September 9 – Monday    Explore Lima • Fish market • Larco Museum

Accommodations: JOSE ANTONIO

This morning after breakfast, all of us who were on the Amazon trip walked with Patty to a ‘wash ‘n dry’ laundry so we could get our sweaty Amazon clothing cleaned. The laundry will charge us based on how much our laundry weighs. We decided not to send the laundry to the hotel laundry because they charge by the piece.

Patty had arranged for our laundry to be ready later this afternoon and we were outside the shop at 8 am waiting for the doors to open. The proprietor was late, but eventually she opened up and we shoved our laundry through the little opening in her security gate. I had taken a picture of our laundry and made a list of each piece in case something got lost. Of course, that was a moot point since there would be nothing we could do if we found an item missing, as the place would be closing at 6 pm and tomorrow we would be leaving before the laundry opened.

Our clothing weighed 5 kilograms – 11 lbs and she charged us 30 sol which was about $7.89. What a bargain!!!! We were all just hoping that for that price, our laundry wouldn’t shrink or come back with stains.

We then boarded a bus to visit the Chorrillos fish market, where we met our guide Sandra who took us all through the market. We watched as the ladies scaled, gutted, and readied the fish to be sent to restaurants. The one lady has worked in the market for many years and she makes a very minimal wage. Her husband had passed away a few years ago, so this is how she gets money to buy food, etc. We walked over to speak to a fisherman who told us he fishes through the night and finishes about 6 in the morning. The fishermen were mending their nets to go out tonight. They fish everyday no matter the weather.

One of the ladies at the fish market fried up some fresh fish for everyone to taste. I didn’t try it but Allan said it was good.

When I left I went over to thank the fisherman, and he told me I had beautiful eyes. Aww shucks!

Then, we went to the Larco Museum, established in 1926. The museum is a privately owned museum and has a huge collection of pre-Columbian art, some dating back thousands of years. We saw beautiful earrings and nose rings that were the fashion at the time, as well as beautifully preserved textiles. One gorgeous textile was over 3,000 years old and perfectly preserved.

The museum is one of the first museums in the world to allow visitors to walk between storage shelves containing 30,000 catalogued ancient pottery artifacts that will eventually be displayed in the museum. Ancient Peruvian cultures represented their daily lives in ceramics, and this gallery holds the world’s largest collection of erotic ceramics that we were also able to tour. The entire collection of the museum is cataloged online as well.

The museum is housed in a former viceroy’s mansion dating back to the 18th century, and is built on the site of a seventh-century temple.

After visiting the museum we wandered through historical downtown Lima. Our guide pointed out beautiful architecture from years ago, although sadly, many of the buildings were abandoned. We saw the Archbishop Palace, and many other gorgeous edifices.

There was a protest going on and the square was filled with police. Our guide said there is always some kind of protest going on. The guards were not allowing people to walk through the square, but Sandra spoke with the guards and they let us go through, as long as we kept walking.

Next, we went for a welcome lunch and enjoyed a Pisco sour which is a South American favorite cocktail made from Pisco liquor, citrus juices, simple syrup, and egg whites. The lunch was delicious and consisted of some Peruvian favorites.

We did some more walking through the town and Patty stopped at a kiosk to purchase churros filled with caramel sauce for us to taste. They were delicious!

We boarded the bus and as we rode around, we passed many commuter buses with different colors on them. The colors signify the areas that the bus goes through so people will know what bus to get on to get to where they want to be.

Gasoline is about $5 a gallon and interestingly, even though milk and other liquid food items are sold by the liter, gasoline is sold by the gallon since the first gas company that arrived in Peru was owned by an American.

At 5:30 we went back to Janet’s laundry ‘wash n’ dry’ to pick up our clothes. The clothes were folded and packaged beautifully and they smelled really great too. All items were present and accounted for, so we were very happy.

Sharon, Dick, Allan, I went to a pizza place and Allan and I had a pizza with garlic, cheese, and capers, for….$11.00… Including a bottle of coke. Food prices are very cheap here! I had a glass of wine for $5.

We have a very early day tomorrow as we are flying to Cusco which is 11,000 feet in altitude. We started taking our altitude sickness pills today. We will take two every day while in the high altitude areas.

Buenos noches.

The fish market

Scaling and gutting the fish

Tuna

The fishing boats

The fisherman who liked my eyes. 👀

Flowers art the Museo Larco

One of the artifacts

Storage area for 30,000 artifacts

Beautiful architecture

The guards all around the square

Pisco

Janet did a fabulous job on our laundry!

Janet’s laundry shop

Our laundry came back neatly folded and smelled wonderful!

September 8 – Sunday

Accommodation: Jose Antonio

We are back in the same hotel that we started in before we left for the Amazon. We were eating breakfast and our friends Sharon and Dick walked in. They flew in very late last night because of flight delays, and arrived at the hotel around 2:30 am. It was good to see them and catch up over breakfast.

After breakfast, we had an orientation meeting with our guide Patty who will be with us while we are here in Peru. We met the rest of our group and Patty had us introduce and tell a little about ourselves. There are 13 of us in the group.

