We awoke around 6am to the sound of rain and the likely prospect of a wet jungle waiting to be explored. The evening had been cool due to the rain and a light wind, we both slept well as a result - another benefit was being back at a lower altitude. Julia seemed a lot brighter today which meant we could both enjoy the day ahead. True to form the lodge provided us with a hearty breakfast of egg, slices of pan fried banana, bread, jam and a cocktail of mixed fruit as well as jungle juice. After breakfast I pondered long and hard on whether to take the bulky Nikon D80 to accompany the Nikon s9100 Coolpix which we have been using for taking video footage. The rain was lighter than in the evening but still coming down heavily. I didn't think that illusive National Geographic shot was worth getting damp into the D80, so I left it at home. This proved to be a wise decision as it started raining again during the first half of our walk.

10 minutes after setting off we were in the heart of the jungle. Our group consisted of the guide, Julia and myself and two young French couples. We had set off from the lodge for a 6km walk to a remote spot next to a river. From there we were going on a 1 hour return boat trip. The first impression when entering the jungle is the heat. Walking just a few steps you manage to work up a sweat. I had attempted to cover up using a long sleeved t-shirt to avoid using deet - the combination of heat and deet is uncomfortable. However this decision was to be quickly reversed after I got a bite on the nose from a mosquito! After our experience of rain in Machu Picchu we had stopped in Puerto Maldonado on Sunday - luckily we found a hardware store that sold ponchos and we quickly bought one for Julia. Apart from the humidity and rain you notice strange noises everywhere. The birds stand out most for me followed by the distinct sound of crickets. This could have been the scene of any number of war movies as we weaved our way through the jungle - all I needed was a machine gun to complete the look.

To reach the small tributary we had to navigate through a small section of farmland. This is not farmland as we know it. The locals had chosen a large section of the rainforest, cut the trees down and burnt what they had felled leaving a parched wasteland which looked like it had been napalmed. This particular 'field' had corn planted in it - similar to what I seen last time I was here. It's easy for me to be judgemental - coming from my comfortable UK lifestyle, but the process could only be described as devastating and wasteful rather than slash and burn. I saw massive trees laid to waste... left to rot in the midday sun. I couldn't help but think of all the possibilities for that wood... raised garden beds, a shed, fencing, or even a home! The problem is too complex to solve in a blog however I saw this written in a local lodge and thought it echoed my thoughts nicely;

Only after the last tree has been cut down
Only after the last river has been poisoned
Only after the last fish has been caught
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten

Cree Indian Prophecy

On the river we saw a Caymen, some wild birds and a lot of brown water churning it's way beneath the boat - god help us if we fall in. I couldn't help but think of a bloody film I had once seen called 'Anaconda' (If you haven't seen it I'll leave it to your imagination!) On the way back we observed army ants scurrying around carrying leaves etc. The highlight though was a huge Tarantula spider which our guide managed to coax out of it's hole - check out the pictures! We returned back to the lodge and after lunch I had some free time to venture off on my own to the water tower we had visited the previous day. This time I took the D80 and my tripod and spent a few hours photographing insects on my own, this is what my camera is built for! Julia had set off with the guide in the other direction in search of monkeys we had heard screeching during lunch. She was lucky enough to see 2 species and even got it on camera!

After dinner and a few beers we walked into the inky black jungle to see if we could see some wild pigs. The jungle seemed to be in it's second shift - equally as noisy as the day and lit up with fire-flies, a weird and magical sight. The temperature was still soaring and the mosquitoes were out in full force. I was all too glad to later return to our room where we turned in at 9pm ready for an early start at 4am the next day.