Thru Peru

This morning I woke up at 7AM at the hotel in Lima and had a continental breakfast at the hotel.  The hotel is a mostly-original 1920s converted home and it was a nice unique place to spend the night and morning.

At 10AM I left the hotel and started walking around Barranco.  I had a Shakshuka breakfast at a bakery restaurant and then joined an 11am walking tour around Barranco.  The guide did a great job of showing us graffiti art and some interesting shops/museums.  At around 1pm the tour ended and I walked to el portico and bought some souvenirs in order to make a care package for Michelle.  Then I walked back to the hotel and had a trout/lentil/rice lunch special for 10 soles, which seemed like a ridiculously low price but I guess you get what you pay for.  

Right after, I walked over to Veggie Pizza and had a personal vegan pizza and then started a 16 hour intermittent fast.  From Baranco, I walked to Miraflores and spent a few hours and spent a few hours working at a Starbucks.  At about 7am, I walked back to Baranco and took an Uber to the airport.

Things I learned from this trip:

• I connect very well with people, especially when I’m being myself and authentic 
• Always maintain a positive perspective and do what feels good and right (plant consciousness training)
• Language learning can be a great way to work out your brain and also connect with local people 
• Living in cities has taken us away (physically, emotionally, and mentally) from nature and has made it easy for us to make decisions without considering the consequences to nature.  This concept carries on to other areas in my life.  The further away I am from something I’m making a decision about, the less sensitive and considerate I’ll be of it
• At their ideal selves, people are optimistic, happy, loving, accepting and kind (like so many people I met on this trip).  If somebody is not, have compassion towards them for what they’re going through 

Photos from today can be accessed via the following link:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LDlDimNXVWHqKrC26k68EAiKUKrOc568

This morning I woke up at 4:45 and met Fernando at 5 to go birdwatching for a couple of hours.  We had coffee together and ended up leaving around 5:30 and returning back to the lodge at 7.  During the early morning out we saw monkeys, birds, and more.  At 9, Fernando and I had breakfast together and they provided a “come back soon” cake for me and Fernando at breakfast.  At 9:30, we left the research lodge and arrived at the main lodge at 10:30AM.  For the next few hours, I relaxed in the hammock room and enjoyed a beer.  We then had lunch at 1pm and I said goodbye to xiaomi, Collin, Milly, Erin, and Alexia.  I’ve really grown to admire and like all of them and it was a bit difficult saying bye.  

Xiami mentioned they’d be going out to iquitos tonight so I gave her an extra $10 and told her to buy everyone a round of drinks on me tonight once the night has gotten going. I also told them that they have someone to show them around in LA in case they are ever in town.

At 2pm, we left and headed back to iquitos.  Iquitos was very quiet today (probably because it’s Sunday), but I just walked over and spent a few hours at karma cafe enjoying a green curry.  When I left karma cafe a few hours later, the streets very busy and everyone was out and about.  I got a scoop of ice cream from a sidewalk ice cream stand and continued walking around for a little longer and then headed back to amazonias office to take a taxi to the iquitos airport.  

Now I’m waiting to board a plane to Lima where I’ll spend the night in a historical home that has been converted into a hotel.

Link to today’s photos: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LDlDimNXVWHqKrC26k68EAiKUKrOc568

Today, after breakfast we headed up the river to the research lodge.  The research lodge is a lot smaller, but just as comfortable as the main lodge.  After lunch, Fernando and I went out for a canoe ride around the Tahuayo River.  We saw some Woolley monkeys, and about an hour into our outing, it became really windy and it began raining.  

At 5:30pm, we started heading to the “restinga” high ground. For the first half the time getting there we traveled with a motorboat and for the second half traveled by canoe.  During the couple of hours on the Restinga we saw an Amazon bushwack snake (one of the most rare and dangerous snakes), cayman crocodiles, frogs, rats, bullet ants, and more.  We then headed back to the research lodge and shortly thereafter headed to bed

Link to today’s photos: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LDlDimNXVWHqKrC26k68EAiKUKrOc568

This morning, I woke up at 5:30am and met Fernando at 6am at the lodge to go birdwatching before breakfast.  I enjoyed getting an early start to the day and also noticing how active and loud the birds were doing that time.

