Early on Tuesday 25th we headed to the airport in Cuzco to take a flight to Puerto Maldonaldo in order to go to the Amazon rainforest for our last few days. The journey from Cuzco to our lodge used various forms of transport- bus, plane, bus, boat, walk, boat....after a brief stop at the lodge's office in Puerto Maldonaldo in order to pack small bags for the few days in the jungle it took about 2.5 hours to get to the lodge. We had to walk about 45 minutes to an hour between the motor boat on the river and the canoe-type boat across the lake. It was a nice walk through the rainforest, but rather muddy in parts! I'd taken wellingtons but decided to stay in my walking trainers as they had a bit more grip and it was not as muddy as I'd expected- I regretted not changing when I slipped into a puddle and my trainer got covered in mud! (Turns out my shoes were quite waterproof though!) Whilst slipping in the mud I got bitten by a big red ant as I'd grabbed a tree to steady myself, and we had been warned, don't touch the trees! No motors are allowed on Sandoval lake so we were paddled across to the lodge, which turned out to be much more luxurious than expected! I'm not talking 5 star hotel but it was very, very nice! A beautiful place to spend the last few days of our trip and most of the group was wishing we had longer there, as it was very relaxing and peaceful! The only thing that was not so good was the humidity as it was very humid. While there funnily enough it only rained once, but it was a huge downpour. Lucky we were there in the dry season, not the wet as it probably would've been very wet! We did various activities while at the lodge but also had plenty of time for relaxing; it was a pity there were only 5 hammocks as most people were quite keen to laze in a hammock and snooze or read! We went for a night walk, which was good, although very dark (obviously!). We saw a few different sized tarantualas who were out of their hiding holes for the night. We also saw a tiny little frog sitting in a tree, which, without the guide, could easily have been missed! My trainer got its second dip in the mud- one is now darker than the other, lucky they are brown anyway! We enjoyed a cocktail in the hammocks before an early night, plus the electricity went off at 10! The next day we had to be up and out by 5.30am (!) to go out on the lake to go wildlife spotting. It was very peaceful out there and we saw various types of birds, most of which I forget the names now, and also some monkeys up in the trees. Unfortunately we did not see any of the giant river otters but did see a couple of caimen. Breakfast was great and the whole group was pleased to finally have something other than bread rolls and jam! You see, we shouldn't complain as breakfast has been included in most places, but we were happy to have eggs and fruit for a change! Later that morning, we went for a walk around the rainforest which surrounded the lodge to learn about various plants and trees. In the afternoons the staff (kitchen staff, porters, guides) at the lodge play football so they challenged the men from the group to a match. Turned out to so many of their staff playing that they had a bit of a tournament, don't how they played in such heat/humidity, it was hot enough in the shade! At 5.30pm we went back out in the boat for more wildlife spotting. The sunset was beautiful and once we got dark we saw thousands of mayflies, which were flying about everywhere, apparently for mating, but their adult life span can be as short as a few hours to a few days and by the next morning there were loads dead on the surface of the lake. We also saw lots of red caimen eyes by torchlight on the way back to the lodge. After dinner it was more relaxing in hammocks, wishing for more time at the lodge and wishing our trip was not at an end! Another early start at 5am to have breakfast before setting off back to Puerto Maldonaldo....this time for the walk I put the wellies on, which was a good idea....but then I stepped in the mud when getting off the boat, with the same foot! Ha ha!