Peru Adventure

We dropped our dog off at my mom’s house and headed to the airport Tuesday night. The airline had instructed us to be there 3 hours before our 1:30 am flight, but we were excited, and early. Arriving at SFO at 9:30 we walked up to a non existent line at Taca Air and whipped thru the check in process. I am proud to say that our two checked bags weighed only 33 and 23 pounds! Next we were off to the security checkpoint, again, empty. So by 10 pm we were at our gate, hmmm, now what? We managed to kill the 3 1/2 hour wait by me reading, and in Grant’s case, talking to everyone who sat within a 30 foot radius of us. I did chat with a nice Aussie lady and her mom, she was a dog person who knew a bit about guide dogs in general and had been to the school I was at in Australia. We finally boarded our plane and I had to agree with Grant’s assessment that the Airbus -A320 plane sucks. It was a full flight and we got stuck on the row before the emergency exit, which means you can’t lean your seat back. The worst part was the heat. I turned my little air vent on as high as it would go and it spit a bit of warm air on me. Uh oh, this could be bad, even though I had taken the requisite Dramamine and I had on the acupressure wristbands designed to prevent motion sickness, I was not feeling so good. Sure enough, after wallowing in misery for 3 of the 6 hours I was reaching for the air sick bag. The post sickness relief surge steadied my stomach until just as we landed in El Salvador when I had to use the bag again while we taxied to our gate, how humiliating! Once we got off the plane I immediately felt better. We only saw El Salvador from the air but it looked beautiful, lush green vegetation and sugar cane fields butting up against a beautiful relatively undeveloped shoreline. It was humid and warm. After a short layover we boarded yet another Airbus - A320, and with some trepidation headed for our seats. Ahh, the emergency exit row! Extra legroom and seats that recline, along with cool air from the vent, we were in heaven. This 4 hour flight was opposite from the last thank goodness. I felt great, ate breakfast, read my book, had a cocktail, then slept, hooray! We arrived in Lima around 2pm local time which is 2 hours ahead of California time. A nice guy from Adventure Travel picked us up and drove us to our hotel. Lima is like many other large South American cities, lots of cars driving fast with drivers liberally using their horns, pedestrians jaywalking, and a lack of obvious intersection controls combined with many multi lane roundabouts which always scare me not matter what country they're in. Thank goodness I didn’t have to drive! Our hotel was in the “Miraflores” district with is south of the airport and city center near the coast. It was a nice hotel, small, but with excellent service and food. After dinner we didn’t have the energy to go out and explore so we went to bed early and slept for the next 12 hours!

Here's todays lesson on Peru. Peru is the 3rd largest country in South America, 27 million people live here (9 million in Lima alone). The official languages are Spanish and Quechua. Over half of the population are pure Amerindian origin and many live in remote mountain areas still speaking Quechua or Aymara. There are 50 ethnic groups who live in the Amazon region some of whom still shun contact with the outside world. Peru is a country with huge variety. Of the 103 possible ecological zones identified in the world, Peru has 83. It has major regions: a narrow costal belt which is predominantly desert, the wide Andean mountains, and the Amazon basin which covers half of Peru. Apparently I did not read all this beforehand because I was surprised to see the desert as we flew into Lima which sits right on the coast. Whenever I thought of Peru it was always lush and green. We won't be exploring Lima until the end of our trip so today it was back to the airport to fly to Juliaca which is the closest airport to our first adventure, Lake Titicaca. The flight stopped in Cusco first giving us a glimpse of what we will see later. We walked off the plane into the crisp high altitude air where everything looks crystal clear. Inside the small terminal a local Andean band played folk music while people waited for their luggage. We were transported by bus thru the small town of Juliaca which had very narrow streets and lots of bicycles. As we drove thru town Grant pointed up towards the roof of a building were a very large dog stood perusing the street below! As we left town we began to see small groups of sheep and cattle occasionally tended by women in traditional Peruvian garb. The town of Puno sits at 12,630 feet above sea level and is built along the hilly shores of Lake Titicaca. It too has very narrow streets with 2 and 3 story buildings looming above. Our hotel is very nice with beautiful woodwork throughout and hot Mate de Coca tea as you arrive. The tea is supposed to help with altitude sickness and we enjoyed it however we are relying on our prescription medication to combat altitude sickness. Tomorrow we will start exploring the local area.

