Savour the sounds of silence in a lost world
This place, a million miles from anywhere, is never, ever quiet. Welcome to the jungle, writes Paul McGurk
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OUR guide said: “Just listen. Listen to the peace and quiet.”
Our boat had ground to a halt in a semi-prehistoric setting on the surface of the Sapote tributary of the Amazon, a riot of greenery and dark waters all around us.
Giant lily pads spread out across the glassy surface. Overhead, ancient trees loom, cracking and bending in a slight breeze. You would hardly be surprised to see a pterodactyl swoop overhead.
Gradually, sounds become apparent. The rustling of the trees, the calls of a multitude of hidden creatures and birds, the ceaseless buzzing and chirruping of a million insects.
Then you realise that what you are listening to isn’t silence at all, but a symphony, a shriek of nature. This place, a million miles from anywhere, is never, ever quiet.
Welcome to the jungle.
Heading up tributaries of the Amazon in Peru, you find creatures straight out of a David Attenborough documentary. Departing from the jungle city of Iquitos, our 60ft MV Delfin riverboat snaked its way through the Amazon and along waterways few people have seen.
Guided by Adonay and Juan-Luis, the sensation of our 20ft skiffs shooting across the brown surface of the river is thrilling enough.
Every conceivable creature is there to be spotted: turkey vultures so enormous they bend the trees they land on; parakeets and parrots in the wild, flecks of red, blue and green overhead; blue kingfishers darting across the water’s surface, and the black-collared hawk, perched at the tops of the trees with golden feathers and a little black ruff around the throat, like a Victorian toff suitably attired for dinner.
Creatures in the branches are harder to see, until our guides gain their attention by mimicking their cries.
The stripy-furred, three-toed sloth hangs around on branches like a handbag. Equally lazy are the iguanas, their crests and tails merging with the vines as they bask in the sunshine.
Then there are the monkeys.
Saki monkeys are the cutest, with white faces on black bodies and a furry tail, leaping from branch to branch in the treetops. Squirrel monkeys have a death’s-head face and are a little more post-watershed in style. Howler monkeys send out eerie cries.
Among a million shades of green are unexpected flashes of other colours – the blue morpho is possibly the most gorgeous of them all, a large butterfly with electric-blue wings, flitting through the forest.
In the water itself, bizarre river dolphins regularly breach the waters beside the skiffs.
They share the waterways with grey dolphins, and there is an opportunity to swim with these creatures in the Dorado, literally a black lagoon due to the presence of tannins and iron bauxite in the water.
The lagoon is warm in the early evening as you slip in. You see little beneath the surface, not even your own hand. Other local residents include 10ft caimans, piranha and anacondas, so it gives you a start if a dolphin breaches the surface nearby.
There are opportunities to catch piranhas with some meat on a stick at the Caro Curahuayte tributary. After the skiff has pulled into the banks of the river, we put our meat in among the branches and roots of some of the ficus and secropia trees where the little blighters like to hide.
Slapping the water with a stick alerts the red-bellied fish, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, and they dart in to nip at the bait.
Charming by day, the river takes on an altogether different, although no less alluring, character after sunset.
Night creatures are a little harder to spot. Drifting into the shallows by the banks of the river, Adonay’s torch picks out twin red pinpricks glittering in the dark – the eyes of a juvenile black caiman.
Stunned by the light, the 2ft creature is soon firmly gripped by our guide. Holding it by the tail and neck, I’m surprised to find its skin is soft to the touch.
Although its teeth are apparent, the caiman never snaps at my fingers.
Other creatures appear in the darkness. A clown tree-frog is briefly in my hands before it hops into the undergrowth, a jolly orange and brown creature no bigger than a 50p piece.
The hairy, pink-toed tarantula crawling up the limb of a tree not 4ft away from my head seems considerably larger. It’s fair to say that the Amazon is not the place to go if you have issues with beasties and creepy-crawlies.
With mosquitos in abundance, you will need to be well-stocked with repellent, plus anti-malaria medication and other vaccines.
However, one type of insect dominates the night sky as we head back to the Delfin aboard our skiffs – fireflies, striking sparks against the pitch darkness.
If all this sounds like roughing it, the contrast could not be sharper with the comforts of life aboard the Delfin.
You can relax on the top deck with a pisco sour – a cocktail made with Peru’s national spirit – and in the dining-room you can enjoy first-class gourmet meals, including catfish and giant snails served in the shell.
After the food, you are serenaded by the boat’s crew.
Before getting there, your first stop in Peru is likely to be the capital, Lima. For an overnight stay, the Miraflores Park Hotel by the sea is one of the best options.
It boasts five-star accommodation with an excellent restaurant and a rooftop swimming pool, where urban vultures wheel above while you do the backstroke.
Lima is also Peru’s gastronomic capital. For dining out, La Mar restaurant in Miraflores, run by the renowned chef Gaston Acurio, offers the country’s national dishes, including ceviches – fish marinated in lemon juice, onion and aji chili – and chicarrones, tapas-style portions perfect for a lengthy lunch.
There are also opportunities to dine at the private homes of some of Lima’s grandest families. We lunched at the Casa Aliaga, a preserved colonial mansion occupied by the Aliaga clan since 1535, and later had dinner at the exquisitely-kept home of the Diez-Canseco family.
Paul McGurk travelled with Peru’s tourist board PromPeru and travel operator Cox & Kings, which offers a six-night tailor-made Amazon Cruise itinerary combining a four-night cruise on the MV Delfin with two nights in Lima, from £2,775 including flights ex-London and Manchester with KLM via Amsterdam and LAN Peru, B&B (full-board on cruise), transfers and excursions. Add £35 supplement ex-Glasgow.
Cox & Kings reservations: 0207 873 5000 and www.coxand kings.co.uk
Destination information: see www.peru.info
Yellow fever, typhoid and hepatitis A vaccines are essential – ask your doctor about getting immunised.
You’ll need plenty of sunblock, even although it rains a lot and can cloud over in the jungle, you are close to the Equator and the sunshine is very strong.
High-water season in the Amazon is December-May.
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