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6- Manu Jungle Nat´l Park, Peru
September
15, 2003
Que paso, me amigos? Yep, it´s me again. With another massive, long-winded instalment of my trip journals. The jungle is a huge place, so this one might be a little longer. I´m sorry that the attatchment photos were so big, I did not have any software to compress them. I hope yout guys dug them. I am just excited that Peru had the internet shop with the capabilities to transfer from my dig camera and burn a backup cd for only $2.50! Not too bad for a developing country, huh? Let´s pick up with Sun, Aug 31st the day after Manchu Pichu. Sorry bout the slight delay in e-mails but it is difficult to come up with the energy to churn these out as fast as I would like. Enjoy.
Another 5 am wakeup,
arghh!!! It was really starting to get to me. Anyone
that knows me, knows that Talbot is definately NOT a morning person. At
least the shower was hot and we had breakfast waiting. Jonathan, the Dutch
girls, and myself caught the backpacker class train and it turned out to be
pretty nice. On the 3 1/2 hour return trip, I had some final thoughts about
my experience at Manchu Pichu. Of course, MP is really touristy, it is afterall,
one of the wonders of the world. I am really glad I did the Inca Trail instead
of just take the train up like the other hordes of tourist. At times, the
trail was a little crowded, but there were plenty of chances to stagger behind
the group and get some quality solo time. And finally, as we were returning
to the "Sacred Valley", I couldn´t get it out of my head that
it really is not all that "sacred". The only time I heard any Peruvians
really speak of the valley in a spiritual context was when Hilbert, our guide,
said that the reason it was foggy when we arrived to MP, was bc we must have
done something to anger the avils-the Inca gods that lived in the high, glaciated
mountains that provide rivers and water and bring life, to an otherwise arid
land. MP was impressive, but sacred , I don´t think so. More like the
sacred cash cow that brings in thousands of tourists and their dinero. Remember,
it wasn´t even "discovered" until an American found it in
1911! I hope I don´t come across too jade, I just try to be realist.
We arrived in Ollantambo and decided to store our bags and check out the ruins
on the hill overlooking the village. There were impressive monolith boulders
and doorways on top of the extensive tier system. It was a gorgious day, and
we could finally see the glaciated mountains in the background-yeah! Jonathan
and the Nienke (half of the
double dutch) were quite the shutterbugs and really enjoyed the still functioning
water fountains. Charles, an Aussie associate of the Dutch girls, whom we
have been hanging out with, came up with a good idea. We
decided to hire a taxi back to Cusco and check out some sites on the way.
It only cost about 18 soles each, we drove on top of ridge with just incredible
scenery of the mountains and the locals tossing hay in the
foreground. As we passed thru the small villages, Charles broke out his stash
of carmello (candy) and appropriate disburssed them to the local kids. We
arrived at Morray, a strange circular formation of crop terraces. Apparently,
the Incas used the varying elevations of terraces to test out different crops.
It was really peaceful and we even saw a few condors fly overhead with at
least 3m wingspans! We arrived back in Cusco and agreed to meet at Los Peros
for some good amerzo (lunch). I checked into the hostel and met back with
everyone for some of yummy bacon sandwiches and smoothies. Later in the evening
, I met back up with the group at Los Peros and for some reason I reccomended
going to Govinda´s- a veg restaurant I had frequented. It was a dissaster,
especially with an Englishman and an Aussie who love meat. We decided to meet
up with the Inca Trail group as planned at Cross Keys- a fairly authentic
English pub. I was exhusted and barely made it through my 1st beer. Somehow
the group (which most of the tour group actually did show up) dragged me to
Mama´s for some dancing. Got a few free drinks in me and started to
feel more human but called it a somewhat early(for Cusco) night.
Monday was fairly
non-eventful. I slept in and dropped by S American Explorers to do a little
research on Manu Park as well as report the condition of the Inca Trail for
their clean up project. The next adventure was going to be the jungle. I have
been in rain forrests back home and in Asia, but there are only a few places
in the world to experience prime JUNGLE. Manu nat'l park has the best reputation
for primary real rain forrests, but is a tad expensive. It had also been featured
on the PBS show "the living Edens". Two factors weighed heavily
in it´s favor though. The other jungle area I was considering, Puerto
Maldando, you had to book a plane ticket at least 7 days in advance. I was
running out of time and had already been in Cusco, way too long. Also the
Dutch girls went and reccomended it. I checked in with SAS and the just happen
to have small group of 6 leaving on Wed. I also checked in with S. Rivers
and my river rafting trip and there wasn´t anyone going, so I went ahead
and bit the bullet to hit the jungle. It was spendy, but well planned. It
was going to be a really long bus ride (12 hours) there, but they charter
a small plane back to Cusco. I basically just chilled out the rest of the
day. I saw American Wedding in a bar, kinda of entertaining, and picked up
a game of chess with a local. We split 2 games, and he was actually really
good. His friends egged him on after I beat him the first game.
