The Amazon, Part II

                After getting a boat ride from a farmer, I hopped a cab for the bumpy, muddy 20km ride into Puerto Maldonado. In the cab was the driver and cook in the front, my guide, me, an Italian backpacker, and an American nonprofit founder/medicinal plant shaman, plus in the trunk, a mother, her four kids, two giant backpacks, and two packs and the spare tie were on the roof of the car. Typical.

                I arrived at the Tambopatu Hostel, and was very unsettled. My jungle experience had been ruined, was awful, and maybe I should just fly to Lima. Maybe.

                A bunch of friendly backpackers welcomed me, and the owner and jungle guide was there. He told me about a trip leaving the following day, an overnight that would allow me to make my flight back to Lima. Sold! Plus he seemed friendly, came recommended, and not just by the guidebook, but by other travelers I had met, including the Shaman.

                The next morning, after a very good for-a-hostel breakfast, we walked down to the ferry – all 11 backpackers and 2 guides – with giant rubber boots. We all struggled with our bags which were weighed down with heavy clothes and rainjackets, which we didn’t need, and giant 2.5 liter bottles of water, which we did need. We got on a boat for about 45 minutes, applying sunscreen, enjoying the breeze, spraying on bug spray. We were already getting bit up.

                After we arrived, we put on our rubber boots and began hiking in the sweltering rubber through a very muddy trail. Quickly, we saw monkeys, birds, fire ants leaf cutter ants, and lots of other insects, trees, plants, and wildlife. After around an hour, we got into a canoe and went across the lake.

                We hiked a few minutes and then found our cabins. Mine was a private room in a hut I shared with two Chilean girls. A mosquito net over the bed, wooden floors, thatched roofs. It was rustic.

                We had enough time for a short swim before lunch and I was a little nervous – this is where they found caiman and pirannahs, but our guide convinced us it was okay. He went in first to show us, and after one or two steps, we saw it wasn’t. He stepped on a fresh water stingray.

                He went up to the lodge, where they burned a termite’s nest – the smoke healed disinfect and heal the wound. Someone also gave him an antibiotic. We were sweating, but no one else was hurt.

                After lunch, I sat in the shade and wrote a letter. After getting bitten up by ants, I headed down to the water. It was cooler and I continued writing in the shade, but finally, after others urged me, headed in for a quick swim. I splashed a lot while I entered and exited, but was still scared.

                Our afternoon hike was focused on medicinal plants. We ate native fruits, brazil nuts. Our guide pointed out all sorts of wildlife, and we were sweaty and dirty but so enthused.

                After a short break, we hopped in canoes for a sunset ride. We saw monkeys – so many monkeys, hanging in the trees, so cute! We saw lots of birds, including the infamous “stinky bird” (that sounds like it has asthma). After the sun set, our guide caught two caimans and passed them around the boat.

                We had dinner, and then, went on a short hike to look at various tarantula.

                Then bed – around 9am. No electricity means an early night.

                I woke up at 5am, due to a bat swooping around my room. Freaky. I crawled out, keeping as close to the ground as possible. We headed back to the canoe for another ride – more monkeys, more birds, just a beautiful day. We climbed high high high, many spiral staircases up, to see an incredible view.

                Then breakfast, chatting.

                And then – a hike with just the son of the property owner. We did not talk, but sweated, pushed, and quickly completely a tough hike. Everyone else was on a boat ride, but I was off to catch my flight.

The Amazon, Part I

                                                                                                  

                I had been in the jungle years ago in Brazil – it was one of the most incredible travel experiences of my life and I couldn’t wait to repeat. Sure, there were scary and gross and filthy moments, but it was a lovely experience.

                I had booked a tour to the Nape Ecovillage and Botanical Gardens through Rainforest Expeditions – highly recommended in my Lonely Planet and sounding like an amazing trip. I’m sad to say this wasn’t the case.

                I’ll keep it as short as I can: I arrived and discovered I was the only person on my guide’s tour – and oh yeah, I was her first tour ever. No one else was there, my guide was shy and quiet and didn’t know a lot. The schedule had been changed – hunting and fishing with traditional forms had been added, along with a fishing trip. Vegetarian says NO! A jaguar had been in our hut a few days prior – our hut which had giant screen-less, glass-less windows, and no doors anywhere. I was frightened to sleep. The bugs were also scary! Our first day, we did maybe 30 minutes of activities, and the second day 4 hours. And then we were done, and I had two more days. I asked repeatedly for them to take me back and they resisted but finally agreed. Nothing was right and I was unhappy. I was so sad because I had so looked forward to this part of the trip for a long time and it was so saddening that it was not working out like I had so hoped.

Cusco, Part I: The Run

                This trip, too many times, I had long layovers and no time later/earlier to run. So I learned the brilliant option of checking your bags. Sometimes, as in Cuzco, they charge way too much. But at least they store your stuff.

