#South America Part 3

Yesterday I flew from Lima to Puerto Maldonado a principal town in the Madre De Dios region. It is set along side the Madre de Dios river in the Amazon Basin. This is the lowland part of Peru and in the tropical rain forest belt - the jungle. I had booked to stay at the Corto Maldes Lodge accessable only by boat. To be truthful I hadn't studied this part of my visit in great detail because I was focused on Machu Picchu but it was something the tour operator SAS made a good case for. I was surprised to encounter quite a luxurious place - wonderful thatched wooden lodges, beautiful tropical gardens and a swimming pool. As you would expect the heat was high as was the humidity and there were plenty of mosquitoes but apparently no malaria - fingers crossed!

I was met by my guide - Youmi - aged 29 - quiet and thoughtful and a confused Christian! We spent time Cayman spotting at night on the river, trekking in the National Reservation Tambopata and canoeing on the stunningly tranquil oxbow lake - Lake Sandoval. We jungled walked and spent time on the top of a 42m spotting hide attached to one massive tree. It allowed us to be in the tree canopy to watch Toucans and Howler monkeys - amazing.

Although my stay was relatively short we crammed a lot in and I had some really worthwhile conversations with Youmi.

There is so much I could set down but here are a few random items ;-

Preservation of the Amazon rain forest is complex - there are never simple answers. For instance the Peruvian government gave land to the indigenous tribes in order to protect their way of life - only for them to do a deal with gold prospectors. Gold is gained by power hosing the the soil to form a slurry and using mercury! It is highly destructive and toxic of course.
Youmi was brought up with the bible. He has also been brought up with nature and he spent the majority of our time explaining how plants and animals adapted to survive and flourish. I asked him about evolution. He understood the theories. He was genuinely challenged by the conflict. I asked him which he believed - he said both - but perhaps the bible more.
He had no real idea about Muslim's and the turmoil the world was in.
Several people told me they were very disappointed by their president and his all powerful wife. Little has been done despite promises to help the poor. They love Brazil - because Brazil has really helped Peru with infrastructure projects. Brazil obviously are creating markets for their own economy as a result.
He told me two stories with different outcomes. He showed me a rubber tree - I have picked off some latex. He explained in the early days this was a huge business for Peru but the people were exploited by the foreign rubber traders. Eventually the Peruvian workers went on strike - so foreign workers were brought in. There was a small war - Peru won but the rubber traders took young trees and planted them in Malaysia. End of Peru's rubber business. Where does rubber come from now in the main? The other story involves Brazil nuts and has a happier outcome. Brazil nut trees were taken to other countries and grew but they would produce no nuts. The reason - Brazil nuts are pollinated by a particular large bee that can stand the bitter Brazil nut pollen. Those bees are only found in the Amazon basin!
Tarantulas are meat eating but they have no teeth = just the fangs to insert a toxin mix. The toxins are so strong flesh can become a sort of soup in just a few minutes. Tarantulas drink their meat.

I have many photographs on my camera of plants and animals but I cannot down load them. I have used ones from my phone for now.