Jungle Survivors

Jungle Manu

We had this idea when we planned our trip that it would be cool to go from a high of almost 16,000 feet down to sea level on the roads. Most tours to the jungle in this area fly from Cuzco to either Manu or Puerto Maldonado. We found a tour, called a bio trip that drove down to the Madre de Dios river and then travelled on the river. We were lured by the attraction of the cloud forest and the cock of the rock birds.


What we failed to notice was the length of time and quality of road this bio-adventure would take. So with an eagerness to see the jungle and a desire to get out of the city, we met our travel companions for this venture, and headed off. You have to visit the jungle with a guide, so we picked Inkanatura tour group and were on our way. There were six of us all together, a German couple in their thirties, both mathematicians; and a retired couple from Berkeley, California. She was 68 and he was 80. Our first day had us travelling 14 hours by van up over a high pass in the Andes down to the cloud forest and the cock of the rock lodge. We made a variety of stops for bird gazing, but it was a very long time in a van on bumpy, dirt roads. We had so much dust on us at the end of the day that my hair was crunchy and black dirt was coming out of our eyes, noses, ears, and mouths. But, we both agree that it was pretty cool to see all the changes in the ecosystems all the way down.

Our traveling companions were birders. The older (and very cool) couple, Mel and Miles, were serious birders. Miles has been birding for 50 years. He asked if I thought that was a long time. I told him I thought it was a long time to have any consistent hobby. Mel and Miles have been all over the world multiple times and very often the main attraction was birding. The German couple were also birders, but much less intense birders. In other company I would have said they were also serious birders, but they paled by comparison to the birders from Berkeley. Larry and I, well, we like birds. On a good day we would be able to identify a bird of pray from a sparrow. In other words, we were way out of our league. Fortunately, everyone was nice and pointing things out to us. We learned a lot about birds in the jungle.

We FINALLY arrived at our lodge for the night, in the dark, barely in time for dinner. Our guide's name was William. Born and raised in Cuzco, named a proper Englishman name due to the influence of TV on his parents, he developed an absolute love for the jungle and a thirst to know more and more about all the plants, animals, and birds. What he lacked in judgement of time and organization, he more than made up for in enthusiasm. He got so excited over every little bird and how beautiful it was. He also saw everything. There were birds so far away that we couldn't even see them when trying to find them and he would spot them from a moving vehicle and tell you what it was and what the colors were. Amazing. Really amazing. William gave us our briefing for the next day and told us we wouldn't have to get up too early to see the main attraction. We were relieved as we were quite tired from our journey. That was until we found out that "not too early" meant wake up call at 4:30am and out the door at 5:00am.

The cock of the rock birds are these funny looking birds with big red heads. If Snuffalufagus (from Sesame Street) was a bird, it would be a cock of the rock birds. Apparently, every morning a bunch of the male birds would go to a particular bunch of trees and practice their mating ritual so when it was time, they would be ready to give it their best go to find a chick. Apparently, the real mating season is quite brief, but they diligently practice every day. It was quite a show. We were a little grumpy to wake up so early just to see a bird, but it was cool and unlike anything we have ever seen. Very noisy (and not the pretty kind of bird noise) and lots of flapping around. After we walked around a little and William found a few other birds for us to look at. We looked through our binoculars, William just looked.















On our way back to the lodge for breakfast, William spotted a monkey. We were very excited and then there was another and another. We thought this was just the coolest thing ever. Then we got to the lodge for breakfast and realized that we had passed the monkeys on their way to the lodge for breakfast. They got bananas tossed out by the staff at the lodge, and we got eggs. Larry and I are not huge fans of feeding animals like this, but it was fun to watch the monkeys run and get the bananas and then peel them and eat them. We were told they don't come all the time, but we find that hard to believe. If there was a safe plentiful free meal offered at the same place every day at the same time, I can't imaging the monkeys wouldn't come everyday. After our breakfast entertainment, it was back to the van (UGH) for three more hours. Of course, three hours became five hours, but eventually we made it down to the river to catch our boat.


















In addition to the stops for birds along the way, we made a stop at a Coca Farm. Traditional mountain living Peruvians (and tourists trying to acclimate to high altitudes) use coca leaves. By chewing them, or making a tea out of them, or candies, the elements in the leaves are supposed to help with altitude. This is all well and good except that this is the same plant that cocaine is made from (and Coca-Cola originally). There is a lot of controversy about the growing of the plants and the government is trying to regulate it, but the people indigenous to Peru are fighting back as they use the leaves in a variety of traditional ways and have for centuries.

The coca farm we visited was open to visitors and regulated by the government. It was interesting to see, but it was really like any other garden. The most interesting part was the cashew nut tree and all the other tropical fruit trees that we have never seen before. Cashew nuts, before they are dried are huge, maybe half the size of an average hand per nut. We also sampled a fruit unlike anything we've ever tried. It was a big long seed pod, maybe a foot long and two inches wide, and you crack it open and inside there is like a white pulpy material that surrounds big (over an inch long) seeds. You pop out a section and eat the white stuff. It's very sweet and kind of stringy, but tasty. Add that to the list of new foods. In any event, it was a nice diversion from the bumpy, dusty, LONG road.

Finally we made it to the river. We were thrilled to get into our boat for our two plus hour journey down the river. The boat sat two across and ten deep. It was like a big canoe with chairs and a motor at the back. We had a boat driver in back and another boatman up front to watch for obstacles in the river. It was a great ride. The weather was perfect. Not too hot and not buggy at all. After our river trip (with lots of stops to check out birds, of course), we arrived at our second lodge, Pantiacolla. Our first lodge visit was brief, arrival after dark, out before light, but it was nice. No electricity, but there was running water and there was hot water.
















Pantiacolla had no electricity and no hot water, and really, no real inside versus outside. We also had to get outside to go the the bathroom. We were in a cabin, but the roof wasn't exactly on top of the walls in all places. Let's say we could see the stars from inside. Normally, this would be great- and often preferable for Larry and I. However, we were in the jungle which means all kinds of creatures large and small- some friendly and some not. There were mosquito nets around our beds (more to keep out all creatures great and small, not just mosquitoes).

Anyway, since we arrived well before dark, we took a little hike in the jungle with William. We can't even begin to describe all the different types of trees and plants we saw, but one thing was very clear- you have to be tough to live in the jungle. Really tough. Things grow bigger, stronger, and just more fierce in the jungle. There are many varieties of trees that grow spikes or thorns on their trunks to protect them from other plants and animals. Vines grow up on trees trying to get to the sunlight and can suffocate the tree in the process. There is even a type of tree that grows around a "host" tree (an unwilling host) and wraps it's branches and roots around it until it strangles the tree and takes it's place. And that's just the plants. We didn't see much wildlife of this walk, but we saw some ants literally over an inch long and some spiders with spikes on their bodies. Like I said, you have to be strong to survive in the jungle. For us, our jungle survival instincts lead us to hike behind the guide while in the jungle.
















