My Tabula Rasa

Hanging with the locals

Devon and I were ready to eat

Breakfast with our island family

The three amigos

A good use for old sandals

Any proper reed-boat needs a good cabeza

A floating island on Lake Titikaka

A nice ornament for the top of your house

Jeff would not make it if alpaca clothing were his trade

I would not make it if quinoa bread were my trade

This door was not made for Devon

Lake Sullustani

The sign at the La Raya stop

From Lima to Cusco to Puno to Arequipa

(Devon, Jeff, and I with a native Peruvian woman on the way to Puno - the La Raya stop)

When last I blogged, about a week ago, we were in Lima. Since then we've managed to circumscribe a large part of southern Peru. This wasn't original our plan; we were supposed to visit Cusco and Puno and then leave for Ecuador. However, after checking into our transportation options we determined that getting to Quito would either take too long or cost too much. So, we decided to do southern Peru properly.

We started by flying to Cusco. We spent about 24 hours in Cusco; we were there to try to book an Inca trail trek. Normally, you have to book an Inca trail trek at least 4 months in advance. However, we lucked out and managed to book a trek for November 8th to November 11th; so, we will be returning to Cusco on November 6th. After setting things up, we left Cusco for Puno on the train.

This train ride was amazing. The train went straight through the Sacred Valley and easily cleared 14, 000 ft at one point. After arriving in Puno, we relaxed a bit and booked a tour on Lake Titikaka for the 1st and the 2nd of November. We also visited an archeological sight called 'Sullustani'. Aside from gruelling boat rides, the lake tour was amazing. We visited floating islands constructed from lake reed. We spent the night of the 1st on Amantani island with a local family; we also danced with the locals. On the 2nd, we visited Taquile Island before heading back to Puno. This island was very picturesque; we had some great fish there for lunch. After returning to Puno, we ate and rushed to the bus station to catch our bus to Arequipa, which we did. We made it to Arequipa at 2am.

I've posted a number of photographs of the last 6 days. I hope that you enjoy them. Oh, and by the way, Devon has some more photos posted on his blog.

Refugio Amazonas 13

Back to Lima

Refugio Amazonas 12

Fresh coconut juice is yummy.

Refugio Amazonas 11

A tarantula

Refugio Amazonas 10

Our guide actually caught a caiman!

Refugio Amazonas 9

A partially submerged caiman

Refugio Amazonas 8

A sunset over the Rio Tambopata

Refugio Amazonas 7

Luckily, we caught a glimpse of a rainbow over the forest canopy.

Refugio Amazonas 6

The canopy tower

Refugio Amazonas 5

I caught something - a sardine. I am pretending it is sushi here.

Refugio Amazonas 4

Jeff tries his hand, or stick rather, with the piranha.

Refugio Amazonas 3

The piranha seemed to reflexively bite into things. Look at perfect bite marks it left on this leaf. Those teeth are sharp!

Refugio Amazonas 2

Our guide caught this piranha. Look at those teeth!

Refugio Amazonas 1

The lodge

Expedition into the heart of Refugio Amazonas

So, Jeff and I flew to Puerto Maldonado on Tuesday for a three night, four day excursion into the jungle. We stayed in a hotel called 'Refugio Amazonas', which is 3 1/2 hours up river from Puerto Maldonado. For being so remote, this hotel was quite large and luxurious, particularly considering the lack of electricity. We had our own guide during our stay; among other things, our activities included: jungle hikes, piranha fishing (my favorite), cruising the river at night in search of caiman, and bird spotting from the canopy tower. I've posted various photos of these activities. Enjoy.

Don't fall asleep, if possible

Sonia's, in Lima

Sonia's serves fantastic seafood. In fact, you can see some some freshly caught flounder (I think) hanging near the band; the fisherman is making a speech about his take.

The reception

The happy couple

Clubbing, I guess

Carlos hamming it up on the bus

We rode around from bar to bar for most of the night. There were beer cans and chicken bones all over the bus. There was also a microphone, much to the chagrin of the local population.

Ugly Peruvian Dogs

These are seriously ugly dogs (it's perhaps humorous to include myself in a photo with this title). They are apparently very expensive and are part of the attractions at Huaca Pucllana. There is also a nice restaurant on the premises. In fact, we ate there on Thursday night (the day before the wedding) before going out on the town.

