Manu, Day 2

We left the lodge early in the morning and continued up the Alto Madre Dios. We still have not actually reached the Manu Biosphere Reserve. It is farther up the river at the junction of the Manu River and the Alto Madre Dios.

The Manu Biosphere Reserve is the largest protected rain forest in the world. Established in the early 1970's, with the help of UNESCO, the park covers over 9000 square miles. It has over 850 species of birds and 15,000 species of plants.

Along the river we see quite a few animals, mostly macaws, parrots and monkeys. The cook has set up a small kitchen in the back of the boat and makes us lunch. After lunch we reach the town of Fitzcarraldo. This is the last town we will see for a while, so the cooks fill up on food and the drivers refill the gas.

The name of the town reminded of the famous Werner Herzog movie 'Fitzcarraldo.' I ask one of our guides about the about the movie and it turns out that both it and another Herzog classic Aguirre: The Wrath of God were filmed in the reserve. This worries me a little, because those movies sure made the jungle look awful.

After a few more hours we reach the river junction and begin to head up the Manu river. this river is much more calm than the Alto Madre Dios.

Just before sunset we reach our camp for the night. As soon as we put our gear in the lodges we split into two head into the woods to look for animals. Our group did not come across much. We saw a pair of tucans, possums and a family of howler monkeys. The other group comes across a sloth on the ground. They live in the trees for 99% of their life, so seeing one on the ground is very rare.

The jungle is very noisy at night. Crickets, frogs and many other things that would not even dare guess about. One sound seemed particularly strange; slightly like a frog but with a addition hiss. Alvero, one of the guides, said that it was the call of a bamboo rat. He said this with a snicker, so we naturally did not believe him. He had lost all credibility earlier that evening. During dinner, here was a very large rat crawling through the exposed rafters of the lodge. Alvero told everyone to not worry it was a possum not a rat. You maybe able to convince the city folks with that one. But I have seen many, many possums. It was, without doubt, a very large rat.

Jungle Group

The group we traveled with in the jungle was quite large. People came and left during the trip, but the group usually numbered 17, plus assorted guides, drivers and cooks.

Again I was blessed with a wonderful group of people.

Fred, Thomas & Francois - Three young French guys that would take their shirts off whenever possible. They were happy to show off there football skills, as well.

Sally, Lex and a girl from New Zealand whose name I forgot to write down - These three were nice, but giggly girls constantly flirting with the shirtless French. Their loud drinking games went late into the night.

Maeve - A very soft spoken, red-haired, young doctor from Northern Ireland. She was doing a rotation at a small hospital in Cuzco.

Frank and Edith - a German couple. Frank is an engineer for BMW. They were very jovial, but treated the guides and cooks like hired help.

Jennifer - is a recent graduate from U. of Texas visiting her boyfriend in northern Peru

Danny - is and English documentary filmmaker and journalist, who took a job with mentally challenged children in Cuzco.

Nick and Jody - are a couple from Jersey Island, England. They both quit their jobs, as a AC engineer and Banker respectively, to travel. They are finishing up a year of travel in a couple of weeks.

Virginia, Harry and Claudette - A family from California, armed with impressive camera equipment.

Photos of my trip.

I uploaded as many photos as I could to Flickr.

This link should take you too them.

Hostel People

The best thing about staying in hostels is meeting the other travelers. Hostels are usually laid out in a manner to encourage the tenants get together and mingle. The last hostel I stayed in, Hostel Loki, was particularly enjoyable. It was located in a refurbished Spanish mansion, high on a hill overlooking the Cuzco's Plaza De Armas.

On the top floor of the building they had a large bar with an incredible view of the city. Every night many of the 100 or so tenants would met and drink before heading out to one of the many bars and clubs of the city.

In the bar I was able to meet many interesting folks. Almost all that were my age were shared the same living situation. They had just quit their jobs and were taking time off to travel. Most of the of them were traveling for much longer periods of time ranging from 6 months to 2 years.

One of the ways I will start conversions with new people is to talk to them about the movies or TV of their country. The English are particularly amazed by the amount of British television I've seen. Apparently they have not met many Americans who have seen 'Only Fools and Horses.'

