We are back in the states and have posted pictures from our trip.
Check them out at:
http://jennyjimmy.site.shutterfly.com/
6.05.2008
5.29.2008
Hooray for Montanas
Dia 38 until what I think is 41...
(Yes, I have lost track of how long we have been gone).
We took the overnight Cruz del Sur bus from Lima to Huaraz. We ended paying an extra 20 soles a piece (about 8 dollars) to ride business class in hopes that the comfier chairs would allow us some sleep. Sleep evaded Jimmy but I managed to get a little. We arrived in Huaraz as the town was waking up or as the all-nighters were finally going to bed, which is maybe why we witnessed a couple of boys getting into a fight on the street corner. Although the fighting could also have been a sign that Huaraz is not as "safe" as the other towns we have been in. On our first day there, we met some Peace Corps volunteers (one who sported a Peace Coffee shirt - yeah Minnesota) who had been robbed by someone using a key on their throats the night before. After that story we definitely took our strolls around the city with more caution.
Let me say thank you to Erin for recommending Huaraz to us. It is phenomenally beautiful. The Cordella Blanca (white mountains) are breathtaking and it is sad to think that we would have missed out on it without her input. You can see the mountains from virtually everywhere in Huaraz, although my favorite spot was from Cafe Andino which also had the first great coffee that I have tasted on this trip. (It also had Scrabble, which Jimmy and I indulged on more than one occasion).
We spent our days doing day hikes, the biggest trip being to Laguna Churup at 4450 m - the highest I have ever hiked to. The trip was gorgeous, but I have to say that once again the Andes kicked my butt. Altitude and me don´t mix very well, but I did finish the trek to the lake and it was gorgeous. Imagine Rocky Mountain lakes, but with more impressive glacier clad mountain-tops. I dropped my fleece on our way down and Jimmy went running after it in a sleet storm, miraculously finding it along the trail. We also hiked to ruins of the Wari culture (pre-Inca). We met a kid along the way who decided to become our impromptu tour guide with his friend after dropping off his school bags. (He didn´t skip school - he was on his way home). On our last day in Huaraz we went rock climbing with a guide (as we didn´t bring any of our stuff and needed gear). It was fun, and we both realized how long it has been since we have been out climbing.
We are now back in Miraflores/Lima, doing the last minute shopping and trying to rest before our long trip home. We hope you have enjoyed reading about our journeys and we hope to be able to share stories and pictures in person soon.
(Yes, I have lost track of how long we have been gone).
We took the overnight Cruz del Sur bus from Lima to Huaraz. We ended paying an extra 20 soles a piece (about 8 dollars) to ride business class in hopes that the comfier chairs would allow us some sleep. Sleep evaded Jimmy but I managed to get a little. We arrived in Huaraz as the town was waking up or as the all-nighters were finally going to bed, which is maybe why we witnessed a couple of boys getting into a fight on the street corner. Although the fighting could also have been a sign that Huaraz is not as "safe" as the other towns we have been in. On our first day there, we met some Peace Corps volunteers (one who sported a Peace Coffee shirt - yeah Minnesota) who had been robbed by someone using a key on their throats the night before. After that story we definitely took our strolls around the city with more caution.
Let me say thank you to Erin for recommending Huaraz to us. It is phenomenally beautiful. The Cordella Blanca (white mountains) are breathtaking and it is sad to think that we would have missed out on it without her input. You can see the mountains from virtually everywhere in Huaraz, although my favorite spot was from Cafe Andino which also had the first great coffee that I have tasted on this trip. (It also had Scrabble, which Jimmy and I indulged on more than one occasion).
We spent our days doing day hikes, the biggest trip being to Laguna Churup at 4450 m - the highest I have ever hiked to. The trip was gorgeous, but I have to say that once again the Andes kicked my butt. Altitude and me don´t mix very well, but I did finish the trek to the lake and it was gorgeous. Imagine Rocky Mountain lakes, but with more impressive glacier clad mountain-tops. I dropped my fleece on our way down and Jimmy went running after it in a sleet storm, miraculously finding it along the trail. We also hiked to ruins of the Wari culture (pre-Inca). We met a kid along the way who decided to become our impromptu tour guide with his friend after dropping off his school bags. (He didn´t skip school - he was on his way home). On our last day in Huaraz we went rock climbing with a guide (as we didn´t bring any of our stuff and needed gear). It was fun, and we both realized how long it has been since we have been out climbing.
We are now back in Miraflores/Lima, doing the last minute shopping and trying to rest before our long trip home. We hope you have enjoyed reading about our journeys and we hope to be able to share stories and pictures in person soon.
5.24.2008
Back to Lima
Dia 34-37
After the rainforest, we flew back to Lima/Miraflores. We hadn´t planned what to do with our next week, so that´s basically what we have been doing for the past few days. We leave for Huaraz tonight by bus, and hope to do some hiking in the mountains and perhaps a little rock clmibing before coming home. Nothing more exciting than that. Although, it is nice to be in a city that doesn´t care that you are a tourist and allows you to blend into the crowd for awhile. We update you about our time Huaraz when we get the chance.
After the rainforest, we flew back to Lima/Miraflores. We hadn´t planned what to do with our next week, so that´s basically what we have been doing for the past few days. We leave for Huaraz tonight by bus, and hope to do some hiking in the mountains and perhaps a little rock clmibing before coming home. Nothing more exciting than that. Although, it is nice to be in a city that doesn´t care that you are a tourist and allows you to blend into the crowd for awhile. We update you about our time Huaraz when we get the chance.
Monkeys, frogs, anacondas... oh my!
Dia 28-34
After survival camping we returned to the lodge for wildlife watching and some spearfishing and blow gun making thrown in for fun. The big things on our agenda to see were frogs (because I am a tad bit obsessed with them), more monkeys, an anaconda or two, and pink dolphins. We accomplished all of this and managed to stay away from the other tourist for quite awhile by going to stay at the research center deeper in the rainforest and by going camping (but not survival) again.
Highlights:
1. Canoeing at night through one of the lakes engulfed by the sounds of at least 6 distinct frog species calling. It was a constant chorus. And we caught a few little guys.
2. Dropping a 3 ft long caimen in our little canoe, which promptly crawled its way back to Jimmy, who´s first reaction was to jump off putting us in a rather precarciius position.
3. Finding a pygmy marmoset family who after deciding that we were not a threat, let us sit in our canoe a few feet away and watch them suck sap from their tree. (Marmosets farm saps from tree, killing them in the process make them the cutest parasite I have ever seen).
4.Chasing monkeys through the maze of trees on canoe. Spider monkeys are awesome to watch swing and jump from tree to tree.