Patty talked to us about what to expect on the trip to Cusco and Machu Picchu. She discussed that we all need to be punctual when we meet for tours, be respectful of each other as well as the Peruvians, and to immediately tell her if something is not to our liking or if we are not feeling well. She explained how the altitude can affect us and that we must walk slowly and take it easy when we arrive. She told us there are some railings as we climb into the site, but many areas do not have any. Our walking poles and the wall to follow will be our friends. Patty said we have to be patient because the lines to get on the buses going into Machu Picchu as well as the lines to enter the site are very long. Reservations were made by Patty months ago and now, the tickets are sold out for the rest of the year. It will be crowded as Machu Picchu is the highlight of Peru.

After the orientation, we went for lunch and then we walked around Lima’s Miraflores district with its small cafés, fine shops, and art galleries. We had already seen much of the area when we were here a week ago.

Patty took us to a supermarket and showed us some of the exotic fruits and vegetables that were for sale and then we walked over to the Parque Kennedy and saw the beautiful flowers planted all around. We had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves and many of the new people went to visit the ruins that Allan and I had already visited. Since Dick and Sharon weren’t interested in seeing the ruins, we walked back to the hotel along the walkway that stretches along the Pacific Ocean. The area was filled with people enjoying the Sunday afternoon.

We rested for a few hours at the hotel and then Allan and I gathered all of our rather smelly clothes that we wore in the Amazon because tomorrow, Patty will take us to a laundermat where they will weigh our clothes and wash and dry them for us. She arranged with the place to make sure we will get them back on the same day. We will pay a little more, but it is necessary.

We had drinks at the hotel with Sharon and Dick, ate dinner at the hotel…then…off to bed.

Our guide Patty showing us some fruit

Walking along the Pacific ocean.

September 7  Saturday • Fly to Lima • Join main adventure

Destination: Lima

Accommodation: Jose Antonio

Yesterday, when we were with the medicine man, or Shaman as he is called, Caesar told us that if a villager wants to become a medicine man, they have to be willing to drink a psychedelic infusion to open their minds, and visions would be given to them about the plants that will affect cures. The psychedelic effect can last for 7 hours and alters their thinking so the person will be open to the visions he will experience. Caesar said the ritual is taken very seriously and they feel it is bona fide even though to us, it seems crazy.

After the medicine man’s talk (which of course was translated by Caesar) he performed a healing and blessing ritual over all of us. We sat with our eyes closed and he passed over us with a special plant that he had sprinkled with a healing potion. He asked us to relax and think of someone or something that we would like a blessing or healing for. He began to chant as he walked back and forth brushing our heads with the leaves of the plant. The ritual was very meaningful for all of us.

This morning, we went on a nature a walk and Caesar pointed out many birds for us that he spotted all around.

We had our last lunch at the lodge and then it was an hour boat ride to the bus that would take us to the airport. We descended those 27 steps for the last time. Hurray!!!

The boat ride was great and then we arrived where our bus was located that would take us to the airport. OH NO!!!! We had to climb about fifty steps to get to the top. UGH!! However, I was very proud of myself that I didn’t have to stop half way up, but just kept plowing along. Machu Picchu here I come!!!

The bus was air conditioned and the ride was about 45 minutes. The roads were jammed with those little motor cars as well as motorcycles and it really was a free for all.

Caesar had arranged for our boarding passes and our baggage tags, so check in was a breeze. We bid adios to Caesar. He was a wonderful guide and naturalist. We all chipped in and gave him money to buy a new soccer ball for the school we had visited. He will deliver it personally and take pictures to send to us.

Our flight was delayed about an hour and 1/2. Latam did give us a little snack bag filled with juice, ritz crackers, and a chocolate bar, so at least we had something to eat while we waited.

The flight was filled and when we landed, it was bedlam with everyone trying to get their luggage from the overhead bins and trying to get off the plane. The man next to me literally pushed me out of my seat!! Seriously. We’re all going to get off the plane, and unless you have a flight to catch, calm down!!!

Our guide for Machu Picchu, Patty, met us after we picked up our luggage and we drove by bus to the hotel. Patty had our room keys all set to go so we went to our room and then met up with Mary and Rich at the hotel restaurant and had dinner.

Sharon and Dick, our friends that are going on the main trip with us, were delayed in Atlanta so we won’t see them until tomorrow morning.

Here are some pictures that Caesar took of the birds and animals we saw in the jungle.

Jesus bird

Crowned slaty flycatcher

Great egret

yellow hooded blackbird

Amazon kingfisher

Roadside hawk

Squirrel monkey

Black mantaled tamarin

September 6 – Friday

 Accommodations: CEIBA TOPS LODGE

This morning we ate breakfast at 6 am and by 6:30 we were in a covered boat to take a two hour journey through the Amazon to visit the Explornapo Lodge in the heart of the jungle. We got stuck on a sandbar at one point because the river is so low this time of year, but our driver was able to navigate us off the sandbar and back to cruising along. We finally left the main river and went down the Napo River, a tributary of the Amazon and arrived at Explornapo. We had to climb up many wooden steps and ramps from the river bank to finally arrive at the lodge. Exolornapo provides access to the pristine forest of Explorama’s Sucusari Reserve, as well as access to the adjoining Amazon Canopy walkway which is one of the longest treetop walkways in the world.

