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Published: October 21st 2006
We survived! I´d better start from the beginning. Before heading to the jungle we spent a day seeing more of Cuzco and taking in more of the Inca archetecture that stands in stark contrast to the Spanish stonework. Whilst the latter is quite quaint and adds to teh character of the place, it is laughably poor by comparison. One local told me that the good walls were made by the Incas whereas the bad ones were made by the Incapables. It sums it up nicely and makes you wonder which civilisation was really the more advanced.
Its turns out that the wily Spaniards only succeeded in overthrowing the Incas due to the fact the latter were in the throes of a civil war at the time. Apparently, on his deathbed, the previous Inca had split his kindgom in two between his two sons. That decision heralded the civil war. I know its easy in retrospect but surely he must have known it was a recipe for disaster.
We were both still out of breath as a result of the altitude, especially when wandering around town. Unfortunately, you can't really take a breather without the locals trying to sell you postcards, paintings, useless little finger puppets or offering to shine your shoes. They are quite persistent. I´ve bought a couple of things, honing my negotiating skills in the process. Rule number 1: never pay full price for anything.
My Spanish is improving but is still pretty poor. Most locals speak admirably good English, at leats enough to hold a basic conversation. Fortunately football is, as always a universal language. I've had several chats with locals about footie and the English league which they know well. Quite refreshingly, they mainly seem to support Newcastle (because of the Solano connection) rather than Man United or (heaven forbid) Chelsea.
We had booked our trip to Manu National Park (the jungle) some time ago and rocked in to pay the balance of our trip last week. So far, so good. We turned up at the office for a meeting with our guide about 7.30 the night before we were due to leave and.... they knew nothing about it! Apparently, they had completely messed up our booking. What followed involved several anxious phone calls in Spanish, a fair amount of swearing in English, a manager looking like she was about to cry and, finally, us getting our money back. Down the street we rushed at about 8.30 with 700 dollars in cash (not really a good idea in any country) and found another tour agency still open. Fortunately they had a trip running the next day and the jungle trip was back on. As it turned out, we saved about 80 dollars and it loked a better trip all round.
So, off we went with our guide Julio Cesar (´like the Brazilian footballer´I said. He looked at me blankly) in some bashed up little mini bus smelling of meat. There was another English couple and 3 older Peruvians who were obviously pretty game. Its not Disneyland after all. We took this gut wrenching mountain road (dirt path) out of Cusco early in the morning and by mid-afternoon we had hit the jungle. We were still up in the mountains in what is technically called the cloud forest area mainly due to the fact that you are surrounded by clouds. We stayed the night in a basic but adequate lodge. I made sure to check under the bed for spiders, snakes etc. All our meals were included and were on the whole pretty good, although there was a high propensity for eggs, rice and soup, in no particular order. There were millions of insects around, especially at night and I was glad that the generators switched off at about 8.30, giving me an excuse to run and hide.
(Very early) in the morning, we got up to see some amazing coloured birds from a little hide out they had built. Apparently, their colour is due to the fact that their food (like most things in the jungle) are poisonous and creating coloured pigment is a way of neutralising the posion. Anyway, when we got there, we found that a group of birdwatchers had got there first. They couldn't have looked more stereotypical if they had tried. Clad solely in kahki and green, they sported fleece tank tops, welly boots and beards (including some of the women). On entering the viewpoint, they looked at us as though we'd collectively farted in the proverbial elevator. Apparently, these guys come to the jungle for 25 days at a time just to see birds. A jaguar could stroll past and they couldn't care less. We were not welcome at the party but if you are going to piss off any particular group, it might as well be bird watchers.
After breakfast, we mountain biked down the road (again, dirt path with large stones protruding everywhere) to the lowland rain forest. They made it sound like, well, a bike in the park. It was bloody tough going but good fun nevertheless. It gave you a chance to appreciate the rainforest as well. Because of the high rainfall and moisture in the air, there is so much vegetation. There was also a river cutting through the mountains ( I can´t remember the name but its a tributory of the Amazon). Giant and colourful butterflys were everywhere and one even hitched a ride on Sophie´s hand for about a mile or so. By the time we hit the lowlands the humidity was right up there. The ride took about 3 1/2 hours so it was pretty gruelling. The old Peruvians on our trip showed their wisdom and gave it a body swerve.
We eventually reached a little town in the heart of the jungle where we ditched the bikes and went white water rafting down the next stretch of river. It was pretty hairy in places and peaceful going in others, giving you a chance to see the jungle from the river. Our guide assured us that the caimans were sleeping and the piranhas were not the type to attach living creatures. How reassuring.
A short trip in a motor boat followed to another jungle lodge on the banks of the river where we spent a couple of nights. It was a nice place although I was again sure to check under the bed at night. It was generator powered so we had early nights again, which was just as well considering we were up at five every day.
Our guide took us on a night walk in the jungle to help us appreciate just how many insects there are out there. We also saw a group of about 30 monkeys passing us by on their way inland. We later saw a couple of other monkeys, high in the trees who proceeded to throw things at us.
The next day, we had a longer stroll in the jungle. It was pretty humid and quite tough going but the scenery is spectacular. Because of the humidity, clouds literally rise up out of the trees and settle all around you. Julio, our guide, captured a poisonous snake in true Steve Irwin style. Its fangs were huge.
After our jungle trek, we went ziplining through the jungle canopy (i.e., long bit of wire suspended between two trees approx 100m apart). I was pretty close to knocking it on the head when I saw the drop in the middle. I´m not great with heights and, at 20 metres drop, you are not going to come out of it in great shape should anything go wrong. It occurred to me that instant death would be a blessing in such circumstances; imagine crashing through the canopy, paralysed on the jungle floor surrounded by all manner of things that would want to eat, sting or bite you. Therefore, with those thoughts rushing through my head, I swung down the first zipwire.... and loved it! Its always the way; the scariest things are always the best. We did four ziplines in total and I would happily have gone around again.
We headed back early yesterday as the return was about 10 hours. There was a monsoon-style rainstorm first thing. I'm not complaining; after the desert coastal stretch its nice to see some rain. However, the rain made the jungle road even more precarious on the way back. As it turned out, we made it all the way back to Cuzco without serious incident before breaking down about 5 minutes from the centre. Cést la vie.
We've now got a day to sort our lives out for the Inca Trail tomorrow morning. Its the one thing I´m really loking forward to so expect a message when I get back.
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David Waugh
non-member comment
excellent commentary
Excellent story telling, I can't wait to read your next post. I am taking about the same itinerary in January so am very much enjoying your travelogue. What was the name of the manu outfitter?