5. Finding a 9-10 foot anaconda on the trail, which our guide spotted and promptly backed into us. The snakes like the shallow water, making it absolutely necessary to always watch your feet. Christian quickly decided that we must pick the snake up, fashioned 2 sticks to hold the snake in place, told Jimmy to grab the tail, had me hold the head in place and then went for the head. At this point, I thought he had told me to move the stick, when he was really telling me to move but keep the stick still. Well, that ended not so well with the anaconda breaking its head free and all of us running away. We told Christian that we could leave the snake alone, but he wanted to get it now more than ever, so he harassed for at least another half hour before finally giving up.
6. Searching for posion dart frogs and being very sucessful at finding them. They were so bright and beautiful and I think the coolest part was seeing them hanging out in their bromeliad homes in the trees, calling out to the world. Yes, this was probably my favorite day.
7. Watching Jimmy trying to spearfish, nic a fish´s head and then find the fish floating a few feet away, dead. We collected it and then brought it back to Pablo the lodge´s cat, who promptly rejected it. Maybe it wasn´t quite big enough for him.
8. Watching the Amazon change. It was so neat to see the seasons change around us. When we arrived at the lodge, it was engulfed by water, when we left we were able to walk around its perimeter on dry land. Each day you could see the water line drop on the trees (as the brown line of where the water had been grew larger and shrubs appeared underneath. It was simply amazing at how fast the water left.
We definitely have more stories, but we have probably overwhelmed you with information over the past few days so they shall have to wait until you see us again.
After survival camping we returned to the lodge for wildlife watching and some spearfishing and blow gun making thrown in for fun. The big things on our agenda to see were frogs (because I am a tad bit obsessed with them), more monkeys, an anaconda or two, and pink dolphins. We accomplished all of this and managed to stay away from the other tourist for quite awhile by going to stay at the research center deeper in the rainforest and by going camping (but not survival) again.
Highlights:
1. Canoeing at night through one of the lakes engulfed by the sounds of at least 6 distinct frog species calling. It was a constant chorus. And we caught a few little guys.
2. Dropping a 3 ft long caimen in our little canoe, which promptly crawled its way back to Jimmy, who´s first reaction was to jump off putting us in a rather precarciius position.
3. Finding a pygmy marmoset family who after deciding that we were not a threat, let us sit in our canoe a few feet away and watch them suck sap from their tree. (Marmosets farm saps from tree, killing them in the process make them the cutest parasite I have ever seen).
4.Chasing monkeys through the maze of trees on canoe. Spider monkeys are awesome to watch swing and jump from tree to tree.
5. Finding a 9-10 foot anaconda on the trail, which our guide spotted and promptly backed into us. The snakes like the shallow water, making it absolutely necessary to always watch your feet. Christian quickly decided that we must pick the snake up, fashioned 2 sticks to hold the snake in place, told Jimmy to grab the tail, had me hold the head in place and then went for the head. At this point, I thought he had told me to move the stick, when he was really telling me to move but keep the stick still. Well, that ended not so well with the anaconda breaking its head free and all of us running away. We told Christian that we could leave the snake alone, but he wanted to get it now more than ever, so he harassed for at least another half hour before finally giving up.
6. Searching for posion dart frogs and being very sucessful at finding them. They were so bright and beautiful and I think the coolest part was seeing them hanging out in their bromeliad homes in the trees, calling out to the world. Yes, this was probably my favorite day.
7. Watching Jimmy trying to spearfish, nic a fish´s head and then find the fish floating a few feet away, dead. We collected it and then brought it back to Pablo the lodge´s cat, who promptly rejected it. Maybe it wasn´t quite big enough for him.
8. Watching the Amazon change. It was so neat to see the seasons change around us. When we arrived at the lodge, it was engulfed by water, when we left we were able to walk around its perimeter on dry land. Each day you could see the water line drop on the trees (as the brown line of where the water had been grew larger and shrubs appeared underneath. It was simply amazing at how fast the water left.
We definitely have more stories, but we have probably overwhelmed you with information over the past few days so they shall have to wait until you see us again.
5.23.2008
Pursuit of Rat Soup
Dia 24-27
jimmy writing this blog
So one of the main reasons why we choose to stay at this lodge was because of their well known survival class. Now we didn't know exactly what was involved with this course or who did it but it sounded like a good idea for us. Christian was very excited about taking us camping and even more excited when we said we wanted to learn survival stuff. He recommended 10 days or maybe a week. I said 3 days sounds good. In the end we went with 4 days and 3 nights.
We were told to bring some clothes, water, bug spray, rubber boots, and no extra food. They would supply a bug net and sheets. Christian was quick to comment about wanting to see what extra food we brought. Apparently most people ignore the no food rule (including a guy who we saw leave a week later with 2 oranges). Jenny and I are good little kids who always do as we are told never thought to bring food. We also didn´t have any food to bring if we wanted to.
The first day was spent taking a small boat with an outboard motor up the Rio Blanco to our campsite. This was a very narrow river and had numerous tress blocking the way. We quickly learned that a machete can cut throw anything if you just keep going at it. Christian and our boat driver/assistant Betner were experts at this skill. After many hours of chopping and lifting and pushing the boat we found a campsite.
The campsite was at the location of an old run down set of huts. There was a nice sized snake waiting to great us at our hut. By hut a mean floor with a thatched roof that might stop some rain. We said hello to our reptilian neighbor and went about catching some fish for dinner. I hate fish! No really, the thought of eating a fish makes me a little ill. Apparently survival camping is mostly about going "normal" camping without food and this means fish is going to be served. I successfully did not catch a single fish. Jenny caught an adorable catfish that was good for bait. Our guides caught a series of impressive sized piranha. We ate dinner and settled down for the sun to set. Apparently dusk is when snakes attack. Once it was pitch black we took out the flashlights and started wandering around the amazon rainforest looking for things that might try and kill us. We found a small snake and some bats. Then headed off to sleep.
The next day we woke up bright and early. Christian told us we were going to move up river some to a better campsite but first we were going on a hike. Jenny and I assumed this would be a 2 or 3 hour hike and didnt take anything with us. After 3 hours of walking directly away from our campsite we started regretting not having taken our water bottle. We were shown some edible things along the way. We were unsuccessful with trying to knock some nuts out of a palm tree with a stick tied to another stick. We found some vines that had potable water inside. I was given a machete and told to chop down a palm tree. I didn´t really know why, but it seemed like fun. This quickly tore some skin off my hand and felled the innocent tree. The top 3 feet of the trunk was cut off and then the outer layer were removed to reveal a 2 inch diameter substance in the center of the trunk that was edible. This was kind of like bland string cheese, but it was food. We were told that this was the heart of the palm. Christian finally realized we were getting thirsty and told us we were hiking 3 more hours to a shamans house to see if there was food there. Apparently this was a joke and we headed home.