I woke up this morning to find Grant had been suffering all night with altitude sickness, headache, inability to sleep, and finally nausea. I headed down to the front desk to explain. "No problemo" they gave me some mystery pills and sent up a tank of oxygen for Grant to use for about 20 minutes and pretty soon he was as good as new! We left early with our guide, Juan Carlos and headed for the docks and our boat to the islands. We got there by tricycle taxi, which was pretty fun. Fortunately for the guys pedaling, it was all down hill. At the docks we stopped at the market to buy gifts for our host family. Our guide suggested oranges as during the winter fruits high in vitamin C are scarce on the island. We also purchased rice, sugar, and milk. Now a few interesting facts about Lake Titicaca, as I mentioned earlier it is the world's highest navigable lake at 12,725 feet above sea level. It separates Peru from Bolivia and has a surface area of 3,100 square miles. According to legends it is the birthplace of the Inca civilization. During the Spanish conquest the lake was allegedly a secret depository for the empire's gold, and there were some recent aquatic expeditions who found gold figurines and other precious items. In 1961 Jacques Cousteau used mini submarines to explore the depths of the lake and while he did not find gold, he did discover (much to the amazement of the scientific world) a 24 inch tri colored frog who never surfaces! Now back to our boat ride. About 30 minutes out from shore we entered the Totora reeds. Here we stopped at one of the floating islands of Uros. The islands are man made from the Totora reeds as is almost everything else on the island including their homes and boats. The islands last about 40 to 50 years and there are about 30 of them with a population of 2000. About 15 years ago they got solar power and now have lights and some radios. We got a quick lesson on how the islands are made then watched the women preform a re-enactment of the bartering process. Afterwards a woman named Rita showed us the inside of her tiny Totora home. She was proud to show it off and as we admired the hand made clothing inside she insisted on dressing us in the local clothing. We then admired the handmade goods the women made and purchased a beautiful wall hanging. We took one of the Totora boats to a nearby island and all too soon it was time to continue to Amantani Island where we would spend the night. From Uros island to Amantaní­ is a 3 hour ride on our slow boat. Once we arrived at the docks we divided into groups of 2 or 3 and were assigned to our families. Grant and I and our guide Juan Carlos were assigned to Mary Elena and her family, father Antonio, mother Luisa, and brother Juan Carlos. We walked about 20 minutes uphill to the house and the altitude had our hearts pumping and we were panting hard by the time we got there! It's humbling to think you're in decent shape and a short uphill walk kicks your butt. The house was a small two story built around a beautiful courtyard with a incredible view (shown in the photo above). A friend who heard I was in Peru recently quipped to me, "how do I get your life of travel and luxury?" Well, it's true I am traveling, but luxury... The house has no running water and minimal electricity which comes from the town's solar panels. There is no place to wash your hands or take a shower. It's an amazing experience but certainly not luxurious. There were many flowers planted around the house many who looked very much like some we have in CA, Geraniums, Gladiolas, and something resembling a fuchsia which is the national flower. We were shown to our room which had a door that was only chest high, which is common for the buildings on the island. After relaxing for awhile we had lunch which was Quinoa soup, fried cheese, boiled potatoes, and fresh sliced tomatoes. We drank Muna tea which is made with Muna leaves, a plant that only grows above 9,000 feet. It tasted like peppermint. After lunch was another uphill heart pounding walk to the local school yard where we played soccer. I hadn't played soccer in years and it was really fun even if it was at nearly 13,000 feet above sea level! Afterwards there was an optional hike 40 minutes (straight up) to the top of the hill to view the sunset. We decided we had done enough on our first day at altitude so we hung out chatting with some nice college students from Lima. That evening we had dinner with our family, more soup with rice and tomatoes on the side. Then it was time to get dressed for the fiesta. Mary Elena brought us local clothing and we went to a nearby building were the "band" was playing traditional music. The instruments included panpipes called Sampo, the Bombo (drums), and the Charango (a small 10 stringed guitar). If you know the famous Simon & Garfunkel song "El Condor Pasa" than you know the flavor of music we heard that night. There was also a lot of dancing, we all danced for awhile then we got to watch some traditional folk dances performed by the locals. The dancers were fun to watch and everyone had a great time. We were so tired when we got home we almost didn"t notice how bitterly cold it was!

