Amazon

Erica's fears about spiders in the Amazon weren't helped when we pulled into Tarantula lodge to repack our gear but luckily we didn't encounter any 8 legged furries for the trip. We did however see lots of animals including monkeys, vultures, macaws, hawks, parrots, butterflys, ants and some funny beaver looking critters!

Our trip began with a 45 minute boat trip up the river to our jungle accomodation. The room consisted of three walls with the fourth being open with the Amazon jungle being less than two metres away. At night we slept under the mosquito nets and listened to the sounds of the jungle. We had a visitor during the night, a small rodent who nibbled his way into my bag for a piece of leftover chewing gum. We didn't hear him coming but we did hear the screams from the girls next door!

We went for a number of walks through the jungle looking at the wildlife and exotic plants. The canopy tower was 37m high and allowed us to get a good look at all of the layers of the rainforest and a great view over the top. From here we saw many birds including the colourful macaws and a bat-falcon.

Our experience was really relaxing and peaceful and we would have liked to stay for longer. Our tour group included 4 other Australians - they are everywhere in South America!