Walking a Puma

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!

Right now I am volunteering at a very unique animal refuge in Central Bolivia. You can check out their website (and donate!): http://www.intiwarayassi.org/. My job is to walk a three year old puma named Leoncio. His Mom was shot by poachers when he was a baby and he was sold on the black market to a family as a pet. When he was 9 months old the mother of the house beat him so hard they his back legs broke in three places. Leo and I are buddies now but for the first few days he 'tested me' (i.e., attacked) all the time.

The work is very tough and wet (I am covered in cat scratches and mosquito bites) but it has been amazing. There are also monkeys, birds and loads of other animals at the pàrk. The monkeys are very cute but you have to watch your cookies and cameras because some were trained as pickpockets before coming to the park. So far they have only gotten two oreo cookies from me, the puma seems to scare them off.

The Cordilleras

Panic aboard the Titicaca

It started out as a peaceful, sunny day as I chased down the President of Bolivia on the Isla del Sol. However, as we loaded on the seaworthy boat ¨Titicaca¨ for the return trip back to Copacabana, things turned bad. A storm was brewing out on the lake and our boat was headed right towards it. The waves got bigger and bigger and there was plenty of nervous chatter on board as people debated how far they could swim before the froze in the frigid waters. I don´t think anyone was really worried until one of the workers on the boat began to nervously hand out life jackets while he spoke in rapid-fire Spanish to (I think) someone on shore. At one point, the captain tried to steer into the waves and the boat felt like it was at an 90 degree angle. The motor went out a couple times and a few tourists started to freak out but we made it back safe and sound. (By the way, the Virginia hat is being worn by a German lady who lived in Richmond for five years, small world.)

Chasing Evo

So somehow, Evo Morales and I ended up on the Isla del Sol on the same day. I came for the hikes and the views, he came to rally up support for an upcoming referundum which will determine whether or not he stays office. When I found out that he might be visiting one of the small villages, I eschewed the typical trek up to the Inca ruins and took the village trails in the hopes of catching up to him. I stumbled into the town of Chu´lla, which was entirely deserted. The whole village had congregated on the top of a local hill and were all dressed in the finest clothes, waiting for the President to arrive. Quecha flags were waving and the local men were performing traditional dances in some unusal headwear. We all waited for over an hour (okay, the villagers waited for hours, I waited for 45 minutes) for Morales to show up and rumors kept spreading as to where he was. I finally had to leave to hike to where the boat was picking up all the tourists. Turns out, Morales was on the island, but he never made it to the town of Chu´lla. Instead, he had arrived at the small port on the other side of the island and had given a short but passionate (so I heard) speech there. The villagers of Chu´lla never had a chance to see their President. As the first indigenous President of Bolivia, Morales was no doubt using the sacred island of the Incas as a symbolic backdrop for his rally to keep the support of the indigenous campesinos.

The Islands of Lake Titicaca

The islands of Lake Titicaca were beautiful and tranquil. From Puno, I took a boat to the tiny island of Amantani with several other backpackers. We stopped at the incredible floating islands of Uros along the way. The islands are made entirely out of reed, which by the way, are also edible. The Uros people have been living on the islands for centuries; they first created them to escape the warring cultures on the mainland. They were a little bouncy to stand on and living on the floating islands, with the intense sun and wind during the day and the harsh, cold nights, is not an easy way of life.

Once we got to Amantani, five of us stayed at the house of the boat captain. We were fed simple but satisfying meals of boiled potatoes and carrots and bread. The island has no electricity, no cars and no roads so life is pretty simple and some food stuffs are scarce. We hiked around the island, which offered incredible views, and at night we went to a traditional Pena and danced around a campfire with the local women while the menfolk played music. We spent the next day at Taquile, a similar island on the Lake.

The Isla de Sol, where the Inca believe that the Sun, Moon and the first Incas were created, is also on Lake Titicaca, but on the Bolivian side. The island was similar to the others but with more Inca ruins, i.e., more stone walls. To get to the Isla de Sol you have to take a boat from the Bolivian town of Copacabana. Copa is a tiny, tranquil town that gets tons of Peruvian and Bolivian pilgrams who these days come for to see a sacred cross in the local cathedral rather than the Inca´s sacred island.

Aymari women on the Isla del Sol Sunset on Amantani
One of the Uros floating islands An Uros girl on a reed boat

Serafina, my host mom on Amantani

Musical Chairs in the Jungle

I lost.

La Vida en la Selva

Bay and I did another four-day trek...this time with monkeys! Our trip was to Manu National Park, a large Park East of Cuzco full of birds, monkeys, jaguars and river otters. Our transportation included a bus, river boat, traditional wooden boat, mountain bikes, river rafting, zip-lining and rapelling. We saw an incredible array of birds, including the funky looking hoatzin, the flamboyant Cock-of-the-Rock and the crazy nest-making Putzi. We also spotted a family of woolly monkeys and a group of smaller monkeys (maybe cappuchins?)

During our mountain bike ride, we stopped at a small coca plantation and had a chance to see how the coca leaves were cultivated. We spent our nights at comfy lodges in the jungle, one of which was right on the edge of the beautiful Madre de los Dios River.