We then went up river to the new campsite which had some thatched roof shelters for us and set-up a new camp. At this point our guides started lumberjacking and took down a few more innocent palm trees for some food. Betner found some nuts for us to suck on for a while. We made a dinner out of the heart of the palms and some plantains that Christian got during the boat ride up. After dinner we were handed some plastic cups with brown water and told to drink it. We assumed that this was just boiled river water and it tasted really weird, but we begrudgingly drank it down. We were also supplies some farungua (dried starchy stuff) as an emergency source of food, which we ate a bunch of. During the day we may have met some of the amazons most populace residents (Miss and Mrs. Mosquito). Now it was off to bed. I quite enjoyed lying in the hot mosquito net on hard uneven ground with sticks in my back while scratching every inch of my body. I enjoyed it so much I did it all night and almost had a mental breakdown before dawn.
Now that the night was over it was time for things to start getting better. No sleep is no problem when there is fun to be had. We got up and got ready for adventure and Christian told us Betner was fishing for breakfast and after a while asked Jenny for her leatherman. He walked away letting us know he was "going to clean some fish". This was about 8:30 in the morning and breakfast was going to be any minute.
Now imagine your us: You´re two Americans in the Amazon miles away from any civilization and even those are just a couple huts. You arrived here on a motor boat that is no longer in sight. Even the two machetes are gone. Oh and the two local guides are not there. At what point does it become a problem that you are in this situation? 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, ....?
So we sat there for 2 hours with no sign of our guide, boat, or food. I gave in and did what seemed most reasonable. I yelled "CHRISTIAN" as loud as I can a couple of times. A little bit later we heard some human made animal calls coming down the river. Apparently nothing had gone wrong, this was just how survival camping goes and this was normal. Christian told us that when he left, Betner had not caught any fish, so he went to catch some fish for a couple hours. We were not pleased with this part of survival camping. After our fishy breakfast at 11:00, we headed out on an other day hike.
During this trip we went in search of palm tree nuts that the locals love. Instead of using the old fashion stick-tied-to-stick method of the past, which failed miserably on our previous attempt, we switched to the old fashion machete through everything approach. Apparently a single palm tree can hold about 60-70 pounds of nuts. Most of this is not edible and is just heavy. Since I was the only one to bring a bag on this journey, our guides decided to make some baskets out of palm fronds.
At this point I would like to explain what survival camping is and is not. Survival camping is going into the wild living off the land through the skills of experienced guides. At no point do you become capable of taking care of anything yourself. You do not learn how to make lean-tos, thatched roofs, palm baskets, fire, differentiate between edible and poisonous anything. You just follow along as your guides do everything. Although we would have loved to learn new skills during our survival camping experience, we were glad to have guides there to do these things for us in a very short period of time so that we could get food in our bellies sooner. I think the skills for survival could be best taught when survival is not in immediate danger.
So they made some impressive baskets and we carried the nuts back to camp. We now learned one skill. How to make a juice from a palm nut. The funny thing about this juice is that it looks exactly like boiled river water. We now realized that at the end of the other day we had been offered palm nut juice and not dirty water, which made a lot more sense. After making this juice was still had many pounds of nuts left over. We were told that it is customary for guides to bring food back to the lodge after going out camping.
We attempted another night hike with no important results and once again it was time for bed, but this time I had a goal. Yes, I was going to try and go to sleep. I started off by sneaking down to the boat and stealing one of the cushions. Then I went to our guide and asked for some unknown medication for itchiness. When I asked for two he said that would make me really dizzy, so I went with one. Ahh, sweet slumber.
Yeah, we survived it. Now all we need to do is take the boat back down river. Since Christian had already chopped wholes through all the trees along the way this should be a quick journey. Also I think Betner was tired of finessing the boat through holes and took on a new strategy. This strategy involved lining the boat up with some sort of opening and hitting the gas. Then pulling the propeller up as the boat skidded bounced off trees and mud. Dukes of Hazard with a boat. Things were looking good for getting back by lunch time.
After some time Christian said we should stop and make some more palm nut juice, so Jenny and I got to work crushing nuts. About half way through this somewhat tedious process Betner starts talking loud and fast (he doesn´t speak English). Then Christian starts moving. We look over and see a giant rat swimming to the shore. Christian untied the boat, while Betner started the engine. They hit the gas and rammed toward the rat. Before the boat reach dry land Christian jumped out and fell on his face in the mud. This gave the rat some time to run for cover behind a tree. With spear in hand Christian circled the tree and Betner got his spear. As Christian went for the kill, Betner got out of the boat and started running. Christian missed and the rat ran for a little stream. Betner took his chance to dive after it and threw his spear. All we heard from then on was a splash and a lot of squealing. Then some pounding as the animal was beat to death. Our guides were wet, muddy, and proud. We had LUNCH!
We took the boat for a couple more hours to Betner´s grandmothers house where they made some Acouchy (Giant Rat) soup. Jenny ate a bit and gave up, because it was chewy. I swallowed each bit without chewing and finished all my rat soup.
That is how this story ends.
jimmy writing this blog
So one of the main reasons why we choose to stay at this lodge was because of their well known survival class. Now we didn't know exactly what was involved with this course or who did it but it sounded like a good idea for us. Christian was very excited about taking us camping and even more excited when we said we wanted to learn survival stuff. He recommended 10 days or maybe a week. I said 3 days sounds good. In the end we went with 4 days and 3 nights.
We were told to bring some clothes, water, bug spray, rubber boots, and no extra food. They would supply a bug net and sheets. Christian was quick to comment about wanting to see what extra food we brought. Apparently most people ignore the no food rule (including a guy who we saw leave a week later with 2 oranges). Jenny and I are good little kids who always do as we are told never thought to bring food. We also didn´t have any food to bring if we wanted to.
The first day was spent taking a small boat with an outboard motor up the Rio Blanco to our campsite. This was a very narrow river and had numerous tress blocking the way. We quickly learned that a machete can cut throw anything if you just keep going at it. Christian and our boat driver/assistant Betner were experts at this skill. After many hours of chopping and lifting and pushing the boat we found a campsite.
The campsite was at the location of an old run down set of huts. There was a nice sized snake waiting to great us at our hut. By hut a mean floor with a thatched roof that might stop some rain. We said hello to our reptilian neighbor and went about catching some fish for dinner. I hate fish! No really, the thought of eating a fish makes me a little ill. Apparently survival camping is mostly about going "normal" camping without food and this means fish is going to be served. I successfully did not catch a single fish. Jenny caught an adorable catfish that was good for bait. Our guides caught a series of impressive sized piranha. We ate dinner and settled down for the sun to set. Apparently dusk is when snakes attack. Once it was pitch black we took out the flashlights and started wandering around the amazon rainforest looking for things that might try and kill us. We found a small snake and some bats. Then headed off to sleep.
