So, at last I have made my break from the jungle, with some sad goodbyes to my friends there, and to the birds, and the place itself. They were three months I certainly will never forget.
Now I´m playing tourist again in Cuzco, where I´m spending a week exploring. The city is really beautiful, rich in history and culture, with too much to see in only one week. I arrived just before a rain storm and was dropped off by my taxi with my huge suitcase at the bottom of an enormous stone staircase which I had to climb up, with my heart pounding as if I had just run a marathon due to the extreme altitude change (Tambopata is about 180 meters above sea level, cuzco is about 3,400 meters). Instantly I found myself surrounded by a group of curious children dressed in their school uniforms, impressed with the size and weight of my suitcase. A few of them insisted that they help me carry my case up the stairs, and eventually, as the rain began, all but one ran off to their homes. The last one, a little girl, probably 7 or 8, helped me the rest of the way and when I arrived at my hostel, we said goodbye "ciao, amiga". Too cute. My hostel, after all the stairs, has a magnificent view of the city and is run by two really warm, welcoming women who gave me a cup of coca tea upon arrival (to alleviate the altitude sickness) and who made me a beautiful breakfast this morning.
Today I´ve spent the whole day just sortof wandering around, as I like to do my first day in any city, just taking it all in. I´m a little bit hindered by my labored breathing and a constant headache, but it´s gotten better since the beginning of the day. There is so much to see here... I´m charmed by the women in traditional garb, looking as though they are of another time altogether with their bowler hats and full skirts and colorful blankets carrying bundles of flowers, babies, and other mysteries on their backs. Everyone here has rosy cheeks from the cold and the sun. The city itself feels really really old (as it is.), with tiny cobblestone streets that have been walked down for thousands of years. The buildings are all white-washed with terra cotta tile roofs, built precariously and ingeniously into the sides of fairly steep mountainsides. Their are stairs to climb everywhere you go, as the city is so steep, and was designed long before automobiles, so there´s lots of built-in exersize to exploring (slow exersize. Even the locals walk slow, as it is impossible to get enough oxygen to support fast movement).
Tomorrow I´m going to do some exploring further afield but still within the city limits, to a few Incan sites, and then the next day I´m taking the trip to Macchu Picchu by train, then maybe a day trip to a village a couple of hours out of the city, for a glimpse of real Andean life (or something close to it).
All in all, It´s all quite wonderful and I´m happy as always and forever enjoying the view. I´ll write more when there´s more to write.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Amazon life, part 2
So, it´s been a ridiculously long time since I´ve last written something here and I´m not sure that when I press ¨publish post¨ this will even work, as in the past it has not, but I´m going to give it a try.
My jungle days are coming to an end and I´m at the point where I´m looking back on the past two and a half months and being able to look at them a bit more objectevly and recognize just how amazing they have been. There have been hardships, mostly the sweating and the bugs and the sore muscles and exhaustion, but all in all, the pluses have completly outweighed the minuses, and I think this experience will be one of the coolest and most amazing ones of my life. I´m feeling more inspired than ever by travel and by genuine experience and I know that I am not going to be able to keep myself from getting back out on the road once I´m home for a while.
About a week ago the last chick fledged and I was lucky enough to see this incredible moment. I am the only climber left on the crew and was thus climbing this nest every day for about a month, taking the chick out, and measuring her, getting to watch her grow and develop and gain her strength and personality... I got really quite attached to her and felt that she and I shared a special bond, despite the fact that she tried to bite me every day. Anyhow, on the last day, I climbed up to the nest, where I could see her sitting in the entrance way looking out over her jungle home. Her mother was in the tree beside us, calling out, as the parents do when the chick is about to fledge, and I could see Amor (the chick) trying out her wings, thinking, looking at her mother, thinking some more, until the mother flew off her perch, and Amor took the leap and flew off into the forest for the first time. I was left just sitting up in this tree with an empty nest in front of me, just amazed that I got to see such an event. In general I feel just incredibly lucky these days that I´ve been able to have such a genuinely incredible experience. I see the agenda for the tourists out here, who have a guide assigned to them who is by their sides at all times (wisely so), and who are taken around for a few days to ¨see¨ the jungle. They go on the trails close to the lodge, take it easy, and hopefully see something great. I think most people leave feeling like they did indeed have a great experience, which is great, but I feel like my experience has given me an infinetly more intense and intimate glimpse into the jungle that so few people (especially from places like Massachusetts) get to experience. Every day out here I go out miles and miles from the lodge on transect walks that take me over (sometimes through) rivers and swamps, where I´m on my own, with my machete, where I can just soak up this incredible place at my own pace and through my own guidance. The nest climbs, too, have given me the ability to view the jungle in a way that so few people get to see... and to connect with the macaws in such an amazing way. I will have an affinity for these birds for the rest of my days.