Tuesday morning, I returned to Pisac to the market. I walked around forever
til I found the perfect Inca v. Conquistador chess sets and some other souviniers
for the folks back home. Having been in sales and traveled to Asia, I can
be a real hard-assed hagglier when I need to be. Returned back to Cusco for
the Manu meeting. Unfotunately, the group of six doubled to 11 overnight.
Oh well, at least the guide, Fabi, a Peruvian girl in her mid 20´s spoke
very good English.
Oh boy, another crack of dawn wakeup. The bus was big and old with huge monster truck wheels. I was prepared for the 12 hour busride on another dodgy Peruvian "road". We drove for about an 1 1/2 hour to a high ridge where we had desayuno overlooking the Andes and eculyptus trees. About a half a century ago, the Peruvian góv´t brought them in from Oz bc they are so hardy and help prevent erosion. Other than that, the west side of the Andes can be really barren of trees and is already dry. It was another bumpy hour to the chullpas of Ninamarco. The Cullpas are at least a millenia old and are funeral towers of a civilization long forgotten. The next stop was a neat Spanish colonial town of Paucartambo. It was ideally positioned on a river and oddly enough, most of the village was painted blue, after the sponser of their annual dance fiesta, Pepsi. There were some statues in the center of the plaza depicting the infamous dance with its wild costumes. There were tons of different types of potatoes in the market including weird dehydrated ones. The road kept getting worse and worse. I tried not to look over the edge. You could tell we were making the transision from high Andes to what they call cloud forest. The fog came in and we stopped for some lunch at a ranger station. As we were getting deeper into the rain forrest, I couldn´t help but have that Guns n Roses song¨"Welcome to the Jungle" ringing in my noggin-gurr.... The highlight of the day, one could say, was the observation blind to check out the nat´l bird of Peru. I am not making this up- the nat´l bird of Peru is called the "cock of the Rocks!" It´s actually quite pretty; bright red with a large forehead. There is a place they gather everyday to sing and perform mating rituals. Yeah, I know, I am not the biggest bird person in the world (Amanda will comp for that). But it was pretty cool, in spite of my camera that is handicapped with a dismal 2 x zoom. As we came into our destination of the evening, the small village of Pillcoptata, you could also see a transition not only in the vast dense green growth of the jungle. But also the change in human habitat from mudbrick type houses to dwellings that consisted of mostly wood and tin sheeting for roofs. One thing that was constant though, was the odd propaganda in favor of political candidates, that was painted on the side of the houses. This village was in the middle of nowhere, but you want to know something crazy, they had internet! Fabi introduced the cook, Luce, who would be our colinary guardian, for the next 6 days. She also brought out the surprise guest of the trip. The family that owned the jungle lodge had "found" a baby sloth. So Fabi brought out this cute hairy thing that looked like a monkey from far off. I was the first person who got to hold it and it was so soft and mellow. All it wanted to do is to hold onto to you. It was even cooler than getting to hold that monkey when I was in Thailand! It´s not everyday that you can say that you held a sloth.
It´s 6 am, must
be time to wake up-arghh!!! We got some desayuno and took an hour walk through
the jungle village of Pillcoptata. It was located on a picturesque river and
you could tell that the locals weren't used to seeing gringos. On the other
side of the river, the jungle came alive. In the early morning and evening
is when you hear the most activity. It is the best time to watch birds and
wildlife bc it is not hot yet and they are the
most active. Unitl you have been in the rain forrest and hear how alive and
loud the animals are, it is really hard to imagine. There is no question in
your mind where you are. There were just tons of birds flying around. The
bus met up with us and we drove to the village of Atalaya to start our journey
by boat. The boat was really cool. It reminded me of a long boat in Asia.
SAS had pulled out all the stops with cusion- reclinable seats, a
roof, and even a SAS flag. You could fit about 16 people including the crew.
We met up with two new crew members: Joel and Pokemon (bc he was so short).
