Before my alarm went off I could hear the chatter outside in the trees. Birds, monkeys, frogs, or all of the above?
My alarm clock went off at 5 am and I crawled out of bed after a couple of snoozes. I listened . . . no rain. A peek outside confirmed it.
With rubber boots now over our feet and flashlights in hand, we walked down the muddy trail to the boat that was docked along the river.
The predawn glow reflected off the Rio de la Madre de Dios. Across the shore a silhouette of tropical trees, an orange hue above them, and a wisp of mist dancing among them.
The skies were clear, but the water still choppy from last night's rain storm. Fresh air ran across my face as the boat moved swiftly down-current.
Morning mist in the Amazon.
We docked at a place called Oxbow Bend on an island that would be covered with water during the wet season. We walked over smooth pebbles on the riverbed.
This morning we were searching for parakeets. Sometimes at sunrise they fly from their trees on the hill, down to the rocks by the river to find minerals. David set up the spotting scope and we scouted for birds.
It didn't take long to spot a tree full of green parakeets, all perched immovable in the branches. Down below on the water we spotted a white heron, and then an egret.
With most of the clouds gone, we now had a good view of our slice of the Amazon. In the distance we could see the Andes Mountains from whence we came. One peak, Sahuasiray, stood out because of its pointed and snow-capped summit at 19,088 feet. We now stood at only 1,500 feet.
Mount Sahuasiray poking through in the distance. 
Parakeets as seen through the spotting scope.
The sun rose and the parakeets remained stubborn on their branches. We each took turns looking at them through the spotting scope. When we weren't gazing off in the distance, we had our heads down searching for pretty pebbles from the riverbed.
We gave up on the parakeets and returned upriver toward the lodge. Along the way we stopped and watched four beautiful red macaws fly from their trees.
Cesar, the boatman.
This was our final day in the Amazon and it was now time to make the long journey back to Cusco. We ate a Peruvian breakfast of fruit and yogurt, and then said goodbye to our wonderful cook, Dora. Twenty minutes later we were shaking hands and giving hugs to Tony, the Aussie, and David, our guide. They would stay one more night.
We returned to the boat, this time with our luggage, and the motorized vessel pushed us upstream toward Atalaya where our van was waiting.
Our lodge. 
In the very back is Dora, our cook.
From here our journey turned into a battle of survival. All of us were tired. We had already seen all the scenery on the way down. This called for one thing—sleep!
But sleep was not easy. The roads were bumpy and constantly winding.
We stopped at one of the villages again for Gabriel, the driver, to say goodbye to his mother. I tried staying awake through the villages, but attempted sleep after that. But there was no good sleep.
Our total trip to Cusco lasted 8 ½ hours and climbed nearly 10,000 feet. Ten minutes were spent walking through jungle, 30 minutes on the river, 5 hours on a graveled road, and the rest mostly on pavement. It took us 4 hours and 15 minutes just to climb out of the Amazon.
Village of Atalaya as seen from the river.
Looking back on this adventure, there are three things that have stood out:
1.) The landscape. There are few places in the world more beautiful than the Amazon. The tropical trees, waterfalls, rivers, monkeys, birds. Being truly remote I think also added to its beauty. So did the adventure of the journey.
2.) Local people. I am extremely fascinated by the idea that there are countless villages located within the Amazon. Each time we passed through a village I would stare out the window and wonder what it would be like to be in their shoes. We ate at the same table as some of them. Our boatman, Cesar, was from the local village. He spoke a language called Matsigenka. He didn't learn Spanish until he started grade school.
3.) Our group. It is such a rare opportunity to have close contact with people around the globe for three days straight—at least for me. In our group we had people representing Russia, the Czech Republic, Australia, Peru, and the United States. I was impressed and inspired by how well all spoke English. They were all well traveled and educated. Tony, I believe, said he's been to 26 countries. What a pleasure it was to listen to their perspectives, hear their stories, and sit across the dinner table from them. ♠
(L-R): Magdalena and Jan (the Czechs), Pavel (the Russian), Tony (the Aussie), me, Jenna, and David (our guide, the Peruvian).
No comments:
Post a Comment