This morning we had breakfast with our family then headed to the dock for the next leg of our trip. A 30 minute boat ride away was Taqulie island. It was another hour long hike uphill to the town plaza. During which I decided that the lazy girl who lives inside of me should get a vacation she enjoys sometime too:) Taquile island's population is about 2,000, with about 500 separate families, our guide alluded that the gene pool on the island is getting small and inter marriage is an issue but didn't go much further than that. We were lucky enough to arrive during the Festival de San Santiago which runs from July 25th to August 5th. During the festival each day the townspeople gather in the plaza and watch a group of musicians preform and dance a different cultural dance each day. Today's dance was "Secures" which is the name of an instrument similar to the Sampo. Around the edges of the plaza are a couple of dozen vendors selling their crafts, mostly traditional clothing. After enjoying the music for awhile we hiked to the other side of the island and had lunch on the rooftop of a local restaurant. Needless to say the view was fantastic. Our boat had driven around to this side of the island and we climbed down 511 stone handmade stairs (a girl in our group counted). It was easier on the heart & lungs going downhill but tougher on the knees and by the time we got to the boat I was was ready to sit. After the 3 hour ride back to Puno we checked out the local "strip mall" where we spotted a restaurant which we returned to after showering at the hotel. The hot running water was very welcome!

Today we take a large comfy tour bus to Cusco and stop along the way at various points of interest. There are 2 couples on the bus who were also on our islands tour so it was nice to see them again. Along the way our guide explains various features and cultural distinctions. As we passed through the city of Juliaca which it where the airport is he explained one of our questions about the buildings. We had noticed before that most of the buildings are unfinished, they have 2 or 3 stories than no roof, only re-bar sticking out. Apparently this is a tax evasion technique as taxes are higher once a building is complete. Juliaca is the biggest commercial city in the high plains and runs a huge black market. The Peruvian currency, the sol, is very strong against their neighbor Bolivia so people go to Bolivia, buy goods, return, and sell them on the black market. Taxi-chollos, the human pedaled tricycle taxis are very popular here as well, they have about 25,000 of them and they are the main form of pollution free transport. Our first stop was the small town of Pucara, whose claim to fame is the oldest archeological site in the high plains. The site dates back to 1600 BC, and there is a small museum we visited which houses a few stone monoliths and some ancient pottery. We stopped for just a few minutes at La Raya which is just the line between the Puno region and the Cusco region. The interesting thing about this point is that at 14,232 feet above sea level it is the highest point in the region. It is also the origin of the Vilcanota river known as the sacred river of the Incas. A quick stop for lunch at a small town named Sicuani then on to Racchi also known as San Pedro. Racchi was really interesting and I wish we had more time there. It is the site of the remains of a temple called Wiracocha, a magnificent example of Inca Architecture. The complex spread over 652 acres and included houses, temples, palaces, astronomical observatories, food storehouses and walls. Pretty incredible. The next stop was equally impressive in a totally different way. We went to Andahuaylillas the home of a church built on the site of an Inca temple and it’s frescoes are so beautiful is was been called the Sistine Chaple of the Andes! It was truly awesome, beautiful murals all around the interior of the church walls, and the amount of gold leaf everywhere was jaw dropping. We arrived in Cusco around 5pm and met our guide for the rest of the week, Juan, who took us to our hotel. After discussing the plans for the next few days he left us for the evening. Our hotel’s location is excellent, just a few yards from the Plaza de Armas or the main plaza. We walked around the square for awhile (where I took the above photo) and Grant struck up a conversation with 3 people from Texas who had just finished a mission trip. Later at our restaurant the same people came in and joined us at our table. We had a fun evening chatting with them, all in all a very fun day.

