We embarked on our jungle adventure from Puerto Maldonado, a ten-hour drive north of Cusco. My irrational (but very real) fear of moths and flappy things made me more than a little apprehensive about venturing too deep into the jungle. As a result, and in a bid to remain within budget for the month, we chose a three-day two-night jungle trek with Tambopata Trek. Not only was the trip great value for money, it was also educational, engaging and a lot of fun. Johanna and Kike, the business-owners, took great care of us and – despite the multitude of flappy things we encountered – we thoroughly enjoyed our experience.
We spent one of the nights in a homestay, with Esther and her adorable baby grandson. Esther lives in the middle of the jungle with no electricity and only the river to bathe in. It was humbling to see how resourceful she was, and had to be, and how beautifully simple her life is.
During the second day of our trek, en route to Esther’s house, we came across several bamboo plants. Wielding his machete, Kike sliced off metre of bamboo declaring it was ‘para cenar’ (for dinner). I was bamboozled – no pun intended – could you actually eat bamboo? What would it taste like? How would we cook it?
It wasn’t until later that we realised the bamboo was merely a vessel for yummier ingredients! Esther showed us how to stuff the bamboo with the chicken and vegetable mixture, before placing the bamboo trunks in a saucepan full of boiling water. She then covered them with giant leaves, and left the fire to do it’s thing. Check out this short video to see how it turned out. Don’t forget to subscribe!
Our jungle experience was without doubt one of the highlights of our trip, made all the more enjoyable by a taste of jungle-life from Esther and her family.
*Coming soon: how we made hot chocolate from cocoa-beans in the middle of the jungle*
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Wow!! That looks amazing! I’ll admit, when you said bamboo, I thought…ummmmmmm…but the chicken looks so good!!!
This looks like so much fun. I would love the chance to spend a couple nights in a jungle community — great that you got that local experience. And I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s afraid of moths 🙂
Oh, what an adventure!
This is amazing, I would love an adventure in the forest like you had! I’m so scared of insects though..
That sounds like an amazing expierience ! I would love to visit amazon one day day spend night in a jungle with no electricity! What an adventure !! I bet you had a fabulous time! Great photos !
You made hot chocolate from cocoa beans!? Can’t wait to read more about that! Would love to explore the Latin America more, especially Peru and the Amazonian bits of it after reading this post 🙂
I love your comment – ‘a multitude of flappy things’ – made me laugh out loud! Haha. It looks like you had a real adventure! 🙂
That natural bathroom looks tricky! Sounds like a great spot to visit the Amazon.
I’ve never been to South America, but I know that when I go, the Amazon is something I’ll have to check out. Watching everyone cook must have been incredible – food is like, my favourite part of travel! 🙂
This sounds like such an amazing experience. I would love to visit Brazil and the Amazon! Definitely high up on my bucket list.
What an amazing experience to see how the other side lives. I love hearing about how people live off the land in other parts of the world. Not sure I would have been brave enough to rough it like that though! Well done.
This post is so amazing! I have dreamed of exploring the Amazon and will definitely think about starting in Peru instead of Brazil 🙂
You should Katy! It’s much cheaper and we had a great experience 👍🏼
This is amazing!!! Such a cool experience would love to do one day!
Would highly recommend it – just take lots of bug spray!