In the airport...

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Hi everyone,

We´re (almost) en route to Puerto Maldonado, Peru for a week in the jungle. The almost is because we are currently stuck waiting for our flight there. It was supposed to take off at 8:45, and now it´s been moved back for the second time to 11:30... this is most frustrating because the flight itself is under one hour, and we are ready to get out of rainy, cold Cusco and into the rainforest.

Cusco is an interesting place, especially this week for the festival. Today was the peak of the festival, though we didn´t see it (since we´re busy sitting around here). Yesterday was pretty insane, too. We got to the Plaza de Armas at about 10 a.m. and found a parade. Throughout the day, we saw more parades still, and on our final outing at about 9 p.m. the parades were still going strong! A waiter told us people in Cusco never work, they just have festivals as often as possible... it might just be true. So there was always plenty going on in Cusco, but this came along with tons of tourists and people trying to sell us anything and everything. Prices in Cusco were also much higher than what we´d gotten used to in Bolivia... there we could get nice, 3-course meals for two for 20 Bolivianos, or about $2.50 in dollars. But we´ll survive...

When we get to Puerto Maldonado, we plan to find a guide and go into the jungle for several days, and I don´t think they have internet cafes there. Unless they are run by monkeys? So don´t expect entries or emails for awhile, but look forward to exciting photos!

Love, Mariel and Ben

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