Today we hiked with our guide, Juan all over Cusco. And I do mean all over, Juan estimated we walked about 7 miles. It was 7 miles of one incredible site after another, our heads are swirling with the enormity of the cultural sites we saw today! The elevation ranged from 11,000 to 12,000 feet so we are still huffing and puffing but it's getting easier each day. All along the way Juan told us about the local culture as well as the history of the Inca Empire and the Spanish conquest. Before the Spanish conquest in the 1500's, the Inca Empire which began in the early 1400's was going strong and expanding much like the Roman Empire. In slightly more than 50 years the empire extended from Colombia to Chile and included portions of Bolivia and Argentina. As the empire conquered other cultures they studied and assimilated the culture's textile techniques, architecture, gold-working, irrigation, pottery, and healing methods. As a result they quickly accumulated a massive amount of information and advanced the Inca culture by leaps and bounds. The Incas developed irrigation systems into the desert creating farmlands there, built about 14,000 miles of roads throughout Cusco, and installed 12,000 "Tambos" or way-stations along the roads which would contain supplies and weapons. There were also many ceremonial sites built using huge stone blocks fitted together so tightly it's unbelievable. The layout of the buildings usually related to some astronomical meaning. Once the Spaniards conquered Cusco they did their best to eradicate all traces of the Inca culture, frequently leveling the temples and building their churches on the foundations. Nowadays there is a resurgence of study and restoration of the original Inca culture, seeking the advanced techniques and trying to create an accurate picture of the culture rather than rely on the highly edited version of the Spanish Catholic church records. Fascinating! We began the day visiting Qorikancha which was once the most magnificent temple in Cusco. The Spanish leveled it and built the Santa Domingo church over it but parts of the original complex still survive and have been uncovered. The stone walls are perfectly fitted and have survived at least 2 major earthquakes which destroyed most of the city. Spanish chronicles recall the Europeans' astonishment when they saw the wealth decorating the temple; walls were covered in 700 gold sheets studded with emeralds and turquoise with windows positioned for light to enter and cast a blinding reflection off the walls. The courtyard was filled with life sized gold and silver statues of llamas, trees, flowers, people, sheep with their lambs and shepherds! It's no wonder the Spaniards were determined to conquer the Inca Empire. Keeping in the church theme we went to the main plaza to see Cusco's Cathedral which is actually 3 churches, 2 smaller side churches and one large main church. Begun in 1559 it took 100 years to finish and a whole lot of money! There are many alters gilded in gold or silver and the huge main alter is solid silver. The most interesting thing to me was how the local people managed to blend aspects of their religion into the catholic paintings and symbols. There are many examples of this throughout but here's my favorite; There is a very large oil painting of the last supper where Christ and his apostles are dining on roast guinea pig (cuy), hot peppers and Andean cheese. Clever! Next we hiked (uphill of course) just outside the city to Sacsayhuamán (pronounced very much like "sexy woman") another area for worship. WOW! You feel tiny when standing next to these huge stones, some of which weigh around 130 tons. The biggest cornerstone stands 28 feet high and extends another 4 feet below ground. They are fitted perfectly together using no mortar and you can't even slip a razor blade between the rocks. 3 Tiered walls stretch in a zig-zag formation (a common theme) for almost 1,200 feet each and lead up to a ruined tower, which is in the process of being reconstructed. Experts speculate that tens of thousands of people labored for 70 years to complete the site. The enormous rocks were most likely placed by a series of ramps and pulleys. We reluctantly left this site and headed to Qenko another shrine with a circular amphitheater that has an 18 foot stone block positioned to aid with astronomical observations. Unlike Sacsayhuamán which was built with carved stone blocks this site was carved from a huge limestone formation found at the site. It includes water canals cut into the stone and a subterranean room. Next was Puca Pucara which is a ruined tambo. You can only see the foundations now but the buildings are estimated to have been about 80 feet high. Here the stones are a reddish color and not as precisely fitted as it was just a way-station and not a place of worship. Across the road from Puca Pucara was Tambo Machay a sacred bathing place. It is a hydraulic engineering marvel and has an aqueduct system which feeds water up through the stone walls into a series of showers. Although it is in ruins too, the water still runs up through the walls! Lastly we visited a cave which some call Temple of Laqo or Temple of the moon. It was actually a mausoleum where some mummies were found and not a temple at all. It was interesting as portions were natural and portions carved out. There was a snake and a puma carved onto the entrance wall, which are common animal themes in the Inca religion. The three different levels or steps are commonly represented in Inca art and architecture. The three steps represent the three worlds: Hanan Pacha, the world of above (representing the gods of the sun, moon and stars); Kay Pacha, this world (representing this life); and Uqhu Pacha, the world of below (representing death). Each of these worlds was represented by an animal: the condor, the puma and the snake. Juan left us at our hotel around 5 pm. That evening we spent some time browsing the shops and having dinner in the plaza. It was a long yet exciting day, can't wait for tomorrow!