Anyhow, I´m going to stop ranting about how amazing everything is, as I´m feeling the need to write something cumulative once I´m entirely finished, and will perhaps post that in the future.
Last week I went down river for a little ¨family vacation¨ to Puerto Maldonado with the other three guacamayeros, Augusto and Cate, and Stacy, as there was a big concert happening in town and all the guides and staff members were going to attend. The concert itself was pretty fun, lots of dancing and drinking beer and having a good time. I think Stacy and I must have been the only two gringos in the crowd... definetly a very local sort of scene. Lots of fun. The next day one of the guides offered to take me for a motorcycle tour of Puerto, which I was a little terrified of, but which seemed like an opportunity I couldn´t pass up, and didn´t. It was a little harrowing at moments (dirt roads totally washed out from the rain, no lines on the road, no traffic signals, hundreds of other motorbikes and rickshaw taxies in the road, no helmet, so on and so forth), but all in all, a really wonderful night.
Now I´m back in the jungle, safe and sound, and am getting things ready for my departure in 5 days.
There is a huge thunder storm looming in the distance right now and so I´m going to wrap this up and post it so that I dont lose it when the electricity inevitably goes out, or we´re hit by lightening (again).
I´ll write more once I´ve gotten back to civilization.
My jungle days are coming to an end and I´m at the point where I´m looking back on the past two and a half months and being able to look at them a bit more objectevly and recognize just how amazing they have been. There have been hardships, mostly the sweating and the bugs and the sore muscles and exhaustion, but all in all, the pluses have completly outweighed the minuses, and I think this experience will be one of the coolest and most amazing ones of my life. I´m feeling more inspired than ever by travel and by genuine experience and I know that I am not going to be able to keep myself from getting back out on the road once I´m home for a while.
About a week ago the last chick fledged and I was lucky enough to see this incredible moment. I am the only climber left on the crew and was thus climbing this nest every day for about a month, taking the chick out, and measuring her, getting to watch her grow and develop and gain her strength and personality... I got really quite attached to her and felt that she and I shared a special bond, despite the fact that she tried to bite me every day. Anyhow, on the last day, I climbed up to the nest, where I could see her sitting in the entrance way looking out over her jungle home. Her mother was in the tree beside us, calling out, as the parents do when the chick is about to fledge, and I could see Amor (the chick) trying out her wings, thinking, looking at her mother, thinking some more, until the mother flew off her perch, and Amor took the leap and flew off into the forest for the first time. I was left just sitting up in this tree with an empty nest in front of me, just amazed that I got to see such an event. In general I feel just incredibly lucky these days that I´ve been able to have such a genuinely incredible experience. I see the agenda for the tourists out here, who have a guide assigned to them who is by their sides at all times (wisely so), and who are taken around for a few days to ¨see¨ the jungle. They go on the trails close to the lodge, take it easy, and hopefully see something great. I think most people leave feeling like they did indeed have a great experience, which is great, but I feel like my experience has given me an infinetly more intense and intimate glimpse into the jungle that so few people (especially from places like Massachusetts) get to experience. Every day out here I go out miles and miles from the lodge on transect walks that take me over (sometimes through) rivers and swamps, where I´m on my own, with my machete, where I can just soak up this incredible place at my own pace and through my own guidance. The nest climbs, too, have given me the ability to view the jungle in a way that so few people get to see... and to connect with the macaws in such an amazing way. I will have an affinity for these birds for the rest of my days.
Anyhow, I´m going to stop ranting about how amazing everything is, as I´m feeling the need to write something cumulative once I´m entirely finished, and will perhaps post that in the future.
Last week I went down river for a little ¨family vacation¨ to Puerto Maldonado with the other three guacamayeros, Augusto and Cate, and Stacy, as there was a big concert happening in town and all the guides and staff members were going to attend. The concert itself was pretty fun, lots of dancing and drinking beer and having a good time. I think Stacy and I must have been the only two gringos in the crowd... definetly a very local sort of scene. Lots of fun. The next day one of the guides offered to take me for a motorcycle tour of Puerto, which I was a little terrified of, but which seemed like an opportunity I couldn´t pass up, and didn´t. It was a little harrowing at moments (dirt roads totally washed out from the rain, no lines on the road, no traffic signals, hundreds of other motorbikes and rickshaw taxies in the road, no helmet, so on and so forth), but all in all, a really wonderful night.
Now I´m back in the jungle, safe and sound, and am getting things ready for my departure in 5 days.
There is a huge thunder storm looming in the distance right now and so I´m going to wrap this up and post it so that I dont lose it when the electricity inevitably goes out, or we´re hit by lightening (again).
I´ll write more once I´ve gotten back to civilization.
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