After dinner and our briefing for the next day, our latest wake up of the trip at 6:00am, we took quick cold showers and jumped under our mosquito nets as fast as possible. I got in mine first and Larry was getting a couple of things together when a cicada (insect like a cricket) came to visit us. All I heard was the unmistakable loud sound and saw Larry jump back a few feet. Unfortunately as Larry jumped back, the jungle sized creature jumped into our toiletry back. From there it was quite a show to get the cicada out. I'm under my mosquito netting, so I'm finding the show quite amusing. That is until it came right next to my bed and blew the candle out with it's wings. Before it left the room, it had knocked out both candles, created quite a raucous, and raised Larry's heart rate substantially.

The next day we took the boat down the river for six more hours until we arrived at Manu Wildlife Center. It was a great time on the river looking at birds and chatting with our travel companions. Larry and I both really enjoyed the birding (much more than we thought we would). The Manu Wildlife Center was definitely the fancy lodge of the trip. When we arrived, we were greeted by the lodge manager and brought to the main building. We were then asked to take our shoes off before going in. At first, we really thought they were joking. It just doesn't seem like a good idea to take your shoes off and leave them outside in the jungle. But we did as asked and went inside where cold juice was waiting for us- an Amazonian specialty which is juice made from blue corn. It is actually pretty good. The main lodge area had hammocks, a bar area and a full dining room. Our room that we stayed in was quite nice. No electricity (this is an eco-lodge after all), but it did have hot water and an indoor bathroom. Most importantly the room appeared to be fully screened in.

We went for a little hike in the afternoon and continued to see all kinds of jungle species of plants. Larry thought he was walking in a nature program like you see on TV. We came upon a huge tree of the variety that strangles another tree to get space to grow. The original tree was long gone and we were able to walk inside the trunk of there where it used to be. You know you are in a tough place when the trees kill each other so violently. There is even a fungus that exists in the jungle that is carried by the wind (the spores) and attacks insects, mostly spiders. The fungus attaches to the insect and effects the brain of the insect which makes it climb up a tree to the appropriate height for the fungus and then the fungus grows over it, killing the insect. There are no reported cases of humans dying from this fungus....

The next morning was our early wake up call at 4:00am so that we could go and see the Macaw clay lick, one of this areas main attractions. We took a short boat ride up the river and hiked into a built up bird viewing platform and waited for the birds to arrive.

A brief digression on mammals in the area. Besides birds, snakes, insects, and killer plants, there is also quite a few special mammals in the area. Of most interest to us was the capyabara, the largest rodent in the world. These cow sized rats are truly rodents of unusual size (or ROUS's for any Princess Bride fans). They live by the river and come out to the riverbanks to feed. William, our eagle eyed guide, had his eye out for them on our behalf. There are also jaguars, tapirs, agoti, sloths, anteaters, armadillos, and of course, monkeys of many varieties. On the way to the Macaw clay lick, we saw a couple of agoti (kind of like a woodchuck sized rat, but much cuter). They kind of hop along like kangaroos on all fours.

The show at the Macaw clay lick went as follows: Wake up really early, take a boat ride, a short hike, arrive at the spot, and then wait for the birds to arrive. The clay lick is special because the clay in this particular place is necessary for the birds to aid digestion. William said it was like alka-seltzer for the birds. So after their morning feeding, first come the parrots, then came the macaws, and finally the parakeets. We waited for quite a long time for the show to start, but I have to say it was worth the wait. These are the birds that you only see in zoos and on nature shows. While we were waiting, Larry made a friend. We happened to sit down right where we were was an Amazonian sized grasshoper was waking up for the day. Larry didn't bother him at all and he stayed right in front of us for the entire time. He was quite entertaining while we were waiting for the birds. We watched the grasshoper do a full circuit of bathing and morning exercises. Trust us, when it is 5:30 in the morning and you are sitting still and quiet waiting for birds to show up, this is good entertainment!















Our afternoon venture was to the canopy platform. For us, this was one of the main reasons we picked the Manu Wildlife Center as a destination point. It was a platform built up in a tree about 125 feet off the ground. To get onto the platform, you have to climb up an open metal spiral staircase. It sounds like no big deal, but the staircase moves- a lot- when there is any movement on it. Surprisingly when we got to the top the platform was totally stable. it was really just a tree house platform built on some massive branches of a tree. It was very cool to see the jungle from the top. We now had a bird's eye view to look back at the birds. Then it started raining. We opted to wait it out for a little bit at the top and when the rain stopped, we saw lots of birds and monkeys.















Our last full day at the Wildlife Center was definitely the most eventful. It started very early in the morning as we took a boat down the river to get to an Oxbow lake. Every moment on the river, we were looking for the capyabara (which is supposed to be fairly common), but we had not seen any yet. We had seen almost everything else on the list: caymans- check; agoti- check; monkeys- check; toucans- check; capyabara- none.

We arrived at the lake and boarded our catamaran to check out the lake. Before you think we were on a big sailboat, the Amazon catamaran is a wood platform on top of two canoes with folding chairs to sit on. It was very comfortable and most importantly for the lake, it was silent.
There were two main attractions at the lake, a family of giant otters (very rare) and a crazy looking blue faced bird that looks like a chicken, sounds like a cow, and is very awkward when flying. We saw the crazy birds right away, and then our attention turned to these little birds on the water called by some, Jesus Christ birds. They walk on water. They have these big long toes and walk (mostly on lily pads) around the lake and use their toes to pull up the bottom of the lily pad to see if there is any food there. They were very cool to watch. Animals are amazing. We saw the family of otters having their morning meal of freshly prepared fish. Ok, we saw them dive down, catch a fish, come up and eat it in just a couple of bits. We enjoyed the otter show.
















Our afternoon venture was actually an afternoon and evening venture. We hiked about 3 miles to another clay lick. This type of clay was the alka-seltzer for the tapir. The tapir is a rare and funny looking pig/anteater looking thing that apparently is special to the area. So, off we went. On the hike in, we saw spider monkeys- they were fun. They were exactly what you imagine, little monkeys swimming from branch to branch. We also saw howler monkeys- they really do howl. Like a loud low growl that you can hear from over a mile away. The rest of the hike was uneventful, by Amazon standards. When we arrived at the viewing point, we were again asked to take off our shoes. This time we were going to be there until well after dark before hiking back and taking off our shoes really didn't seem like such a good idea, but we did as asked and then went directly into our little mosquito covered viewing areas, complete with mattress. We immediately saw a small cayman (think crocodile) swimming around in a mud hole, which was an odd place for a cayman, but really, who is going to stop a cayman from going wherever it wants? We only waiting a short while until one tapir came looking for his clay hit. He came, he munched, he walked away. Pretty uneventful. Then our guide asked us if we wanted to go. Having only gotten a brief glimpse of the tapir, we opted to wait for a while to see if anything else showed up.

















Two hours later and now pitch black- still nothing, so we decided to start our walk back.
Now if you ask most people if they would like to take a hike in the jungle at night, they would say no and probably use some explatatives. Seems like the right answer really. Night hiking in the jungle was not exactly my idea of a relaxing evening stroll, but off we went into the land of HUGE spiders and crazy insects. Fortunately after a few walks in the jungle, we learned the most important jungle hiking lesson- let the guide go first. So like the good guide William was, he started hiking and we followed. We saw a few frogs, which was good. We saw a couple of scorpian spiders. As if big spiders aren't bad enough, these suckers had pinchers at the end of each leg just like scorpians. Because the legs are so long with the extra weapon at the end, the body of the spider is actually several inches off the ground. Huge.

