The torrent of La Torre

These pages have been created by Naomi, Resident Naturalist at Explorer´s Inn, to document the disaster that struck on 17th February 2007







Rio Tambopata, taken from the steps of the dock 16/11/06

Walking to breakfast in the morning, I heard the roar of the river from near the Comodore. I took my camera to the port to investigate and this is an account of what followed...


06:20 First view of the dock.

The La Torre river, normally a small tributary to the Tambopata river was flowing extremely fast. In the background, the Tambopata, although high, is still fairly tranquil. The La Torre, joins to the left of this picture and is responsible for the fast-flowing, choppy water in the front of the picture.

Most of the steps of the port have been lost.

06:25 Bad news - the metal water pump has been swept off it's wooden platform in the night

There is little hope of finding a huge lump of metal in this torrent. It's most likely sunk or been swept downstream or both. I don't think we will find it again, although the guys are planning to go looking for it. Mabe when the river goes down...

There are 25 tourists arriving today and now there will be no water. No water to shower, no water to cook, no water to wash-up or to clean clothes, rationed drinking water.

It is still raining heavily so we put out all the containers we can find to catch the water pouring off the rooves of the buildings. Who knows when we will get more water?!

06:30: The guys work to save the boat

This boat has no engine so couldn't be taken to the safer side of the river.

We try to tie it higher up at the top of the bank, rather than to the steps, some of which have already been washed away.

06:35 Trying to save the steps

Ropes are tied to the remaing sections of stairway to try and secure them

There is not much rope available to do this, so it's a double-challenge.








If the view at the port was a suprise, more was to follow. There were rumours about Sunset Point being damaged, so I took the Sunset Point Trail to find out. As I went down the first steps towards the little bridge across the quebrada, I could hear the river closeby, and it seemed lighter than usual, with fewer trees. I decided to stop at the bridge and take a photo before continuing along the path. The path, if you remember, goes across the bridge and then up and around to the left (past a walking palm I'd been measuring in November), and then there's a little side trail to the right down past the big trees and the memorial to Dr Gunthers wife and ending at the benches at the Sunset Point viewpoint.


Not any more.

06:40 The little bridge over the quebrada

The trail ends at the quebrada!! The peninsula where the check point is can be seen clearly on the other side of the river.

During the night, the entirety of sunset point has been washed away. It is almost impossible to believe the scale of this destruction.

La Torre is a raging torrent. Entire trees are being swept past. More are falling in all the time. The banks are eroding fast. We can hear the boom of trees and huge sections of earth falling in every few minutes.

06:40-12:00 five and a half frentic hours follow
During this time, it's all hand on deck to help with the salvage. There was no time to take photos.

7:00 radio communication with the office at Puerto Maldonado
Richard tells them sunset point is gone, that the steps of the port have been swept away and that the water pump is gone. They can't believe that we are serious. It is hard to imagine that so much can change in so short a time.

They still want to send the tourists and suggest we look downriver for the motorpump for the water.

Near-tragedy, near tragedies
Jaime falls in the river when the steps from the port are swept away from under him. Jeckson somehow managed to grab him and save him.

At this point massive trees, half a metre in diameter, are being swept under the water and lost to sight in seconds. A person falling in the river would stand almost no chance.

Jaime and Yorvi try to move the boat with no engine further downstream away from the most violent areas of the incoming La Torre current. The water is so rough that the boat is jolting from side to side and keeping your footing looks almost impossible, let alone paddling. They are quickly carried beyond our sight. It would take only one large tree trunk to over turn the boat.

The next thing we know, we see Daniel on the other side of the river (at the chacra) starting the other boat and moving down stream. Has he gone to help with the boat or to rescue them?!

He has the engine-less boat in tow and takes it back to the chacra on the other side. We can't see if the other guys are with him or not. We stand at the port unable to do anything for them but watch, wait, and pray.

Safe return
Soaking wet, but alive, Yorvi and Jaime return.

They were forced to abandon the boat (which I can only imagine meant that they were in serious, serious danger), and jump into the water near to shore. They grabbed a tree-trunk and hauled themsleves out. Daniel got the boat. They walked back along new collpita trail which was up to the tops of their thighs with water in places.

Isula saved
All the men in the lodge and Vikki, Holly and I helped to haul the little fibreglass boat, Isula, further up the bank and away from it's now precarious position lower on the bank. We took it right up to the boat-drivers' house. It's a steep slope, and that boat is really heavy.

It's still pouring with rain and everyone is soaked. The Tambopata is rising and La Torre is as strong as ever.

Radio communication with the office has been every hour since 9 am. They still haven't grasped the seriousness of the situation. By 10am, the little bench on the steps up from the port is falling into the river. At 11 am I send everyone to change into dry clothes and make hot chocolate to try and warm up. It is pouring with rain once again. We are all agreed that it is far too dangerous to do any more work near the river. It's simply not worth the risk. We can only wait for the river to calm down and then see what can be done.

By 12 noon, there are only a few steps left. The area where Isula was has entirely disappeared. The port has gone. If the erosion continues, the boat-drivers house will soon be in the water.

The first five steps from the path at the top of the port down to the river. Nothing more is left.

The river is still a raging torrent, waves are breaking on the surface with the sheer speed of the water. Whirlpools suck massive trees below the water seconds after thay have fallen in. Hundreds of large trees have flown past. There is no way on earth a boat could safely enter this area, even if there were a port at which to disembark. To attempt to do so would be sheer folly. To bring a boatload of students into this situation is ludricrous, on top of which, there is no water at the lodge for the current guests and staff. Other suggestions for ports are considered, including the collpita, but the trail is impassable. After Richard, Jaime, I, Aleyo and Yorvi have spoken to the office, and by 1 pm, I think they have finally begun to understand how serious this is. At 1:30 pm we are relieved to hear that the tourists won't be coming today.


Stages along the way

The port

Top: 17th Feb
12 pm


Bottom: 18th Feb
4 pm










The check point

The check point was evacuated overnight, as La Torre was eating it away from behind. Today (19th Feb), it seems that there is no possibility that it will be rebuilt in the same place. The entire peninsula could disappear into the river at any time!

Top: 3:30 pm 17th Feb
Bottom 10:00 am 18th Feb

Today, there are still trees and big sections of bank falling into the river every few minutes. Pictures of Capirona trail will follow. A huge amount of land has been lost. Everyone at the lodge has worked together to rebuild. The large group of students arrived yesterday. A water pump is being loaned for a few hours at a time from one of the other lodges (InaTawa), but water is still scarce. The hard work continues. Currently, none of us have water to wash our very wet and muddy clothes. No one has dry clothes. Dishes are being rinsed in rainwater. Drinking water is rationed.

We need a new water pump with some urgency. Not only will everyone be more comfortable and less at risk of ill-health, but it will free up a lot of time for the guys if they don´t have to go to another lodge twice a day and then spend time setting up the water pump. This time is needed to repair all the damage, to rebuild another port for the tourists, to clear and rebuild the trails (Sunset, Capirona and La Torre are all damaged, RNs are invesitgating further today). I have seen how everyone at Explorer's Inn pulls together and works as a team and I have confidence that they can do these things, but we need support from the whole of Peruvian Safaris.