Today we toured the “Sacred Valley” which includes many small towns with interesting historic sites. On the way there we stopped at Awankancha, a conservation project to save the native people’s ancestral process of weaving. The site is associated with 14 communities (420 families) who weave the highest quality pieces. Weavers from the different communities rotate thru the site making pieces in their communities style which is then offered for sale with the proceeds going to help all the communities. The site has many Llamas, Alpacas, Vincunas, and Guanacos. The wool is sheared, cleaned, spun, then dyed with natural dyes obtained from plants and minerals. The whole process is done according to the ancient techniques and the colors where phenomenal. Several weavers worked while we watched, what a fascinating and intricate process. Next we went to Pisac which is known for it’s ruins as well as it’s market. The photo above was taken here. This site is built on a mountain and has several areas, some for housing, some for ceremonies, and some for astronomical observations. I found the aqueducts and fountains particularly interesting. We did stop at the market, but had less than an hour for me to practice my bargaining skills, which was a bummer. After lunch we went to Moray the site of the Inca’s agricultural experimental center. Terraces used by the Incas can be seen everywhere in Peru. Actually, experiments show that using the ancient agricultural techniques can be more effective than today's agriculture, at least on the slopes of the Andes. In Moray there is a very special form of terraces. These terraces are concentric circles. Circular terracing, which at first glance looks like a huge amphitheater, forms a giant bowl. There are actually two bowls at Moray, one of which is much larger and more restored than the other. Stone stairs built into the terrace walls allow visitors to walk down to the very bottom level. The different levels of terracing each have their own micro-climate which the Incas used to their advantage. They were thought to have used Moray as an area for testing the optimal growing conditions for their crops. With this information the Incas could determine which areas were best for growing crops and ultimately where they should settle. Pretty advanced technology, eh? The Incas developed 14 different types of corn and 400 types of potatoes! After Moray we went to Salineras. The Salineras de Maras, or Inca salt pans have been used for 600 years. The site is stunning. It consists of thousands of mismatched white squares plotted along a steep green to brown hillside. The small plots are filled with water and upon evaporation a crystallization process takes place and salt can be panned out. The water comes out from the hillside, we dipped a finger in to taste, yes it was SALTY!!! The plots are allotted to the citizens of Maras and each one gets a certain number of the plots to which they keep the profits of the salt that is packaged out and sold. Families pass the plots down from generation to generation like heirlooms. After a full day we arrived at Ollantaytambo. Juan promised to show us the ruins here tomorrow. My first priority here was to go to the drug store for cold medicine, yes, I caught a nasty head cold. Nice timing, huh, considering that tomorrow we start hiking. Hopefully it will pass quickly.

We began the day by visiting the ruins right next to Ollantaytambo which included the most beautiful fountain and an area speculated to be a type of hospital. Afterwards we drove just outside of town where we met our porters and got started on the trek. Things I learned during the Cachiccata Trek; Hiking straight up 4,000 feet starting at 8,300 feet above sea level with a head cold is HARD work! Distances and heights that seem incredibly daunting as a whole are possible if you take it one step at a time. The Inca people were extremely hard workers, we visited the ruins of a Tambo at 12,00 feet. All those huge stones had to be dragged there by hand! The Cachiccata trail is similar to the traditional "Inca Trail" but is much less crowded and a bit higher in elevation. This trail was established about 4 years ago by Adventure Life (the company we booked with) and is now used by several other companies. We had 6 porters (the youngest was 12) and a cook, using 2 horses a burro, and several llamas. We were also accompanied by a darling 6 month old puppy named Guitaristo (guitar player). The first day was our "easy day", that is if you call climbing straight up for 4,000 feet "easy". We hiked for a couple of hours passing several small communities perched on the side of the mountain then stopped for lunch. We had about a 40 minute rest before lunch was served which I put to good use by falling asleep on the ground. Lunch was delicious, and several courses starting with a yummy soup. Our cook, Mario, is fantastic. After lunch we continued (straight up, of course) stopping at a beautiful waterfall called "uestra Baccha" or “Princess Waterfall" then continuing on to another set of ruins, another Tambo (at 12,000 feet! Crazy!). Our campsite was just a short hike from there and when we arrived our tent was already pitched, nice! At 5pm we had a "Welcome" tea with yummy treats and formally met the crew. They each told a bit about themselves and I managed to return the favor in Spanish (I keep practicing and it's slowly getting better).

