During our stay in Colombia we already decided that we want to do a tour in the Amazon rain forest. We booked a tour on the Peruvian side of the Amazon which was to be our first stop after leaving Colombia. 
From Medellin we flew to Iquitos via a one-night stop in Lima. From the airplane to Iquitos it was then the first time the two of us laid eyes on the Amazon river. At the airport we were greeted by our guide Marden, who took us to the lodge after we got the last bits of supplies such as mosquito repellent. The trip to the lodge was an 1.5h drive followed by 1.5h on boat. At the lodge we were welcomed by a tasty fruit juice made out of a fruit that we have never tasted before (and also the name of which we forgot), and a lunch that was waiting for us.
After quickly refreshing ourselves at the room, it was already time for our first walking expedition in the rainforest. The first thing to notice in the forest was the incredible palette of different sounds the animals and wind make. One particular sound was unlike anything we've ever heard, somehow it reminded us of a quiet table saw that is made by an exotic cricket. As we were trudging through thick mud in our wellington boots we saw huge trees with liana hanging down its sides, we heard birds chirping joyfully and felt mosquitos buzzing annoyingly around our heads. 
The attentive and experienced guides spotted and pointed out many monkeys on the trees such as the howler-, capuchin- and common squirrel monkeys, and the special pygmy marmoset that's the smallest monkey in the world (the one peeking from behind the tree sticking its tongue out in the pictures). Seeing these monkeys was incredible, the curious but careful primates already made it worthwhile putting up with all the mosquitos. 

The same evening we went for a short boat ride to spot small cayman crocodiles and capybara (Wasserschwein in German). The reflection of the caymans' eyes made them fairly easy to spot and were a cool sight, but we missed seeing capybaras. We did, however, get to see the most wonderful night sky that either one of us has ever seen. Countless stars made up the unbelievably clear milky way, and the fireflies blinking around us made for a truly special moment.
The first full day was a long boat ride through the winding ways of one of the arms of the amazon river during which we saw capybaras on land. They reminded us of the even chubbier brother of the "Mungge", the Swiss mountain rodents. We also saw a small snake that was caught in the entangled plants around the propeller of the boat motor. Another special moment was to see Macaws, the blue and yellow parrots, who tend to be in couples as it is visible on the picture. 
For Oli's birthday his wish was to see poison dart frogs. The guides made this their mission and their effort was highly appreciated! We started the special day with a longer boat ride during which we saw pink dolphins and even a sloth on the treetop, before we arrived at a very basic pueblo (town) consisting of a handful of quite basic wooden houses, where around five kids were sitting in their mathematics class in a little wooden house that was their school. After eating lunch at a local's place we started our adventure. The leader of the town then guided us through the immensely dense forest in search of the little creatures. It wasn't long before some scrambling of the guides raised our expectations. And indeed, he had already found a small frog that was barely visible. This frog was a young one, so its skin was not yet fully developed to display the wonderfully saturated and striking colours. It did however have small pigments of slightly coloured spots on its back that made it look like a sky full of stars. Oli was super happy to see it and that he managed to take a photo of it!
This wasn't the only surprise on this adventure though. A while later, we heard the same guide exclaim "damn, an anaconda!" in Spanish. Excitedly, we tried to spot it, and indeed there it was very hard to see just next to a tree almost perfectly camouflaged. When another guide asked why don't we catch it, the two of us looked at each other startled, but the local jumped on his knees and tried to grab the approximately two metre long reptile the moment the words were spoken. Though the snake escaped, for us it was a very exciting experience and we will surely remember this birthday for a while. Unfortunately, we did not see a more colourful frog, but the excursion was incredibly memorable and exhausting too. Back at the lodge Oli was touched by the nice gesture by the staff, after dinner the whole crew of around 15 people sung a happy birthday accompanied by guitar and cajon whilst giving us a birthday cake with "Feliz Cumpleanos Oli" written on it. It was a lovely birthday that only missed more family and friends.
The last day in the amazon was already the date of our return to Lima, we did however have time for an early morning boat ride which was by far the most scenic. The layer of mist on the water combined with the warm colours of the morning sun resulted in a wonderful panorama that rounded our experience in the amazon rain forest perfectly. 
We then went back to Iquitos where our plane was heading towards Lima. Content and with a lot of memories created, we boarded the plane and were also happy to say goodbye to the humidity, the heat and the mosquitos. 
The outlook now is in less humid areas with less mosquitos. As we go down towards the south of Peru we aim to get accustomed to the altitude before doing the Salkantay trek including Matchu Picchu.