Paracas 7

One-eyed cormorants

Paracas 6

This shot is of a structure that is used every five years to harvest the guano (bird crap) that accumulates on the these islands; there are many such structures. The Peruvians sell it as fertilizer. It is apparently quite good (as fertilizer, that is).

Paracas 5

A male sea lion (the big one in the middle)

Paracas 4

A female sea lion

Paracas 3

Penguins

Paracas 2

La Candelabra

Paracas 1

This morning, before heading back to Lima, I visited the Paracas Wildlife Refuge. So far, this has been the highlight of the trip. Paracas contains a number species of birds, including penguins, and tons of sea lions. It also has a nearby historic site known as "La Candelabra". In the following, I am posting pictures of these and identifying them when I can; I am no ornithologist, ya know. My new camera, in spite of my photographic boobery, was quite handy here.

Flying in Nazca

(Notice and appreciate the spiffy travel vest.)

So, I actually made to Nazca (see my previous post) and only 90 minutes later than expected. In Nazca, things perked up. Less than hour after arriving, I was flying over the magnificent Nazca Lines; and feeling a little nauseous actually. It was a blast and I didn't have my camera handy, but it wouldn't have mattered; I think that the photos would have been disappointing and would not have done the lines justice.

Trouble in Ica

(This is a rather crappy photo of Ica. With all of the Tuk-tuks it looks a bit like South Asia.)

For some this post may be an interesting (or not so interesting, I suppose) anecdote, for others it may be a public service.

I've been in Ica for the past few days (other posts coming about it). Yesterday, my plan was to catch the 10:30 bus to Nazca and then book a Cessna in Nazca. So, after grabbing a cafe con leche, I headed to the bus station; it was about 10:15am. The evening prior, I had gone to a bank machine because I needed some cash. I took out 400 soles, which came as three 100 sole bills and two 50 sole bills. When I arrived at the bus station, I decided to pay with one of my 100 sole bills, in order to break it; large bills can be a pain down here. So, I handed the attendent my bill and she started examining it. After a bit, she called a cop over who started examining it as well. Eventually, he claimed that it was"falsa" and asked me to follow him; it was very close to 10:30. I followed him for a while. I was asking him what we were doing and where we going, but it didn't take long to determine that my spanish speaking ability was inadequate. So, I asked the guy to stop while I called a translator. I called my friend Carlos (I am down here to attend his wedding). Carlos wrangled with him a while; eventually we determined that we should walk to the bank where I withdrew the putatively faulty money. Upon arrival, we found the bank manager and he also declared that the bill was false. He asked me if I have the withdrawl receipt from the bank machine. Of course, I don't; it has never occurred to me before to keep them. (The other bills were fine, in case you were wondering. So I was out a total of $33; not too bad as problems go.)

Ok. So, here's the breakdown. Even now, I don't know if that bill was really a counterfeit or not. In retrospect, I didn't have to sign anything about the incident and, I think, there is actually little reason, particularly without a receipt, for the bank manager to declare the bill real against the judgement of the cop. Maybe it was bad, but I don't know.

So, here are my steps for avoiding this problem in the future:
(1) Try to break large bills quickly in banks or otherwise trusted outlets.
(2) Save the stupid ATM receipt and mark the bills that come from the withdrawl so they can be correllated in the future.
(3) Pay with dollars in some locations. They are harder to fake, and easier to recognize, for me that is.

Them Bones

Over the weekend, I visited "Las Catacumbas". These are a maze of catacombs that underly the San Franciscan monestary in the heart of Lima. Within these catacombs used to lie hundreds, maybe thousands, of coffins (In fact, catacombs like these underly many of the Catholic churches, etc in Lima). Around 1960 or so, the San Franciscan monks decided to make this one accessible to the public so they emptied, carefully sorted, and then placed the remains throughout the catacombs. The result is a maze of underground, brick hallways containing sorted (e.g. leg bones with leg bones) human bones. It's not spooky, nor is it smelly. It is quite a curiosity though. Sorry for the lack of photos; for obvious reasons, they are not allowed.

Google Earth Shot of Peru and Ecuador

So here is an image of Peru and Ecuador produced by Google Earth. I will keep adding destinations and notes as go. If you haven't already, you should download Google Earth; it is free. Click here to see the live version of my map within Google Earth.