They were probably in their early twenties and really knew the boat and the
river like the back of their hands. The boat is where we would spend most
of the remander of the trip. There was an 8 hour ride today. It was begining
to get really hot and humid and the sandflies would eat you allive. We were
deep into the jungle by now, and there were no longer any roads. In the rain
forrest, the rivers are the roads for man and animal alike. So it was also
the ideal place to view wildlife. And we saw tons of it. The first bit of
the river was a little choppy, but we did notice plenty of birds. There were
herons of all discriptions, weaver birds, giant king vultures, and a ton of
others I don´t remember. We were finally
in the cultural zone of Manu. Manu is renowned around the world for the greatest
biodiversity on the planet. There are twice more species of animals that reside
in the park the the entire continent of N. America. The
Peruvian gov't realized the importance of preserving this rich resource about
30 years ago and the United Nations has declared it a World Biosphere and
place it under international protection and aid. There are 3 zones to Manu:
the nucleas of the park where no one but researchers and biologists are allowed
to go, the reserve zone which was created for eco-tourism, and the surrounding
cultural zone which contains some villages, roads, and it not so restricted.
Our group was among the 2000 visitors to Manu's reserve zone a year. It is
so isolated it takes at least a 1 1/2 day drive as well as a 8 hour boat ride
to get to. Our destinaton for this evening would still be a junge lodge deep
within the cultural zone. About 2/3rds there, we stopped at Bacu Manu, a charming
little village of about 80 people. Boca Manu would also boast the only "airport"
in the area that we would be flying out of in 5 days. A few hours boatride
later we arrive at our jungle lodge which was really impressive. It was a
huge building made of bamboo and reed with very high thatched roofs. The rooms
were small, but comfortable with mosquito nets and dividers. The lodge was
open to the forrest, but raised on stilts to detour would be creatures. That
evening we went on a night walk for about two hours. I was pretty nervous,
thinking that I was going to step on an anaconda or something. We saw several
a few different spiders, a cane toad (that is know for its hallutionistic
properties), a flales-leaf bug, and a butterfly that looks like an owl. When
we returned to the lodge, Luce had dinner made and we promptly crashed afterwards.
Fri morning, guess
what time we got up. This morning we were actually getting up for a mission.
To check out the clay lick that hundreds of parrots and maccaws go to every
morning to eat the clay to help them digest
seeds and what not. The blind-boat was really close to our lodge. It was really
smart, how they had everything set up. We would float on the boat about 20
meters away from the lick and the birds could not see the people
and they were also used to the boat. About thirty minutes after we arrived
the was a really loud sound of birds chirpping and a huge group of green parrots
flew around one time and proceeded to the clay lick. Then the
maccaws moved in. The maccaws were red with blue tails are really loud and
beautiful. This was definately a time were my binoculars came in handy-thanks
Tom. The cool thing was that we were observing a natural event that the birds
partake in and man has not interfered. After the lick, Fabi took us on a short
walk off of the river. It was the first time we ran into monkeys. There was
a family of squirrel monkeys in the trees directly above us. They tend to
stay really high in the canopy of the jungle and jump from tree to tree. Monkeys
are so cool, like little people, you can tell there is some sort of intelligence
there. Fabi was a great guide and very
informative. She explained how complicated of an ecosystem the rain forrest
truly is. Most of the life here, lives in the canopy. The floor of the jungle,
is not all that nurtriant. Most of the plants and animals have dependant relationships.
Like epiphytes (vines, etc) live on the limbs of trees so they can get more
sunlight. There are also huge, parrasitic, strangler figs that grow from the
top of the tree and gradually surround the tree and kill it. Monkeys eat the
figs and distribute the seeds. Some trees have most of their roots above ground
bc the constant change in the river and annual flooding season. It is really
overwhelming how much is going on in a rain forrest and how complicated the
web of life can be. We returned to the lodge to grab our things and take a
2 hour boat ride to the next junge lodge, located off of oxbow lake Charro.
Our evening walk was kind of hazardous for yours truly. I started off by slipping
on some mud into a creek. Immediately after getting my hand out of the mud,
it began to itch and started to blister up. I was already pretty tired and
one thing with the tour I did not like, we did not have much free time to
rest or explore on our own. So this did not help. Not to mention I was covered
with sandfly bites. They aren´t so bad on land, just when you stop on
the shore in the boat. Then towards the end of the hike, I just happened to
touch a tree with my other hand and it started to burn intensely for about
5 minutes. Fabi thought it was nettles? The jungle is pretty healthy, bc you
realize just how vulnerable you truly are and it kind of puts you in your
place. There must be a million ways to die there, by plant and animal. In
true nature, man is not always on top of the food chain. Luce fixed us a traditional
jungle meal with plantanes, juana (a type of dumpling) and cocana (a fruit
that looks like tomato, but tastes like lemonade). I went to bed early to
¨lick my wounds."