The lodge offers the opportunity to live in authentic Amazon River style with palm-thatched houses in the rainforest. The toilets are a hole in the ground and the showers are very primitive. Scientists come here from all over to study the rainforest.

Our group came here specifically to walk the canopy walk, but because of my fear of height, there was no way I would be able to do it. The canopy walkway, with many aerial platforms and cableways, is more than 1,500 feet long and 115 feet off the ground. That’s 12 stories high!!!!

As the group left for their walk, Allan and I enjoyed sitting in the restaurant area, having a glass of wine, and watching the squirrel monkeys jumping from tree to tree. The monkeys would jump down to where the staff hung huge stalks of bananas for the monkeys and the monkeys would pluck them off to eat them.

There were probably 50 or more monkeys running up and down the trees and taking the bananas with them to the treetops. Then as they peeled the bananas to get to the sweet fruit, they would drop them from above, causing banana peels to rain from the sky. Too funny!

A squirrel monkey’s tail is not prehensile, that means they cannot use it to grab onto things. They use it for balance and nothing more. Squirrel monkeys are considered to be one of the cleverest monkeys due to having a large brain compared to the size of their body. They are highly vocal and have around 25-30 different types of calls. Caesar always can recognize their call.

We walked over to the hammock area for awhile and enjoyed listening to the chatter of the birds, insects, and monkeys. This lodge is very primitive, but it does have WiFi. And an interesting note, this is one of the lodges that Caesar’s father helped to build 40 years ago.

After about 3 hours, the group returned and we all sat down to a delicious lunch of dorado fish. Then we went to listen to a local practitioner as he told us all about the traditional remedies he uses to help the villagers, using only the plants from the rainforest to make his medicines. He uses wild garlic, Dragons blood, Cats claw, and many other plants. Each medicine has specific purposes – curing bronchitis and asthma, or arthritis and rheumatism, and even one that can cure cancer. Some medicines you drink while others are rubbed into the skin. It was fascinating.

We left the lodge and took a one hour boat ride to a little town, but I don’t remember the name. We had to get off the boat very carefully as it was about 15” off the ground. No way could I jump off so I just sat down and then slid off. Then we had to climb yet another set of wooden steps and ramps to get to where the mototaxis were waiting to take us to the town called Indiana, where we would board another boat for the short ride back to our lodge.

The taxis are pretty primitive but actually had good suspension, which was evident as we bumped along over potholes and rough roads. It was an adventure speeding past all the houses with kids outside playing and laundry hanging from the clothes lines.

We arrived back to the lodge and once again climbed the ramp and 27 steps to get ready for pre-dinner drinks and dinner.

Dinner was very good and Caesar told us what we need to know to get ready for our flight back to Lima tomorrow.

Cruising along the Amazon tributary

Our boat

Another set of stairs and ramps to climb

The Explornapo Lodge restaurant

Monkeys eating bananas

This plaque mentions Caesar’s dad

Medicine man

Our ride to the boat.

Another set of steps!!!!

The boat we cruised all over the Amazon in.

September  5 Thursday 

Accommodations: CIEBA TOPS LODGE

First of all… did you all run out and look for that Masato beer I mentioned yesterday? I know you were all “salivating”( pun intended) to try it! 😂

Anyway, this morning after breakfast we got in our boat to cruise the Amazon in search of pink dolphins. 

Freshwater Pink dolphins swim all through out the Amazon and we had a great time trying to spot them as they surfaced. They stay under the water for about 3-5 minutes and then they surface to breathe. 

It is thought that the dolphins turn pink whenever they get excited. Since their blood vessels are visible thought their skin, it is very easy to see the pink color, almost like they are blushing. When they are very active, they get even pinker.

The baby dolphins are born tail first and the father (or another assisting dolphin) waits until the head is born and then they take the baby up to the surface to breathe. If the baby came out head first, since it can take a few hours for the baby to be born, the baby would drown since by the time the rest of the body emerged, the baby would not have gotten the breath needed to survive. After a baby is born, it suckles a thick milk from its mother until it is able to get fish on its own.

It was very difficult to photograph the dolphins because you never knew where they were going to pop up. I was happy that I actually did get a pretty good shot of one.  Caesar sent us a photo he took last year of the head of a dolphin as it surfaced and you can see it below.

Dolphins are mammals and these dolphins have a bulge on the top of their heads and a long thin snout. We really only saw their backs in the water.

Caesar said some of the local tribes are very superstitious about dolphins. Some people believe that a male and female dolphin can come out of the water and take a young child living on land away from its family and keep it for their own. Others believe that touching a dolphin will bring very bad luck. However, on the Internet, I found this information: “In the Amazon region, the pink dolphin is seen as a symbol of fertility and is believed to bring good luck to those who encounter it. In some indigenous cultures, the pink dolphin is seen as a protector of the water and is revered for its wisdom and power.”

I’m not sure which folk lore to believe, but the pink dolphins we saw were beautiful creatures and I’d like to believe they will bring good luck to all who encounter them.

We passed many rice fields that the natives plant along the Amazon, which provides much of their carbohydrate needs. They eat a lot of bananas and vegetables as well as the fish they catch from the river. Just about everything they need to live can be found right outside their door.