                After changing in the VIP Lounge (where they stored my bags securely), I headed out to run to Plaza de los Armes. On the way, I stopped at a pharmacy to get much-needed Cipro. No prescription necessary, just a short chat with a pharmacists and 5 soles later (or around $1.60USD), I got medicine that tamed my wild Peruvian belly.

                And then I kept running. I ran fast. I asked a friendly painter for directions. ‘Ay, muy linda,’ he told me of the plaza. And I ran.

                I ran past tourism like I hate it, like I haven’t seen in a while. While running, people tried to sell me things, to have me change dollars to soles (Why? Like every smart traveler, I hit up an ATM for the best rate, and I had enough soles!), to get me to hop on the Macchu Picchu tour.

                Cuzco was pretty, yes. The hills reminded me of Chacha – but I think Chacha is prettier. It was green and lovely and quaint and colonial – but I sometimes get sick of the massive tourism.

                After an hour and a half, I re-entered the terminal, people perplexed and amused. I went through security, changed and freshened up in the bathroom. And then I had enough time to buy an internet password, email those I loved one last time before the jungle, and get excited for the next step in my journey.

Chiclayo

Originally, I was torn between Chiclayo (much closer to everything else, and with an airport) and Chachapoyas. Yes, an overnight bus ride – but if you get first class, like I do, it’s not so bad. But the overnight bus left me with the option of taking another 12 hour bus ride to Lima or flying. I found a fairly affordable flight and figured I could do the best of both worlds and see Chiclayo! Bueno!

I arrived bleary-eyed but ready to explore the city – until the kindly security guard informed me that it was too dangerous for me to walk around.  My friends had been pickpocketed in the city a few days prior, and the news was bursting about the assault of a North American woman. I don’t know what happened, but it seemed to be pretty bad as everyone was quite worried. I thought about getting a hotel just for a place to take a nap, shower, and have a secure spot to crash, but the affordable ones listed in Lonely Planet had all seemed to shut down. (Several people verified this for me.)

So I chilled in the bus station until 7am, and then joined the masses on the streets. With my pack in the bus station’s luggage storage, I still had my laptop, passport, kindle, camera, iPod – I had to be careful. So I walked cautiously, trying to ignore the many stares/comments I got.

I explored the main square, various streets, and then got breakfast. “Tienes comida vegetarian?” Hmmm…She pointed out there was spaghetti con veduras. “Para desayuno?” She shrugged. I decided I couldn’t deal with any more eggs, so I ordered that for breakfast. It was with some sort of soy sauce, no onion because I requested that, and tons of cabbage. It was edible.

After breakfast, I wandered around the town a bit more, and then, dealt with the drama (and expense) of mailing things back to the States. And then I headed to the even more extreme drama of catching a combi (minibus) to Lambayeque. I hopped off when I got to the town, and someone told me how to get to the Museo Tumbes Reales de Sipan.

The site of Sipan is about 40km from Chiclayo, but this wasn’t that. Basically, when they discovered this tomb, they moved most of the stuff to this site to be restored and displayed. It’s one of the top ten archeological museums in the world and is just gorgeous – it’s laid out in the same way as the tomb, in layers, so you walk around on ramps like you are layers in the tombs – and the tombs are arranged in a similar way that everything is found. It includes the skeleton of the young (He died in his 40s.) Lord Sipan, who died young with a terrible bone disease – maybe arthritis. Because he was royalty, he did not walk – he wore golden sandals. (FYI, If I’m ever a lord or president or ruler, I will not wear shoes you can’t walk in. I will make running a national past-time.) Anyway, all his jewelry, his clothing, everything is on display. They also found the bones of several others buried with him – his wife, concubines, soldiers, etc. I’m sorry, I love Wayne, but if he dies, I’m not jumping into that burial site with him.

The museum is only 10 soles (a little more than $3USD), but to get a private guide (which really helps to tell a lot more of the story than is on display – which, by the way, is only in Espanol) is only 20 soles – so you get someone telling you all about everything, answering your questions – for a little more than $6USD.

It was absolutely fascinating, and I was full of questions. Also very cool – you get to see people fixing and working on restoring remains in a building to the side of the main building.

After, I got ensalada de fruta con yogurt, miel y cereals (fruit salad with yogurt, honey & muesli), and then returned to Chiclayo. I got my bag from the bus station, was very relieved, as the bus station personnel have proved themselves incompetent many times – temporarily losing my bags in Chiclayo when I was transferring buses to go to Chacha, marking my bags for Trujillo when they were destined to Chiclayo – and then arguing me that my bag was going to Trujillo and shouldn’t stay with me.

With time to burn, but not sure what to do, I decided to head to the airport early. I used the wifi, relaxed, and enjoyed not being in a rush, for once.

Photos of Chachapoyas!!!