The difference in a rain forest and a jungle: The rain forest has open spaces, even if they are small, that allow you to walk through. The jungle is so thick that you would have to have a machete or some other tool to clear the way before you could walk through. Three nights at the Inkaterra Lodge seemed like a long time when we first made the reservations, but it has been just right. We have been on two excursions the day we arrived, three the second day, and ...

Edwin and a new driver picked us up to take us to the airport. We flew to the town of Puerto Maldonado in the Amazon river basin. We found the Inkaterra representatives at the tiny airport in just a few minutes. They retrieved our luggage, and we took a short bus ride with about 10 others to go to the river port. Then we all boarded a boat for a 45-minute ride on the Madre de Dios River to the Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica Lodge. As we traveled, the Inkaterra guide...