After a few hours on the boat, we came back to the lodge and had lunch. Our appetizer was a Peruvian dish called causa. Causa is a cold layered dish of lime, potatoes, mayo, avocado, tomato, black olives, and hard boiled eggs. It was delicious!! I also had dorado fish wrapped in a leaf and steamed. Very tasty!

And then it was off to meet the Yaguas tribe, an indigenous jungle-dwelling tribe who shared their life in the jungle with us. There is social pressure for the tribe to learn Spanish to assimilate into Peruvian culture. If this continues, the culture and language of the tribe will one day be lost for good.

The members of the tribe did a traditional dance for us and then they grabbed our hands and had us all participate in the dancing. 

They also showed us how to use a blow gun. The gun itself is made from two pieces of wood that are hollowed out and then glued together with sap. The gun is quite long with a mouthpiece on the end. There is a site on the gun that helps the hunter zero in on the prey.  They use long dart-like arrows that are sharpened to a point with the teeth of a piranha. They put a cotton like substance on the arrow so it becomes similar to an arrow with a feather. 

You have to seal your mouth around the end of the blow gun and take a deep breath through your nose and then blow. All the men on our tour gave it a try and I’m proud to say, my “hunting” man was the ONLY one to hit the target! So proud of him!  (You Tarzan…me Irene !!!  🤗)

The tribe had a lot of items for sale that they make and I bought a few things. 

We bid our goodbyes (the tribe only speaks their own language) and we cruised back to the lodge for drinks and then dinner.  

After dinner Caesar took us on a night nature walk through the jungle which was amazing. We had to put on insect spray and bring a flash light for the walk. Allan and I had our mosquito hat nets with us, that we had used when visiting Alice Springs in Australia, so we were really prepared for the walk. 

Caesar has an eagle eye and spotted all kinds of jungle creatures and pointed them out to us. He spotted an owl on top of a pole, a beautiful butterfly which he was able to catch and unfurl its wings for us, and a katydid eating a caterpillar. He also found a hole where a HUGE tarantula lived. He got a stick and poked it, and then he said… okay… let’s go, which I was very happy to do. Fortunately the tarantula stayed in his hole.

We paused a few times and turned off our flash lights so we could hear the beautiful sounds of the rainforest. What a chorus it was and just so beautiful to hear.

We started to hear thunder and see lightning in the distance and the animals were calling out. Caesar said we have to leave because the wind would kick up quickly and it’s not a good time to be in the jungle when that happens. He was right! The wind did start to blow and we made it back to our cottages just as the heavens opened up. 

We have to get up early in the morning for a long day. Unfortunately I won’t be participating in the canopy walk that is scheduled because of my fear of heights. I don’t think Allan will either. But we will be with the group afterwards for lunch and to go on a tour of the botanical gardens.

My photo of the pink dolphin and below is Caesar’s.

We climb this staircase twice a day to go on our boat excursions. 27 steps on the stairs and then you have to navigate the ramp!

Causa

Our lunch of dorado fish wrapped in a leaf.

The tribe uses this plant to mark their faces. It is also used for an insect repellent.

The tribe dancing for us

Sharpening the wood arrow with piranha teeth

Allan showing his prowess with the dart gun

Owl on our night walk

Butterfly

The butterfly, when threatened, can turn its wings to look like an owl. It was pretty amazing to see.

The under part of the same butterfly

These flowers grew all the way up the tree trunk. So delicate and beautiful.

Huge frog

The cotton like material. A small piece is wrapped onto the arrow.

Livin’ the life

September 4  Wednesday  Explore the Amazon 

Accommodations: CEIBA TOPS LODGE

This morning we were all ready to go at 6 am to do some bird watching from our boat and to see the sunrise. Our guide Caesar is amazing and was pointing out birds all over the place…from up in the air to those hidden in the foliage. Some you could barely see because they blended in so well with the scenery. Others were bright and vivid. We cruised to a few different places along the Amazon and each area had different avian life. Caesar can recognize the birds just by listening to their songs.

We went back to the lodge and had breakfast and then put insect repellent and sunscreen on, filled our water bottles with water and electrolyte powder, and off we went to visit a family who live on the Amazon.

The family didn’t know we were coming to visit. Caesar says the people in these villages along the Amazon are very welcoming and gracious and will be happy to share their home even if you just pop in. The people in the villages do not speak English and they lead a very simple life. They eat the fish from the Amazon, they grow vegetables, they have chickens, and they build their own one room homes on stilts. The homes must be on stilts because in the rainy season, the water will be up to their front door and they must get around in canoes.

We arrived and I almost had heart failure. This is not a tourist attraction, so there were no cement steps leading up from the banks of the river, over the hardened mud to get to the home.
I definitely needed help climbing up since it was very steep. Caesar and Santos our boat driver helped us all and before we knew it we were being greeted by the family.

The house is one room and everything takes place there. They have a little girl and all the bedding for nighttime was along the wall to be taken out each night. They sleep on mats with no pillows and they put mosquito netting over them while they sleep. Having the house on stilts not only keeps the water out during the rainy season, but also prevents snakes from coming into their home.

They have a little platform extending out from the home where they do the cooking. They had just a few pots and pans. There was a solar panel that provided electricity to the one light in the middle of the room. They do not have a refrigerator, but rather salt the fish they catch to preserve it.