Disneyworld of the Andes

The infamous Machu Picchu. It does live up to the superlatives; it is stunning, beautiful and amazing, but man is it crowded with tourists. Bay and I were able to escape the throngs of khaki-clad Germans by hiking up Waynupichu, the mountain behind Machu Picchu. It was a steep hike but we had great views looking down on Machu Picchu. It really is amazing to think about how the Incas built these huge structures high up in the mountains without the help of modern technology.

Stalking Llamas at Machu Picchu

Most people come to Machu Picchu to witness the majestic ruins of a by-gone culture. I came for the llamas.

Ayacucho

We stumbled into the vibrant Andean mountain town of Ayacucho after a painful 24 hour bus ride. While we were there we caught a parade/festival and a protest for women´s rights. It was a beautiful town with cobblestone streets, a very active market and yummy hand-spun ice cream.

A Bit Twisted

Tomorrow´s dinner eating today´s lunch

(Cuy vs. Yucca)

Trekking around Chachapoyas

Bay and I just finished an amazing four day trek in the mountains near Chachapoyas. It was wet and muddy and I can barely feel my legs, but it was a great experience.

Day one: We left Chachapoyas at 5 AM and headed to the Valle de los Muertos, one of many Chachapoyas ruins in the area. The Chachapoyas lived in the Andes for about a 1,000 years before the Incas conquered them, and they had a pretty developed culture. We saw some sarcophaguses that were just discovered a year ago and actually ran into the archeologist who is currently working on excavating the area. If you look closely in the pic you can see the clay sarcophoguses on the steep mountain wall. We had lunch in a small village, stopped at the local market for dinner goods and then headed out to the mountains. After driving on a very sketchy, muddy mountain road (amazingly, we only got stuck once), our driver dropped us off and bid us farewell. Bay, myself and our guide, Jose, headed off for the Valle Bejen. We stayed the night in a small cabin in the valley, sorrounded by beautiful mountains and wild horses. There were six local workers staying in the cabin with us and before dinner we had a three on three soccer match. We didn´t last too long though, since playing soccer at 10,000 feet really knocks the wind out of you. After dinner, we spent the evening chewing cocoa with the guys and trying to converse with broken english and spanish.

Day two: We hiked out of the valley and headed to another set of Chachapoyas ruins, about three hours away. We ate lunch surounded by 1,000 year old stone circular houses that were enveloped in plants and vines. After another four hour hike, we made it to the small village of Colgon where we had a room and a great cold shower. The house we stayed in had an amazing balcony where we could see the coffee trees that supplied the coffee we drank. We could hear the cuys (guinea pigs) squealing in the kitchen; fortunately for them, our dinner consisted of pasta and yucca. As it got dark, we watched the chickens climb up a skinny branch to roost in the avocado trees.

Day three: Day three killed me. It started off good though with fresh coffee, fried plaintains and yucca. It was raining off and on all day and we had a pretty vertical ascent for most of the day. We checked out some more Chachapoyas ruins (they were everywhere) and then had lunch at the top of the mountain in the house of a very friendly older couple. They are pretty isolated up on the mountain but seemed to enjoy it. After a hearty meal of egg soup, rice, beans and avocado and mint tea, we set back out into the rain. We finally made it to the top of the mountain at about 4 PM. We were wet and exhaused but very happy. Our trusty driver, Manuel Rubio, was waiting for us and took us down to the local village for a quasi-hot shower and a tasty meal of lomo saltado (beef, potatoes and rice). We were warned not to use the bathroom by the river (check out the pic).

Day Four: Day four was pretty relaxed as it consisted of hiking around the ruins of Kuelap, the Chachapoyan fortress high up on a cloudy mountaintop. Archeologists are still excavating the site and it was cool to watch them in action. After Kuelap, we headed back to Chachapoyas and had a tasty lunch with Jose and his family and then watched Ecuador destroy Peru 5-1.

Huanchacho

The local fishermen use these reef boats to fish out in the Pacific Ocean. They last about two months before they start to rot.

Etch-a-Sketch in the Desert

The Nazca Lines--The only reason anyone would stop in the hot, dusty town of Nazca. The only way to see the mysterious images in the desert is to fly over them, so after arriving by overnight bus at 5:so AM, I took a 7:30 AM plane ride over the desert. I was very, very thankful that I didn´t have a chance to eat breakfast before going because the pilot seemed to be doing evasive maneauvors the whole time we were in the air. The images were pretty impressive, with some stretching over 300 meters across.

Theories abound as to way the ancient Nazca culture drew the images in the dessert: UFO runways, map of underground aqueducts, celestial maps, cult worship, etc. I just think they were bored; there is nothing to do in Nazca.

The images are hard to make out, but if you squint you should be able to see an anastronaut, big hands and a hummingbird, oh and a plane.

Ciao Arequipa

I have a great stay in Arequipa but it´s time to head on. After dinner with Martha and the gang, I am taking an overnight bus to Nazca to possibly see the Nazca Lines and-or sandboard.

My Classroom at La Casa de Avila

My early morning yoga group

My tour group at the Canyon del Colca

Lo Siento, Bodhi

My new favorite perro.

I pass by Palcho every day on my morning jog. He´s 10 months old and is supposed to be a guard dog but I think he´s too sweet of a dog to actually hurt anyone.