Then, there was a tarantula. I haven't seen one of these since Arizona (small ones) and Larry had never seen one before outside of a zoo. It was big and hairy looking. William explained that he really thought they were prehistoric looking creatures and not so smart. I didn't really want to find out how smart it was. So we continued on for a while with only army ants and medium sized spiders to avoid. Then we saw another tarantula (a little bigger- about the size of my hand) and William saw it retreat down it's hole. So, of course, after the spider had kindly gotten out of our way, what did our trusty guide do? That's right, he wanted to get it out of it's hole for us to see. He said what we saw was the juvinile and wanted to try to get the mom out to play. He took a leaf and twisted it around the end of a stick to make it look like a bug that the spider might want to eat. Then he stuck it near the tranatula hole. The juvinile came out to try to get it twice, but William pulled it away. Then the mom came out. We ALL gasped and took a step back- even our trusty guide. This was the biggest spider we had ever seen, including on TV. The body alone was the size of my hand and with the hairy legs stretched out, the thing was huge. Words can't explain, see the picture of the "little" one, and then the BIG mama. Use the leaf for size comparison. There is no zoom here...
















After that we all walked a little more quickly back to our lodging area. The last thing we saw was a little armidillo walk right in front of our path. Friendly, normal size, and non-threatening. Very good. We arrived back at our cabin, tired, sweaty (did I mention it was jungle hot on this day), and very alert and attentive to our surroundings. So, after one more game of "evict the cockroaches" which was our nightly ritual at Manu Wildlife Lodge, it was time to crawl under our protective mosquito (and cockroach) netting and get some rest.

The next morning we left the lodge and took a two hour boat ride up river to the airport. Unfortunately based on the flights (12 people max per flight) our group had to split up and we took our final trip up the river with another guide, who was not nearly as interested in looking for things on the river. And alas, no capyabaras. These rodents of unusual size (ROUS's) are supposedly commonplace along the river and as big as small cows. We both really wanted to see one, but animals have their own time tables, and our schedules didn't match. So, we'll have to wait for a trip to the fire swamp for another opportunity. For those of you not familiar with the movie The Princess Bride (and the music played at our wedding ceremony), ignore the previous sentence.

For our last Amazonian adventure experience, we got out of the boat and hiked in to the airport. The airport was even smaller than in Belieze. This was a open air hut (think picnic shelter in a local park) with one CB radio, one desk, and a scale. They asked us to sign our name in a book, weighed our bags, and then weighed us and our carry-ons, and we were officially checked in. After they calculated weight, they assigned us seats so that our weight distribution was correct and the plane could successfully take off. It was both of our first "weigh-in" experience in order to get on a plane. With plane full, and properly distributed weight, we were off, climbed from sea level to 15,000 feet and then landed back in Cuzco at 10,700 feet- long assent, short descent. We arrived back in Cuzco with very few bug bites and lots of pictures and visual memories of a great trip to the jungle.

Lars Trek and the lost city of the Incas

Our GAP "Inca Discovery" Tour Continues...

Our next stop was both our practice hike and our first visit to some Incan ruins. I'm not sure the altitude, but it was at least 12,000 feet. The ruins were really interesting, and it was our fist glimpse that Silver really was going to be an excellent guide. We walked up by some terraces like ants on a hill, the place was really packed with tourists panting from the thin air as they walked alongs. The Incans were primarily farmers and had built terraces for farming right into the hillsides. It was amazing. Basically it was the Incan solution on how to farm on the side of a mountain- just build small garden areas like big stairs. They knew how to build rock walls- very impressive to us trail building folks. They also excavated the soil underneath in some areas to make it more fertile for growing. They primarily grew potatoes (200+ varieties), quinoa, and corn in multiple varieties. At the top of the terraces there were some buildings still standing.

The Incans were amazing builders and there buildings still stand due to the intense craftsmenship and awareness of the surroundings. They built all of their walls angling slightly in to each other so that during an earthquake the walls would lean in and support each other instead of falling outward. Traditional windows were also in the shap of a trapazoid for the same reason. Everything was done with purpose. There were windows in line with the way the sun would rise and set, shapes and angles that were part of the Incan cross, and lots of symbolism with numerology. Pretty impressive for a civilization that only existed for less than 500 years and was only in it's prime for just about 100 years. Silver is of Incan heritage, speaks the local language, and explained different things about the culture to us in a way that only someone with personal knowledge really can. We wandered around a little, and then it was back to the bus and off to the next town

SILVER AND THE MAGIC PILL

What I haven't mentioned until now is that I was really feeling horrible during this day. I wasn't sure if it was something I ate, the altitude, or just getting sick, but by the time we reached Ollyantambo (the next town and the next set of Inca ruins) I had a full on fever, aches, headache, stomach ache, and just felt terrible. Fortunately, we checked into the hotel before going to the next ruins. I walked into the room and got directly in bed. I only managed to take off my hiking boots. Larry went out to the ruins at my insistance, and I stayed in bed. I felt awful and had no idea what I was going to do as we were to start our trek in the morning and climb over 14,000 feet on our first day. I believe I had all of the thoughts you might have at a time like this (use your own imagination). Fortunately, I fell asleep for a little while. Larry came back from the ruins at Ollyantambo and we decided it was best to consult with Silver so he would be able to give us advice on alternate plans if need be. According to Larry, he didn't seem overly concerned (that made one of us) and gave Larry a pill to give to me, encouraged rest and fluids and just see how I felt in the morning. I took the pill and went back to sleep as Larry went out to get dinner with the group and try to find some food to bring back for me. By the time Larry came back, the magic pill was already working. My fever had broken and I felt hungry for the first time in a couple of days and was able to eat some soup before going back to sleep. I woke up the nex mornng and actually felt pretty good. I got out of bed after 14 hours and proceeded to get ready for the day. Silver's magic pill worked. Amazing!

We arrived at our starting point after a very steep drive on a dirt road and met the rest of our support team: an assistant guide, a cook, an assistant cook, two kitchen helpers, and four horsemen. Although it had started to rain, the lunch tent went up and we had a freshly prepared hot lunch in just a few minutes time. I was feeling better, Larry was feeling good, and it was time to hike!

TREK DAY ONE

The Andes are huge mountains. Having lived in Colorado for a while (10 years for me, 15 for Larry) we didn't expect to be so immediately impressed by mountains. The Andes are impressive. They are massive and all around. There are peaks behind peaks behind peaks. It was an immediately humbling experience to be surrounded by these awesome mountains hiking painfully slowly at 14,000+ feet just trying to get enough oxygen to keep going. It really was beautiful. I was just so greatful to feel better and to be able to hike. Amazing magic pill!

After what felt like quite a while we started to get near the top of the pass. The horses passed us carrying all of our gear and the horsemen walked alongside the horses without missing a beat (no oxygen depravation for them).

