Internet can be a little difficult to come by here, and I dont have much time this morning. Sorry for being delinquent in writing, but here is a recap of the week so far (Has it really been a week already !?!??)
Tuesday night- Flight from NYC delayed 2 hours which meant that by the time I had gotten to Lima, I had made it to the gate after they just shut the door to my plane. They put me on the next one to Puerto Maldonado. I emailed Jack the night before to tell her that I was going to miss my flight to meet her and that if I wasnt on it, to tell the lodge that I was going to be on the next one out. It worked. She met me at the airport in Puerto Maldonado in a minibus with our tour guide, Marco. A 27 year old Peruvian guy who was probably the best guide we could have asked for. When we checked into the lodge, there was a three toed sloth that had been rescued from a telephone pole. I got to hold him- it was awesome!! We continued our drive in the minibus to the square in Puerto Maldonado. Ate Gelato made of local fruits...yummy. We continued to the Madre River, where we hopped on a boat ( which would become our main mode of transportation from the week) and rode to a big mudhill where we got off, walked through the jungle and entered into the most fanastic jungle lodge. The lodge was all open- walls only between the rooms, not to the outside. No doors, only curtains. Hammocks surrounded the lounge area and were made good use of during our downtime (all 2 hours of it in 4 days).
We went on a jungle walk. Had our faces painted by Marco, using a plant we found in the jungle. Saw many insects, but probably the most gratifying thing we saw was a tarantula that was bigger than my hand. It was smack in the middle of the path that we were walking on. It had little babies next to it too. We took a video of Marco taunting the Tarantula to get it out of its hole. We ate all meals with Marco. Another group of girls were there from Australia- claimed to be very adventurous, but they wouldnt touch anything that had to do with the local water and were very particular with what they ate. They looked at Jack and I like we had a million heads because we wouldnt stop trying stuff. I believe at one point we termed ur trip philosophy as "Reckless Abandonment".
Marco, Jack and I played cards at night, drank hot chocolate and ate vanilla biscuits. Marco even started giving me spanish lessons in our free time, since my spanish is very broken. For example, upon trying to ask one of the guys at the lodge if he wanted to sit down with us after we finished lunch, I apparently asked if he wanted to feel me instead...Everyone could not stop laughing. The amount of lessons I was receiving picked up after that...
Wednesday we boated to a nearby farm and basically ate our way through it- trying all the fruit they grew: papaya, banana, coconut, carambola, coriander, and hot peppers. Jack threw the whole thing in her mouth at once and then realized it was a hot pepper. I bit into it and tasted it first. Needless to say, Jack turned into a hot mess after that. Apparently hot things dont work well for her. Highlight of the farm walk: Sugar Cane! The farm had all the makings for a great guacamole and mojito´s but we had to leave. Went to a house down the river to visit.Had to walk up the mudhill in our barefeet. Such a gross and odd feeling. Funny we pay for mudbaths in America...
That night we went on a catamaran on Lake Tres Chimbapdas where we viewed Caimen and fished for Piranhas. Saw the sunset over the lake. Very beautiful.
Thursday we got up at 5 am to go to the clay lick and watch birds eating. We went back to the lodge for meals and then out again for the afternoon adventure of walking through the Tambopanata National Reserve to go fishing. We went to a small pond first where we had to take our shoes and socks off and walk into the muddy water where the mud came up to our calves and water up to our waists. Very freaky sensation to feel things under your feet (mainly air bubbles from the mud)but not be able to see anything in the water around you. Marco and Victor showed us how to fish with a net we borrowed from a local family. I earned the name Harp Eagle with my netting skills and the fact that I caught almost all the bait to go to the next pond and get our bigger fish- piranhas and dogfish. We caught 2 piranhas and a dogfish. Watched monkeys swinging around from us across the river. Were late for lunch on our arrival back to the lodge, so we dropped our bags in our rooms and went to the dining hall. They eat meals at different times. Lunch is at 1 or 2 and dinner at 8. Apparently its standard here. Its dark around 530 pm too. We went back into our room that night and heard a noise- we brought some food with us to the ponds and a rat had found it in the bag and was on the bed eating it. Marco helped us get rid of it, phew!
Went Caiman spotting. Marco caught one. Got to hold it. It was awesome!
I took my final spanish lesson Friday night. Marco asked if he could keep me- which after trying to discern what exactly he meant by keep me, I realized that he wanted to date. I could have had my own little jungle guy :)
Saturday was mainly travel back from the jungle to Cusco. It was sad to leave Inotawa- it was such an excellent time. This doesnt even begin to describe the amount of fun or what we saw there.
Was sick in Cuzco from the altitude, so going to Shelby and Chris´s wedding was a little difficult. Wedding was gorgeous! What a great time! Shelbys sister had some pills I could take for the sickness. Felt much better.
Went to Machu Picchu yesterday and got up at 4am to get tickets to climb Wayna Pichu. We ran through Machu Picchu at 6 am to get in line and were 2 of the lucky 400 who were able to get tickets to climb. Yay! View was magnificent! Met Sean from San Francisco last night and had dinner with him. Meeting up with him again tonight for dinner in Cusco and probably again in Lima.
Machu Picchu was great- rumor is that they are going to close it within the next year due to damage from the foot traffic.
Whole experience has been great. We are going horseback riding to ruins in Cusco now, so I must sign off. They shoot fireworks off here in Cusco all the time and they LOVE 80´s music. Im in heaven!
Hope all are well!
Buenos Dias! Ciao!
