We drove to Tarapoto, and then about a half-hour further east, to the PumaRinri Lodge (#8 on map below), elevation 804′. The lodge sits on a steep hillside above the Huallaga River. Now we were in the real Amazon lowland rainforest aka “the jungle”.
Northern Peru Area Map (click on map to enlarge)
Jungle and river
Buttressed tree
Chestnut-eared aracaris, photographed from our veranda
Chestnut-eared aracaris, photographed from our veranda. Note the red band on the belly.
Lizard, with large beetle
The lizard has taken the beetle in its mouth
Butterfly
Palm leaf and river
Palm tanager, from our veranda
Palm tanager, from our veranda
Masked tityra, from our veranda
Masked tityra, from our veranda
This lodge is owned by the same company as Gocta Andes Lodge – Peru Tres Nortes – and is equally nice.
Our second floor room and veranda
The Huallaga River from our veranda
CJ and Britt were next door. We could pass the bird guidebook back and forth.
Heliconia
Heliconia
Philodendron
Breakfast buffet
Breakfast buffet
Britt enjoys his coffee and toast
Chef and kitchen
Gray-breasted sabrewing hummingbird
Fork-tailed woodnymph hummingbird
Like the Casa de Seizo, the lodge had tilapia ponds
Tilapia
Butterfly at the beach
Our guide, Rodile, shows palm thatching technique to CJ
Palm thatch
Just to the side of the lodge grounds was a small creek, where Rodile was able to grab and show us a variety of poison-dart frogs. They were not so poisonous that they could not be handled.
Cashapona tree aka Walking palm
Cashapona tree aka Walking palm
Black-fronted nunbird
Rodile also directed our attention to a series of signs that had been positioned along the trail, that dealt with the history of cocaine trafficking in the region.
“Coca, from the Amazon to the Andes. Coca has been traditionally grown in the Amazon, but consumed in the Andes”
“From sacred to condemned”
“Cocaine and Narcotrafficking. Cocaine production increased in the 70s. Peru was the top producer in the 80s, then Colombia took over.”
“The State of San Martin (where the lodge is located) was a top producer, as coca production was more profitable than other crops. The ‘narcoeconomy’ brought violence and other problems with it.”
“The production of illegal coca dropped from 28,600 hectares, in 1992, to 378 in 2009, an historic decrease.”
We took a boat trip up the Huallaga and Mayo rivers.
Hand-carved paddle
The Estero Rapid
Red-capped cardinal
Hoatzin
Social flycatcher
Shapaja beach
Shapaja beach and boats
Fruit
Ruddy ground dove
Yellow-headed caracara
This Yellow-headed caracara (upper right) doesn’t seem to mind the plastic trash in the tree, but I did. It’s everywhere along the rivers.
Jungle pool
Morpho butterfly remains
We flew from Tarapoto to Lima on Nov. 5, as the sun set beyond the Andes. Here is the link to the following post:
