From Sea Level to High Altitude

 Pisac Ruins * Pisac Market

Today we traveled from Puerto Maldonado to Cusco. A quick 45-minute flight from nearly sea level to 11,000 ft above sea level. It was up, up, up over the Andes. We had some extra time at the lodge this morning, so we enjoyed some card games while we waited for our canoe ride back into town.

When we arrived in Cusco we were meet by our guide and treated to a very quick lunch at a fancy restaurant with a view of the main square. In fact, we were only able to enjoy the appetizer because we needed to get to Pisac by 4:30 to see the archeological site. Our guide was very impressed that we wanted to climb up to the top of the site to see the citadel despite having just landed in Cusco. Apparently, most tourists need some time to acclimate in town before heading to higher elevations. We didn’t feel overly winded as we walked to the top of the site - our guide was impressed. We were also able to make a quick stop in the Pisac market and a jewelry shop where Sydney and I purchased a few things

Tonight, we caught up with Maren and Matt in our darling hotel in Yucay, just outside of Urubamba. The hotel use to be a monastery and is very charming. There was even a wedding party going on inside the courtyard. As we were approaching the hotel the area looked pretty run down, but amazingly enough as we turned into the property, it was beautiful and well maintained.

We also met our guide for the Inca Trail and our time in Cusco - Roger. He gave us our duffle bags to pack for the porters and let us know the plan for the next day. We later learned he was very worried, and he had never started a trek on the same day as someone arrived from the US. Tomorrow Irene and Dave fly in and will meet us in Ollantaytambo for our first day of trekking. I’m not worried though.

Birds and bugs

 Canoe Ride * Herbal Garden Walk * Clay Lick

We didn’t have to start our day as early today, only 8:00 am. The first activity was a canoe ride through a nearby lagoon. We feel a bit like we are attending adult summer camp. Our lodge has an “eco center” where we meet our guides each day. It’s full of strange bugs and snakes stored in jars of formaldehyde and skulls of local mammals. Our guides carry backpacks with first aid kits and binoculars.

The lagoon we visited was full of Hoatzin birds (aka “chicken bird”). They have a crown on their head and colorful feathers. They’re big and rather loud. They were everywhere and we enjoyed watching them awkwardly fly from bush to bush. We didn’t see any caimans or anaconda this morning - although our guide told us that a 15 ft anaconda had been hanging around this lake for a couple of weeks just a while back. We did see an interesting bat though. This little bat was the color of tree bark and well camouflaged. It almost looked like a little knot on the tree. Interestingly enough, there were 8 of these bats all in a perfectly straight line. We enjoyed the narrow passages of the lagoon and might have been secretly grateful we didn’t run into an anaconda.

After our visit to the lagoon, we visited the lodge’s botanical garden and explored several herbs from coca leaves to lemon grass to turmeric root. Our guide even cut open a larve egg to show us the live weevil larva inside. Another member of our group (we secretly refer to as “The American Pickle”) didn’t hesitate to eat the larva. The rest of us took a hard pass!

After the larva we learned how Brazil Nuts are harvested from the jungle. This was particularly interesting because our guide’s family does this for a family business. We were able to taste fresh Brazil nuts which were so yummy, much softer and sweeter than those we buy at the stores.

Leon was unable to join us for our final tour, which worked out - because it was just a simple walk to a local clay like for mammals where we waited and watched quietly for 40 minutes, but no animals showed up.

Amazing Wildlife

Lago Sandoval * Canopy Walk * Night hike

We woke early this morning, 5:00 a.m., so that we could be ready by 6:00 a.m. for our boat ride and hike to Lago Sandoval. It was beautiful on the river this morning. Not a soul around and silent as can be. It was amazingly cool, and we kept our jackets on throughout the hike until we were in full sun on the lake. Our guide Leon is great. He’s thoughtful and likes to hang back from the others so that we have a quiet, intimate experience with nature.

On our 2-mile hike to Lake Sandoval we saw huge trees and leaf cutter aunts busy at work carrying the leaves back and forth. The trail is popular, but because of our early start, we didn’t see anyone along the way. The nature preserve built a wooden boardwalk to protect the pathway and to help out the hikers during the rainy season.

Once at the lake we boarded our long canoe with 2 other guess and our guide to scour the shoreline in search of wildlife. It didn’t take long for us to spot our first caiman and then we saw one after another until we lost track. Most were on the shoreline, but we did see one huge one in the middle of the water.