We turned a corner on the trail, and there off the side of the trail was an Incan woman selling Coca-Cola. Seriously. She had a little table set up with a variety of drinks, soda, and candy along with the obligatory Llama wool hats. There were no houses nearby and no animals near her. We couldn't imagine where she had come from, but there she was. We probably should have bought a coke just for the sake of doing it, but we were focused on getting to the top of the pass, so up we went. Unfortunately it was totally clouded over at the top, so we could only see a few peaks before we headed down the other side toward our camp for the night. We passed a variety of mountain lakes and got to camp just as it was getting dark- which by the way is at 6:00pm all year long becuase Peru is so close to the equator. It was hard to believe we were near the equator as the temperatures were close to freezing so high up.

CAMPING - GAP STYLE

When we arrived at camp, our tents were all set up and are bags were laid out for us to get and change for the evening. Hot water for washing up was brought to our tents. Neither of us have ever camped like this! After wasking and putting on warm clothes, tea was ready and it was time to head to the food tent for drinks, snacks, and then dinner. After that, we promptly went to bed. We were woken up in the morning bright and early with a selection of hot tea, hot chocolate, or coffee brought to us in our tents. It was a great way to warm up and start the day. Very fancy.

TREK DAY TWO

When we got out of our tent, the first thing we noticed was that we were camped near a HUGE glacier. We had not seen it at all the night before and it was spectacular. it was a bright blue morning, we were surrounded by mountains, and were ready to go.

Our first sop was at a home near to where we camped. A traditional Incan family lives there and for a small fee we were allowed into their home and Silver explained more about traditional living. This family farms on the nearby land and goes into town (by foot) every couple of weeks to sell some produce and buy a few items. The house was one room made of stone, with a thatched roof that was black and charred on the inside from the wood burning stove used both to cook and help keep the family warm. The floor was dirt- the super fine dark dirt that makes everything black with its dust and makes it impossible to keep clean. After some explanation of daily living, we were on our way. We both had a similar feeling to when we visited the weaving village, it was fascinating to see and learn about, but it felt very invasive of someone's home and lifestyle.

This way of traditional living is definitely changing and becoming more rare. From what we have seen, it seems like the balance is finding how to help improve that basic standard of living without losing the culture. It's a struggle that many traditional communities are having and there is definitely no easy answer. Would electricity be a positive benefit? What would that do to the culture? What about TV? What about different clothes? According to Silver, and easy to see ourselves, this is definitely a culture at a crossroads. These are tough issues to try to put on a good or bad scale. The only thing that is sure is that things are changing faster than they have before..

The hke was good. It was slow at that elevation and it was both literally and figuratively breath taking. After about five hours we reached the top of the pass at 15,800 feet and were feeling good. Again, we were fully clouded over, so the view at the top was more of looking at the relief and joy on our faces for having made it and the thick white mist that comes from being in the clouds. We didn't spend long at the top as the clouds were darkening and our fearless leader wanted us to get moving as weater was coming in.

Shortly after beginning our descent we heard thunder, saw some lightening, and then, well, it started to snow. This is late spring/early summer just south of the equator and it was snowing. We were told this was quite unusual, but we were glad it was snow and not cold rain (much better to hike through). We hiked down for a long time, some in the trees, some on ridges, and some on trails that had become slow running creeks from the moisture. Finally, after looking and looking, we saw our camp in the distance down at the bottom of the valley. Yeah! So with a little more energy, we continued on toward camp. Half an hour later, we had another view of our camping destination. unfortunately, it looked as far away as it had the first time we saw it.

We did finally make it after crossing one final creek (with about an hour to spare before dark). The night following the same deluxe camping routine. When we came out of the tent after dinner, the skies had cleared, and the sky was brilliant with stars. We could see the Milky Way galaxy stretched from one end of the sky to the other like a river of stars. Which, by the way, is why the Incan people called the river and valley in this area Sacred. The ancient people saw the river as a reflection of the Milky Way and believed that this area was specially blessed. From our view, I would concur with their assessment. We have both been fortunate to see the night sky with minimal light pollution on many occasions before camping in the wilderness, but for some members of our group, they had never seen such a bright sky (or even close). They were amazed and we spent as long as we could out star gazing that evening until the cold forced us into our tents and sleeping bags.

TREK DAY THREE

After a good nights rest, we had an easy morning hike down the rest of the valley to where our van was picking us up. It was beautiful as we continued to descend through the valley past small clusters of raditional Incan homes (made of stone with thatched roofs).

We had an opporunity to talk to Silver for a while about his experiences as a group leader and his hopes for the future. Silver is almost finished being a GAP guide as he plans to go back to school to get a masters in business and start his own travel business. Although GAP tries to support local people and communities, Silver has ideas and plans to develop his business in a way that provides more educational and employment opportunities to local people so that they can both continue in their traditional ways and also have more opportunities for education and improvement in meeting their basic needs. It sounds great. We would definitely sign up to go with Silver on a trip again in the future as he is a great guide.

We arrived at our pick up point and headed back toward Ollyantambo. We stopped at a bar for lunch that had a big enough dining space. While we were waiting for lunch, we were introduced to a traditional bar game in Peru- Sopa! Sopa is frog in Spanish, and the object is to toss gold coins and try to get it into the frog's mouth. It is like of like a ring toss game. There was a table with holes and a drawer underneath. After tossing all the coins, you pull out the drawer to see your score based on which holes and how many coins fell in. It's the best kind of game- simple, but very entertaining

After parting ways with our support crew, we drove back into town for lunch before taking a train to Agua Calientes (also known as Machu Piccu town) for a group dinner and rest before our early morning start to Macchu Piccu. Silver, always on top of everything, arranged a table for us at a local restaurant where it was finally time to try the famous Peruvian special meal.....guinea pig. Yup, the cute little animals many folks had as pets are often served up on a platter for special occasions. Not wanting to committ to a dinner of Guinea Pig, four of us ordered one to share as an appetizer. It was served grilled up and all splayed out with all four legs poking out. They served it with the head and then kindly offered to take the head away while we ate it. The whole thing was kind of gross, and yes, it did taste a little like chicken. There wasn't much meat and I guess people eat the skin and fat, but we just couldn't, so I had a few bites and moved quickly on to my main course of Alpaca. Larry was even more grossed out, but mostly by a few of our quickly becoming intoxicated group members who were making much more of a show of eating the guinea pig. Alpaca, however, is really good. Larry and I both enjoyed it quite a lot. It is almost like a cross between steak and a pork chop, but more like steak. It is very lean and very juicy and tastes lighter than traditional steak. I was surprised how much I liked it. After dinner and a couple of pisco sours, it was off to bed

MACHU PICCHU

We have to admit that Machu Picchu was not the highest attraction on our list. We wanted to go of course, but it wasn't the draw that some others have. It felt more like a place we had to go check out than any strong personal interest. Our interest did increase throughout the week through seeing some other ruins and learning a little more about Incan history. So with the expectation of not being awed, we were truly awed. The place is really amazing. The structures were so well made with purpose and meaning for every little piece. The ruins are massive, you can imagine an entire society of learners and dreamers absolutely thriving in this environment. We arrived after the first wave of folks whose life purpose was to get there first and well before the mass of other tour groups. It was perfect timing really. Also, because the ruins are so big, it didn't feel so crowded. Silver took us on a tour during the morning and we had the rest of the afternoon to check out the area as we wished.