The next day we woke up bright and early. Christian told us we were going to move up river some to a better campsite but first we were going on a hike. Jenny and I assumed this would be a 2 or 3 hour hike and didnt take anything with us. After 3 hours of walking directly away from our campsite we started regretting not having taken our water bottle. We were shown some edible things along the way. We were unsuccessful with trying to knock some nuts out of a palm tree with a stick tied to another stick. We found some vines that had potable water inside. I was given a machete and told to chop down a palm tree. I didn´t really know why, but it seemed like fun. This quickly tore some skin off my hand and felled the innocent tree. The top 3 feet of the trunk was cut off and then the outer layer were removed to reveal a 2 inch diameter substance in the center of the trunk that was edible. This was kind of like bland string cheese, but it was food. We were told that this was the heart of the palm. Christian finally realized we were getting thirsty and told us we were hiking 3 more hours to a shamans house to see if there was food there. Apparently this was a joke and we headed home.
We then went up river to the new campsite which had some thatched roof shelters for us and set-up a new camp. At this point our guides started lumberjacking and took down a few more innocent palm trees for some food. Betner found some nuts for us to suck on for a while. We made a dinner out of the heart of the palms and some plantains that Christian got during the boat ride up. After dinner we were handed some plastic cups with brown water and told to drink it. We assumed that this was just boiled river water and it tasted really weird, but we begrudgingly drank it down. We were also supplies some farungua (dried starchy stuff) as an emergency source of food, which we ate a bunch of. During the day we may have met some of the amazons most populace residents (Miss and Mrs. Mosquito). Now it was off to bed. I quite enjoyed lying in the hot mosquito net on hard uneven ground with sticks in my back while scratching every inch of my body. I enjoyed it so much I did it all night and almost had a mental breakdown before dawn.
Now that the night was over it was time for things to start getting better. No sleep is no problem when there is fun to be had. We got up and got ready for adventure and Christian told us Betner was fishing for breakfast and after a while asked Jenny for her leatherman. He walked away letting us know he was "going to clean some fish". This was about 8:30 in the morning and breakfast was going to be any minute.
Now imagine your us: You´re two Americans in the Amazon miles away from any civilization and even those are just a couple huts. You arrived here on a motor boat that is no longer in sight. Even the two machetes are gone. Oh and the two local guides are not there. At what point does it become a problem that you are in this situation? 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, ....?
So we sat there for 2 hours with no sign of our guide, boat, or food. I gave in and did what seemed most reasonable. I yelled "CHRISTIAN" as loud as I can a couple of times. A little bit later we heard some human made animal calls coming down the river. Apparently nothing had gone wrong, this was just how survival camping goes and this was normal. Christian told us that when he left, Betner had not caught any fish, so he went to catch some fish for a couple hours. We were not pleased with this part of survival camping. After our fishy breakfast at 11:00, we headed out on an other day hike.
During this trip we went in search of palm tree nuts that the locals love. Instead of using the old fashion stick-tied-to-stick method of the past, which failed miserably on our previous attempt, we switched to the old fashion machete through everything approach. Apparently a single palm tree can hold about 60-70 pounds of nuts. Most of this is not edible and is just heavy. Since I was the only one to bring a bag on this journey, our guides decided to make some baskets out of palm fronds.
At this point I would like to explain what survival camping is and is not. Survival camping is going into the wild living off the land through the skills of experienced guides. At no point do you become capable of taking care of anything yourself. You do not learn how to make lean-tos, thatched roofs, palm baskets, fire, differentiate between edible and poisonous anything. You just follow along as your guides do everything. Although we would have loved to learn new skills during our survival camping experience, we were glad to have guides there to do these things for us in a very short period of time so that we could get food in our bellies sooner. I think the skills for survival could be best taught when survival is not in immediate danger.
So they made some impressive baskets and we carried the nuts back to camp. We now learned one skill. How to make a juice from a palm nut. The funny thing about this juice is that it looks exactly like boiled river water. We now realized that at the end of the other day we had been offered palm nut juice and not dirty water, which made a lot more sense. After making this juice was still had many pounds of nuts left over. We were told that it is customary for guides to bring food back to the lodge after going out camping.
We attempted another night hike with no important results and once again it was time for bed, but this time I had a goal. Yes, I was going to try and go to sleep. I started off by sneaking down to the boat and stealing one of the cushions. Then I went to our guide and asked for some unknown medication for itchiness. When I asked for two he said that would make me really dizzy, so I went with one. Ahh, sweet slumber.
Yeah, we survived it. Now all we need to do is take the boat back down river. Since Christian had already chopped wholes through all the trees along the way this should be a quick journey. Also I think Betner was tired of finessing the boat through holes and took on a new strategy. This strategy involved lining the boat up with some sort of opening and hitting the gas. Then pulling the propeller up as the boat skidded bounced off trees and mud. Dukes of Hazard with a boat. Things were looking good for getting back by lunch time.
After some time Christian said we should stop and make some more palm nut juice, so Jenny and I got to work crushing nuts. About half way through this somewhat tedious process Betner starts talking loud and fast (he doesn´t speak English). Then Christian starts moving. We look over and see a giant rat swimming to the shore. Christian untied the boat, while Betner started the engine. They hit the gas and rammed toward the rat. Before the boat reach dry land Christian jumped out and fell on his face in the mud. This gave the rat some time to run for cover behind a tree. With spear in hand Christian circled the tree and Betner got his spear. As Christian went for the kill, Betner got out of the boat and started running. Christian missed and the rat ran for a little stream. Betner took his chance to dive after it and threw his spear. All we heard from then on was a splash and a lot of squealing. Then some pounding as the animal was beat to death. Our guides were wet, muddy, and proud. We had LUNCH!
We took the boat for a couple more hours to Betner´s grandmothers house where they made some Acouchy (Giant Rat) soup. Jenny ate a bit and gave up, because it was chewy. I swallowed each bit without chewing and finished all my rat soup.
That is how this story ends.
5.22.2008
Amazon Expedition
Dia 21 to 23
We know it has been a LONG time since you have heard from us, but we just got back from the Amazon where we without electricity for the past 2 weeks (day 21-34). It was an amazing adventure and we will try to do it justice now by retelling some of our favorite stories from these last two weeks. We will break it up into several blogs, so be patient. :)
First, upon arriving in Iquitos, we met our guide, Christian, who would be our constant companion as we slushed through the rainforest. He immediately wanted to sit down and discuss itinerary which was a little much for our sleep-deprived minds (and how I am going to survive call, I wonder?) He suggested a 10 day camping trip, which was a little more than we wanted, but showed us this was not going to be a cushy resort experience. We eventually got it down to wanting to see frogs, monkeys, maybe a few birds, survival camping, rainforest remedies (I am a newly graduated doctor after all), canoeing, jaguars, pink dolphins, and giant snakes. We were informed that the jaguar was unlikely but the rest was possible.
