INTO THE WILD
After a night in Lima (Miraflores to be precise), we head to Puerto Maldonado, which is our entryway into the Amazon. The journey begins with a forty minute motorized boat trip across the Rio Madre de Dios, whose fish population is 60% piranha. This drops us off at the beginning of a 5km hike to Sandoval Lake. Being the raining season, the hike is rather muddy, so I head off in knee high rubber boots and rain poncho, with a tall bamboo pole for balance.The end of the hike leads to a paddled canoe ride across Sandoval Lake. Along with the aforementioned piranha, the lake also includes electric eels and black caiman. The lodge we are staying at is a short hike from the shore along a clean and dry trail. The lodge has limited electricity and running water, though only cold water. In the heat and humidity, cold showers are not bad things. This is my first time ever sleeping beneath a mosquito net, though it's really not bad. Around 4:30 in the morning comes a strong hissing sound from outside the mesh used in place of a window--I decide to let it be rather than fumbling for my flashlight in the pitch blackness of the predawn night.
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