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Published: June 10th 2014
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Here's the plan - Back on the boat early in the morning, we head downstream to the small mining village Boca Colorado. Here and in Mazuco later on, you can see the negative effects of certain human activities on the delicate ecological balance of the rainforest. We take local transportation until crossing the Inambari River. On the other side, our van is waiting to take you over a newly paved road, through beautiful cloud and elfin forest. Near Cusco, you have stunning views of the Ausangate Mountain.Cusco is reached in the early evening. Approx. 12 hrs journey.
We're up before first light to get on the boat for 4hr boat ride. We'll have breakfast on the boat. All the sand bars provides plenty of opportunity to see lots of birds, mostly ones we have seen, but in greater numbers. We see the evidence of gold mining by the "ant hills" all along the shore. Gold mining is quite controversial, since they incorporate mercury in the extraction process. We get to Boca Colorado, a very small village where you can see all kinds of means of transportation. Obviously it is a hub for the exchange of goods. We catch a taxi
for a one hour ride to a water taxi that crosses the Inambari River. Here we see larger boats and trucks loading and off loading products. A farm tractor looks pretty precarious balanced on two boats trying to cross this rushing river. Waiting on the opposite river bank is our van that will make the 6 hour trip back over the Andes to Cusco. We will on the new Transoceanic Highway, which should be more comfortable than the rugged gravel roads we've been using.
I had grown a little discouraged by the evidence of poverty and the lack of pride in the towns and villages. To my delight the drive thru the Andes was much more like the grade school geography books I had in my minds eye when planning to travel in Peru. The towns, villages and farmsteads were very picturesque. People were all wearing the traditional dress and it was obvious they took pride in their communities.
At the highest elevation of the drive, we hit a full blown blizzard. Reminded us how lucky we had been on the Inca Trail portion of our trip.
The Transoceanic Highway made the 8 hr drive much more
pleasant than the gravel roads. It's an attempt to provide access from Peru to Brazil, Pacific to Atlantic. We began to recognize some of the villages, as the road utilizes a portion of the roadway we had taken back on the Southern Valley day of touring. We arrive in Cusco late afternoon, enjoyed our last dinner in Peru at a favorite restaurant overlooking the main town square, and head back to our hotel to pack up.
We were picked up the next morning and dropped off at the airport for our flight to Lima; I have a 12 hour layover. Our trip to Lima ended up being a couple hours late, which obviously was not a problem. Flight to ATL was on time, with Ruth picking me up on the Int'l side of Hartsfield, I may start using that pick-up area for all flights, as it was easy and no traffic.
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