School kids
stopped to stare as we crossed the plaza after breakfast on Tuesday, the first
time that has happened since we were in Borneo. This is a sure sign we are on the road less traveled. You don’t see many blue-eyed gringos in
this part of Peru.
We splurged
today and paid for all three places in the back of our collectivo to Tingo Maria.
The extra six bucks was a small price to pay for the added comfort on
the 2 ½-hour ride up into the cloud forest and down to the jungle. Our driver was good even if he couldn’t
always see through the fogged up windshield as the wipers struggled to keep up
with the rain. Once in town we
hired a mototaxi, a three-wheeled
motorbike taxi, to take us to Villa Jennifer, our R&R center for the next
few days.
The villa is
a former pig farm on ten hectares at the edge of the jungle. The rustic resort has several cozy
rooms, two pools, and a pretty good restaurant. Owners Alan from Denmark and his Peruvian wife Gisela are
very helpful. Only one other
couple is here so we had our choice of rooms. We passed on a double room with four beds and a giant
bathroom in favor of a smaller, though comfortable, room with a private covered
rooftop patio from where we can watch the birds and monkeys. Or we can wander around the
menagerie. There are caimans,
monkeys, parrots, macaws and even a pair of ocelots, all given to Alan to care
for.
The area
between here and Pucallpa is infamous for its cocaine trade. Three Vietnam-vintage Huey helicopters ferry
government troops overhead on routine anti-drug patrols. The rotor sounds and the jungle make this
place feel all too familiar.
Flashbacks, anyone?
Normally
four days of lounging around would be a bore but we are finding it
regenerative. We have seen about
80 different species of birds, 20 of them new for us, and have taken some
pretty amazing photos. We spend a
lot of time snoozing and reading and don’t feel the least bit guilty.
