We took the one hour flight from Cusco to the Puerto Maldonado, and I'm not sure that everyone on the plane appreciated my rendition of "In the jungle the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight". The humidity was striking as soon as we got off the plane. Whilst waiting at the baggage carousel, some people were covering themselves head to toe in insect spray . I wasn't as enthusiastic with the insect repellent, and I only got bit once, and even then, it was barely worth writing home about it (although I sort of have haven't I?)

Unfortunately during the two days in the Amazon, I wasn't very well and literally just laid down for 2 days, instead of out walking in search for what the Amazon has to offer. I was getting rather worried at the time as I'm never ill, yet over that period of 2 weeks (to which I did walk the Inca trail), I spent half the time feeling like I was going to collapse. I'm back in the UK, and I'm now fine, so it may have been simply that I was just completely useless to putting up with the humidity.

The lodge where we stayed was very nice, and people were pleasantly surprised at the amenities it offered. The bed had a large mosquito net around it, and the hammocks that were available were very comfy (I should know, as I spent 2 days laying in them). There was no hot water, so the showers were freezing. No one was really in uproar, as it was a welcome respite from the warm temperatures that we had to endure.

On the day we were about to leave, it absolutely poured down. They don't call it the Amazon rainforest for nothing. We were back in the boat and the rain was reaching some people inside and soaking them to the max. After the one hour boat ride (a lot shorter than the journey upstream a few days before), it was time to get into a change of clothes. Australian Jamie didn't want those trainers back that he kindly let me borrow for around a week. who could blame him? They were covered in mud, and would have taken him weeks to clean them. I didn't want them either, so I left them to soak in the middle of nowhere. They are probably still there to this day. I also realised a few hours later that I had left my sunglasses on the boat. I think I was in double figures for June for the amount of sunglasses I had lost.

I can't really go on about what I saw in the jungle, due to me not doing or seeing a right lot. The song must have been lying though, as I was rest assured that I didn't miss out on any sleeping lions.

It was onto Lima for the final destination of my journey.