We took a 3 hour boat ride down the Amazon river and onto the Tahuayo River to our lodge. The Amazon is impressive. You can tell where it meets other rivers by the deep brown color of its water. It also moves impressively fast, at least at this time of year which is the tail end of the wet season. Scattered along its banks are houses on silts, plantations of bananas and other tropical fruits, and of course the rainforest. When we arrived our lodge, the flood waters had completely covered all land around it. This changed as our time progressed and it was neat to see the change in the ecosystem. You can check out the lodge at www.perujungle.com .
Over the first couple of days, we traveled by boat and canoe to explore the flooded rainforest. We saw so many birds... including 4 species of kingfishers, countless species of green parakeets and parrots, several species of hawks. Christian seemed to be able to name them as soon as he saw specks of them on the horizon. I think he quickly realized that we were not big birders and he didn´t point them all out... either that or he thought we knew each species after seeing them once.
I was a little sick the first couple of days, and was coughing quite a bit. Christian remarked that my cough was scaring all the monkeys so one of our first trips was to see the herbalist to have me treated. She made a salty grapefruit concoction and also showed us her immense garden full of medicinal plants. I am not sure if the medicine helped but my cough did diminish after that treatment.
We also went to see the hoatzin birds, which are these strange creatures that don´t fly all that well. I was more interested in all of the frogs that we heard along the way and Jimmy was more impressed by the pygmy marmoset who came crawling down the tree to see us when Christian called it.
We also got to use the lodges zip-line, which Jimmy tried to use ascenders for the first time... much harder than he thought it should be, especially after years of rock climbing.
After a few days of life at the lodge, we geared up for survival camping but that is a topic for the next blog.
We know it has been a LONG time since you have heard from us, but we just got back from the Amazon where we without electricity for the past 2 weeks (day 21-34). It was an amazing adventure and we will try to do it justice now by retelling some of our favorite stories from these last two weeks. We will break it up into several blogs, so be patient. :)
First, upon arriving in Iquitos, we met our guide, Christian, who would be our constant companion as we slushed through the rainforest. He immediately wanted to sit down and discuss itinerary which was a little much for our sleep-deprived minds (and how I am going to survive call, I wonder?) He suggested a 10 day camping trip, which was a little more than we wanted, but showed us this was not going to be a cushy resort experience. We eventually got it down to wanting to see frogs, monkeys, maybe a few birds, survival camping, rainforest remedies (I am a newly graduated doctor after all), canoeing, jaguars, pink dolphins, and giant snakes. We were informed that the jaguar was unlikely but the rest was possible.
We took a 3 hour boat ride down the Amazon river and onto the Tahuayo River to our lodge. The Amazon is impressive. You can tell where it meets other rivers by the deep brown color of its water. It also moves impressively fast, at least at this time of year which is the tail end of the wet season. Scattered along its banks are houses on silts, plantations of bananas and other tropical fruits, and of course the rainforest. When we arrived our lodge, the flood waters had completely covered all land around it. This changed as our time progressed and it was neat to see the change in the ecosystem. You can check out the lodge at www.perujungle.com .
Over the first couple of days, we traveled by boat and canoe to explore the flooded rainforest. We saw so many birds... including 4 species of kingfishers, countless species of green parakeets and parrots, several species of hawks. Christian seemed to be able to name them as soon as he saw specks of them on the horizon. I think he quickly realized that we were not big birders and he didn´t point them all out... either that or he thought we knew each species after seeing them once.
I was a little sick the first couple of days, and was coughing quite a bit. Christian remarked that my cough was scaring all the monkeys so one of our first trips was to see the herbalist to have me treated. She made a salty grapefruit concoction and also showed us her immense garden full of medicinal plants. I am not sure if the medicine helped but my cough did diminish after that treatment.
We also went to see the hoatzin birds, which are these strange creatures that don´t fly all that well. I was more interested in all of the frogs that we heard along the way and Jimmy was more impressed by the pygmy marmoset who came crawling down the tree to see us when Christian called it.
We also got to use the lodges zip-line, which Jimmy tried to use ascenders for the first time... much harder than he thought it should be, especially after years of rock climbing.
After a few days of life at the lodge, we geared up for survival camping but that is a topic for the next blog.
5.08.2008
MundoNaturelle
Dia fifteen through twenty
After Puno, we boarded a bus to Arequipa. The bus broke down within minutes of leaving the city. The driver and his helper ran all around inside and outside of the bus, opening and closing compartments, never saying a word to the passengers. Eventually a fellow tourist got off the bus and asked, turns out we had a flat tire but no spare, but the company was bringing another bus from Puno. And that´s what happened. The strangest part of the ride were the traveling salesmen who got on at one stop, stood in the center of the aisle pitching herbal remedies (one even using a microphone) for about an hour or so and then getting off the bus after their pitch. It was strange.
Once in Arequipa, we promptly made plans to head out to Colca Canyon to frolic with vicunas, llamas, alpacas, condors, and other creatures. Colca Canyon was thought to be the deepest canyon in the world, until a neighboring canyon took over the honors. It is also a fabulous spot to find condors. The area looks a lot like the desert SW of the USA only the mountains are higher and their are llamas and alpacas everywhere. A big highlight for me. We also got to see vicunas driving out to the canyon which are an endangered relative of the llama and also quite cute.
Jimmy and I were very confused on this tour of Colca, as we seemed to get the best of everything out of the group. We ended up with the suite at the hotel we stayed at, especially cool as it has a gigantic boulder across as one of its walls. A very Jimmy-like decoration. I think the others were most jealous of our air mattresses in the tent, when all they got was a little sleeping pad. We started wonder if we paid more than every one else or it was because we were married... who knows.
After returning from 3 days in the Colca Canyon, we went on a mission to eat at a typical Peruvian fast food joint in Arequipa. We noticed on our first day there, that there was a Peruvian fast food joint the specialized in a dish that consisted of "German" hot dogs on top of french fries. The locals also were drinking a local cola. We had to try it. We were successful and full after the endeavor. We also explored Arequipa and were struck by how modern it was. It is very dramatic when you move from the culture/history/touristy region to the metropolitan areas of Peru.
We also visited Mundo Alpaca were we got to feed alpacas and llamas and the caretaker even let me hold a baby alpaca. It was awesome and I definitely want to take an alpaca home with me... I wonder what Skidaway would think of that addition.