It was quite hot and we were quite tired after our three day trek, so it took us a long time to decide what we were going to do. There are two peaks to climb- Machu Picchu (literally "old mountain") and Wanu Picchu (young mountain). We weren't feeling that ambitious. However, from down in the ruins, you can look up and see the Inca trail leading to the Sun Gate- it is the first time while hiking the Inca trail that you can see Machu Picchu. So, we decided to hike the Inca trail. Or at least the last part in reverse up to the Sun Gate. It was great. It gave us a good sense of the Inca trail and we had great views of Machu Picchu from far away.

We were impressed with the ancient city of the Inca's during the tour, but we really gained a sense of awe of the place from up at the Sun Gate. The most amazing thing about Machu Picchu is it's location. It is literally on the top of a "hill" surrounded by huge mountains all the way around. It was abosuletly the perfect spot to stay safe from attackers. It is also an absolutely crazy place to decide to build anything. The amount of work that must have gone into creating such a place is mindblowing. Silver's answer is- when it is for god, man can do anything. The creation and destruction of Machu Picchu were both for the same reason, just from very different points of view.

THE TRAIN
We thought the last event would be the visit to Macchu Pichu. However, on the tourist bus back to Ollyantambo, all of a sudden, the lights dimmed, the music came on, and a guy dressed up like, well, I can't even describe it (that is why we posted a picture), came out and started dancing. It was bizzare, but apparaently it was traditional Peruvian costume and acting/dancing/singing thing. If that wasn't enough at the end of that threre was a full on fashion show with two guys and two girls modeling different sweaters and articles of clothing make out of Alpaca. That was even more strange. Then, of course, they came up and down the aisles tring to sell it. Figures. After a very quet bus ride (we were all exhausted), we arrived back at our hotel in Cusco very ready for a long nights sleep.

Arrival in Peru

Hola mi amigos.

We arrived in Lima at about 5:00am on Sept 14, and were faced with our first non-English speaking task- get local currency and find a cab to our hotel without paying too much. We were first offered a cab at about $45. Fortunately, I had read in an article that it should only cost about $15 to get to the part of town that our hotel was in, so we declined. We ventured outside of the airport and found a cab for the right price and off we went. We arrived at our hotel about 30 minutes later. I'm always glad when going somewhere in a cab works. You get in some random car with a random driver and ask them to take you to a place that you have no idea where it is for an agreed upon price, and then trust that they will take you to the place you want to go and are charging you a reasonable amount. Fortunately, it generally works.

We weren't able to check in to our hotel until noon and it was about 7:00am on a Sunday morning. We met an early riser who was also about to start a trip with GAP (the Great Adventure People) and decided to join her on a bus tour around Lima starting at 9:30 and lasting for three hours. This seemed like a great way to spend the morning- relaxing, non-taxing, see Lima, and by the time we finished, we could go take a nap at the hotel. It turned out to be a really good venture. After finding the starting point, having breakfast, and a second coffee, we were off.... OK, I admit, the second coffee was at a Starbucks, I couldn't resist and it was good. Very good.

On our tour, we saw a good amount of Lima and decided it really was an ugly city. Lima is known for having some of the worst pollution and rampant petty theft. However, there are more people cleaning the streets, sweeping the sidewalks, and doing landscaping in parks than we have ever seen. It was an interesting contrast.



Fortunately, for us, we also saw some parts that were pretty nice as well. We drove by the coast and saw some folks surfing, and what looked like a nice walkway. After checking in, taking a short nap, we ventured out to walk along the water. It was great. We watched folks surfing, walked by the different sculptures, and watched people hangliding. The most famous statue in Lima is the statue of the lovers. Apparently, this is Lima's equivalent of that place that every city has where kids in high school go to make out. It was quite entertaining. There was a big launch pad for hangliding- or whatever it was. It was actually a parachute, a flyer guy harnessed in, and people paying to sit in a little pouch like thing strapped to the flyer. They ran off the cliff and took a little flight around before coming back to the same place for a landing. The takeoffs and landings that we saw were incredibly smooth.


On our way back, we came across a group of people dancing, so we stopped to watch for a while. A guy from Alaska, currently in Lima for six months, explained to us that it was a Cuban influenced salsa dance that was performed in a follow the leader type of way. It was great fun to watch. It was a group of folks who just gather in the park on Sunday afternoons for dancing. We were told there are groups like this all over the world that gather in parks on Sunday afternoons. It looked like fun- and the dancing seemed like a cross between salsa dancing and square dancing.


We finished in just enough time to get to our hotel for our GAP trip briefing. The woman from GAP arrived and sort of told us about the plans for our trip. She told us what time the bus was leaving for the airport, showed us a few pictures from the trek, and told us that it never rains in Cusco or on this trek, and beware of the mosquitoes in Macchu Picchu. She actually didn't get any of it right except for the flight details, which I suppose was the most important part. Our flight details were a little different as we were on a plane a half an hour later as part of our around the world ticket. The GAP lady didn't understand this at all, so we figured we'd sort it out at the airport.


We got to the ticket counter at the airport and tried to ask about getting on the earlier flight in order to be with the group (it was a little rough as she didn't speak English, and my Spanish isn't that good). She said the flight was full. For the record, there was a 20kg limit on checked bags (44lbs). My bag was 20.2 and Larry's was 19.8! Hurray! Of course, we had fairly heavy carryons, but fortunately they didn't check those to see if they were under the 7kg limit. When we joined up with the rest of the group, it turned out we were all on the same flight anyway. We're not sure how that happened, but we think it was our guardian travel angel, Sally, that had something to do with it. Either way, we are giving her credit.


It turned out to be a good thing that we were on the same flight because immediately upon arrival to the hotel, we met our guide for the week and were given a fairly extensive (and much more accurate) briefing of our trip. Our guide, Silver, gave us the real run down... expect rain, as Peru is entering into it's rainy season right now, and there is almost always weather in the mountains. That seemed much more like being in mountains- expect weather, and it can change at any moment.


It was quite chilly in Cusco, with the elevation being over 10,700 feet, so I bought a $3 peruvian hat off the street that I have seen 1000 times since. Apparently, everyone buys a hat. They say it's Alpaca, but it is most likely the cheap version on Llama wool. Anyway, it was warm. We got back to the hotel and needed to somehow pack everything we wanted for the trek including sleeping bag and sleeping pad in a bag weighing 7kg or less (7.5 maximum).



