WEDNESDAY – BACK TO CIVILIZATION, ALBEIT A VERY OLD ONE

We woke at 5:30 this morning to the sound of chattering monkeys nearby. Unfortunately they weren't prepared to show themselves. After breakfast, we got back aboard the boat for the trip back to Peuto Maldonado from where we got the plane for the half hour flight to Cusco. In two days, the river had risen about three metres and was running at a significant pace with numerous logs being pushed along. The trip down took one and a half hours by comparison with the three hours taken to go upstream.

For the first time in any airport, they had a baggage inspection in place. Two poor fellows had the task of opening everybody's luggage to inspect it for who knows what. Of course our luggage is bursting at the seams because of the Antarctic gear we are carrying so the ports spring open when the zips are undone and they are quite difficult to do back up. Whatever he was looking for, he didn't try too hard to find it.

 

We are now settled into a very comfortable modern hotel in Cusco This afternoon, we met the other two members of the tour, Patricia and Eleni and went exploring central Cosco. What we hadn't appreciated was the extensive Inca heritage here. Modern Cosco, that is, what was rebuilt after a major earthquake in 1950 is built over a former Inca city. It took the earthquake to reveal just how extensive the Inca construction had been. That has lead to a lot of restriction on what further construction can occur in that Inca construction can't be built over without significant bureaucratic processes if at all. There are also restrictions on the modification of existing houses if they are over Inca construction.

One of the most impressive things about Inca construction is the manner in which the building blocks are fitted together to fit precisely without any mortar

to disguise any imperfections. The block in the photo above has 12 visible corners, each of which fit perfectly against the adjoining blocks. Apparently it has not yet been worked out how such precision was achieved and the blocks put in place.

 

The town itself can only be described as quaint with very narrow streets and odd little shops ticked into every nook and cranny. The drivers aren't too bad but they have the annoying habit of tooting their horns at the slightest excuse.

Tomorrow we will exploring the surrounding area by mini bus. There are apparently a lot of Inca ruins in the immediate vicinity of the town well worth a look. Unfortunately Trish has a headache which is a symptom of altitude sickness so she may need to have a quiet day.

TUESDAY – HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY FROM THE AMAZON

While we are located in the Amazon jungle, we are nowhere near the Amazon River. The river up which we came is the Tampopata River which eventually finds its way to the Atlantic Ocean even though we are relatively close to the Pacific Ocean. The Amazon jungle covers an extraordinarily large area over nine countries.

The lodge is fantastic. As I suspected, the internet signal is not sufficiently strong to enable me to post photos so they will have to wait. This morning, we were to get up at five to go exploring in the jungle but it was pouring rain so the exploration was postponed until a little later as the weather appeared to clear. We now have two guides allocated to us being Reni from Peregrine and Ederson, a guide attached to the lodge whose responsibility it is to look after Trish and I while we are here.

 

Unfortunately, the rain intensified again after we started out so our exploration was cut short but we were able to spot some tiny Tamarind monkeys high in the trees. Unfortunately there was no opportunity to get a photo in which a monkey could have been identified. We had to be satisfied with a video presentation on the Amazon which showed much more than could ever be seen in the time we have here.

This afternoon, the weather improved dramatically and we enjoyed four hours of exploration. The highlight of the afternoon was an encounter with some Howler monkeys significantly bigger than the Tamarind monkeys seen this morning. Another significant event was the sighting of an Harpey eagle high in the jungle canopy. Apparently it is the second biggest flying bird in the world. The mud under foot was incredible but, fortunately, they supplied us with very efficient boots which enabled us to wade through quite deep mud without any grief.

 

 Tomorrow we head back down the river for a short flight to Cusco en route to Macchu Picchu.

 

We have started our course of medication to deal with the risk of altitude sickness which we will be susceptible to when we get to Cusco which is located at an altitude of approximately 11,000 feet. Hopefully the medication will be effective.

MONDAY – THE NEXT STAGE OF THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

Yesterday we flew from Buenos Aires to Lima. Once again arrangements went like clockwork and we safely arrived at our hotel and met our guide for the Inca and Amazon Tour, Renaldi, otherwise known as Reni.

At this stage, the tour group consists of us so we have very personal attention. Reni is our tour guide, interpreter, language teacher and general adviser on all matters South American. We are to be joined by two more after the Amazon experience but the maximum number will be four.

We went back to Lima airport this morning and flew to Puerto Maldonado where we embarked on the Amazon adventure. We flew over the spectacular Andes – incredible country.

Lima was an experience and we are not sorry to be leaving it. Like all cities we have visited so far, it is a city of contrasts but, in Lima, the traffic, people and residential precinct is more like Phnom Penh than any other South American city visited. The traffic is chaotic, the vehicles are battered and one of their systems of transport are vans that people are just crammed into.

Where we stayed was near the beach and in quite a tidy part of town. Reni took us into the city using a very smart busway system and we spent some time wandering the very interesting city streets with their many listed heritage buildings. The irony is that the heritage buildings are only occupied on the ground floor, in many cases, by very smart modern shops. The upper floors are in a total state of neglect and unoccupied. They must maintain some sort of roof structure for the protection of the ground floor shops but, in some cases, you look up at the upper floor windows and all you can see through them is sky.

 

Apart from wandering around town and taking in the sights, we visited St. Francis Church, a church set up by the Franciscans in the 1500's It had a monastery attached which was the home to numerous Franciscan priests over the years. A feature was the catacombs beneath it which served as cemetery for hundreds of years. It is now a massive collection of dismembered bones.

After a three hour trip up the river this afternoon at planing speed in an outboard powered oversize covered canoe being the mode of transport here, we arrived at Refugio Amazonia, a very impressive lodge, where we are staying in a room completely open to the jungle. We can hear the rain and miscellaneous sounds including crickets and birds. Hopefully something interesting will wander by. Apparently we are to spend the next day or so exploring the nearby jungle. As I typed this, several animals which look like oversized guinea pigs had a squabble just outside.

The internet is not too good apparently so I am posting this as text and, as in Antarctica, the photos may need to follow I haven't yet finished posting the Antarctic photos I want to share. I may never catch up.

SUNDAY – HEADING FOR LIMA

We are checked in at Buenos Aires Airport and are waiting to board our flight to Lima. The internet seems pretty good so I am taking the opportunity to post some more photos.

 

 

 

SATURDAY – BACK TO BUENOS AIRES

We are now comfortably back at Buenos Aires after a day of National Park touring and flying with a much improved internet connection. I have been able to post the photos below. Hopefully I will get time at some stage to comment on them and/or integrate them into the text in the coming days.