Before leaving Arequipa, we had one more adventure- whitewater rafting.(jimmy writing now) Our rafting trip was supposed to last 2 hours and with in the first 5 minutes we were stuck on a rock for over 5 minutes. This did not bode well for the excellence of our skipper and crew. It turned out the the rifer was about 10 ft below its highest point and there were 6 people weighing this raft down a bunch. In the end it was very fun and the one class 4 we did was awesome, even if it just involved us hiding in the raft as we dropped 9 feet.
Rafting built up a bit of a hunger and we headed over to a Turkish restaurant. Within minutes of arriving all the power went out. This set us up for a bit of a candle lit dinner. I ordered my 3rd hamburger of the trip here and have continued to be disappointed by every restaurants attempt to add crazy seasoning to their hamburgers. Eventually the lights came back on and I got some pop corn from a street vendor for about 20 cents.
We now sit in the Lima airport, awaiting our flight to Iquitos to the rain forest. We will be waiting for about 18 hrs and saving over $200 by not staying at the nearest hotel. A long day to night in the airport.
http://www.sleepinginairports.net/casa/lima.htm
After Puno, we boarded a bus to Arequipa. The bus broke down within minutes of leaving the city. The driver and his helper ran all around inside and outside of the bus, opening and closing compartments, never saying a word to the passengers. Eventually a fellow tourist got off the bus and asked, turns out we had a flat tire but no spare, but the company was bringing another bus from Puno. And that´s what happened. The strangest part of the ride were the traveling salesmen who got on at one stop, stood in the center of the aisle pitching herbal remedies (one even using a microphone) for about an hour or so and then getting off the bus after their pitch. It was strange.
Once in Arequipa, we promptly made plans to head out to Colca Canyon to frolic with vicunas, llamas, alpacas, condors, and other creatures. Colca Canyon was thought to be the deepest canyon in the world, until a neighboring canyon took over the honors. It is also a fabulous spot to find condors. The area looks a lot like the desert SW of the USA only the mountains are higher and their are llamas and alpacas everywhere. A big highlight for me. We also got to see vicunas driving out to the canyon which are an endangered relative of the llama and also quite cute.
Jimmy and I were very confused on this tour of Colca, as we seemed to get the best of everything out of the group. We ended up with the suite at the hotel we stayed at, especially cool as it has a gigantic boulder across as one of its walls. A very Jimmy-like decoration. I think the others were most jealous of our air mattresses in the tent, when all they got was a little sleeping pad. We started wonder if we paid more than every one else or it was because we were married... who knows.
After returning from 3 days in the Colca Canyon, we went on a mission to eat at a typical Peruvian fast food joint in Arequipa. We noticed on our first day there, that there was a Peruvian fast food joint the specialized in a dish that consisted of "German" hot dogs on top of french fries. The locals also were drinking a local cola. We had to try it. We were successful and full after the endeavor. We also explored Arequipa and were struck by how modern it was. It is very dramatic when you move from the culture/history/touristy region to the metropolitan areas of Peru.
We also visited Mundo Alpaca were we got to feed alpacas and llamas and the caretaker even let me hold a baby alpaca. It was awesome and I definitely want to take an alpaca home with me... I wonder what Skidaway would think of that addition.
Before leaving Arequipa, we had one more adventure- whitewater rafting.(jimmy writing now) Our rafting trip was supposed to last 2 hours and with in the first 5 minutes we were stuck on a rock for over 5 minutes. This did not bode well for the excellence of our skipper and crew. It turned out the the rifer was about 10 ft below its highest point and there were 6 people weighing this raft down a bunch. In the end it was very fun and the one class 4 we did was awesome, even if it just involved us hiding in the raft as we dropped 9 feet.
Rafting built up a bit of a hunger and we headed over to a Turkish restaurant. Within minutes of arriving all the power went out. This set us up for a bit of a candle lit dinner. I ordered my 3rd hamburger of the trip here and have continued to be disappointed by every restaurants attempt to add crazy seasoning to their hamburgers. Eventually the lights came back on and I got some pop corn from a street vendor for about 20 cents.
We now sit in the Lima airport, awaiting our flight to Iquitos to the rain forest. We will be waiting for about 18 hrs and saving over $200 by not staying at the nearest hotel. A long day to night in the airport.
http://www.sleepinginairports.net/casa/lima.htm
5.02.2008
Birthplace of the Inca
According to legend, the Incans believed that they emerged from Lake Titicaca and where told to go find the belly button of the world (Cusco). This is our journey to Puno and Lake Titicaca.
Dia twelve
jimmy starting this one...
We have essentially completed the first main adventure of our expedition and a brief coll down in Cusco. This brings us to our second main adventure. We decided to use the same tour company as the Inca Trail, since they did not let us down last time. We woke up early on the twelth day to catch a bus to Puno, the biggest city on the Peru banks of Lake Titicaca. It started looking like it was just me, Jenny and a guy from the UK going on this trip. Then the tour company dropped us off at the bus station and thus ended our continued experience with SAS Adventures. Now that we realized that this entire trip had been pawned off on other companies, the real adventure can begin.
We found ourselves on an all day bus trip from Cusco to Puno, which included three stops. The first stop was at a little church somewhere in the middle of nowhere. It was covered in beautiful paintings and a lot of 24 karat gold... Yes pure gold on everything. Now I see what the Spanish were after. Outside the church was an adorable little golden haired puppy, yes everything in Peru is made of gold. This was my favorite random street dog of Peru so far. There will be more about random Peru street dogs after we return. The next stop was pre-Incan ruin site that had some unbelieably high walls and some beautiful scenery. The final stop was a museum that I found less than spectacular, but the guide did manage to contradict some facts we learned during our Machu Pichu hike. In general the bus ride was well organized and went smoothly. We were met by a taxi driver at the bus station and then swept away to the El Buho hotel, which had a lobby fulln of motorcycles.
Just before Puno, we past through Julieca. This is the headquarters for the Peru-Bolivia black market. This was the typ of city that I was afraid all of Peru might look like. I was quite pleased to just pass on through. Puno was much better than there but was clearly not the tourist center that Miraflores and Cusco are.
Dia thirteen
So this is the heart of the matter and the reason why I am writing this portion. Hi, my name is Jimmy and I hate embarrassing awkward situation. Nice to meet you.
The next stage of our adventure is to go explore Lake Titicaca. We hopped on a boat early in the morning and went out to visit some people that live on floating read islands. It was a nice chance to explore a different culture and learn about them in a somewhat structured manner. We were not entirely delighted with our guide for this portion of the trip, but it was not horrible. At times the islands seemed like they should be in in some war movie or maybe Waterworld. This was a very touristy place to go. Most of the people do not even live on the islands anymore, they just go there to work during the day, but it was educational. After these islands we sailed off to a "land" island.
