For whatever reason I couldn’t fall asleep until well after midnight. You would think with all that free time to lie around and think I’d have remembered to start taking my anti-malarial, but no. That thought didn’t occur to me until 5:30 this morning. And I couldn’t just up and take it then since you have to take it on a full stomach. Ugh. Tempting the travel gods again. But no matter, the sawing (what were they sawing anyway?) and the firecrackers started up shortly thereafter, so any fantasy I had about sleeping in went out the window.
I got up and had a hearty breakfast, using the excuse of the antimalarial to rationalize eating just about everything on the buffet. Eggs, pancakes, yogurt and granola and a slice of toast were all good. I ran out to the ATM again before 8 a.m. and the faithful had already staked out their spots on the steps to the church to be in place to watch the procession at 11. It was darn cold that early too, they were brave.
I packed, facing the likely reality that I will have to check this bag home. It saddens me, but unless I throw something out I will have to expand the bag, making it too big for the overhead bin. Bah humbug. I’ll have to play with it a bit. I won’t give up that easily.
Maria and Wilman picked me up at 9:30. We had a nice talk about what I did yesterday and about the festival, all in Spanish. Maria was good like that, always encouraging me to practice. About 10 minutes out from the airport, Maria asked Wilman to pull over to show me a roadside table set up from which a local woman was preparing a dish especially for the holiday. On the table were: whole chickens, whole guinea pig, two types of sausage, beef jerky, seaweed, roe, and an oily egg and onion cake. This all was assembled in a styrofoam box and delivered to those who ordered it for 20 soles (about $6.50). This dish is only made for this festival and the eater is meant to take a little bit of each ingredient with each bite. We were not going to buy the food, but the woman did offer a bit of jerky, which I politely declined. I would not eat it anyway as a vegetarian, but the sanitation of it all, roadside on a makeshift table and all...I just couldn’t get past that.
As we approached the airport, all traffic came to a halt. Wilman said that there was an earthquake drill going on. Everyone was meant to get out of their cars and shelter as if a quake was happening. It lasted maybe 5 minutes or so until emergency vehicles came though and gave an all clear. Then it was a bunch of horn honking and aggressive driving until everyone got where they were going. Imagine doing that on a big holiday? I got to the airport fine, so all is good. We were lucky to be that close when it happened.
I checked my bag since LATAM won’t let my 13KG bag anywhere near their overheads and said adios to Maria. I then had a a bit of a struggle finding my gate, since it’s not very high tech there in Cuzco airport. I talked to a couple of reps who had said that the flight was running late and would be at gate 5. Eventually that’s where it showed up. We left a half hour late but only ended up being about 15 minutes late into Puerto Maldonado. The terrain is definitely different here, lots of lush trees and forest and murky brown winding river. It’s also about 300% humidity, which is quite a change coming from Cuzco where it was so dry.
Rawling met me and explained that the schedule had changed due to a large local strike and demonstration against the rising price of gasoline. For whatever reason, I was now going to Sandoval Lake River Lodge first but we had to wait for a bunch of other vehicles headed to the river to go with us at the same time as a caravan. The theory being there is power in numbers, I guess? It was all very unclear and the men driving and guiding us didn’t seem worried. It was mildly unsettling though to keep having to reroute to dodge the moving crowds of protestors, and not through the greatest of neighborhoods either. Finally though we approached the river where there were three long cigar boats with a roof and motor waiting. Rawling told me to sit anywhere in the first one and put a life preserver over my head. He then handed me a pair of muck boots and a basket lunch. I was a bit disconcerted that there was a schedule change with no notice to me, but I was going with it. What choice did I have.
The basket lunch was a fried rice dish wrapped in a banana leaf. It really appeared to have meat in it so I put it down. Rawling called the office and they said it was soy meat. I tasted it a bit and it didn’t taste like real meat at all so I ate it. I was starving at this point. After about 45 minutes in the motor boat, we hit land and climbed out. Then the hike started. It was 3k to our next transition, and I’m going to be politically correct and non-emotional when I say it was absolutely and completely unenjoyable. I was not carrying my backpack but my camera bag is hefty. It’s 3000% humidity and I’m traipsing through ankle deep mud in boots that don’t fit right. I got bit by a fire ant and the insect repellant and sunscreen on my face was dripping into my mouth. Rawling took off at a hare’s pace and kept losing me. I asked a couple times how close we are and he said something like “100 meters” and then we’d come upon a sign saying 1.7 km left. As I fought back tears and tried not to lick my lips and eat DEET, I was already writing my Trip Advisor review on this place. And it was not good. I wish I could have enjoyed the walk, because it appeared to be the stuff movies are made of, gorgeous lush vegetation, song birds and chirping crickets. And I was just concentrating on staying upright and not crying.
Miraculously we made it to the next transition, which was a paddle canoe across Lake Sandoval. The canoe started through a tiny little canal in lush overgrowth, and suddenly opened out into this gorgeous oxbow lake. I have to say I was impressed. It was beautiful. I think I’d have enjoyed it more if I wasnt thoroughly sweat through the to bone and not utterly exhausted, but I can say it was pretty gorgeous. But if you’d told me a year ago that I’d be in a canoe floating down the river in the Amazon, I’d have told you you’re nuts. But here I am.
On arrival, we climbed out of the canoe and walked up a long staircase to the Lodge where the manager Erika greeted me. The setup at Sandoval Lake River Lodge is very strange. The lodge is one long row of rooms with a common area and dining room at the top of them. The rooms’ walls are not closed off at the top though so you can hear what your neighbors are up to fairly easily. There is electricity for most of the day which is good, and a normal shower (not bucket style like in Kenya).
I took a shower to get clean and cool, and there was no hot water to be had, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing given how hot I was. It felt good nonetheless. I put on shorts and a comfy t-shirt and rested for a bit before dinner at 7:30. No shoes are allowed inside the lodge, so everyone brought flip flops, which is a good idea.
DInner tonight was average at best. We all had a really good cream of asparagus soup for an appetizer. For the main course, the non-vegetarians had a pretty standard meat and potato. I had rice, baked potato slices and red pepper and mushrooms in a cream sauce. I was underwhelmed. Dessert was half of a canned peach. Clearly, I’ve had better.
I met the couple I’d be traveling with the next few days. They are an older couple from Australia who have been traveling in South America since the end of April. They finish up here with me and then head to San Diego before going home.
I also met our guide, Pepe. He’s a sweet gentle guy and very friendly. I look forward to seeing what he can teach me about the wildlife here.
I laid down to sleep at 9:30 and just hoped for a better night’s rest than I had last night! On the plus side I remembered my anti-malarial tonight!
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