The next morning we woke up to rain. We got out of the tent, looked up, and just above us was snow. Uh oh, this doesn't look so good. We waited for awhile but it never let up, and since we were supposed to go up to 15,000 feet our guide decided the pass we would cross would be snowed out. Since we weren't prepared for that kind of weather, and I had NO interest in roughing it that much on my vacation, we decided to go another way. This meant we went straight down back the way we came. I was feeling pretty much like crap with my cold, sneezing my head off and hadn't been eating very much for the past couple of days. It's funny how that effects one's perspective. Yesterday when I was feeling only kind of crummy things and towns were interesting and quaint. Today I was grumbling (in my head), "crappy old towns, already passed them once dammit, why did we have to hike all that way just to turn around and go back..." You get the gist. Then there was Grant, always perky, happy, and solicitously checking on me, "you okay hon?" In my grumpy sick state I wanted to wring his neck, but I reminded myself it was just the cold getting me down and soon I would feel better.

The next day I was indeed feeling slightly better, still not eating much but less congested and I had a better attitude. We hiked from 9,000 feet to 11,000 feet up to the rock quarry on the opposite side of the valley from Ollantaytambo. The quarry was where we planned to have lunch as well. Again we had about 40 minutes to relax before lunch. I staggered over to a large stone shaped in the 1500's, sat down, gulped a juice box, ate a chocolate bar, stretched out on the ground, and passed out. When I came to, it was lunch time and I was able to eat a bit more than just soup. Feeling refreshed, Juan took us to explore the quarry a bit more. We saw various stones in different states of being split, shaped, and processed. Once the stones were prepared the people would push and pull these 80 ton mammoths down the road to the edge of the mountain and push them over the edge. They would tumble to the valley floor where they would again be hauled (using human power only) across the valley to Ollantaytambo. For a long time experts believed that the Inca people had not discovered the wheel, that is until they found this quarry. Here in the rock quarry there were two! One was a rough shape and the other was finished including the hub. Next Juan pointed out a tomb that had only been discovered (and raided) about 3 years ago. He casually pointed it out and said we should look inside. As we got to the entrance our jaws dropped. There was a mummy in there! The Inca people used to position their dead in the fetal position and wrap them like mummies. This skeleton had the wrapping removed but was undamaged and in the fetal position. WOW! Inside were 5 more skulls and a pile of miscellaneous bones. It was an amazing experience and made the tough hike totally worth it!

Today is MachuPicchu day! We had to wake up at 4 am to get to the train station in Ollantaytambo and rode about 1:40 to the town of Aguas Calientes. By the time we got there it was raining but we decided to head straight up to Machu Picchu anyway. From Aguas Calientes you take a bus up a 12K (7 miles) winding switchback road. We headed into the city and WOW! It is so hard to use words to describe it. As amazed as I was by all the other places we had seen none of them held a candle to Machu Picchu. Part of it is the setting, the city sits in a pocket between the Mountain Machu Picchu (Ancient Peak) and Huayna Picchu (Young Peak). The weather added to the ambiance as clouds of fog wafted around the edge of the city slowing pulling away to reveal more and more of the surrounding areas. Juan spent about 2 hours with us explaining the different locations around the city both architectural styles and supposed purposes. Much of the early information written and the Inca culture and about Machu Picchu has seen been disproved and modified with more sophisticated and advanced research. Many of the places generically referred to as "temples" are actually astronomical observatories, and many of the names assigned to these places were given by people like the workers and hotel managers, who knows what they were really called, but it was all fascinating. Juan left us to poke around on our own for awhile, with was fun but quickly the city began filling with tourists, diminishing our enjoyment of this special place. Back in Aguas Calientes we checked into our hotel, The Machu Picchu Inn, which was very nice. We ate lunch with Juan then we were on our own for the rest of the day. Grant passed the time napping in the room, while I hit the enormous market and browsed to my hearts content. We spent the late evening quietly in our room watching the Olympics on Spanish TV. It was interesting seeing this coverage as it was, obviously, not centered around how the Americans were doing.

