane was delayed. I had some of the best ceviche I’ve ever had in my life, and lychee ice cream for dessert! Dalia’s brother is considering going into the industry where I work, and I shared my contact information in hopes that we’d stay in touch. I love meeting people from around the world!
A bridge in Puerto Maldonado that looks familiar…
We ate dinner, spent some time playing Uno at the bar, and soon it was time to check in, and it was morning on December 12th.