After breakfast, Erin, I, the Canadian could, and Fernando rode to a lake to look out for pink dolphins.  Along the way, Erin and I were having great conversation about human nature, the evolutionary history of humans and other species, and more.  Once at the lake, we spent about 30 mins watching numerous pink and gray dolphins, and then jumped into the water to cool off for a few minutes.  We then headed back towards the lodge and noticed a few sloths along the side of the lake.  On the way back to the lodge, we stopped at Chino and bought a few things at the market before continuing back to Chino for lunch.

After lunch, Alexia, me, and Fernando rode out to Tabano, where we enjoyed the scenery and spotted a tarantula and some monkeys in the trees. 

Once back at the lodge, I had dinner, showered and am heading to bed around 10

Lessons learned in Amazon:

• Adventures don’t always entail strenuous physical activities.  Adventures can be ventures out of your comfort zone,  we experiences, etc
• If you can come to enjoy them, cold showers are extremely refreshing and energizing 

Link to today’s photos:   https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LDlDimNXVWHqKrC26k68EAiKUKrOc568

This morning I woke up at 6:30am and spent about an hour in my room reading and doing push-ups.  At about 8am we had breakfast in the main lodge and at 9am Fernando, the Canadian couple, their guide, and another helper rode a couple hours by boat along the Blanca River to Frog Valley.

About Fernando:

• He’s 27 years old and has been guiding in the Amazon since he was 19 years old
• He specializes in survivalist tours, where he lives out in the Amazon with his clients and the bare minimum supplies and uses the natural environment to survive
  • He mentioned that he and an Israeli client survived out in the remote Amazon for one month 
• He grew up in an Amazon River community and is the only person in his village that can speak English.  He speaks four languages

Once at Frog Valley, we walked around for a couple hours and Fernando pointed out four different species of frogs, pointed out survivalist and indigenous uses for dozens of tree species, showed me how to use an animal trap and a bird trap, and explained how to navigate through the dense jungle using the position of the sun.

After a couple of hours of hiking and eating lunch, we headed back to the lodge and then relaxed for an hour.  At 5pm we headed back out onto the river with a canoe and navigated through the river and the igapo.  We noticed a large group of monkeys jumping around a few trees and enjoyed the sight for a few minutes.  After, we enjoyed the sunset and paddled towards the lodge.  After it got dark, we paddled through the flooded are behind the lodge for another hour but weren’t able to find any notable wildlife.  Regardless, it was still nice to cruise along the water and to hear the jungle sounds.

After dinner, I relaxed for a couple of hours in the WiFi room, lodge, and guest room, and am now going to bed around 11pm to wake up at 5:30am for our 6am bird watching excursion.

Link to today’s photos: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LDlDimNXVWHqKrC26k68EAiKUKrOc568

This morning I woke up at 6:30, packed up, and then took a taxi to the plaza del Armas area.  Most restaurants were closed today due to Labor Day,  but Fitzgerald Cafe was open on the boardwalk.  I ordered a vegetarian breakfast which came with a banana/papaya shake and veggie omelette.  I then walked over to Karma cafe and used wifi for a few hours.

Next, I stopped by a Nike store in the area and picked up some long socks for the upcoming trek.  

At about 2pm, we boarded a boat and headed over to Tahuayo.  Along the way, there were many small communities of homes ranging from dozens of people to a few hundred people.  We arrived at the lodge at about 4:30pm, a small community consisting of a dining room, hammock room, relaxing room, and many individual guest rooms.  

Relaxing inside the hammock room and closing my eyes, it feels like I’m listening to music.  There are hundreds of overlapping sounds from birds, insects, amphibians, mammals, and their interactions with nature. 

In the main dining lodge, I found a copy of Paul beavers book and continued reading on and off throughout the afternoon and night eventually reading 60 pages and encountering interesting information about the rubber boom (1890-1915), architecture in Iquitos, iquitos’ boom then bust and now boom, riberinos and indigenous people, routine annual flooding of the Amazon, Paul’s pre-Amazon life and the history of the lodge and Amazonia expeditions, biodiversity in the Amazon, etc.  I look forward to continuing to read this book during my stay. 

At 7pm, we had an extravagant buffer dinner with tons of vegetables, salads, and AMAZING homemade banana cake.

After dinner, Francisco and Hugo took me out on the river to view some birds and other nocturnal wildlife for about 45 minutes, which was a nice intro to the Amazon, it’s sounds and it’s biodiversity.

Laying in bed in the darkness, there is non-stop layers of white noise.  Dozens of species and Thousands of creatures suddenly plopping into the water, making their constant nonstop noises, or making their occasional notable distinct sounds.  You don’t need to be 100% present to be constantly reminded you’re in the Amazon.