While talking to a Irish guy named Brian, the movie the 'Commitments' came up. It turns out that Brian's uncle is Joey 'The Lips' Fagan. He said that he was a strange man, very much like the character in the movie. They very rarely saw him because he toured with stage companies most of his life. Brian said he did thousands of performances as Estragon in Waiting for Godot.

I hung out with a Brian and a Scottish couple until just a little while before my bus to the Jungle picked me up the next morning.

Manu, Day One

The majority of the tour group had left around 8 hours before I signed up for the trip. Luckily the organizers were willing to arrange for me to catch up. The trip is a grueling two days, on what the Lonely Planet guide calls the worst stretch of road in Peru. I was going to condense that trip to one day.

On Monday about 4, I set out in a tiny Toyota minivan with two German naturalists, a local named Alvin and the driver, Ringo. About 4 hours into the trip, my companions were inexplicably dropped off on the side of the road. A couple of locals appeared out of the dense jungle and began to carry off their mound of equipment. I was left alone with the driver.

The road was all that the guidebook promised. It was very bumpy, with sharp curves, precipitous cliffs and was frequently covered with swiftly moving water. Twice, Ringo had to change a tire. He was dressed like he was about to play a round of golf. I felt sorry he had to lie in very deep mud to do this work.

In a small town called, Pacartambo, we stopped for breakfast. While we ate a small boy removed a wheel from our van and hammered out a very large dent. In no time we were back on our slightly less bumpy way.

Ringo did not speak, but sang quitely to himself for hours. I tried to read, and not pay attention to the speed at which we were taking sharp, muddy curves.

After another few hours we stopped in a small town for lunch. It was one of the restaurants where there is not a menu, you just take what are given. In this case it was a soup with spaghetti and what I hope was a chicken neck. It was topped off with a glass of water that looked like it was taken from a creek in Alabama after a night of rain. The cook looked disappointed that I didn't touch my fine cut of meat or my thick red water.

We picked up a man off the side of the road who said he was another guide. I never caught his name. He was dressed solely in a pair of 70´s track shorts, and had hair reaching almost to his waist. We were guided down to a very large river called the Alto Madre Dios. Here I left Ringo behind and boarded a large motor canoe with a few locals.

The river is amazing. It is dark and muddy with waves like the ocean. The currents are so bad that they turn back on themselves and river seems to completely change direction. Entire trees float next to the boat. Rather than logging many locals just pull trees out of the river and sell them.

Like every other trip locals are deposited in the most inhospitable places and scamper into the woods. I reach my stop after half an hour. It is surprisingly nice cluster of thatched a-frame buildings.

I am shown to a very nice screened in room with a bed an mosquito net. Naturally think this is the end of the day and lie down. Yet another guide appears and tells me I need to meet the rest of the group at the canopy tour.

We head off into the jungle. After about twenty minutes I meet the group of 7. I´m immediately fitted with a harness and ushered high into the trees. This isn't my first time riding zip lines and rappeling, so I volunteer to be first. The canopy tour is enjoyable. It is not quite as exicting as the one Kimberly, Danny and I did in Costa Rica, but it is a lot of fun.

Mercifully, after dinner I´m finally allowed to sleep.

Back from the Jungle

After a harrowing flight out of the jungle, I'm back in Cuzco. I'm too tired to write this afternoon. I'll work on a recap tomorrow.

My Hat

In the transportation riots outside of Puno, Peru, I lost my beloved Detroit Tigers/Magnum PI hat. When we reached Uyani, Bolivia I had to find a hat to replace the lost item. To my complete suprise I found an Auburn Tigers baseball cap. I was really shocked. The shop owner told me he had many if if I wanted another.

Cuzco, Peru
(After a marathon session in this internet cafe, I´m actually caught up to the present date.)
I arrive in Cuzco and go straight to Hostel Loki. I´m in a room with eight other guys. The beds are so nice that I fall asleep until almost eleven.

I go out to begin planning my last trip. While I´m searching for a recommended tourist agency, I happen upon a Culinary and Bar tending School graduation. For 3 soles, a little less than a dollar, you can sample the students meals. It must be some sort of contest because each student is recruiting customers. For three more soles you get to visit the bar as well. I have a very good vicuña lasagna and a drink called algorrin. Vicuña, case you don´t know, is a wild relation to the llama and alpaca. It resembles a long necked deer. It is a very good meat. Much better than llama and alpaca, which I think are a little dry.