Fri morning started with a canoe ride in the oxbow lake. Oxbow lakes used
to be part of the river until it floods or dries up and changes its course.
So they always are teaming with life: caimen (S. American crocs) , birds,
and pirrahna. There were also these weird fish that would jump into the canoe.
At first it startled me, bc I thought it might be pirrahna. We returned back
to the village of Boca Manu so that half of the group could
fly back to Cusco. In the village I saw a pet monkey and parrot. The owner
of the monkey would not let me play with it-too bad. This is where the trip
was going to get more intense, bc the remanding members of the group were
heading to Manu reserve, a more pristine and protected area. On the two hour
boat ride, Luce whipped up a fantastic lunch with caigua (jungle pepper) stuffed
with rice, raisins, cheese, and olives. I think the food
was better on this trip than the Inca trail, mostly bc it was more Peruvian
jungle food. We saw a huge black caimen (4m long)on the shore, which are higlhly
endagered bc of their prized skins. Another cool creature we
gandered at, was the family of capybaras, the largest rodent in the world
at 50lbs. We also had to check into a small ranger station, which was totally
isolated and was run down. Our final camp was pretty far into the park.
They had several platforms with roofs and stilts enclosing tents. Pretty fancy
camping, I thought. Over dinner, I got to know the remaining two couples (one
British and another Dutch) over more tradiional jungle cusine.
Sunday was our final
full day in Manu. It wasn´t such a bad ride to Salvador lake. Pokemon
and Joel controled our catamaran while we searched for the most endagered
animal in the park, the giant otter. Manu is one of
the few places in the world that they habitat anymore. They have been hunted
almost to extinction bc of their pelts. Not long into it, we spotting some
small heads popping in and out of the water. I would say that besides
the sloth and the monkeys, the otters were the coolest creatures to check
out. They came out of their den and went fishing. You could hear them communicate
to each other and they would pop out onto a branch and rip apart the pirrahna
they caught. They are very social creatures, and we must have only been about
20 feet away. While the otters were putting on a show, a large family of red
howler monkeys were nearby in a treetop overlooking the lake. It was like
the two species were competing for our attention. We came back to camp and
I finally got a lovely two hour nap. Another boat ride to a trail that was
full of monkeys. It was the first time we ran into the largest jungle monkey,
the wolly monkey. One tree must have had about 20 monkeys in it!!!
The next oxbow lake supposedly had another family of otters, but we did not
see anything. We were on this 12m tall platform overlooking the canopy. On
the way back we paid a visit to one of the local native tribes, the
Machiguenca. They maintain a lodge with one family on the river nearby. It
was a weird place. The family meeted us at the river and walked us to the
complex. The leader proceeded to bring us in a buiilding that had all of these
culture posters around and a bunch of sewn bags with and bone necklaces with
price tags. He also played this weird stringed instrument and had a bongo
for sale that was made from monkey skin. Everyone in the group just kinda
looked at one another bc we all felt fairly uncomfortable and no one bought
anything (the prices were pretty expensive). It was an awkward interaction
for sure. We returned back to camp and Luce fixed us some Sangria (wine) to
go with dinner. It was a lovely nightcap.
Monday morning we
got our things together and put everything in the boat for the 6 hour ride
to Boca Manu. This was going to be the best day to see the king of the jungle
(for S.A.) the jaguar. There had been a few sightings on the riverbanks by
previous groups. About as close to a sighting as we got were some fresh jaguar
tracks on the bank when we pulled over to use the banos. As soon as we got
there, you could hear the plane landed. The airport was a joke. Just a hut
with a long, grass runway. At least you didn´t have to worry about check
in and what gate your flight was leaving from. We said our goodbyes to Fabi
and Luce and gave them healthy tips-they were really worth it. Dave, the Bitish
bloke that I kinda bonded with was really sick and barely made it on the plane.
The single engine prop plane took off with its 12 passangers and I was happy
to have a window seat. The jungle was so dense from the air. It was only about
an hour plane ride to Cusco. I said my goodbyes to the Dutch couple and Dave
and Abigail. They had been traveling a long time around the world. Dave paid
me a really nice compliment by saying I was the nicest American he had every
met and restored his confidence in my country. I checked back into Hostal
Rebalosa again and with S. Rivers that did not have another whitewater trip
booked for a week. I decided to make plans to move ASAP from Cusco. Went back
to the Extreme bar for a much needed movie, Charlie´s Angels, and crashed
really really, totally worn out with the sounds of the jungle still dancing
in my headed as I lost conscienous.
Happy Trails,
Talbot