Welcome to the Jungle

Since I work in a Catholic country I get a four-day weekend for Easter and I decided to go all out with my chosen vacation. Four friends and I headed south to the Manu Biosphere Reserve to look for the elusive national bird of Peru, the Cock of the Rock (obviously this caused never-ending innuendos which originally annoyed our guide but eventually he was the one making raunchy jokes). We flew into Cusco for some awesome touristy food and left before dawn the following morning for the drive to our first lodge. The drive that day was grueling to say the least. The first couple of hours were on paved roads and we got to stop at some picturesque villages along the way but when we pulled into the Manu national park, the roads got a bit treacherous. The Hyundai mini-van we were riding in was not made to wade through mud pits and ford streams. We ended up getting out of the car at the muddier spots so that the car could pass through. With about two hours left in the drive we came up on a long line of cars and went to investigate the holdup. What we encountered made the reality of our situation much scarier that the harmless adventure on rough roads we had thought it to be. The road ahead had collapsed under a lumber truck sending the truck sliding into a ravine. Luckily, no one was hurt and apparently this happens all the time, but it was incredibly nerve wracking to come across this scene. I had no faith in the estimate that we would be on our way again in about an hour but all I could do was wait. Amazingly enough, one bulldozer and one tractor was plenty to pull the truck out of the ravine relatively quickly (they had already been working at it about 4 hours when we showed up) and then carve a new road out of the side of the mountain. Luckily, there were a bunch of cars that had to pass over the new section of road before we did so the integrity had been well proven. Still, I waited on the far side of the collapse site and hopped in the van once I saw that it did not go sliding into the ravine.

After our harrowing 13-hour drive, I was thrilled to get to our little haven in the cloud forest, San Pedro Lodge. The lodge had big outdoor sitting areas with the noise of the river, the birds, and insects in the background. Although we were close to the little mud road we had ridden in on, there was not a car to be heard the entire night. I can't think of the last time that I found a place where there was no evidence of motor vehicles but this was it. The next morning after a successful bird walk where we spotted the cock of the rock and a few other beautiful species, we climbed back into our minivan and headed to our next activity, rafting. On the drive we spotted a pack of wooly monkeys, one of five species in the area. The next lodge was only accessible by boat so we rafted half way and then took a motorboat when the river got a bit bigger and flatter. The second part of our adventure took places at the Erika Lodge and began with a nature hike through the quicksand. In an effort to reach an enormous tree with a root so big it looked like a dinosaur trail, we had to move cross a patch of ground that sucked three of us in up to our knees before we found a spot solid enough to make a stick bridge and cross. I think it sounds so Indiana Jones to sink in quicksand so I am pretty proud of myself.

The next day we had to arrive at the clay lick before 6 am to watch flocks of amazing birds arrive for their morning feeding. The clay lick is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, a wall of clay where birds come to get their minerals. We ended up seeing four species of birds and a beautiful sunrise over a tributary of the Amazon River. After a breakfast of delicious pancakes, we hiked up to the zipline for a day of cruising through the canopy in harnesses. Our full day of activities continued with a typical jungle lunch cooked in banana leaves followed by a hike and paddle around a beautiful lake where we spotted the Hoatzin or "stinky bird" (called this because its digestive system operates like that of a cow complete with three stomachs). This bird looks like the archaeopteryx dinosaur with a feather Mohawk. We looked for the capybara (the world's largest rodent) but were not lucky enough to find it. Despite this, we did get a glimpse of our second species of monkey, the squirrel monkey. Overall, this was an amazing final activity for our trip.

The last day of our jungle experience did not disappoint on the adventure front. After a quick ride up the river we got back in our minivan for 13 hours of alternate riding and trudging through the mud. Late that night we got into Cuzco and headed straight for burgers and imported beer with the rest of the tourists. One of my favorite things about Cuzco is the amount of high quality pub type food. After an Easter Sunday that involved hiking up to the giant white Jesus overlooking Cuzco and spending lots of money on food, we headed back to our sites. Remembering these experiences makes me a little sad as I sit in my room watching episodes of House and planning my next trip to the jungle as mice literally scurry in under my door. Being a tourist is pretty awesome.