Silver met us at 8:00am at the hotel ready to go. We were armed with out 7kg of camping stuff and our daypacks and off we went. We traveled in our own little tour bus (20 passenger). Our first stop was an Incan community that GAP works with where they still practice traditional weaving and wear traditional clothes. It was kind of cool and a little weird. It felt pretty fabricated- like here come the tourists, better get weaving... On the other hand, it was cool to learn how it was done, and about the different materials used for both the string and the coloring. After our demonstration, we had time to take pictures, shop, and hang out. There were lots of little kids running around, and they quickly attached to us and we attached to them. The kids just wanted to hold our hands, walk around, and kick a ball. Before we left, I bought a pair of gloves, both because they were much warmer than what I brought and I kind of felt obligated to support their community. All in all, we both enjoyed the stop. It's either a really good thing for the community or an exploitation thing depending on how you look at it. I'm not sure I totally believe either side, but for the moment, I am preferring to believe that GAP and our visit is helping to support a community so that they can continue their way of life and give then a little extra income to help provide for the kids to go to school. The people there spoke only the traditional Incan language and about as much Spanish as I did, so we really couldn't ask them what they felt about the whole thing. They seemed nice and seemed to appreciate the attention we were paying to the kids, so we figure we'll go with that.





We then traveled to the Sacred Valley and our trek and visits to the Incan ruins was about to begin! However, those stories will have to wait until we get back from the Amazon (sorry, too much to do in Cusco, and not enough time to write...). Suffice to say it was a great adventure, we climbed up to just under 16,000 feet and all is well.



Here are a couple of pictures of our trek to hold you over until we can post more...

Belize Part Two

We left Caye Caulker by water taxi in the rain on Saturday morning. When we arrived at the airport and went to the Tropic Air counter, and the woman looked at us and said "you must be Danielle and Molly." She was close (Larry/Molly). We didn't really understand how she could guess our names, but we went with it. Our big bags were checked with absolutely no problem (no problem man).

As we were waiting in the terminal; our departure time came and went, we kept our eyes mostly on the woman working at the Tropic Air counter. At one point she motioned for us to come over, looked at our boarding passes and walked us to our plane. We realized at that point that she knew us checking in because we were the only people flying to Punta Gorda on this flight. The Tropic Air woman confirmed that for us and said that we would pick up a few more passengers at the Belize municipal airport. The plane was definitely the smallest either of us had ever been on. We got on and sat directly behind the pilot. We were so close to the pilot, our knees touched the back of his chair. With the plane fully boarded (Larry, me, and the pilot), we took off. The pilot did his version of the flight attendant safety talk and took off. He did all of this without ever turning around to look at us. I could read the flight manifest on the seat next to him which said he had two female passengers, Danielle and Molly (Molly is close to Larry, but we think it must have been a mistake made when Polly called to make the reservation for us). Anyway, the flight was much smoother than anticpated, As soon as we were up in the air, we were headed back down to the other aiport-- all we saw was a small shed and a stretch of sand about five feet from the coastline and sure enough, we laned pretty smoothly on a sand runway. We picked up some boxes, three passengers, and a big screen TV. It was a quick 40 minute flight to PG. We landed on a very small stretch of pavement, got off the plane, and Polly was there to meet us. Collecting our luggage was the fastest of any flight ever. They pulled it out of the plane and rolled it 20 feet over to us. Anyway, Polly met us and let us know that we were the only two volunteers this week. It would have been nice to meet other diver people, but the lure of private diving made up for that.

Polly at first took us to drop off our stuff at the ReefCI house. At first glance it seemed like a run down college house. Polly looked around a little and started to try to clean the bathroom and the fridge. We didn't stay long and left to pick up some groceries and have lunch at the Reef CI bar. Polly is really a one woman show for Reef CI. She ownes and operates the dive program and research, runs a bar, and rents a house for the volunteers. Our first impression was that Polly seems scattered about things, but after a little time, we no longer think she's quite as scattered. It's more that she has way more to do then one person could possibly accomplish. She is out on the island Monday through Friday leading dive trips and doing research, she's maintaining her website, marketing, and working with prospective volunteers. Then, in February, she bought the bar to help supplement costs for Reef CI. The bar is open 7 days a week pretty much all day. Like most businesses we've seen in Belize, it's open a lot, but rarely has very many people in it. We hung out there for a while and talked with some folks while Polly did some work. We grabbed some groceries and headed back the house. It was hot hot. It felt even hotter than in Caye Caulker.

When we got back to the house, we started checking the place out a little more carefully. Larry went to take a quick shower to rinse off, the shower curtain had about three feet of mold growing on it. The place was gross. Our room was concrete and pretty bare except for a few remaining items of whoever was staying there before us. There was a fan in the room, but it was just the blades. It worked, but the whole fan looked like it was going to fall over any minute. Larry and I kind of looked at each other and tried to figure out what to do next. After a couple of minutes, we noticed some unidentifiable stuff on the walls. Then more and more things on the walls. It was either snot, vomit, bug guts, or a combination of all three. That was what put Larry over the edge. I was sitting on the bed and noticed that there were a plethora of little ants crawling on it. That's what put me over the edge. We were officially faced with our first real travel dilemma. We really really didn't want to stay there, but weren't sure what to do since we were now really in Polly's care. We didn't want to start the week on a wrong note since we were going to spend the rest of the week wtih Polly, but we were not going to be happy staying at the house, and for sure would not have slept well at all.

We went down the street to a guest house we passed to see if that might be an option. To our welcome surprise, the place was beautiful. Clean rooms, view of the ocean, pool, bikes to use for getting around town, nice owners, upper balcony, breakfast included, and most importantly air conditioning. Did I mention it was hot, like 100 degrees with 100% humidity? The room rented for the equivilent of seventy dollars, we were sold. We decided we should be straight with Polly. She had indicated that she was interested in honest feedback, so no time like the present to start that. We biked back down to the bar and told her we were uncomfortable at the house because it was not clean. Polly acknowledged that she hadn't been there in quite some time and had not had time to check it out prior to our arrival. She was appreciative that we were direct with her and was able to get us a discount on the room at the guest house.

We went back to the reef bar in the evening (by bike, which was great). We talked to some local folks for a while. People in Punta Gorda are exceptionally nice. Friendly, interesting and interested. People in Caye Caulker were very friendly too, but it was more in a touristy was, and not in a person to person way. Punta Gorda has a strong Garifuna population, and the reef bar had some Garifuna drummers scheduled to perform. it was great. Amazing drumming, with one main guy singing and a couple of women singing and shaking moraccas. It was more chanting and drumming than a band. It was great. We never did learn what the words were that they were singing, but it was powerful none the less. So, when the drummers took a break, we headed back to the Coral House to end what was a very long day.

In the middle of switching from the Reef CI house to the beautiful Coral House, Polly arranged a guide to take us to visit some Mayan Ruins, see the Belizian jungle, and visit a couple of waterfalls. So, right on time at 9:00am, Wilfred came and picked us up for our big venture to the jungle. Wilfred turned out to be an amazingly good guide. Very knowledgable of the area, personable, funny, and just overall a very kind person. He also had a wealth of knowledge about the trees and birds in the area as well. Our first stop was Nim Li Punit, one of the many Mayan ruin sites in Belize.