Today was a quiet day. We got up and went to a small but well done museum about Machu Picchu which had really interesting photos from when it was first discovered and restoration had just begun. There was also a variety of artifacts found in the city. I thought it was interesting that many of the discovery dates where from the 70's and 80's but there were also new discoveries as recent as 2004. Attached to the museum was a small botanical garden. It was hot today so after we got bak from the museum we stopped at a cafe in the main square to have a snack and a cold drink. While we were there a local group set up and played traditional music, it was a lovely relaxing afternoon. At 2pm we hopped the train back to Ollantaytambo where our driver met us and took us back to Cusco. We then grabbed a taxi to the local craft market where we did a bunch of souvenir shopping. After a late dinner we repacked as we leave for the jungle tomorrow!

Today we went to the Cusco airport to fly to Puerto Maldonado which is in the Amazon jungle. Our final destination is Lake Sandoval Lodge which is know for a family of Giant River Otters who live in the lake. There are only about 900 Giant River Otters left in the world, all in South America, and 400 of them live in Peru. Lake Sandoval has a family of 5 adults and 2 4 month old babies. It was a short flight and as we stepped off the plane the warm humid air enveloped us like a blanket, no more cold nights here! We got our bags and met the representative from Lake Sandoval. After collecting 7 other people who were also heading to the lodge we drove into town to the lodge's main office. Here we had to store most of our baggage and pack a maximum on 9 kilos (about 20 pounds) into a duffle bag that we could take to the lodge. After repacking we drove to the river and boarded a wide motorized type of canoe with a canopy for a 30 minute ride down the Madre de Dios river. During the short trip our guide handed out sack lunches which consisted of a delicious vegetarian rice dish cleverly packaged in a folded up plantain leaf, what a nice way to start a trip to the jungle! Along the way our guide gave us general information like what lives in the river; Electric eels, Sting Rays, and huge catfish. We passed an interesting looking boat, turns out it was a gold mining operation. Gold particles get washed down the river from the highlands and settle in the silt, where people mine for it on the river banks. We docked on the shore then hiked 3km (1.8 miles) to a narrow canal where we hopped aboard a long canoe. The channel opened up into Lake Sandoval, and we paddled slowly around the to lodge looking for wildlife along the way. We saw small turtles basking in the sun on logs, a baby boa curled up in some tree branches, and a couple of Egrets and Cormorants. At one point we could hear the Giant River Otters fighting over fish, but they were in the protected area of the lake so we couldn't get close. We arrived at the beautifully crafted wooden lodge and gathered in the lobby for a welcome drink of Passion fruit juice, yummy! We got our room keys ten had some time to unpack and relax in the hammocks in the screened in porch. At 6 pm we met our guide, Victor, and went for a night walk in the jungle. It was fascinating how much you could see when you knew how and where to look. Using our headlamps we would scan the foliage until we caught the eyes of a critter, they would light up like glow in the dark beacons then Victor would zero in with his flashlight and explain what it was. One of the first animals we saw was a baby bird that had probably fallen from his nest and had decided to roost on a small branch at chest level. On the walk we saw MANY spiders and some of them were HUGE! Crab spiders, a Wolf Spider, enormous grasshoppers longer than the palm of your hand, leaf cutter ants everywhere. Some 2.5 inch long ants called Giant Hunting Ants who are carnivorous, a Smokey Jungle Frog the size of a softball, and close the the lodge on a tree was a pair of courting Tarantulas! It was awesome! We had dinner with the rest of our group which consisted of 2 German couples and a small group of friends from the Bay Area. We hit it off with the Bay Area folks and enjoyed their company for he next couple of days. At bedtime we slept under mosquito netting which was like being in a princess bed with a canopy. Great place, and I can't wait for tomorrow!