The mother and father spend their days working hard to collect the bananas and vegetables that grow nearby their home or to help the others in the village when needed. The villagers must collect the bananas, fruit, corn, etc before the rainy season, otherwise they will lose all of the produce. After the banana tree yields its fruit, it is cut down with chain saws and machetes to make room for new trees.

After our visit to the home, we bid adios and walked along the path to the elementary school. The children were out for recess and they and the teachers didn’t know we were coming. Again, we were greeted with warmth and hospitality. The kindergarten kids were playing and they came up to us and were very curious. One little girl was curious about the reading glasses I have around my neck so I put them on to show her. I took her picture and showed her and she was thrilled. When I left, the teacher came over and hugged me. It was a special moment.

We walked over to the older grades classrooms…1,2,3, and 4 grades are all in one room with a teacher. Next door is a one room classroom for 5 and 6 grades. The younger kids sang for us and they asked where we were from. Caesar translated for them (and for us as well) since they don’t speak English… only Spanish.

It was amazing seeing how the kids were being taught. The government mandates that each child attend school and the government also built a water purifying plant so they have clean water which all the villagers can help themselves to. That being said, the people bathe everyday in the Amazon since the water provided is really just for drinking. Books and educational items are also supplied by the government and private organizations.

When it was time to leave, thankfully we didn’t have to go down the treacherous path. The villagers had built make-shift steps down to the river in the mud, since the parents from the village bring and pick up their children in canoes, so those steps were much easier to navigate.

The sun is extremely hot since we are so near the equator and the humidity makes it rather uncomfortable. We were all dripping wet by the time we returned to our boat… and I mean soaked!!! It’s imperative that we stay hydrated.
Riding back in the boat was a welcome relief from the heat and we cooled off a bit while we motored along.

On the way back to our lodge, our boat got stuck in the sand and Santos has to get out to push until we were free. At least he was able to cool off in the water.

We had a delicious lunch, but we told Caesar to please give us half plates of food from now on. They give us too much and it’s wasted.
I said to Caesar that I wished we would have known we were visiting a school. We know we will be visiting one in the next segment if our trip going to Machu Picchu and we purchased gifts for them, but we would have loved to give the kids we met today something. Caesar said if we’d like, he will purchase a soccer ball on our behalf. We can all chip in for the gift. Perfect!!! I was very happy. The soccer ball is a great gift since the school has two soccer fields with wooden planks for the goals. The kids love playing on the field and when we had arrived, they were playing soccer in their bare feet!

After lunch we met at 3 pm to go piranha fishing. Caesar had a few choice spots to try. First… he gave us all fishing poles with beef on the hook. Then he told us to take the tip of the pole and swish it around in the water and then drop the hook in. There were constant nibbles on all our hooks but the fish were adept at getting the bait and not getting hooked. Caesar caught a red belly piranha, a small catfish, as well as a white sardine and one of the guys in our group was successful in catching a white piranha and another type of piranha, but the second catch was too small so it had to be thrown back. Despite everyone else’s best fishing efforts, we only succeeded in feeding the piranhas our bait.

Caesar spotted pink dolphins and we were able to catch a quick glimpse of them as well as some blue gray dolphins as they went by.

We were very hot and dripping again, and every time we do a boat excursion, which has been twice a day, we get out of the boat and have to trek up a long ramp till we get to a staircase and then we climb 27 steps!!! Geez! When you’re hot and dripping wet, it’s not fun. But I figure it’s getting me in shape for Machu Picchu. Since dealing with a broken foot and wearing a boot for 6 weeks and then having Covid, I haven’t been doing much walking, so this is great exercise even though I grit my teeth every time!

We met our friends for a pre-dinner drink and then it was off to eat. Allan and I had the spaghetti with meat sauce that was very good. We also had a chicken noodle soup. They gave us a sample of fried dorado fish which is a delicious white fish caught right here in the Amazon. And…Santos our boat driver fried up the piranhas that were caught today and we each had a sample. Of course…I got a bone and that was that, but at least I can say I tried it.

Caesar told us about a local beer that’s for sale called Moscato. Apparently it is made from yucca. Women boil the yucca for about 45 minutes and then put it in a wooden crate. Many women sit around the crate and pound the yucca with sticks. When most of the yucca has been flattened, they take a huge handful and put it in their mouths and chew it for a number of minutes. They spit it out, add it back to the crate, and continue that process until all of the yucca has been chewed. Then they mix it up and put it all in a stone pot with a plant leaf on top, and let it rest. After 1 week, it can be given to children as milk. After two weeks it becomes beer and is bottled and sold. They believe the saliva is what makes the fermentation process happen.

Caesar also told us that back in 2016, he was asked by Cornell University to fly to the school to give a lecture on the Amazon. He didn’t know if he should go. He had never been away from his village except to live for a short time with his family in Iquito when he was 12. They only stayed a short time because he missed his friends and didn’t like the busy city life.

. His family said it’s a great adventure and opportunity for you…so go! He flew for the first time in his life, and landed in JFK. He said the 7 hour flight was the longest thing he ever endured. He stayed in NYC for a few days, and he said he went out one night at 3 am in the city and people were walking around everywhere. He couldn’t believe it. I said to him… that’s because… “the city never sleeps”!! He then flew to Boston, and then to Cornell to give his lecture. He had a slide presentation and the students were fascinated with what he had to say. And now, many students and teachers from Cornell and all over the US come to the Amazon and he is their guide. It’s so amazing that this man, who never left his village, was brave enough to travel all by himself, to a country he really didn’t know much about, and give a lecture to college students.