Punta Gorda (PG) is very culturally diverse, and all the cultures seem to get along quite well. The main groups include: Mayan people, Garifuna, East Indians, Chinese, Mennonites, and traditional Belizians. It is interesting how different some of the groups are from each other in terms of culture and dress (especially the Mennonites), but according to everyone we talked to, all the groups seem to live harmoniously. One of other defining things about Belizians in our opinion, is their general focus on environmental conservation. People in Belize seem to really care about protecting both their native flora and fauna. There are many organizations based in Belize focused on conservation. We met a guy at the San Antonio waterfall who was part of a volunteer group that watches over the area from sunrise to sunset everyday to make sure it stays clean. When he's not doing that, he is an organic farmer. He spoke to us for several mintues about how he felt that eating organic and farming organically has been good for both his health and for the land.

Anyway, I digress... the Mayan ruin site was very cool. Experts believe that there were approxiametley 10,000 people who lived around this site. They think only a small part of it has been discovered to date. They alse believe that there were several other Mayan cities nearby with about the same or more people. We saw some carvings on big pieces of rock mostly identifying people and dates, some tombs, and some replicas of what they thought the housing might have looked lke. We also saw a place where they believe they played some sort of sport involving a really heavy ball made from the nearby rubber trees. In addition to being played just for sport, they believe the game was also played for religious reasons or political reasons as well- although those games were played to the death. There was stadium like seating on either side of the playing field for the folks to watch.

In another part of the site, there was an astrological calander made up of big stones. The stones were spread out and calculated such that the light would shine on them just right on the solstice and the equinoxes. How they knew to figure that out is beyond my comprehension. More to the point, how the mayan folks figured how to do a lot of things is fascinating. Wilfred hopes that there will be more money put toward excavation in the area in the future. There are a lot of unanswered questions and he believes there are still alot of answers buried below. Just walking around, you can see piles of stones under which there must be more structures. Wilfred also taught us about a variety of trees in the area including huge palm trees, rubber trees, mango tree, avocado trees, trees with spikes on the trunk, and trees whose bark will peel off if attacked by bugs, etc. You have to have strong defense mechanisms to survive in the jungle- and so do the trees.

We were the only people visiting the ruins. Usually there are more, but Wildfred thinks that the heat is keeping people away. It was indeed hot! At the end of the circuit, there was one lonely Mayan girl selling some crafts. Wilfred said there are usually a lot more, but, not today. We didn't buy anything and felt a little badly about that, but the items were surprisingly expensive and there wasn't anything that we wanted.

The rest of the day was spent visiting two waterfalls in more of the jungle areas. The first one was great for swimming and extremely refreshing- and clean, thanks to the volunteer group mentioned above. Our final stop was at a national park. Wilfred told us that there were numerous national parks and more all the time. There are numerous volunteer groups that come in and help set up the parks- which is great, but there is no real plan for ongoing maintenance of the trails or facilities. Not much different than the state of public lands in the US.

On to the diving. On Monday morning we headed out to Hunting Caye, the new home of ReefCI. Hunting Caye is part of the Sopadilla Cayes Marine Reserve. It is the second longest barrier reef in the world (the great barrier reef in Austrailia is the longest). It was about an hour and a half boat ride straight out into the blue water until we came up to the islands. The island really was a paradise island. That is with the exception of the trash (mostly plastic bottles) floating in the ocean and washing up on the shore. Apparently, trash from Guatamala and Honduras flow down the river and into the ocean. It is gross. If there was ever any question about reducing, recycling, and reusing, then looking at the coast of the island answered that question loud and clear.

After a quick lunch and sorting of dive gear, we were off for our first dive. It was beautiful. Lots of fish of all sizes and very healthy coral. A very healthy reef. With just the three of us diving, it was most calm diving we have ever done. Very luxurious. The next three days were spent in the following routine: wake up, eat, dive, rinse, eat, dive, rinse, eat, dive, shower, eat, sleep. We counted that we changed in and out of dive gear and clothes seven times per day. In the time in between the above activities, which really wasn't much, we studied different fish, creatures, coral, sponges, etc. Polly ws great in teaching us about some behaviors of different fish and pointing things out to us underwater. It was absolutely an ideal dive experience. We did do two reef surveys that ReefCI will use as part of their research. One was measuring conch, and one was a commericial fish count. It was really fun. The only downside to the time on the island was the sand flies. As Polly said, paradise comes at a cost. For hunting caye, that cost was sand flies (and heat, but that was not specific to the island.

After one last dive on Friday morning, we headed back to the mainland. Overall we are extremely impressed with the organization Polly has built. Polly told us a little bit about the struggles she had setting up the organization. She faced corruption, threats, and someone even sank her boat at one point. She didn't give up and now she and reef CI are a well respected part of the PG community.

Back in PG, we spent the late afternoon cleaning up and repacking for our next adventure. We felt like we were on a two week vacation, and now we were headed off to travel. Next stop: Peru.

The Beginning in Belize

September 1, 2008.... our journey begins.

Our first day could not have gone any smoother. The night before we left, we were listening to the news about hurricane Gustav and knew that we were flying through Texas to get to Belize. We knew the start of our trip was going to go one of two ways. Either, it would be a great story about how we completely missed the hurricane and everything went great, or, it would be a good story about how the first thing we did on our big venture was deal with a hurricane (before we ever even left the US). We are happy to report that our travel to Belize went like clockwork.






We are staying at Annie Seashore and Chocolate's guest hose. Chocolate is an island legend and local marine conservation guru. He just turned 79 and has worked for years to help teach the conservation efforts from the perspective that mining for natural resources is ok and needed for economic growth, but it needs to have guidelines and be regulated. Chocolate was filling in as host for his wife, Annie Seashore, who is in Bali this week on a buying trip for the shop she runs. We listened to him talk about his wife and conservation. His two main themes were, he loves his wife and that she doesn't take any crap from him and that conservation efforts have to come from the heart (mostly because there is no money in conservation).


The next day, we went on a manatee tour with Chocolate. He has been working for over thirty years to protect areas for the manatees. In 2003, Swallow Caye became a protected area. Manatees are an endangered species. This is mostly because they are completely docile animals and won't even fight back when attacked. People used to poach manatees for the meat, now they are more endangered because they get run over by boats. The tour started with a boat ride through a big storm cloud and heavy rain. It was great. It is really hot and humid here, and the rain was a welcome relief. After about ten minutes, we passed through the storm cloud and there was blue sky on the other side. We stopped at a couple of places and observed the manatees. When they spot a manatee, they cut the engine and use long poles to move the boat quietly in the water as to not scare the manatee. One manatee started playing with the pole in the water by pushing it around with it's nose and fins. It almost knocked Chocolate into the water.





During our day, Chocolate told us stores about meeting his wife, how he got the name Chocolate, when he saw his first manatee, and the conservation awards he has won. He was nicknamed Chocolate because he had a sweet tooth as a boy and he stole money from people to buy sweets particularly chocolate. He doesn't eat sweets anymore since he was diagnosed with cancer (six years ago and is doing great now). He saw his first manatee at age six off the coast in San Pedro where he grew up. He won a big award a couple of years ago which was the first time in his life he wore long pants and a necktie. The tour ended with a nice boat ride back to the island and a lesson from Chocolate on how the mangrove islands form and expand.