After lunch I book my trip. I will be going to the Manu Biological reserve for 7 days and 6 nights. This is a rain forest preserve about half the size of Switzerland. The government protects the wildlife and the indigenous people. I will be hiking and rafting during the trip. Only 9 companies are licensed to guide tourists into the area. I was very lucky to get a space at this late of a date.

This will most likely be my last post until I return from Manu. If everything goes according to plan, I will return to Cuzco Saturday night, spend one more day here, and fly Cuzco-Lima-Houston-Atlanta on Monday the 30th.

Colca Canyon, Day 2
Today we continue up the mountains to the best view of the canyon. We stop at Cruz Del Condor. The site is incredible. The Colca Canyon is the deepest in the world at almost 3200m.

The scene is to large to fit in a camera image, so my pictures will never do the view justice.
I am lucky enough to see a condor. From this distance is look like a regular buzzard. But since it is able to fly to almost 6000m high and it can have a wingspan of 10 feet, it is surely very high above me.

After about 2 hours we head down the mountain. We reach Arequipa early in the evening and I splurge ($12 !) on a Peruvian bus with beds. Once you go semi-cama (half bed,) you can´t go back.

Colca Canyon

The next morning I board a bus headed for Colca Canyon. Time limited me to a bus tour rather than the trek I originally wanted to do. After a couple of hours on the bus I´m happy I did it this way. It has gotten cold again and we even drive through a little snow. The volcano I was going to climb is completely covered in clouds. This means it is is either raining or snowing up there. I´m happy to be warm.

The group of 12 is predominately local. I am the only English speaker again.
Many of the people are on the beginning of their vacations. This is their first taste of altitude sickness. I must be very used to the altitude now, because I don´t notice anything. Other than the days in Chile I have not been under 3000m in a long time.

The first day is uneventful. The most interesting thing we do is go to a mountain where you can see 7 volcanic peaks.

That night we visit a very nice complex of hot springs. At dinner we are treated to a folk dancing seminar. I don´t know what is about me, but I am always pulled out of a group as a volunteer. The dancing is actually very fun and the entire group stays there for hours. I am recruited after wards to go to a disco and learn salsa, with minor success.

The hotel we are in this night is one of the unfinished buildings I mentioned in a previous post. The rooms have ceilings but the rest of the hotel is still open air.

Arequipa, Day 3

My original plan was to climb the volcano just outside of Arequipa, El Misti. The other main attraction in this area is the Colca Canyon. I can´t work out a good way to do both, do I ditch the volcano.

After making the arrangements for the next few days, I relax some more. I´ve finished my book, so I go looking for an English book. The only thing I can find are books for an college English literature class and a couple of Danielle Steele novels. I finally find a historical fiction novel by a Russian author (Boris Akunin) translated into English. It looks like something Adrian or Dad would read.

That night I go to a local Karaoke/Disco. Neil Dimaond must speak a universal language because he is a hit with the locals. I am invited to join a birthday party, and sing for the guest of honor. It is a very fun evening. The group tries to teach me dancing and feeds me tequila until just about two hours before my tour bus leaves the next morning.

Arequipa, Peru, Day2

Spent the day relaxing. Since my trip has been so hectic, it is nice to take a day to do nothing.

I eat that night at a wonderful Turkish restuarant. and have a few of the local brew Arequipeña.

Arequipa, Peru

An early morning bus reaches Arequipa by the afternoon. I know I have said many cities were pretty, but next to Copacabana, I think this may be my favorite. The city is more upscale than Cuzco with many cool shops and wonderful restaurants.

On this day I visit the Monasterio Santa Cantalina. This convent is a city within a city that has only recently been opened to the public. It was formed by a rich widow in 1580 and only excepted daughters of the richest Spanish families. The families paid large amounts to insure a place for their children. Unlike most convents these nuns did not live in poverty. They had individual houses with as many as four servants each. They threw extravagant parties and lived as they had in their estates back home.

After 300 years the Pope got wind of the antics and sent a Dominican nun to straighten things out. This nun sent all the money back to Europe and freed all the slaves. None of the 450 remaining nuns ever left the convent again. The convent remained very secretive until it was opened again 1970. The 30 nuns who still live in the complex are separated from tourists.