As we slowly meandered around the perimeter of the lake we were amazed at the wildlife. We first saw monkeys, then a laundry list of birds. A couple of different ibis birds with long beaks and several camimoran birds actively swimming and diving for food. We even saw one come up with a snake and eat it! After these birds are done swimming, they have to sun themselves on the shore with their wings spread out to dry their feathers before they can fly again.

Our guide took us back to the lodge via a 3-mile nature walk through the jungle (aka rain forest). It was awesome - at one point we saw a tree that was crawling with monkeys. It was like our own private monkey exhibit in nature. They were playing, jumping, and running around the canopy.

After lunch today we traveled 25 minutes down river to a series of hanging bridges. We climbed a 120 ft tower where we could see over the top of the canopy and out to the river. On our way up we spotted a mamma sloth in the tree with her baby. It was amazing to watch her hang onto the tree with her long claws, then incredibly enough she started to climb higher into the tree. It was amazing to watch her long arms reach up and grab the branches and the baby tightly hang on. We sat and watched her for several minutes. Afterwards we enjoyed our walk along several hanging bridges 80 feet above the jungle floor. Only one person could cross the hanging bridge at a time, we were assured that they were inspected at least twice a year.

Out guide, Leon is amazing. He’s thoughtful, reflective, and respectful of nature. He listens and looks and then gives us an opportunity to do so as well. This evening we went on a night nature walk in search of creepy insects. We found several scary and poisonous spiders and a long green caterpillar. At one point we turned off our flashlights and the dark was consuming, like being in a cave. We could not see the hands in front of our faces. We capped off our evening walk in an open area where we could see the stars - they were magnificent. The southern cross was amazing.

Welcome to the Jungle (Rain Forest)

 Lima to Puerto Maldonado

Inkaterra Lodge * Nature Walk * Night Boat ride

After an early departure to the Lima airport (we left the hotel at 6:00 a.m.) we made it to Puerto Maldonado at 11:00 a.m. It was so nice to have a guide and driver at the airport ready to whisk us off to the Lodge. Our drive through town was interesting; one of the first buildings we saw was an LDS church. Pretty amazing to think of members of the church in so many remote places. Even though this city is remote, there are 100,000 inhabitants.

Our lodge is amazing! We are staying in 2 bungalows that are open to nature. There is mesh around the rooms and netting around the beds for extra protection from bugs. It’s so peaceful and quiet, there are only a handful of guests here right now. It’s much cooler than I would have expected for the rain forest. In the shade with a slight breeze, it’s pleasant. In fact, our room was even a bit cool - good thing the staff added a warm water bottle to the sheets to keep us cozy.

We enjoyed 2 excursions this afternoon. The first was a nature walk around the lodge introducing us to the surroundings. The highlight was definitely the monkeys. They were everywhere! In fact, we didn’t even realize it, but when we were relaxing at our hotel room, we heard howler monkeys. Their howl was so unique that we couldn’t tell if it was machine or animal. It went on and on. On the nature walk we happened across a lemon tree (or maybe it was orange) where the monkeys were playing. Mostly squirrel and Cappuchino monkeys. They were playing in the trees and tossing down fruit to the ground. Several times citrus fruit nearly missed us as it fell to the ground.

After our nature walk, we took an evening boat ride on the river in search of caiman - a local crocodile-like creature.

All the animals we saw in the Peruvian rain forest.  

Tamirn Money, Squirrel Monkey, Capachin Monkey, Hower Monkey, Capibara, Turtles, black and white Cayman, Huron, Hoatzin birds (chicken bird), bat, frog sloth, lizard, bunny rodent, tarantula, jumping spiders, caterpillars.

Lima Food Culture

 Temple * Cooking Class * Market * More Lima

We started our morning nearly forgetting our temple recommends as we hopped in the taxi - gratefully it occurred to Lara to jump out and go grabs hers and Sydney’s before getting too far down the road. The traffic was a mess - we were traveling right in the middle of rush hour and what took us 30 minutes to drive last night, took over an hour this morning. We were 30 minutes late to our baptism appointment at the Lima Temple. Eric’s aunt and uncle were the temple presidents many years back here, but the temple security guard and president still remembered them.

The Lima temple was expecting us to bring more people to help in the baptistery than what we had, so it appeared at first that they could not accommodate us. But before we knew it, they had recruited some baptistery helpers and we were all set. The baptistery was very small, including the acutal font included. It was really nice to see Charlie and Sydney do baptism with Eric while Lara and another sister acted as witness.

