Las Amazonas

This blog post is to tell you about our awesome adventure into the Amazon Jungle, just off a tributary of the Amazon river.

After our Machu Picchu adventures, we arrived in Puerto Maldonado. We were glad to be done with hiking and treking large mountains, and be on flat ground. The moment we were out of the plane, we were greeted by heat. I don't just mean heat, I mean heat coupled with large quantities of humidity. This place was hot!

We picked up our bags, met our tour guide and set off on a 1 hour bus ride for what seemed to be through the jungle. We were expecting a port with a jetty, but what we got was a muddy track leading to the bank of the river. No jetty, we just jumped onto our little boat with our backpacks.

All aboard... and we set off on a 2 hour boat ride to our lodge. We were to be staying at the Tambopata Libertador Eco-Lodge (on the banks of the Tambopata river, in the thick of the Amazon jungle). We got a yummy packed lunch along the way...


The ride can only be described as amazingly peaceful. The river itself is a muddy clay red colour and stays that colour for most of the year. The wild life along the way is pretty amazing.... we stopped to see the colours of the birds and the worlds largest rodents.

1 checkpoint and 2 hours later, we got to our lodge to find it canopied by a double rainbow (look closely in picture for double rainbow) -- it was pretty special. Our own little self contained room, with a bathroom, hot showers (solar heated water), only candles for other lighting, mesh windows to keep the mossies out and a bed protected by a mossie net. We could hear the jungle sounds all day and all night.

On our first night, we did a "Night trek" after dinner. We set off with our torch lights and a warning to "watch where we step". We saw frogs, crazy looking ants and a couple of snakes.

Day 2 we set off at 6 am on a trek. Our little boat dropped us off further up the Tambopata river and we set off on foot. 3 hours later, we had seen varieties of emergent trees, crossed man-made bridges, visited the inside of a tree, watched piranhas grab crackers, seen the widest tree trunk and enjoyed serenity on a little boat in a lake.

That night we set off "Alligator spotting". Our guide had a big flash light and in the dense darkness of the night, he spotted alligators... mostly little baby ones.

Day 3 was another 6 am start. We set off on foot and walked about 2 hours each way to get to another lake on the other side of the river. Along the way, we crossed a few bridges....

...of which the most creative was the "tree trunk bridge".

The colours of the water lilies were simply beautiful to look at.

The sights and sounds of the Amazon were simply amazing to experience. Being in the middle of the jungle and knowing that there were no other people for miles around was simply exhilarating. No other tourists!

Lizelle

Machu Picchu

Now one of the wonders of the world, Machu Picchu is responsible for a lot of tourism not just in Peru but throughout South America. This was the one place we weren't going to leave Peru without seeing. And so the day after our volunteering work ended, we headed to Cuzco.

Cuzco itself is extremely touristy. In the Plaza De Armas (main square, remember every town and city has one), you cannot walk 10 steps without being ushered into a travel store, or being offered a massage (for the trekkers).

We spent our first day in Cuzco exploring the city surrounds on a city tour. Having been the capital city of the Incan empire, there is lots to see, including an interesting mix of Incan and colonial architecture (oftentimes within a single structure).

But the real action began on the 2nd day. We hopped on a bus to "km 104", to begin our trek to Machu Picchu. Ours was a 2-day trek, our compromise between taking the train and hiking for 4 days.

Within moments of beginning our walk, we were treated to our first ruins, Chachabamba.

The first section of the trail was mostly uphill, for about 4 hours. We began at 2000m, and our checkpoint was at 2700m. Our destination was an impressive Inca site called Winay Wayna, a structure that includes massive terraces.

After lunch, we set off for the Sun Gate, the entrance to Machu Picchu which promised a spectacular aerial view of the great Incan city. The Sun Gate was at around 2700m, and so the next 90 minutes were more forgiving than before. We arrived, fatigued, but that feeling was replaced by excitement as we marched up the final set of steps and were treated to our first sight of Machu Picchu. Our timing was perfect, as we arrived as the last buses were leaving the city, so we were privileged to see the city without hordes of tourists.

The final 90 minutes was our descent into the city. From a fauna perspective, it was very interesting. Shortly after spotting a snake just metres in front of us, we were witness to a battle between a tarantula spider and a giant wasp. Our money was on the spider, but it turns out that the wasp wins every time, and within moments the tarantula was asleep and being dragged through the grass towards the wasp's nest.

We arrived just in time to catch the last bus as it was pulling away, and saved ourselves another 90 minutes of walking into the town of Aguas Calientes. We had a simple dinner and got some well deserved rest.

The next morning, we got up bright and early and headed back up to Machu Picchu in time for sunrise. But you wouldn't know that the sun was rising, as the mountain mist had smothered Machu Picchu and its surrounds. This provided an extremely atmospheric backdrop, and we really enjoyed seeing the city like this.

We started with a 2 hour tour of the city, and then explored the city for ourselves. As the day progressed, more and more people arrived, and it became increasingly difficult to take in the surrounds without a backdrop of tourists. Of course we couldn't be mad, because after 10 weeks of integration into Peruvian society, we were now tourists too.

... even carrying our own water everywhere...

In the afternoon, we retired back to Aguas Calientes and headed for the hot springs for rest and relaxation. Then we boarded the tourist train and returned to Cuzco.

We spent our final day in Cuzco touring the Sacred Valley. The tour started with visits to 2 markets, and we became increasingly skeptical of the quality of the tour. But fortunately the day picked up, and we took in some beautiful scenery and saw some more Inca ruins.

Our next and final destination, the Amazon...

Chris

Adios niños, maestras y amigos

Goodbyes are hard, and this goodbye to 42 kids was even harder. 17th October came around before we knew it... and it was to be our last day at the school. There was never a sadder day, as it was difficult saying goodbye to the kids and teachers, knowing that we might never see them again.

The kids started off by doing a big dance for us. Each of the older and younger kids got into their groups and did a traditional dance.

Ruth, our school Director/ Principal was kind enough to present us with a massive plaque for our efforts at the school. That was very touching, given the kind words represented by the teacher, the parents and the kids.

Plus, the Director/ Principal of the Inicial (kindergarten) also presented with a similar surprise present... a 2nd Thank you plaque.

The 17th was also Alan's (fellow volunteer with GVI) birthday. Needless to say that he got egged and then his face smashed into the birthday cake, according to Peruvian tradition.

Then came the water fight. On the last day of any volunteer, the kids decide to drench the volunteers in water to give us something to remember. With Chris and me leaving, they had twice the amount of fun trying to drench both of us. We got the kids back, by hugging them when we were drenched with water.

Then came the painful goodbyes to the kids... we did our farewell speech in Spanish. We have come a long way with our Spanish, even though some kids giggled when we spoke.

More painful goodbyes to the Dinner Ladies (they cook meals for the village, as the older members of the family often go without food).

In the evening was our farewell to the other volunteers from GVI. We went to the Crepismo, which makes the best crepes in Arequipa!

Then a painful goodbye to Martha (who we lived with for 10 weeks) at 4am that morning. It was extremely difficult to say goodbye as she really did treat us like her own.

I hate goodbyes... now to Machu Picchu and the Amazon. Then homeward bound...

Lizelle