With Mogli through the jungle

Our next adventure begins a few car hours away from Cusco. Here lies the Manu National Park. The entrance is at the highest point & on a clear day you can see across the entire rainforest, but it was too cloudy for us. So, continue into the park. The road is poorly constructed, filled with potholes & water puddles formed by landslides. The drive itself is an incredible adventure. Past waterfalls that cascade directly onto the road & deeper into the animal and plant world, Fidel and his team lead us. Fidel from Robles Expeditions grew up in a small village in the middle of the jungle until he was 16. Afterwards, he studied tourism and founded his own tour agency. During the drive, we stop again and again to observe some animals. From the very beginning, we encounter a colorful bird world: the red, Peruvian national bird, the green, blue, and red Guatemalan bird, the small, agile hummingbird, and so on. After a picnic in the wilderness, we even see monkeys. They sit so close to us until they flee back into the trees. In the evening, we arrive at the lodge, where there are showers and even electricity. The next day, however, we go deeper into the wilderness. On our way, we encounter an anteater, more monkeys, parrots, and an owl. The road here is even more undeveloped and in some parts, we have to cross riverbeds. We stop at a lake to take a small raft tour and explore the surroundings afterwards. Unfortunately, we see hardly any animals here. A boat takes us further into the jungle to our accommodation for the next few days. On the riverbank, a few howler monkeys are frolicking around, and parrots circle above us. The accommodation is located in a private area of the company and consists of a few covered wooden platforms where you can sleep and eat. Someone is already waiting for us upon arrival. A tapir stands a few meters away watching us. After some time, it comes closer to be fed with apples. After dinner, armed with flashlights and machetes, we go on a night hike. We see spiders, a gigantic grasshopper, a millipede, beetles and ants, and a highly venomous snake. Then it's off to bed: a mosquito net under which two mattresses lie - sleeping in the wilderness. In the morning, we have to leave early to walk to the parrot lick. Every morning, the birds come there to eat minerals from the rocks. An incredible spectacle. We can even see a toucan. Then we walk to a tree house where we wait for animals for almost 1.5 hours without success. On the way back, however, a group of black-headed spider monkeys jump around us. We wade through mud and small streams, dodge piranhas, and Fidel explains all kinds of healing and medicinal plants to us. After lunch, we go swimming in the river. From a few rocks, you can jump into the current and drift along. A beautiful refreshment after the exploration tours through the tropics. In the evening, we go on another night hike. This time, a venomous spider descends right in front of us and we discover a huge tarantula. Now I think we've seen enough spiders. It starts to pour in the night and unfortunately doesn't stop quickly. In the morning, we have some time to relax because Fidel has a meeting to attend. When he returns, we actually want to go fishing, but the water is so turbid due to the rain that it is not possible. So we take one last walk through the rainforest. There is mud everywhere and the water almost runs into our rubber boots, a real adventure. Then we return by boat. After a while downstream on the small tributary, we reach the main stream. Due to the precipitation, the water level has risen and the current is strong. First, we have to stop to check the motor, which seems to be having problems. The small boat fights uncertainly against the current until we reach the shore. We then take a pickup truck back to the lodge, where we sleep one last time. Shortly before arrival, it finally happened. Fidel screamed and we woke up from our half-sleep: a beautiful baby jaguar ran across the road in front of us. The last day is just a long drive through the impressive landscape. We took almost all the pictures with the camera, so unfortunately they will only be available afterwards.