Travel photos from the Peruvian Amazon

Our Cusco Manager recently hopped over to Puerto Maldonado to visit Peru’s southern Amazon. Allison spent 5 days in the jungle, enjoying her Amazon lodge, Reserva Amazonica, and exploring everything the Peruvian Amazon has to offer. Here are some photos from her trip.

Lizards

So this might not be one of the two new species of lizards recently discovered in Peru,but he is still worth admiring. As a country, Peru has the greatest diversity of woodlizards, and is fifth for reptile diversity.

Giant River Otter #1

Adorable river otter, take 1. Three giant river otters having a snack. These animals eat primarily fish, and require an impressive 6 to 9 pounds of food per day.

Giant River Otter #2

Adorable river otter, take 2, because they're just too cute. Giant river otters are the largest otters in the world and only found in South America. Sadly, they are also an endangered species.

Amazon Lodge

Sleep in a tree: The grown-up version of a tree house. Brave guests can choose to stay in a private cabana up in the Amazon canopy. You'll have monkeys and macaws for neighbors.

Flora

The Amazon covers over 60% of Peru's landmass. It is also the largest tropical rainforest on Earth, containing 10% of all known types of flora and fauna. This multitude of plant life is essential for the well-being of the planet: the Amazon Rainforest produces roughly 20% of Earth's oxygen.

Spiders!

Night excursions, by foot or boat, are a staple of the Amazon experience. This is the best time to see creepy crawlers such as spiders and snakes. The Amazon is home to approximately 3,600 species of spiders, including one tricky arthropod that builds a decoy spider, perhaps to confuse predators.

Travel buddies

After Machu Picchu, the Amazon is one of our travelers' favorite destinations. So it's no surprise Allison ran into a group traveling with SA Expeditions. They mentioned Allison in their blog post so we felt it was only fair to return the favor.

Monkey Business

Monkeys are a common yet always exciting sight in the Amazon. Some species you're likely to see during a visit to the Amazon Rainforest: Red howler monkey, squirrel monkey, brown capuchin monkey, duski titi monkey, spider monkey, and if you're lucky, a night monkey.

Piranhas

Piranha Fishing – Reputation bigger than its bite? Though we've all heard horror stories involving these carnivorous fish, they're mainly scavengers that that attack en mass when another creature—usually a fish—is injured, no different than many other packs (or schools) of animals. We can put some of the blame for piranha's over-sized reputation on Teddy Roosevelt, who visited the Amazon in 1913 and returned telling tales of how a school of piranhas devoured a cow in seconds.

Have we convinced you yet? Speak to a Destination Expert about curating a tailor made Amazon itinerary just for you, or check out our most popular Amazon tours here.

All photos taken by and belong to Allison Monge.