On this island we were paired up with a local mother/wife/person who was going to take car of us for the the next day. This means she is going to introduce us to her family, give us a room to sleep in, cook us food, and show us some of her culture. I get nervous staying over at a friends house, and they speak English. I quickly tried to convey to this person that I only speak a little spanish and Jenny does not speak any (I do not know how to type apostrophies on this keyboard). She seemed fine with this, and since she does this every day, I guess it will be ok.
We arrive at her house and are shown our room. It is small but very luxurious compared to the rest of the house. Let me interupt myself now to point out that this place is amazing. There are patchworked fields overlooking a giant lake with the snowcapped mountains of La Paz on the horizon. Tourist would die for a hotel on this island. After unpacking and having not eaten since morning (8 hours ago), we head to their littl courtyard and meet 3 kids (7, 3, and 1 years old). Jenny and I used them as a coping mechanism for an uncomfortable situation. At one point Jenny thought I should ask about food, but I don{t know how to do this politely in Spanish. So we ate some cliff bars. About a half hour later we were told it was lunch time (4:00 pm). I hate fish, I cannot eat fish, and the though of fish makes me a little sick. We are on an island! Out comes a bowl of potato soup and a plate full of potatoes. I love this place. We also had some Muña tea which helps with altitude sickness. This island is about 13000 feet above sea level. After lunch I somehow figure out that our host will show us to our group so we can go watch the sunset.
We arrive at the local meeting place. The groups decide to play some futball. Local kids vs tourists. A solid 4-0 victory for the adult tourist. Ok the other team had a couple adults. I did get one goal! Then we went to the top of the island and watched the sunset, which will be documented in beautiful Jenny-pictures later. After this we walk back to the meeting place and have no clue where we should go next. We wander around aimlessly until we find out guide who shows us a boy who can take us home. This is followed by another quite edible but large dinner and a lot of talking. I guess I will say that they were speaking Quechian and not Spanish. This made me nervous scared and awkward. I didn{t know what to do and everyone once and awhile they would look at us. Eventually our host said we could wait in our room, which was awesome. Now to make up for me being worried about not speaking spanish , everyone thought is would be fair to dress Jenny up like a local in three layers of skirts and other air restricting clothings and then to make her go dance. I like Peruvian dancing. It involves holding hands and shaking your arms a lot. After dining, dressing, and dancing we went o bed in the frigid frigid night.
Dia twelve
jimmy starting this one...
We have essentially completed the first main adventure of our expedition and a brief coll down in Cusco. This brings us to our second main adventure. We decided to use the same tour company as the Inca Trail, since they did not let us down last time. We woke up early on the twelth day to catch a bus to Puno, the biggest city on the Peru banks of Lake Titicaca. It started looking like it was just me, Jenny and a guy from the UK going on this trip. Then the tour company dropped us off at the bus station and thus ended our continued experience with SAS Adventures. Now that we realized that this entire trip had been pawned off on other companies, the real adventure can begin.
We found ourselves on an all day bus trip from Cusco to Puno, which included three stops. The first stop was at a little church somewhere in the middle of nowhere. It was covered in beautiful paintings and a lot of 24 karat gold... Yes pure gold on everything. Now I see what the Spanish were after. Outside the church was an adorable little golden haired puppy, yes everything in Peru is made of gold. This was my favorite random street dog of Peru so far. There will be more about random Peru street dogs after we return. The next stop was pre-Incan ruin site that had some unbelieably high walls and some beautiful scenery. The final stop was a museum that I found less than spectacular, but the guide did manage to contradict some facts we learned during our Machu Pichu hike. In general the bus ride was well organized and went smoothly. We were met by a taxi driver at the bus station and then swept away to the El Buho hotel, which had a lobby fulln of motorcycles.
Just before Puno, we past through Julieca. This is the headquarters for the Peru-Bolivia black market. This was the typ of city that I was afraid all of Peru might look like. I was quite pleased to just pass on through. Puno was much better than there but was clearly not the tourist center that Miraflores and Cusco are.
Dia thirteen
So this is the heart of the matter and the reason why I am writing this portion. Hi, my name is Jimmy and I hate embarrassing awkward situation. Nice to meet you.
The next stage of our adventure is to go explore Lake Titicaca. We hopped on a boat early in the morning and went out to visit some people that live on floating read islands. It was a nice chance to explore a different culture and learn about them in a somewhat structured manner. We were not entirely delighted with our guide for this portion of the trip, but it was not horrible. At times the islands seemed like they should be in in some war movie or maybe Waterworld. This was a very touristy place to go. Most of the people do not even live on the islands anymore, they just go there to work during the day, but it was educational. After these islands we sailed off to a "land" island.
On this island we were paired up with a local mother/wife/person who was going to take car of us for the the next day. This means she is going to introduce us to her family, give us a room to sleep in, cook us food, and show us some of her culture. I get nervous staying over at a friends house, and they speak English. I quickly tried to convey to this person that I only speak a little spanish and Jenny does not speak any (I do not know how to type apostrophies on this keyboard). She seemed fine with this, and since she does this every day, I guess it will be ok.
We arrive at her house and are shown our room. It is small but very luxurious compared to the rest of the house. Let me interupt myself now to point out that this place is amazing. There are patchworked fields overlooking a giant lake with the snowcapped mountains of La Paz on the horizon. Tourist would die for a hotel on this island. After unpacking and having not eaten since morning (8 hours ago), we head to their littl courtyard and meet 3 kids (7, 3, and 1 years old). Jenny and I used them as a coping mechanism for an uncomfortable situation. At one point Jenny thought I should ask about food, but I don{t know how to do this politely in Spanish. So we ate some cliff bars. About a half hour later we were told it was lunch time (4:00 pm). I hate fish, I cannot eat fish, and the though of fish makes me a little sick. We are on an island! Out comes a bowl of potato soup and a plate full of potatoes. I love this place. We also had some Muña tea which helps with altitude sickness. This island is about 13000 feet above sea level. After lunch I somehow figure out that our host will show us to our group so we can go watch the sunset.
We arrive at the local meeting place. The groups decide to play some futball. Local kids vs tourists. A solid 4-0 victory for the adult tourist. Ok the other team had a couple adults. I did get one goal! Then we went to the top of the island and watched the sunset, which will be documented in beautiful Jenny-pictures later. After this we walk back to the meeting place and have no clue where we should go next. We wander around aimlessly until we find out guide who shows us a boy who can take us home. This is followed by another quite edible but large dinner and a lot of talking. I guess I will say that they were speaking Quechian and not Spanish. This made me nervous scared and awkward. I didn{t know what to do and everyone once and awhile they would look at us. Eventually our host said we could wait in our room, which was awesome. Now to make up for me being worried about not speaking spanish , everyone thought is would be fair to dress Jenny up like a local in three layers of skirts and other air restricting clothings and then to make her go dance. I like Peruvian dancing. It involves holding hands and shaking your arms a lot. After dining, dressing, and dancing we went o bed in the frigid frigid night.
