Photo of the day, 5/5/2010: NOT NESCAFE!

Also not "Mystique" as referenced in the Lonely Planet guide. The cafe has since changed names, and while I can't remember the new name it's still a relaxed joint with great coffee.

But first a thought on fate.

{Ed. note: This was written after the Manu posts, but I think it makes more sense to put it here. I hope you agree.}

Getting near Manu Biosphere Reserve in Peru is expensive (getting into the park is nearly impossible, I have heard). A decent trip requires at least 4-5 days and as with most decent trips in Peru you have to go with a licensed guide which generally means a fat tip. It usually requires advanced planning. And did I mention it's expensive?

I had decided to at least look into it - when the cook from the trekking tour says "you MUST get to Manu" and is disappointed that you probably won't have time to go, and a guy who's been traveling for a year including Antarctica says that of all the places he went (including Antarctica), Manu was his favorite place, I try to listen. Plus, Viki pointed out the macaw clay lick. That looked neat.

Wednesday afternoon I was trying to find the office of one of the tour agencies I'd found that looked like it treated its employees well and had lots of tour options... and I fell into a hole.

Literally. It was a small hole in the sidewalk just big enough for my foot and deep enough that I sank to my knee, scraping my leg from ankle to calf in the process. Hurt like absolute hell. As I hobbled down the street still in search of this office I thought, "maybe this is a sign that I should turn around and book a Cusco hostel and see about Lake Titicaca and the Nazca lines." But I kept going.

I found the address of the first office. It looked like a residence. The nice woman standing outside her salon next door confirmed that it was the home of Senora So-and-So (another sign! turn around already!). She sent me off with her young-20-something son to find the second place I had written down, one that had been recommended by our trekking and rafting guides. Her son took me there, chatting cordially with me in better English than my Spanish along the way. It was just a few blocks away but still... Would you do that for a total stranger wandering around your city? Once again I was blown away by the kindness of people here, and once again I vowed to ask anyone wandering the streets of Portland with a map and a confused look, if they needed help finding a place.

Anyway.

As luck would have it, there was a 5-day tour leaving the next day. It was pricey, but it was Manu. When I told a few locals I encountered later that night that I was going to Manu their eyes lit up and they emphatically assured me I would enjoy it - a reaction I didn't get about the ruins or even rafting. If everyone else was right, it would be worth the cost, so I signed up.

On day four, right before lunch, I saw a jaguar.

I. Saw. A. Jaguar.

Um, so yeah. It was worth it. But regardless of that amazing 5 minutes of my life, it was worth it on Friday and it was worth it Saturday night and it was worth it at 5:30am Sunday morning and even Monday's Gilligan Island aventura was totally worth it - stories will be told in forthcoming posts.

And I think the original signs actually were there for a reason, just not the reason I first thought. Because the signs turned as soon as I booked the trip. For example, Manu is about the size of Maryland according to the papers I received that night. Hmmm. Of all the states? Maryland? Hmmm. And the cabins here are named after jungle animals; I got assigned the hormiguero (anteater) cabin. Remember the awesome t-shirt I referenced in one of the Quito posts? I love anteaters. Hmmm.

The universe works in very mysterious ways, everything happens for a reason. Think this was a good decision.

Photo of the day, 5/4/2010: focus play.

Taken from the van driving back to Cusco. I don't understand how the tree in the front is fuzzy and the scenery in the background is fairly crystal clear... but it looks neat. So who cares?

Rafting the Rio Apurimac.

Saturday we visited the Museo de Arte Precolumbian where we saw beautifully exhibited silver, gold and ceramic artifacts from before Spanish colonialization, followed by a very short but very ugly red gallery of colonial Catholic paintings of Christ painfully dying on the cross (the transition to this section reminded me of entering Vegas after a 3 day nature trip in the Grand Canyon -peace zen calm NEON LOUD BRIGHT). Very unnerving.

Anyway, later we got our rafting briefing from a dreadlocked, pleasant young dude.

Alain, our rafting guide

We were going to be one of the first groups going down this season and the river had changed since last season, so it was going to be an adventure for everyone - including the guides. Chevere!

The trip was amazing. On the way to the river we stopped in a small town to visit the market, then spent three hours on a dusty dirt road next to the edge of a 1000 foot cliff with stunning views of the farmland...

... and rocks shaped like condors...

... and rushing rivers...

... and Incan faces in the mountains

We reached the river (and sand flies - you will hear a lot about sand flies in this post), and lunched and explored while the guys got the gear ready.

there, I fixed it!

first view of the Rio Apurimac

Naturally, the "Welcome" rapid started us off. From there it was class 2s, 3s and 4s with names like Minefield, Purgatory (where our gear boat flipped and a bottle of tequila was sacrificed to the river), Indiana Jones, Toothache and Last Laugh. We portaged around some of the roughest rapids and plowed through others in the raft under the great guidance of Alain & crew.

a calm spot

safety kayakers Juan and Rubin (not pictured: gear guide Ephraim)

Fun rapids in a beautiful canyon... In some places the walls went up forever and the stones looked like polished silver from the rushing water.

photo does not do it justice, part I

photo does not do it justice, part II

In other places we left the canyon briefly and were surrounded by small dirt cliffs and green trees or cactus.

photo does not do it justice, part III

photo does not do it justice, part IV

The campsites (Space Odyssey and Wake Up) were next to the rushing river, which I could listen to for days, and once the sand flies went away for the evening it was warm enough to sit outside and stare at the highway of stars.

Wake Up campsite

can't imagine why they call it "Wake Up"

We saw a handful of shooting stars and lots of satellites as well... At the second campsite we had a fire and sat in silence enjoying all four earthly elements for a few hours. Nice.

There must have been a million butterflies over the three days, all different sizes and colors. On the second day we saw condors gliding above, torrent ducks diving into and riding the rapids (sooooo cool!), and a fox wandering on the other side of the canyon. That night I saw a few scorpions and got bit by a spider (painful but otherwise harmless, the damn sand flies were much more annoying).

@#$%^&*

At the end Viki got to try her hand at navigating the raft and successfully steered us to our final landing where we lunched and headed back to civilization. All in all, a fabulous trip.

I may have been a river rat in a previous life. The juxtaposition between trekking (up at 5am or 6 at the latest, leave by 7am, travel as light as possible) and rafting (up whenevs, leave by 10am/whenevs, carry a big cooler of beer and a hand-crank blender for mixed drinks - eco-friendly! I might need one of those) was amusing as well.

Viki leaves today... I am a bit jealous that she will have farmer's markets and a kitchen at her disposal in approximately 24 hours, but on the other hand I still have chicha morada and Andean cheese for a few more days. So glad she could share this with me.

Now I am off to figure out what to do for the next week before I meet up with Kim in Salta. The possibilities are exciting but overwhelming! I need three more years in Peru.

Photo of the day, 5/3/2010: ahhhhh.

I could get used to this ...

Photo of the day, 5/2/2010: CHEESE...

... PLEASE! We stopped briefly at one of the many markets around Cusco to pick up a few things for the rafting trip.

Photo of the day, 5/1/2010: nothing says "British"...

... like chips with malt vinegar and a fine beer. Happy hour at Cross Keys Pub is happy indeed.