After a quick 30 minutes in the temple, we had some additional time to walk around and enjoy the grounds before starting our tour for the day. The first stop on our Lima tour today was the beach boardwalk outside of Miraflores. Inspired by the Spanish architect Gaudi, the boardwalk was decorated with colorful, wavy tile art. After our nice walk, we had a cooking demonstration: ceviche, causa limena (a potato and avocado dish), and lomo saltado.

We thought that the cooking demonstration was our lunch, so we were surprised to learn that lunch was the same menu, but in a more formal setting. It was delicious the second go around, but we were stuffed and dessert was served this time - picarones (fried potato batter in a maple syrup). We all agreed that the ceviche was the best!

After lunch we visited the local market in the Miraflores neighborhood. Apparently, each area has a local market full of produce, meat, fish, spices, nuts - all the basics you might need. It was beautifully arranged and very diverse. We saw many things that we are not accustomed to - especially all sorts of hanging meats that no one really wanted to experiment eating.

After lunch we headed back downtown to Lima to visit the Chinatown district and to further explore the colonial buildings in the historic center. Many buildings were marked with the UNESCO designation as world treasures. They were truly beautiful.

Our final even was spent wandering the Miraflores quarter and enjoying a yummy pastry from a French bakery - and then packing for our jungle adventure to Puerto Maldonado tomorrow!

Introduction to Lima

 Downtown Lima * Dinner with Mission Friends

Today we traveled from Trujillo to Lima. We left our hotel this morning to a plaza full of marching bands and students circling the Plaza de Armas. No worries though, our taxi driver had no hesitation honking at the children so he could drive through the streets. Even though Trujillo is the 3rd largest city in Peru, its airport has exactly 1 gate. In fact, most Peruvians would take the 9-hour bus ride to Lima rather than pay the $100 for an airline ticket.

After a short 50-minute flight to Lima we navigated the 1-hour drive to our Hotel in Miraflores - a nice upper-class neighborhood and a popular place for tourists. Plenty of nice places to stay and eat.

The Peruvian National soccer team played in a qualifying match for the World Cup and the President of Peru declared a national holiday for all public employees so they could leave work early to watch the soccer game. In fact, when we arrive at our hotel at 1:00 - the precise time the soccer match started - the bell hop put our luggage on the cart, and then quickly disappear to watch the match. We decided to join the hotel staff and several guests in the dining area for lunch and the first half of the match (0-0).

Our afternoon tour of the city started at 2:00 (just as the second half of the match was starting). It was great, the streets were deserted, and we had no problem driving to our first site - Santo Domingo Church with a visit to the crypt. On our way there we meandered through some upscale neighborhoods and past a couple of archeological sites. Huge adobe bricks structures right in the middle of Lima. I had no idea there were archeological sites in Lima. When we arrived at the church, there were only a few people there (probably all watching the soccer game) so we had the place to ourselves. It was beautiful, built in the late 1500s and one of only a few original buildings from that era. The woodwork and tiles were stunning. We also visited the spooky crypt below the church where human remains were artistically displayed in neat piles (mostly skulls and femurs).

After the church we visited the outside of the Presidential Place and Plaza Mayor. The Colonial architecture in Lima is amazing! And unlike Trujillo, there seems to be more financial resources to maintain the beautiful buildings. We also visited an old colonial mansion, the longest inhabited by the same family - Casa de Count Aliaga. It was stunning. Dark would with intricate designs, an interior courtyard, and extraordinary art and painted walls.

Our final stop of the day was the Larco museum. It’s nice to start to put together the many ancient civilizations of this area and the time frames and areas in which they lived. Across many of these ancient civilizations there are similarities in the art as well as in the facial representations of the pottery. Some of the pieces had faces that looked of Asian descent. The most interesting piece was a pot that had a design that matched a piece of art Eric brought home from Peru in 1990. He had no idea of its origin so was intrigued to learn that the original piece was in this museum.

For Dinner tonight we meet several missionaries from Eric’s mission at a rotisserie chicken restaurant near the temple. They were SO pleasant and enjoyable to be with. They spoke a few words of English, but mostly it was nice to see missionaries from 30 years reminiscing about all the great memories they shared together. The celestial kingdom is going to be a glorious reunion of all those people that had important roles in your lives. We chatted until 10:00 and graciously one of the couples drove us back to our hotel.