Why I’m visiting jungle lodge:

• Expand my boundaries of my comfort zone (especially when it comes to humidity, rain, animals, and mosquitoes)
• Appreciate and experience the biodiversity and climate in this region 
• Appreciate the lifestyle of of the native people in this region
• Enjoy the childlike feeling of trying something unlike anything you’ve ever done before 
• Experience adventuring both during the daytime and nighttime in this region 
• Experience the remoteness, pristine, lack of human footprint/development in this region 

Link to today’s photos: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LDlDimNXVWHqKrC26k68EAiKUKrOc568

This morning I woke up at 3:30am and took an Uber to the airport.  I then boarded a 5:30am flight to Iquitos, arriving in Iquitos at 7:30am.  Someone from Amazonia expeditions was waiting at the airport to drive me to Amazonia’s office and hostel where I’d be spending the night.  I dropped off my things in the room and walked towards Plaza del Armas.  

On the way, I stopped at a banana market, the iron house, a cathedral in plaza del Armas, and other historical buildings.  At about 10AM, I stopped by Dawn at the Amazon Cafe to have a coffee and hummus, and shortly thereafter Dhyana showed up.  We then walked over to her office and began the plant consciousness training.

She set up a plate of coca leaves, a white powder that was meant to increase absorption of the coca, and rolls of tobacco which we would smoke in between chewing coca leads.  For the next five hours, we woke chew coca leaves and talk about anything and everything that was only mind.

At about 5pm, things wrapped up and I walked over to Dawn at the Amazon and had dinner and then walked back to the hostel.

Link to today’s photos: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LDlDimNXVWHqKrC26k68EAiKUKrOc568

This morning, the bus arrived in Paracas at around 7AM.  A taxi driver drove me to the pier and I reserved a island boat trip for 8AM and then a tour of the national reserve at 11am.  Before leaving on the 8am tour, I had an avocado toast from one of the restaurants near the pier.  

During the boat ride, i enjoyed seeing the unique geology of the Paracas shoreline and biodiversity (including over a hundred thousand birds on the islands). After the boat ride, I had a coffee at a cafe and then headed back to the pier to join the national reserve tour.  The geology was once again was very unique and the highlight was the one hour break at a beach, where I hiked up to a nearby peak, descended on the far side, and then walked back on the rocky shoreline towards the bus.

After the tour I had a quick lunch/dinner at a vegan restaurant (mashed potato dish) and then headed to the bus station to catch a bus to Lima.  

All photos from today can be accessed via the following link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LDlDimNXVWHqKrC26k68EAiKUKrOc568

Today we woke up at 4:15AM, quickly got ready, and started hiking out of Colca Canyon at around 4:30.  We hiked as a group for the first thirty minutes and then our guide allowed each of us to hike as quickly as we wanted.  I pushed myself near my limits and ended up finishing before 6:30AM.  It was cold and windy at the top, but fortunately some local vendors were selling coca tea.  Over the next hour, I sipped on two heavenly cups of coca tea until the entire group arrived.

At around 7:30, we walked into town and had omelettes, tea, and coffee at a local restaurant.  Then, we continued to the hot springs, where I was able to soak for 20 mins and then take a hot shower.  We then had a delicious lunch buffet with a salad bar, soup, and many vegetarian entrees.  After a couple more stops (volcano viewpoint and llamas near the highway) we drove back to town and arrived at about 5pm.  I stopped by the hotel to pick up my luggage and then took a taxi to the bus station for the overnight bus ride to Paracas.  

All photos can be accessed via the following link:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LDlDimNXVWHqKrC26k68EAiKUKrOc568

Last night, I set two alarms for 2:35 am and 2:45am.  This morning I woke up after receiving a phone call from the front desk at 3:45.  They told me that a tour bus is waiting for me at the entrance of the hotel.  It turns out that the alarm I set was only for weekdays and it didn’t go off because today is Saturday.

Ten minutes later I was downstairs and we drove a couple of hours to viewpoints near Colca Canyon were condors repeated fly, glide, and rest above the canyon.  

Next, we continued to the trailhead and climbed down from the rim of the canyon three hours until the river.  Then we had lunch in a small restaurant on the other side of the river.  We then continued hiking parallel to the river for a few more hours until arriving at an oasis where we relaxed for a few hours, had a mint mojito, had dinner, and then called it a night

All photos from today can be accessed via the following link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LDlDimNXVWHqKrC26k68EAiKUKrOc568