The (Mis)adventures, Revisited

Boca Manu, Peru, August 10, 2003 — The rains stopped eventually, but the tour staff had little to no information about when (or if) our plane would come.  We hung out at the grass airstrip, where the “air controller” used a CB radio powered by a car battery.  When Sherri opened up our Mac to write, every staff member was stunned.  They lived amongst gringos much of the time, but it was still shocking to see that the photos I had taken were already on the computer.  (Of course, 10 years ago digital technology was still very new, and we were the only backpackers we saw for the entire year who were traveling with a laptop).  When the planes finally arrived, they had priorities other than tourists.  So it took some arguing, screaming and cajoling, but we managed to get on the last plane out of Manu that day, arriving safely back in Cusco in time for our next adventures.

The Manu Biosphere, Peru, August 5, 2003 — I spent the beginning of Day 59 a little green around the gills (something I ate or drank made me sick overnight).  But we were still up at 5:30 in the morning, ready to …. well it was never really clear what we were going to do each day.  We just followed along and did what we were told.  In this case, our little group of 4 Israelis, 4 Italians, our guide, and a captain, assistant and cook, all piled onto a barge and started down the Manu river.  It was a long day on the river, and definitely not a zoo (we saw jungle animals along the way, but they were mostly far away on shore, not close up and posing for pictures).  But it was enjoyable and relaxing and mostly interesting.  The day ended with a campfire dinner, and a bath in the river.  Not too bad.

The Manu Biosphere, Peru, August 4, 2003 — We were up early to view the Peruvian national bird, which we were told was the cock of the rock, but at 5 a.m., it was hard to see anything, much less a bird.  Then we were off for what we thought was a hike, but turned out to be a leisurely raft tour of the jungle (mixed in with the occasional class 3 rapid).  When we get to our lodge camp, we met our guide Oliver, an Italian who has lived in the jungle for 15 years and is basically Tarzan.  The camera stayed in the dry bag much of the day, but I did manage a few photos along the way.

On the Road to Manu, Peru, August 3, 2003 — We spent the entire day day (and into the night) in our “specialized overland vehicle” (a/k/a city bus) on the way to the Manu Biosphere Reserve, a Peruvian National Park, World Heritage Site and very cool jungle.  We white-knuckled it the whole way, hoping we wouldn’t plummet 8000 feet to our death along the mountain roads, and fortunately we arrived safely.  Along the way, we stop at “bread town” (smells great), “brick town” (doesn’t smell so great), and the tombs (chullpas) at Dinamarca.  They are tall, stone burial buildings, and they make for nice photographs.