It’s not an early wake up tomorrow, but it will be a busy day. We are looking forward to the agenda.

Buenos noches.

On our early morning bird watch. Caesar took amazing photos of the birds we saw and he’ll give us the photos with the names of each bird.

vultures eating dead fish

Path to the house

You can’t really tell, but it’s very steep.

The mom who lives in the house with her parakeet and a pepper she picked to prepare a meal.

The house that the mom, dad , and little girl live in.

Bedding along the wall

Cooking platform to the right and the pots they use

The mom preparing food

Mosquito netting and the little girl’s doll

Walking along the path to the school.

The little girl who loved my glasses

Kindergarten class and their teacher. The teacher hugged me when I left.

The 1 2 3 and 4th graders.

Much easier getting back down to our boat

Came back to beautiful flowers after our room was cleaned.

Monkeys being fed at feeding station. They were climbing all over

A traditional Peruvian chicken dish for lunch.

Going out to try our luck at piranha fishing

Caesar caught one

Allan planning strategy

I had no strategy😂

The fried piranha that we were able to sample.

September 3  Tuesday  Amazon Rain Forest  Riverboat down the Amazon

Accommodations: CEIBA TOPS LODGE, IQUITOS 

We learned during our ruins tour a few days ago that Lima gets only 0.8 inches of rain per year!!! How do the flowers that are blooming all around survive? Apparently, twice a day, a truck comes by with water and sprays the beds throughout the town. This differs greatly from the Amazon where it rains 250 days a year, so I’m pretty sure while we’re here, we will experience rain.

Last night since we weren’t very hungry, we had a small burger with a small fry at McDonald’s (of course) and then went back to the hotel. Just as we came in, a huge tour group arrived with lots of luggage. The two elevators are small and can really comfortably only hold two people with luggage. Allan said…We’ll be here all night waiting for the elevator. So he went over to the desk and asked if we could use the freight elevator. They said yes… and a man accompanied us in the freight elevator and off we went to our floor.

We were up very early to leave the hotel by 6:00 am to board the bus which took us to the airport for our flight to Iquitos. They provided a nice breakfast in the restaurant and they took our large suitcase to hold for us until we return from the Amazon.

A local guide met us in the lobby and walked us to the bus that drove us to the airport. She accompanied and guided us through getting boarding passes and checking our small suitcases. The luggage had to weigh 15 lbs or less, and we all passed the weight limit and off we went. We bid goodbye to the guide and went to find our gate for departure.

The airport was very crowded but we boarded rather quickly. We flew Latam… and it was a very nice flight.

When we arrived in Iquitos, we picked up our luggage, and met another guide, Caesar, as well as a bus driver, who drove us through the towns to the boat that we would sail along the Amazon in. We will then arrived at Ceiba (pronounced SAY bah) Tops Lodge. Caesar is a naturalist and will be our guide throughout the Amazon.

We drove through the towns along the way, taking in the sites and then we boarded our boat and headed for the hour ride to the lodge, cruising down the iconic Amazon.

The Amazon is two miles wide here and is said to be the longest river in the world… 2,010 miles. We saw many boats going up and down and some were carrying supplies for the town of Iquitos. A banana boat passed us and we could smell the sweet fragrance. Oil, logging, and tourism are the biggest industries at present in Iquitos.

We arrived at the lodge and went right away for lunch. I had the chicken and Allan had the dorado fish. A ceviche salad was served with mushrooms and palm hearts. Delicious! We had a juice made from purple corn – chicha morada – and we had a dessert like gelatin made from it as well. The chicha is highly nutritious and praised for its antioxidant properties.

After lunch we were able to go to our private lodge replete with a king bed, walk in shower, and a large bottle of water for drinking and to use for brushing our teeth. Caesar said we can fill our water bottles if need be at the restaurant where there is a huge cooler of fresh water. We also have WiFi in our cabin which is wonderful since WiFi is usually only at the restaurant. We brought electrolyte packets with us to add to our water bottles since we do expect to be sweating in the humidity quite a bit.

During lunch Caesar told us he lived as a child in a village on the Amazon and he had no electricity or running water. They actually drank from and bathed in the water from the Amazon River. Of course you have to be indoctrinated to that water from birth. If we took a drink, it would not bode well for us.

There are a few lodges throughout the Amazon, the brainchild of a man named Peter Jensen. He came one day to Caesar’s village and he met Caesar’s father who was a master carpenter. His father was hired by Peter to build the different lodges throughout the area. His father, however, did not build the lodge we are staying in.

After resting for a few hours, we met Caesar and he took us on a nature walk into the jungle. He said never go by ourselves, or try to follow any of the paths alone since the rainforest is very dangerous. There are many poisonous snakes. (Ummm… remember yesterday the guide said there haven’t been snakes in 20 years in the rainforest? Ha! Not true!) Caesar said there are many other dangerous creatures as well and we need to always be with him. He also said that the rainforest is their pharmacy as there are many medicinal plants around that are used to cure different ailments. Where he lived, there was a plant that was used to counteract the bite of a poisonous snake. If you got to it in time and drank the juice from the root and put a poultice made from the root onto the bite and changed the dressing and drank the juice every half hour, your chance of survival was excellent.

