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Pre-Incan Ruins
While the Incan culture, due to the vast ruins and influence left behind, gets most of the attention, many groups existed prior to the Incans. These towers, seen on the way to the jungle, were used as burial chambers over 1500 years ago.We have safely returned from the jungle back to the much less safe streets of Cusco, or so we hear. So far, we have found Cusco to be a very nice city with Incan stonework still holding up many of the buildings. It appears we will have a sunny day today, but most of our efforts are focused on leaving for the Inca Trail tomorrow and scratching our remaining mosquito bites. We all see to be dealing the altitude well and hope to do so on the trail as well.
We had a 7pm meeting at Pantiacolla where they reviewed many issues of which we were fully aware as well as a few which it was too late to do anything about. We also met our guide, Darwin, and were impressed enough to forsee a successful trip. Since we had to get up at 5am the next morning, we were also anxious to get to bed. We headed back to the hostel, Casa de la Gringa, and Jill learned that the water was off. yet another strike against them. We setttled our bill, painfully, and reserved rooms for our return. The host insisted on having Jill pick out her dorm
A Bridge in Town
A picture from the first, and only interesting, town on the way to the jungle. This bridge dates back to the first missionaries from hundreds of years ago. Fortunately, the bridge is limited to foot traffic. bed, as though there was some difference between the 8 choices (it didn´t matter anyway, they gave her a different one on our return). We finally got to bed. . .
Just in time to wake up! Not quite, but we were ready to try and get some sleep on the bus. Our company came to the door and helped us with our bags. We headed back to the Pantiacolla office where we organized and loaded the bus, leaving by 6am. The first couple of hours were uneventful until we reached the town where we would have breakfast. Our guide gave a short tour of the town, including a fountain with 16 characters of local lore. The town drunk decided to give us his opinion on the display as well, which was considerably less educational. We also went to a school and the children sang us a song. Not sure what the kids got out of it, but it seemed like they enjoyed themselves and it was interesting to get a little insight into rural education.
Back on the bus, we began climbing to the cloud forest, stopping at about 12,000 ft in a dense fog. This was
The Beginning of the Jungle
This waterfall was a great place to stop for lunch. Unfortunately, the meal itself may not have agreed with me and may have led to my getting sick the next day. the beginning of the Manu National Park, which is about the size of Massachusetts. We still have several more hours to our destination for the night, but stopped to see some birds and had lunch at a waterfall. Just prior to reaching our lodge, we stopped at another Cock-of-the-Rock lek, to meeting place. There were five of these magnificent birds as well as an umbrella bird, which is quite rare. We took several more hikes, seeing a trogon, many tanagers, and oropendula, which build hanging nests. The cloud forest was also really amazing with all the orchids and other epiphites. We reached our lodge as darkness was closing, quickly had dinner and went to bed shortly thereafter, as we once again had an early morning.
Unfortunately, my early morning began about 3am. I know, I know, you´re tired of hearing about me getting sick, but here I was again, reliving the previous days meals. This time was much worse than before, not ending until 6pm that night, though I ate and drank nothing. I´m sure the bus and then boat rides did not help my condition, but I managed only look miserable and not make a spectacle of myself.
Trogon
One of the best pictures we got. Every time we stopped it seemed we saw something this amazing. We saw several birds, though Sara and I had seen many of them previously. The boat ride was rather uneventful, though my thoughts were usually elsewhere, making me a less than qualified writer for this day. I was told that the food was good at the lodge, but I was otherwise occupied and went to sleep at 6pm.
I woke feeling, if not better, empty. And yet, not hungry at all, so I slowly sipping on my Gatorade and hoping for the best. Today, we headed into the ¨reserve zone¨of Manu National Park, which is the only section in which the local cannot hunt. Consequently, all the animals, monkeys especially, head to this area. Though our boat ride did not pass any monkeys, we did see capybara (the largest rodent in the world), caiman, both black and white, and hundreds of birds, including 3 species of macaw and many parrots. We reached camp in time for lunch, and just before our first downpour of the trip. Everyone seemed to have a leak in their hut somewhere, but no one was too upset about it. Just for a quick rundown on our group, there were the three of us, John
Cock-of-the-Rock
The best picture of the best bird from the entire trip. and Liz from the California-Oregon border, and Niels and Jan, two engineers from Holland. As soon as the rain stopped, we all, save Liz, piled out of our cabins for our hike.