The next morning, we went to the local bakery to get something for breakfast and got stopped in our tracks due to road construction- Caye Caulker style. Road construction in Caye Caulker consists of an earth mover machine moving some sand around and a grater behind it to fill the potholes. Very amusing. There is almost no vehicles on Caye Caulker. The most popular mode of transportation is the golf cart and the bicycle. Shoes are optional on the island. With sand roads, many must live their whole lives without shoes.
















Thursday was spent on a sailing/snorkeling venture with a company called Raggamuffin Tours. There were about 12 of us on a ragamuffin looking sailboat and we went out for a day venture snorkeling and sailing. With Bob Marley booming on the stereo speaker and promises of rum punch for later in the day, we took off. Our first snorkeling stop was called coral garden. There is a manatee that has been hanging out there for a while. Apparently it is his turtle grass spot of choice. Lucky for us, the manatee was indeed hanging out in this spot. We swam near him and he really didn't look too bothered for us. I, on the other hand, would not enjoy an audience when I am just trying to eat. But, the friendly and accommodating manatee swam around for a couple of minutes, gave us good views of him from all angles and then swam off. Very cool. we snorkeled around for a few minutes more and saw about a dozen squid and a variety of reef fish.

Our next snorkeling spot was shark/ray alley. It is in the Hol Chan marine reserve, so the area has been protected from fishing for about thirty years. However, there has been no regulation on how many boats can go to the area each day and about feeding the animals, so there is definitely some room for improvement from the conservation side. Even before our guide threw in some bait, the nurse sharks and rays appeared by the boat, ready for their snack. It was cool to see, but not being fans of the way the area was maintained, it was bitter-sweet. Our third stop was spectacular from a reef and fish perspective. We saw lots of turtles, more nurse sharks (very tame, harmless sharks), we saw big groupers, snappers, barracuda, triggerfish, parrotfish, and even a moray eel. There were large schools of all kinds of fish which was great to see. It was however, very crowded which was a little concerning.

We had dinner for the second night at Frann's Grill. It is, in our opinion, the best food on the island (of the few places we've sampled). Frann is a nice island lady who runs the place. It is a little hut on the beach, and every evening at 6:30pm, she puts out two picnic tables, and lights up the charcoal grill. The first night, when deciding whether or not to eat there, I said to Larry "smells good" and Frann replied, "it tastes even better." and she was indeed correct.



Today is our last full day on the island. We took out one of Chocolate's kayaks for the morning and went around the island. We both feel very attached to our friend Chocolate. He's been our companion all week as we come and go from our room. He has had quite an impact on us.

Caye Caulker as a place is an interesting place. The population is about 1300 people, but only 700 are considered locals (by the locals). It is a poor island for the most part, but it is also this big tourist stop (especially on the backpacker circuit). Almost every building is trying to sell something. Most restaurants seem like they are somebody's house with a sign out front that they will make food for you as well, or sell you juice, or rent a kayak, or a golf cart, etc. There are three Internet shops on this tiny island, and for a fairly low tech feel, almost every store has a computer sales system. There are a lot of kids on the island, and as more than one person has said, it must be a great place for kids. Kids come and go when they want as there is no traffic or harm for them to get into. They ride their bikes (sometime two to a bike) to and from school and home for lunch. With such a small population, everyone knows everything about everybody, so crime is not an issue and kids can roam the island with little care.

All in all, Caye Caulker was a great first stop. We slept a lot, played in the sun, and are starting to get into the travel mode. We have packed and repacked our things, done laundry in the sink, and are starting to get into some kind of routines. We are excited and ready for the next part of our venture.



NEXT STOPS:

Here is our current travel agenda in two parts- the next few weeks and then a general outline of the trip as a whole....

LITTLE PICTURE
Next week we go to a little island off of Punta Gorda, Belize. We are going to be doing marine
conservation diving for a week through an organization called Reef Conservation International (Reef CI). Larry found out about this place from some friends in the Seychelles. We are on the island Mon-Fri diving and counting fish. It is a remote island (no TV, Internet, phones, etc). We will be spending a couple of nights before and after in a house in Punta Gorda owned and operated by Reef CI.

Next, we fly via Miami to Lima, Peru. We are one day in Lima and then fly to Cusco. We are joining a GAP (Great Adventure People) program and will do the Lars trek and visit Maccu Pichu. We have a few more days in Cusco and then we will spend about a week in Manu National Park which is near the headwaters of the Amazon. Then we do a short trip out and back to Easter Island before we head south to visit the Patagonia region.

BIG PICTURE (all dates and locations subject to change, but probably not by much)
Oct 5-16 Torres del Paine, Patagonia, Chile
Oct 16-23 Bariloche, Argentina
Oct 24-27 San Francisco, CA
Oct 28- Nov 4 Patagonia region, El Chalten, El Calafate
Nov 4-6 Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
Nov 6-17 Boat trip to Antarctica
Nov 17-28 Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls
Nov 28-Dec 3 Paris and London
Dec 4-7 Nairobi, Kenya
Dec 8- Jan 4 GVI project Ziwa Rhino Reservation in Uganda
Jan 4-9 Gorilla Camp, Bwindi, Uganda
Jan 10-20 Arusha, Tanzania and climb Kilimanjaro
Jan 21-28 Tanzania Safari
Jan 29-Feb 3 Zanzibar, Tanzania
Feb 5-22 GAP tour Ethiopia
Feb 24-March 28 India
March 29-April 4 Maldives
April 6-April 15 Bhutan
April 16-May 7 Nepal
May 8-May 12 Hong Kong
May 12-25 China
May 25-June 14 Mongolia
June 15-July 16 Australia
July 16-August 8 New Zealand

So, pick a spot and come join us! We'd love to see you on the road. D&L

NOTE:
A little shout out to the DANA. DANA is a word processor mini device that runs on AA batteries. This way, we can write at our leisure and just use the internet cafe's to post our blog when we can...

The Big Trip has Begun!

Greetings from Belize!

Larry and I started our big venture on Monday. Our travel went smoothly, and we arrived on Caye Caulker excited for the year to begin! We will post more about our first stop of our journey and our upcoming itinerary later this week.

But first, we wanted to send out a big thank you to everyone who is helping us make this trip happen. We've had lots of well wishes and travel advice. We have a team of people checking our mail, watching our house, taking care of plants, storing our things, managing our personal affairs, etc. We've had offers to help us with everything and anything. It really takes a village to do a trip like this and we are extremely grateful to have such an amazing support system. So, as we start our journey, we wanted to start with a word of gratitude to everyone who has helped us get here.

Thank you!

We have SKYPE!

In our efforts to keep in contact over the next year, we have signed up on Skype. Thanks to advice from Jed, we signed up for Skype IN and Skype OUT. This means if you want to call us, we have a new number that will accept voice messages that we can pick up along the way. Our new number is 303-800-4143. We can also Skype OUT which means when we get to an Internet place with Skype, we can call anywhere in the world. If you have Skype, we can talk for free. If not, we can still talk using the equivalent of a phone card.

Our Skype login: Danielleandlarry
Our Skype phone: 303-800-4143