We saw beautiful flowers and listened to the parakeets that were in the trees. We didn’t see them however. But we did see some Tamarin monkeys high up in the treetops.

Then, once deep in the jungle, Caesar told us to keep walking but not to look up until he told us to because he has a big surprise for us. We walked into a clearing and he said look at me…now turn around… and open your eyes! WOW!!!!! We saw a HUGE Ceiba tree for which the lodge is actually named for. Ceiba trees are a unique natural wonder to behold. They grow up to 150 feet tall and can be hundreds of years old. The base was very huge with roots extending above ground. There were vines hanging down from the branches and all kinds of wildlife were tucked inside the foliage.
Caesar said people thought the tree, when touched, would bring good luck and ward off evil spirits. We took a photo op at the tree and then we each went over to touch the tree for luck.

While Allan was touching the tree, Caesar said excitedly.. oh wow… a poisonous red frog is crawling right where you are. I thought he was kidding and trying to scare Allan but no…. There really was a poisonous red dart frog. (And actually…we saw the same type frog when we were in the Baltimore aquarium. Yikes!!!) So I guess the tree did bring Allan luck since the frog didn’t bite him as it crawled past his hand.

No matter who we talk with, no one seems concerned about mosquitos. I’m not sure if they haven’t read that dengue fever is on the rise in Peru but no matter what, we’re still bathing ourselves in Sawyers. There is a pool here but we didn’t bring our suits to the Amazon. The thought of covering every inch of our bodies in insect spray is not that appealing to us.

We all met for a pre-dinner drink and then had a delicious dinner. It started off with a wonderful soup with dorado fish and pasta and I had chicken with spaghetti that was seasoned perfectly.

Early to bed since we are meeting at 5:55 am to take a boat along the Amazon for bird watching.
Buenos noches.

Red frog

Right before Caesar saw the poisonous frog

The Ceiba tree

Bar and where we eat our meals

Our boat taking us down the Amazon

Along the Amazon

Getting close to where our lodge is located.

September 2 , Monday

We had a leisurely breakfast and while we were eating, we met one of the couples who will be going to the Amazon with us, Richard and Mary. We had a nice chat and then finished breakfast and went back to our room to pack for the Amazon. We can only take a small piece of luggage that weighs under 15 lbs but we can take our day pack and they won’t be weighing that. We don’t need to bring much water because apparently water will be provided in the Amazon for us.

At 11 am we met Sandra, our local guide, as well as the other couple that will be with us on the trip, Mary and Greg. Sandra gave us info about what to expect in the Amazon and then we went on a walking tour of Lima. Since Allan and I had done a lot of walking around yesterday, we were familiar with most of the area. Sandra took us to get some money exchanged, just in case we want to buy trinkets from the tribe in the Amazon since they are unfamiliar with anything but local money and would not take US dollars.

We walked along by the Pacific ocean which was very nice and stopped at Parque del Amor  (Park of Love), where stands the monument of El Beso (The Kiss), a statue of a man and a woman who are embraced and kissing. El Beso is the work of the Peruvian artist Victor Delfin. We then went off to have lunch at a local restaurant. Allan and I had scallops with parmesan for appetizers and then Allan had a seafood and rice dish and I had shredded chicken with rice and potatoes. We also had a nice Malbec with lunch. Dessert was ice cream for Allan and I had triple milk cake. The cake was very sweet and since I don’t usually eat dessert, I only tasted it.

Sandra bought some fruit from a vender in the street and the waiter cut it up for us to share. It was very good and very sweet. The name of the fruit is Chirimoya (Custard Apple in English) and it really does taste like custard.

The two couples went off to tour the ruins but since we had already visited them, Allan and I walked back to the hotel with Sandra. Sandra called another guide to ask about wearing boots in the Amazon because of the snakes and leeches. The man said snakes haven’t been a problem in twenty years. He also said we’ll get boots if it pours, but other than that, we will be fine. Good to know!

We leave tomorrow at 6 am for our 2 hour flight to the Amazon, so it will be an early night.

Chirimoya fruit

Love statue – The Kiss

Accomodation: Jose Antonio

September 1  Sunday  United was wonderful with check-in for our flight yesterday. I don’t know if it was because it was a Saturday or because we had already pre-checked our luggage, but no lines and our checked bag was collected, put on the conveyer belt, and off we went for a nice lunch in the United lounge.

The flight was fine – Made it to Lima a little earlier than expected. We breezed through customs since a lady told us to go on the diplomats line which was very short. We must have looked important. LOL!

Our luggage arrived and some agent came over and said we needed to show her our luggage tags before we could leave. She didn’t ask anyone else to do so. I guess she didn’t realize we were “diplomats”. Anyway, we met our driver and he took us to the van for the trip to the hotel. While we were walking, men were following us closely…they didn’t realize at first we were with a driver and wanted to offer us rides. We were warned against this. One guy walked very close to us, but once he realized we were ignoring him and sticking close to our driver, he walked away.

We were trying to get out of the parking lot and after the gate arm lifted, we had to wait for someone to open the padlock on another gate so we could finally leave. Too funny.