That night I went to an Irish pub, drank mojitos and played pool. I lost, but in my defense I am used to playing with a tip on the cue. The locals don´t seem to need it.

Arica, Chile

Arica obviously a much richer city most I have been through. It is very different in both people and architecture. The city seems to have retained more of a Spanish influence than Peru and it feels more European. The churches are much more modern. The main cathedral and square were designed by Eiffel of tower fame.

The people hear have no desire to communicate in English. Their accents are so different that any communication is difficult. It makes me appreciate the very, very friendly Peruvians.

The water is pretty but very rough. I fight the temptation to run and jump in the undoubtedly freezing ocean.

I spend the day looking around and relaxing

Uyani, Day 3
In the morning we get up at about 5. We head out toward the Chilean border.

On the way we stop at volcano spring fed lake. An English woman named Rebbecca and I are the only ones brave enough to get in. After my freezing night of sleep I need to be heated up a bit. Several more tour groups arrive and many more get people get in the pools. A Swedish couple I talk to are disappointed that there is no cold water for them to jump in after wards.

The guides cook us a nice pancake breakfast. After breakfast we head to the geyser fields. The geyser fields are several hundred yards of geysers and boiling mud pits. These geysers are not like old faithful, they erupt constantly twenty or thirty feet into the air. Large pits of boiling mud throw mud far into the sky. Walking through the fields become difficult after a few minutes because of the heat and the intense smell of sulfur.

From the geysers we head again towards the border. We come to a rock formation called Dali´s Rocks. The formation is a group of strange boulders, perfectly spaced in a line across a sand dune. It really does look like the boulders were positioned for a painting.

In another hour we reach the border on the edge of anther giant volcano. At the border there is a small hut with an army official inside and a gate. The gate has no fence attached to it. It is just a gate in the middle of the desert. One could easily drive around it.

A bus meets us here and drives us down a very steep, winding road from the volcano. There are signs everywhere not to exceed 20 km down the hill. We pass the burned out skeletons of many eighteen wheelers in the canyons on either side. I assume the government leaves these here as a warning.

After another checkpoint we enter the Chilean desert town San Pedro. San Pedro is nice but there is very little to do. I have to kill eight hours here before I head to the coastal town of Arica.I sit on a bench in the Plaza De Armas, napping and reading.

Chilean buses are expensive, but they are far superior to those I have been in so far. The seats recline almost completely and become a full bed. After my last couple of nights this is paradise.

Unyani, Day 2

At 7 in the morning we get back out in the truck and head out into salt flats. Soon we have left the salt behind and we are in a standard desert.

The terrain looks like the pictures from Mars. The land is flat with large rocks every few inches. The placement of the rocks looks almost regular, like the were laid out on a grid. Huge mountains and volcanoes are on every side. Almost all the nearby peaks exceed 6000m.

During the day we come to several large lakes. The first lake is incredible blue and filled with bright pink flamingos. The lake is lined with beaches made of the white crystalline chemical called borax. In the US borax was used a laundry detergent. The borax makes the lake suitable for a large number of plankton. This abundance of food attracts the large flocks of Flamingos.

We pause here to eat lunch. As we are eating, several desert foxes come out of the grass to forage our scraps. I find the foxes fascinating. The English members of the group are completely nonplussed. Apparently foxes are quite common in London and you can feed them like a squirrel or a pigeon.

After lunch we head into the desert again. We encounter large rock formations and more lakes. Some of the lakes are green and blue and lined with beaches of sulfur, borax and salt.

At the end of the day we enter Euduardo Avardo State park. In this park we see the most amazing lake, Lago Colorado. This lake´s chemical make-up and temperature promotes the growth of red algae. The lake is impossibly red; a very deep rust colored red. The lake is also fed by volcanic springs. Large clouds of steam encircle the water. Many Flamingos are here as well.

Unfortunately the wind has become so cold and violent that we can only stay about five minutes.

We head to a small group of buildings close to the lake. The accommodations are very simple and we all sleep in one big room. The temps dip to zero again that night. The sleeping bag I rented looks like it was meant for children´s spend the night parties. All the bag is missing is a picture of a smurf printed on it. That and the fact that I´m sleeping under a window, that does not shut properly, make for very uncomfortable evening.