We got up at 5 am and were on the water in our canoe by 5:45. Our goal was to see the Giant River Otters so we headed towards their den. Sure enough, just as we got here they were waking up and hitting the water for some fish breakfast! The otters each eat about 6 kilos of fish each day, that's a little over 13 pounds! This is partly why they are endangered as local fisherman viewed them as competition. We watched for quite awhile then as they moved off we continued along the shoreline searching for wildlife. This morning we saw a couple of small caimans, many Hoatzins which are rather prehistoric looking, a Cocoi Heron, Green Ibis, Black Skimmer, several Yellow Headed Vultures, Blue and Yellow Macaws, Red Bellied Macaws, Yellow Crowned Parrots, White Winged Swallows, a bright yellow Social Flycatcher, Several Pale Vented Pigeons, and a small group of long nosed bats who where lined up perfectly vertically on a tree trunk sunning themselves before holing up for the day. Victor told us they eat about 30% of the mosquito population around the lake. After breakfast we went on a walk in the jungle checking out the plant life and spotting more critters. The new bird we saw was the Num Bird which is a flycatcher. We also saw a small group of Capuchin monkeys. At 4 p.m. we went on the canoe again to spot caimans. On the way we saw several Green and Rufus Kingfishers, and some Red Headed Cardinals as well as a Coral Snake. As the sun began to go down we spotted a group of Capuchin Monkeys settling into their nests for the evening, and apparently there was much arguing over the best locations. Once darkness fell we spotted Caimans the same way as we did on the night walk, catching their eyes glowing in the light. There were dozens of them! We also caught glimpses of the many bats swooping along the water eating bugs and fish. What an amazing day!

Another early start to the day, we were on the canoe by 5:30 am paddling across the lake to hike to a special Macaw area. Much of the the lake area is made up of Mauritia Palm trees which produce "Pan fruit". While the birds (and other wildlife) eat the fruit there are a few specific species of the palms that have another special property. When the tree dies the birds will eat the soft inner wood of the trunk which provides them with some kind of minerals which help them to process the more toxic plants and fruits they eat throughout the day. Starting around 6 am it is an excellent place to bird watch. We saw Blue & Yellow Macaws as well as the Scarlet Macaws (shown in the photo). The only bummer during our time in the jungle was that my camera, which is great for most shots, just doesn't have the reach for decent wildlife photos. I missed SO many great shots that I'm thinking a new camera is in my future (Morry? Are you still reading this?). As well as the Macaws we saw White Bellied Parrots, Crimson Crested Woodpeckers, and a Curl Crested Aracari which is a type of Toucan. At 10 am we walked again, spotting the Casques Oropendola as well as the Red & Green Macaws. At 4:30 we hit the canoe again and were lucky enough to see the Giant River Otters returning home after a day of fishing. We got the see one of the babies, briefly climb out of the water onto a log, again a great photo opportunity but my shots came out a little blurry, darn it. As we slowly made our way around the lake we rounded a bend a surprised a HUGE caiman. He spent a couple of minutes checking us out and we drifted extremely close, our guide estimated him to be 3 meters (about 10 feet long)! Right before dinner we took a quick night walk and saw a baby caiman from the shore, as well as a tarantula nest with mom, dad, and babies. Seeing the tarantulas on the trees didn't bother me, but I have to say walking past a nest on the ground and passing within 12 inches of them creeped me out a bit. One last tasty dinner and 2 passion fruit daiquiris (for me) and a Mojito (for Grant) later and then it was off to bed as we have an early start to tomorrow for our return to Lima.

Today we said goodbye to the jungle and returned to Lima for a day before heading home to San Francisco. On our way back to the main river we managed to see a group of Howler Monkeys, a Black Tailed Trogon, and a group of Tamarins. It was a nice way to leave the jungle. All the flights went smoothly and we arrived at our hotel around 3:30 pm, feeling a little shellshocked by the noise, hustle, and bustle of the city after the peace of the jungle. We spent the afternoon doing some last minute souvenir shopping and repacking and ended the evening with a couple of Pisco Sours. Now that we are here in Lima we are finally feeling excited to be going home.