The ride to the hotel was through a rather depressed looking area. However, even though it was around 10:30 at night, people were sitting outdoors or walking around and chatting with each other. I saw a few large commuter buses go by and they were filled with people. Wondered where they were going or coming from so late at night.

Right before we got to the hotel, we bumped along a cobblestone street for quite a ways. It really scrambled our brains!

Our hotel is nice and in a lovely neighborhood. Very clean and we received 8 complementary bottles of water from the front desk. You can’t drink the water in Peru so it is important to have a good supply of bottled water. If we buy water, we can only purchase in a reputable store since sometimes, in stores that are a bit unsavory, the bottles are filled with tap water and glued shut so you think they’re sealed.

Had a good night’s sleep and since we are only an hour difference from PA, no jet lag. Breakfast was okay… Minimal offerings but they did have an omelet station although Allan didn’t think the omelet he had was that great. I had a delicious slice of whole wheat that was much larger than a normal slice, and the crust was already removed! I toasted it and put cheese and scrambled eggs inside and made a sandwich. Very tasty. We should eat/drink dairy when we take our malaria pills and fortunately there is yogurt available.

We decided to walk around Lima and visit Huaca Pucllana, an archaeological site. On our way to the ruins, we passed a beautiful church and I used my minimal Spanish to inquire as to the name. The lady told me it was Inglesia Virgen Milagrosa, built around 1930. It is located at Parque Kennedy, a beautiful park with flowers blooming everywhere. There were also cats running around everywhere and the park has little houses for the cats to go into when the weather gets chilly. As we walked along we saw people on bikes, scooters, and skates, enjoying the beautiful Sunday morning.

We arrived at the ruins of Huaca Pucllana, which has been restored within the last 40 years and has become one of the main tourist attractions of Lima. It is built almost entirely by adobe bricks that were handmade and baked in the sun. The bricks are placed to withstand earthquakes, which was a pretty ingenuous feat considering that the site is over 1,000 years old. It stands 25 meters high and once stood as a pyramid. We were lucky that when we arrived, an English speaking guide was starting a tour and he took us all over the ruins, even climbing to the top. It was very interesting. As an aside, he told us to be prepared if you go from Lima to Cusco by plane (which we will be doing) because altitude sickness can be a problem. He said the most important thing to do, besides taking altitude sickness meds, is to take it easy and not try to begin touring right away. We’ll see how that goes.

There were some llamas and alpacas at the ruins and also a beautiful vegetable garden. I’m glad we decided to pay the ruins a visit and were lucky enough to get a great English speaking guide.

There was a restaurant right outside the ruins called Huaca Pucllana where we decided to have lunch and try some Peruvian fare. We each had a delicious pounded beef tenderloin with a fried egg on top. It was accompanied by fried plantains and a rice and beans pâté that the waiter poured olive oil over. We had a glass of wine and the whole meal, tip included came to $65 dollars! The tour was a total of $4 (we got the senior discount) so all in all, a bargain day.

I asked our waiter about mosquitos in Lima and he said no worries. There aren’t any to speak of. We told him we were going to the Peruvian Amazon and he said…Oh…be very careful! The mosquitoes are all over and carry dengue fever. Put lots of insect repellent on. We knew that, but to hear him say it so seriously was daunting. Well… No turning back now! We’ll just be very careful.

We got a little lost trying to get back to our hotel, but a kind man on a scooter helped us and we finally arrived back. We probably will have a bite to eat later and then it will be time for bed.

Inglesia Virgen Milagrosa   

Huaca Pucllana

Huaca Pucllana

Huaca Pucllana

Huaca Pucllana

One of the cat houses at Parque Kennedy

August 31 Saturday – Depart U.S. 

We’re off on another adventure…this time so South America touring Machu Picchu and the Galapagos.  We are also going on the pre-trip to the Peruvian Amazon but opted out of the Bolivia post-trip.

There are many biting bugs in the Peruvian Amazon and actually all throughout Peru and Ecuador, so we have taken typhoid pills for protection. We started taking malaria pills that we will take for the entire duration of the trip and then 7 days after our return. Since the altitude will be over 12,000 feet at times, we will be taking altitude sickness pills and since the Galapagos Humboldt current can cause a rocky cruise, we will also have scopolamine patches. YIKES!!!

It’s a little daunting…particularly since dengue fever is on the rise and there is no vaccine or pill to take for protection. We just hope that by wearing long sleeved shirts and long pants that have been treated with permethrin, as well as using picaridin insect spray, we will be protected. Fingers crossed. 

Allan recently read about an indigenous people that live along the Amazon that came out of the jungle in 2022, and, using a 6-foot arrow, killed a logger.  The loggers have been decimating the trees, and I guess the tribe said enough is enough. 

The good news is…we won’t be wielding machetes or chainsaws while we traverse the Amazon. The other good news is… we will be meeting an indigenous tribe on our itinerary… and they apparently will be teaching us how to use blow guns. Maybe we can take one with us…just in case we are confused along the way with loggers. LOL!

As always…please follow along on the blog. I hope to post every day but will not be posting on the ship in the Galapagos since we won’t have wifi.   

Accommodations:  JOSE ANTONIO, LIMA