Every day we did a little something different. Most days started very early, anywhere from 3:30-5:00, depending on the outing. We had resiliency sessions in the evenings and often didn't get to bed until sometime after 11:00, one night it was much later for a dance party. Here is Geoff wowing with the limbo!
To say we were sleep deprived is an understatement. People caught naps when they could...
The heat and exhaustion got the best of me on two occasions and I missed out a bit. One of those days I was very nauseas until I finally vomited and then felt better. But somehow, when in the jungle (and not the lodge), I didn't feel the tiredness. It was as if the trees included us visitors as part of the beneficiaries of their nurturing.
One morning we woke up at 3:30 and took a 45 minute boat ride to a salt lick, the discoteca for macaws. Macaws mate for life and often flew in pairs, but the salt lick is also the place for them to find mates. We all had binoculars, but the guides had a high quality scope that allowed us to take some pictures with a better view. Some day I want one of those. The macaw colors are so vibrant and glorious. The Incas made clothing out of them for the king and nobles. There were parrots too. We visited a second clay lick too.
The guides set out a breakfast for us. Amazing local fruits, unbelievable plantain chips, and always rice and beans for us vegans.
Adele led the group in a meditation on that rocky beach. She did an amazing job! She's a natural!
Every day we took a forest walk, the flood plain one day, to a lookout the next, another the palm swamp or bamboo forest. All different in their own way, and all providing loads of delightful variety and life.
A few days the teens and guides and workers set off to play fútbol (soccer) at a makeshift field. I opted to nap instead of watch, but one of our guides called Ceci a fútboler, so I'm bummed I missed the games!
One evening we boated to a spot where we all went swimming. It felt so refreshing! It was a little unnerving knowing there are caimans in the river (our guides watched for them while we swam). Our guides set out a snack, someone brought a speaker and we danced around, played American football and soaked in sunset on the river with the Andes in the distance.
After four days at the Tambopata Research Center we took a three hour boat ride to Posada Amazonas where we stayed for the remainder of the trip.
This forest had a different feel. It is closer to local villages and before a partnership was made to build this particular lodge where locals could receive the proceeds and adjust their lifestyles to take care of the forest ecosystem, they cut down the larger trees for wood which reduced certain monkey species, which in turn effected this or that and on and on. It was interesting to observe the differences. One afternoon we hiked to a 200 meter tower where we could look out over the canopy. It rained on the way but stopped as we climbed the tower. This invited birds and animals out. The view was so spectacular and reverent. It was one of Geoff's highlights. The sun was setting, macaws and toucans were out and about. It was expansive and pure. Hard to capture.
As the sun was setting we spotted a group of howler monkeys making their way toward the tower, jumping from branch to branch, tree to tree, sliding down and leaping and swinging their way along. There was another tower maybe eight feet away from our tower, and those monkeys began to climb it until they were eye level with us. Since the locals don't hunt monkeys anymore, they are not afraid of humans. They sat and observed us with curiosity. There were wee babies and mothers and protective males. The guides said that in the 15 years they have been guides they have never been so close. It was magical.
One early morning we went to a lake created by the ever-changing river's path called Oxbow Lake. A local rowed us around on a flotilla, so silent and still. We observed all kinds of birds. We also had some caimans approach the boat (these were small). The local paddling us around had a piranha he had caught for lunch in a bucket. It was dead so our guide took it out for us to look at. Our guides said the piranhas were only in the lake, but wasn't the lake created by the river? Probably best I didn't know that when swimming!
We visited the local village and toured the medicinal garden where local shaman's gather healing plants to treat the community. I was so fascinated by their remedies. Most locals can't afford a doctor and rely 100% on the community shaman and the healing plants he uses.
After seven days our time in the jungle was over. On the one hand, a warm shower and change of clothes sounded really nice (I was pretty sure a new fungi system was growing in my clothes!) A bug-free bed, cooler temperatures and a little variety of food would be welcome. And at the same time we had made some really good new friends. We were deeply connected to the earth, almost feeling her heartbeat, and energized by her. It was hard to imagine crowds, screens and hustle and bustle.
I'll miss our guides Jair, Claudia and Fernando.
We took a boat ride to a pick up point where a bus took us an hour to the airport. We took a flight to Lima where the teenagers and Geoff fit in as many poker games as they could (with Geoff and Nico cheating all along) and then quickly said goodbye to our fellow adventurers and ran to our connecting flight to Cusco. In Cusco we were picked up and drove an hour and a half to the village of Ollantaytambo for the last part of our Peruvian adventure.
Stay tuned!
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