We woke up to the sound of roosters crowing instead of fancy jungle bird sounds and made our way down lodge for breakfast. We were each served a large bowl of fresh fruit and there was a plate of bread to share. The coffee cart at the front had a thermos of coffee and one for hot water, plus some jams and other things. It all seemed perfectly fine! First thing we screwed up was the coffee. We filled our cups from the thermos and commented on how thick it appeared. After watching the staff get coffee, you are supposed to take a squirt of coffee and then add hot water! Totally hopped up on coffee syrup, we dug into the fruit and bread. It was after the 3rd slice I realised we’d made our second mistake… this was not the only breakfast foods, just the appetisers! Out came plates heaped with scrambled eggs and fried plantains. After we rolled ourselves out of breakfast we got geared up for the canopy and zip line excursion. This was a lot of fun! First we walked up the large tower then crossed our first swinging bridge to a huge tree then turned a corner to another swinging bridge that ended at the zip line tower.

From the second tower, we geared up for our first zip line across the canopy. From there it was a NARROW bridge walk to the next tower for the return zip line, back to the original tower.

After the morning adventures, we had a couple hours to chill at the lodge and pool. Steve rescued several cool bugs from the pool, we had a refreshing beer, and took advantage of the heat and sun to rinse and dry some clothes.

Following another huge and delicious lunch, we geared up and went back to the boat for a short river crossing to the Tambopata National Reserve. This is a nature reserve established in 2000 and showcases the flora and fauna of the area. Lake Sandoval is a highlight for sure! We hiked the short distance through the jungle on a boardwalk, observing several tarantula holes as we passed. At one point, Allen took us on a side trail because he heard monkeys in the distance. We were soon standing in a small clearing watching a troop of squirrel monkeys fly through the trees! At one point Steve thought his head would be a landing pad as they made their way across!

The boardwalk ended at a small inlet where we found a selection of boats. Allen got us all aboard and with some fairly primitive paddles, we maneuvered our way through the channel to the lake. Just as we were approaching, the woods exploded with more monkeys! This time we saw Squirrel monkeys and Capuchin monkeys.

We paddled our way around the lake, watching monkeys, seeing some birds, including a pair of red macaws! I would have been content to park the boat and just sit and observe a corner of this area for hours! We ended the boat ride with a nice sunset and then made our way back along the boardwalk for our night hike. This was when we got so see all the tarantulas (don’t scroll down if you don’t like spiders!!). Steve also found a snake just as the hike was about to end, then Izi found a different one. No snakes were handled just to be safe!