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Published: August 17th 2007
Cake Time
Enjoying the Peruvian Cake!It seems like yesterday that I was in the Huancayo bus station with the family and volunteers cheering "Karencita! Karencita! Karencita!" as I got onto the bus to begin my next adventure. Now I am in Cuzco, returning from the remote Amazon Basin (no electricity, no internet, no phone). In fact, I did not know about the terrible earthquake, south of Lima, until Thursday. It is a tragic event. All the major tv stations are airing live, with family members begging for their loved ones. I have only spoken to a few travelers about the earthquake. One said he was 20 miles south of Lima and was in a bus, in a parking lot when it started. They ran out of the bus, just in time, because all of the windows burst. Travelers could feel it on Machu Pichu. And the quake lasted for over 2 minutes. I was in the Tambopata Reserve, on the eastern border of Peru (far away from Lima, on the western coast), and did not feel a thing.
Peru has a history of earthquakes because of its geography. There are 3 zones in Peru: the coast, the mountains and the rainforest. I had the opportunity to
teach the zones in Chupaca. And on my last day I bought a cake and the students placed candies on the cake for each zone (see pics). Some of the students have never had cake before, so it was an exciting event. Almost 50 people came to the farewell at Matapuqqio.
So what about the Amazon basin, you ask? There were hidden discoveries everywhere. Colorful butterflies were abundant, unusual bird sounds and enough insects to feed an army (not army ants 😊 Every morning I was greeted with the sounds of howler monkeys - just awesome! I saw some evidence of the enivornmental impact that the people have had on the rainforest. While going upstream, we would see gold miners sifting thru the rocks. Many of the miners use mercury to seperate the gold from the rocks. One can imagine the damage mercury must do to the river and its inhabitants. The lodge that I stayed at was very conscientious of the environment, they provided biodegradable soap and we ate our meals on the boat out of banana leaves, leaving no waste.
Yesterday I arrived in Cuzco. What a contrast?! It feels like a European city with stone-covered streets, gothic
Group PIcture
Our group in the Amazon: Me, Astreud, Joau, Jlugo, Rodrigo, our guide-Willian, Alex, Ian and Pat cathedrals and cafes galor. Am I still in Peru?
I am off to practice for my Inka trek - all streets go up in Cuzco!
ps I was able to add some mountain photos in my previous blog
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Lisa
non-member comment
Still in Peru
I had forgotten that you were still going to be there after leaving PLE! I was updating my website until the wee hours of this morning and mentioned your trip. For the life of me I could not find the link to your blog to include it in our site, so thanks! This is great timing. Thanks for sharing stories of the earthquake - I have not seen any news except what's on the internet (only because I don't watch TV much), so if you share anything else you see first hand, I would appreciate it a lot. While you're in Cuzco, take the hike up the hill toward the St. Christopher neighborhood (I think that's what it's called) and go see Sachaywaman ("sexy woman"). Make sure to take your camera and another person with you. The hand-cut rocks there are so incredibly huge, it almost seems fake - you need a person to stand in front of them to get a true feeling of their size. We did not do the Inka trail. I might do it if I ever return to Peru. I heard it's pretty grueling. You will be sleep deprived, sore and pretty much wiped out - but what an adventure! I look forward to pix and stories! We did visit a few of the sites on the trail, but from the safety and comfort (?) of air conditioned buses. Keep up the blog! Buena suerte! Lisa