We headed to the largest lake in Manu, Cocha Salvador, in hopes of seeing giant otters or at least monkeys. At first, the birds were still around, but no sign of the otters, so we rowed the catamaran out into the lake and search for other animals. Though the otters never showed, and would have to wait for another attempt the next day, the monkeys certainly did, with both White Fronted Capuchin, around 10, and Squirrel monkeys, probably more than 40, jumping through the trees. As it was getting dark, we headed back to camp and saw the Brown Capuchin and the world´s only nocturnal monkey, appropriately enough named the Night monkey. Four monkey species in less than an hour, only 9 more to go!
The next day, we tried once again to see the giant otters, rowing around to one side of the lake, then the other, and finally starting to head back. Suddenly, were heard sqeaking to our right, and saw a family of
Capybara
The world's largest rodent, as well as the largest land fish according to the Catholic Church, in the interest of conversion as catholics are not allowed to eat rodents. 8 otters fishing on the shore. As they swam past, one came close to us and bared his teeth at us. These are not you´re cuddly cute otters, as our tour provided pamphlet told us. Apparently, swimming with them, which is prohibited in this lake, is quite dangerous. On the way back to camp, we saw and caiman and back on land the Brown Capuchin and the Black Spider monkeys, bringing the total to 6.
For our next adventure, we headed across the Manu river to try and see the Woolly Monkey, which our guide book warns that it does not appreciate humans. I fully agree. Not only did they try and urinate on us, which we heard hit the palm trees, but attempted to take me out. As I was taking a picture, a two inch diameter branch hurtled down toward me. After getting out of the way and looking back, the branch had buried itself in the ground and was standing up straight as though a new tree had been planted. Regardless, they were fun to watch and eventually calmed down.
We headed back for lunch, then right back out to our next lake for the
Sand-Colored Nighthawks
These guys sleep during the day, but apparently right out in the open. last activity of the day, at Cocha Otorango. This was a much different lake with more vegetation. We headed to a 50 ft high watch tower and saw a large caiman swimming toward us, who soon disappeared into the brush. There were also many macaws flying by as we watched. Once again, we headed back to the boat as it was getting dark, had dinner, and went to sleep. As always, another early morning.
The reason for the early morning was that our fellow travellers were flying out to Cusco and we needed to get to the airport at our second night´s lodging by 10 or 11 am. The boat ride had more of the same, with caiman and shore birds on the river side and macaws and parrots overhead. Though we though we were on time, the plane decided that we were a day early and stayed in Cusco with the traveller´s dreaded ¨mechanical troubles¨. We hoped for the best for them, and headed to our next stop, Tambo Blanquillo, where Sara and I were anxiously awaiting a view of the macaw clay lick the following morning. Word of caution, never get you´re hopes up too soon.
Regardless, we still had the afternoon available and our guide had taken the lodge key for their 120 ft high tower in the tallest and biggest tree in the forest. The view was amazing, and on the way up we saw a plum-throated cotinga, likely the most amazingly colored bird we had seen so far, colored a bright turquiose other than the throat. We stayed in the tower and watched the sunset for as long as possible, as scarlet macaws were sillouetted in the tree between us and the horizon. We had to get back, however, as the river is clogged with trees and stumps, making night time navigation tricky. We headed back to the lodge for dinner and went to bed anxious for the next day.
We awoke, as usual, before daybreak and jumped in the boat for the short trip to the clay lick. On the way in, we spotted both Squirrel monkeys and the Saddleback Tamarin, species #8. The Squirrel monkeys are always fun to watch, as they waited turns jumping from one banana plant to the next. We arrived just as the sun rose, with hundreds of parrots beating us to the spot, or at
White Caiman
The smaller of the two gators on the river. least to a spot, as they were perched in the trees making an overwhelming amount of noise. We saw a new species, the orange cheeked parrot, and waited for them to hit the clay lick. And waited. And waited. The macaws arrived, and eventually the noise just died down. No clay lick for the parrots and parakeets, but we still held out hope for the 18 red and green macaws hanging around. Eventually, they did come down, breaking some measure of joy, though we were all a little disappointed. Well, c´est la vie.
After a bit of a break, we headed to other oxbow lake, Cocha Kamungo. Yet another family of giant otters and several osprey fishing, along with the odd looking Hoatzin, a leaf eating bird. The otters sat around eating fish, as they eat about 8 lbs a day and are constantly fishing. After the lake, we headed back to the lodge, packed up, and were on the move again, back to the Yine Lodge where we had left the others on our trip, hoping to find them gone. As we departed, Sara spotted a weasel in a tree, a rare sighting.
