The whirlwind continues

Whew, so much going on and never enough time to tell it all!

I´m back from a LOVELY and much needed 4 days in the jungle, in Manu National Park, part of the Amazin Reserve. It was simply amazing; I am SO lucky to have gotten the chance to go and also at the very low price I got it at! The first day started early, with an overland drive over the Andes, stopping at pre-Inca sites and into the Cloud Forest which was lush, green and gorgeous. Unfortunately it was quite rainy and cold that day (its not uncommon for cold winds to blow through the jungle from Patagonia bringing down the temperature substantially). We stayed the first night at a gorgeous lodge on a river in the middle of a valley between two mountains and watched the full moon rise just as the clouds cleared- now that was special. The next day was much nicer out- hot and humid, just my style and we drove first to Pucupucara and then to the Madre de Dios river which flows into Bolivia- from there it was into a 60 foot long, thin wooden boat to the lodge we would spend the next two days at, perched on a huge rock outcropping overlooking the river. It was a wonderful place with open showers and bathrooms hanging over the river, operated by a lovely local family. Our group of 6 went on lots of hikes through the surrounding jungle and saw more birds than I could possibly name including parrots, hawks, vultures, Quetzal´s and thousands of brillantly colored butterflies. Hiking in the jungle was really something else, the plantlife was astounding and it gave me a new appreciation for people who can dedicate their lives to living in such beautiful but extreme surroundings trying to preserve what is really a very fragile ecosystem- I don´t think I could live there! On our many hikes we also saw lots of animal tracks and followed some wild and very smelly wild boars for a whole morning (a pre-dawn hike), tapirs, Coiti´s and more. On other trips down river (and what a river it was!) we hiked through some lagoon areas, took some other boat rides (3 logs lashed together!) and saw the rare giant otter and yes MONKEY´S!!! I have always wanted to see monkey´s in the wild and they absolutely fulfilled my expectation and justified how cool I think they are, lol. We saw at least three different including Squirrel and Howler monkey´s, including a troupe of babies who were playing in the canopy- SO cool! Hiking through all the muddly bogs was also lots of fun in our big rubber boots but we didn´t see any caimen- considering how much time we spent in the water, I´m ont too disappointed about that! Our last day we went straight back to Cusco with minimal stops over VERY bumpy, rutted roads in the converted box truck aka expedition truck (just add windows) and did some more bird watching including the national bird of Peru the elusive ¨Cock of the Rock¨(seriously and its only found at one particular altitude in the whole jungle). Driving to and from the jungle you can see why its so hard to get there in the rainy season- every 100 meters you literally drive THROUGH waterfalls that cascade over the roadway which is single lane and bordered by sharp cliffs and 500 foot drops to the river below- causing serious traffic issues when you encounter someone coming in the other direction! It was quite an adventure and it was nice to be warm for a few days and enjoy the humidity. The only hard part was coming straight back in 13 hours on the bumpy roads and at night- I think my back is broken and it was so cold in the truck I had to break out the sleeping bag...but the view from our open air bathroom stops on top of the mountains surrounding Cusco was truly amazing- there was zero light pollution, the moon was almost full and the stars were so bright and sharp it looked like you could reach out and grab and handful.

So, all in all it was a fabulous, relaxing, once in a lifetime trip; its good to be home again but June is Cusco month (as in the region not just the town) and this is especially important starting with today which is Corpus Christi so things are slightly manic- quite a change from the peace and tranquility of the jungle! Everyone is out of work and school for the celebtrations, firecracks are going off left and right (a standard and very common form of celebration- just more so than usual), the processional of the saints statues starts this afternoon and from then on out its party party party. I have work today (boo) but am going to go out and check things out this afternoon. San Cristobol church is literally next door to my house and as its the highest church in town its where ALL of the fireworks, cracks and other weapon sounding devices are lit from so I´ve gotten used to dealing with the noise 24/7- it certainly adds to the excitement of things. This morning I woke up to fireworks and by the time I got to the shower I could hear from all the way at the bottom of the hill the sound of everyone singing in the Plaza de Armas as they were blessed from the steps of the Cathedral. Its really something else and although this is a relgious celebration everything really gets going with the winter solstice celebration on the 21st and then Inti Raymi on the 24th. WHEW.

Well thats all the photo posting I can do for now because my battery just died. I promise some more tomorrow and pics of Corpus Christi before I head to Puno and Lake Titicaca on Sunday. Whew!! Hopefully by then my swarms of Amazonian mosquito bites and the results of a jungle wasp attack will be resolved...its always an adventure down here when it comes to personal health- I swear Cuzco compounds EVERYTHING!!

Until next time....