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.