Which of course they
Sunset Over Lago Salvador
The clouds rolling in for the night, just before the rain. were. Sara and I headed to the runway to look for birds and watch the sunset which, as usual, was beautiful. The only bird was a lone toucan, perched high in a tree. He seemed to be enjoying the sunset as well.
The next day, our destination was the Pantiacolla Lodge, for a two night stay. Apparently, some of us ate lunch there the second day, though I had little recollection of this. The boat trip added a capybara sighting as well as a southern river otter, which are becoming rare with overfishing becoming a problem in the area. The lodge was beautifully set, with trails surrounding it. Our first hike was on the trail most known for birds, though we saw few as the afternoon is generally a poor time. What we did see where white-lipped peccaries, which are fairly large pigs that travel in groups of up to 200. They can be quite dangerous, though these seemed more concerned with getting away from us. We didn´t mind too much, as they stunk. . .badly. We saw what was likely the same group twice, making back to the lodge just as headlamps were necessary. The next morning was
Giant Otter
These guys have to eat their weight in fish every few days, so once you find the otter, it isn't too hard to find one in the process of eating. another attempt on the clay lick. This time, I was not nearly so hopeful.
This lack of hope paid off, as there was little activity and not a single bird came down to the lick. We had hoped to see our sixth macaw species, the rare blue headed macaw, but our luck had not held out. Back to the lodge for breakfast, which yielded my ninth, and the girls eighth (the night monkey was difficult to see in the fading light), monkey, the Dusky Titi. After breakfast, our morning hike was very productive with many tanagers, hummingbirds, a jacamar, the usual pairs of macaws overhead, another peccary sighting, and several groups of monkeys, including a really good look at the Saddleback Tamarin.
The afternoon was for relaxing, and after some reading and a short walk, we headed to a local hot spring. The water was great after eight days without a HOT shower (brrr, even in the rainforest), and was supposed to help clean off any parasites such as chiggers or ticks, though I felt pretty free and clear before. Sara spotted the other species of peccary, the collared, though it ran away before anyone else spotted it.
Hoatzin
The Hoatzin, drunk on leaves, has difficult flying and is usually stumbling around its branches. More reading, followed by dinner, led to the inevitable early bed time for the early wake up.
Well, we made it through 8 days in the jungle, with only the trip out between us and the relative safety of Cusco. From my point of view, the jungle seems much safer, as I constantly feel like a taxi is trying to run me down in the city. Anyway, after another failed clay lick trip, more birds and alot of water later, we arrived at where our bus was to pick us up and ¨wisk¨, over 12 hours, us back to Cusco. As soon as we left town, Sara and I spotted a trogon right outside the bus window, but we were off and had no time to appreciate it. In the cloud forest, I spotted a very rare, bright blue jay, and looking for birds helped to break up the trip. The drive was quite long, with an hour break for dinner, several bathroom stops, and an broken accelerator cable to as the only stops. We reached town around 10 pm, with a cab waiting for us, already loaded with our stored bags, to take us back to our hostel.
Spider
One of the many creepy crawlys seen in the jungle, though it is safe to say that there were far more that we didn't see. We were exhausted but also hungry, so after checking in we went to a local gringo eatery and they hit the sack.
As usual, our rest days are anything but, and this one lived up to the billing, as we spent our time getting our laundry done, burning CDs of pictures, and, of course, writing this. We threw in a little shopping, which I tried my best to avoid, and went to the Santo Domingo Church, which is likely the best tourist attraction in town. When the Spanish conquered a people, on way they imposed their will was by building directly on top of pre-existing sites. The temple of the sun, where this church was build, was one on the most important Incan sites, and the stonework in the walls is amazing. The church itself held much interest, though the Catholic art has grown a bit wearisome at this point of the trip. The best piece of art was a huge, 3 foot by 3 foot gold tablet with Incan symbols formed on its surface.
For dinner, we plan to head to one of the nicest restaurants in town to treat ourselves, though I suppose that is exactly
Wooly Monkey
An angry monkey, right before he tried to kill me. what we have been doing for the last 3 1/2 months. At least, that is what my bank account tells me. Anyway, we head off to do the somewhat lessened Inca Trail tomorrow. Who knows, maybe the landslide will be cleared, but it does not seem likely. Nothing happens fast here.
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Rick B
non-member comment
Nice post!
Sounds like you had a great time in Manu. My daughter and I hope to do the same trip in May 2007. Not surprised you didn't have much luck with the clay licks - from what I've read so far the macaws don't visit much in May and June. Any other tips you care to share that weren't in the journal?