In my last blog, I recapped my first day in Peru, you can read it here in case you missed it. Now let’s get into Day Two!

Day Two started with an early-morning breakfast before hopping on the boat to head to the Tambopata National Reserve and Sandoval Lake. We had about a 2-mile walk through the Tambopata National Reserve in order to get to the lake. During our walk, our guide pointed out different native plants, trees, animals and birds and shared important history of the Reserve and the area around it.

When we got to the lake, we boarded our canoe and set off to look for different native animals and explore Sandoval Lake. Despite it being a very hot day and the sun being strong, the ride around the lake was very relaxing. During our paddle we saw more birds, turtles and ducks. I was hoping to see some otters, but unfortunately they didn’t come out to play. After we explored the lake, we set off on our 2-mile walk back to the entrance.

Back at the hotel we had lunch before heading back out to the Inkaterra Canopy Walkway. The Canopy Walk was tucked away in the forest, so we had about a 10-minute walk to the beginning of the canopy walk. We knew we had a lot of steps to climb, but actually looking up the tower, I knew I was going to have to take a break or two before reaching the top. We climbed all the way to the top, which gave us one-of-a-kind views of the surrounding Amazon forest.

After taking all our pictures at the top, we got ready to tackle the first suspension bridge of the Canopy Walk. I was a little nervous for the first one because we were really high up and the bridge was very wobbly; but once I got halfway across the bridge, I wasn’t as nervous any more and was able to soak up the views and enjoy the walk. There were 10 bridges in total, each varying in length but all providing fun and stunning views. This was a very unique and cool experience; it was definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip.

The Canopy Walk took up most of the afternoon; so once we were done, we headed back to the hotel for dinner before our nighttime jungle walk. Our guide kept calling this excursion the creepy crawly walk, and that was making me a little nervous for all the bugs and creatures we were going to see. Throughout the walk we saw lizards, a bunch of spiders, a scorpion, a tarantula (Eek!) and the stars of the show, the night owl monkeys … they were so cute! Even though it was called the creepy crawly walk, it was still cool to explore the jungle at night and a fun way to end Day Two.

Keep an eye out for Day Three!

— Mary Melnick, social media & editorial manager