Dias 14
jenny now writing...
We awoke to a morning of pancakes and fear that we were going to be fed more food - our host mother liked to keep us well-fed. She then walked us down to the docks and we headed to another island in Lake Titicaca called Tequile. I honestly felt like we were walking along the mediterrean as the community was what I picures Greece and Italy to look like, except for the snow-capped mountains in the distance. We spent the day walking around the island and perusing the local woven goods. A relaxing day in all regards. We arrived back in Puno with time to walk around the city, which is definitely poorer than either Cusco or Miraflores, and book a bus to Arequipa with hopes of spotting condors and seeing the Colca Canyon. Today was my medical school^s graduation ceremony, so I can be counted as being an official doctor as of today, although I missed the pomp and circumstance. Signing off for now.
4.30.2008
the belly button of the world
Dia Nine through Eleven
Cusco, the belly button of the world according to the Incans, is where we spent our last few days. Both Jimmy and I were surprised by the city as it was not what we expected Peru to be like. It was a beautiful city with many plazas, shops, restaurants, and native Incan architecture. The Spanish used the Incan stonework that was left after their conquest as the base for their cathedrals, convents, and other important buildings. All which make Cusco a fascinating city to wander around. The inside of the cathedrals is another story. I have never seen so much gold in my life and according to tour groups it is all 18-22 karat gold leaf. Gold covered almost every object on every wall in the entire 2 main cathedrals.
My favorite part of Cusco was the hillside wandering that we did on our last day. We hiked up to Sacsayhuaman, site of one of the largest battles between the Incans and the Spanish, but did not feel like paying the enterance fee, so we looked at the outer walls and marveled at the tourists who snapped pictures at every native Peruvian that they could see. Not sure how I feel about this, although most of the subjects had dressed up for the occasions, llamas in tow in hopes of getting money from the tourists. We continued through the foothills to the giant Jesus statue that lights up the Cusco night sky and onto other less seen ruins, before heading back down to Cusco.
Jimmy in his attempts to try new foods, dined on an alpaca fillet one night and LOVED it.
We also took time to plan the next portion of our trip during these days in Cusco. We are going to Puno, Lake Titicaca, and Arequipa on our next leg and then onto the Amazon.
Cusco, the belly button of the world according to the Incans, is where we spent our last few days. Both Jimmy and I were surprised by the city as it was not what we expected Peru to be like. It was a beautiful city with many plazas, shops, restaurants, and native Incan architecture. The Spanish used the Incan stonework that was left after their conquest as the base for their cathedrals, convents, and other important buildings. All which make Cusco a fascinating city to wander around. The inside of the cathedrals is another story. I have never seen so much gold in my life and according to tour groups it is all 18-22 karat gold leaf. Gold covered almost every object on every wall in the entire 2 main cathedrals.
My favorite part of Cusco was the hillside wandering that we did on our last day. We hiked up to Sacsayhuaman, site of one of the largest battles between the Incans and the Spanish, but did not feel like paying the enterance fee, so we looked at the outer walls and marveled at the tourists who snapped pictures at every native Peruvian that they could see. Not sure how I feel about this, although most of the subjects had dressed up for the occasions, llamas in tow in hopes of getting money from the tourists. We continued through the foothills to the giant Jesus statue that lights up the Cusco night sky and onto other less seen ruins, before heading back down to Cusco.
Jimmy in his attempts to try new foods, dined on an alpaca fillet one night and LOVED it.
We also took time to plan the next portion of our trip during these days in Cusco. We are going to Puno, Lake Titicaca, and Arequipa on our next leg and then onto the Amazon.
4.29.2008
Superchachacos
(or superhikers for those of you who were wondering)
Dia Five
Early morning bus ride through gorgeous mountain scenery that we missed out on because of foggy windows and sleepy eyes. We stopped to have breakfast before heading on to Ollantaytambo to pick up the other group and then take the narrow, boulder ridden "road" to KM 82 and the start of the Inca Trail. The drive seemed to involve almost as much driving backwards as forwards as we met buses, trucks, etc. We were greeted at the drop off point by locals hawking hats, water bottle carriers, and of course walking sticks. After some organization our hike began under the leadership of our guides Reuben and Elvis and the help of 16 porters and 2 chefs. The first day was slow paced and we passed by many local huts where locals sold cool drinks and food to hikers. At lunch we became acquainted with our 3 course meals - you definitely don´t go hungry on the Inca Trail. We passed by ruins that were the supply center for Machu Pichu: The scenery was superb - steep Andean glacier covered peaks (the main peak being Veronica), rivers, and the occasional llama and donkey. We camped away from the masses as our tour hiked further up the mountain for our first night where the porters had everything set up for us and locals where present selling beer and coke.
Dia Six
Jimmy typing now...
Day 2 of the Inca Trek started at 6 am with hot tea delivered to out tent door, a daily occurrence.of course. This was followed by a multi course breakfast with some coca leaf tea. Let me clarify that although cocaine and coca do have some basic origins in common they are by no means the same thing. Now all hopped up on coca, we begin what many (just me) call the death march. This is also the day where the 9 hikers who have porters carrying all their stuff could go ahead and hire more porters to carry even their day hiking bag, but we figured it was more fun to carry stuff and keep our money. It begins with the basic concept of walking forward and going up and repeat. This went on for a couple hours and about 2,500 vertical feet. We stopped and had a nice little break to enjoy the view. This was followed by roughly the same actions as stated before. This went on for about another hour and a half and took us up an additional 1,000 feet. Much like the destructive capabilities of the lines at Disney World this portion of the Inca Trail has only one goal, basically to torture tourists. From what I saw it was extremely successful. At the top of the 14,000+ foot high pass we took in the awe inspiring view of the clouds and fog. We do have some pictures of us celebrating up there. Now with the hardest part over, the rest of the day will just go by nice and smoothly. Jenny not being much for up hills exuberated in the wonder of a 2,000 foot downhill and I believe was once found skipping down stairs at full speed (see picture some day in the future). After this little decent we stopped for a lite 3 course lunch extravaganza and a bit of a siesta. Apparently most other tour agencies consider this an ideal breaking point for the day and are letting there regularchacos end their day here. Ahh but Reuben had grander ideas for his superchacos. We were going to go up over a 13,000 foot pass to get a head start on the crowd.
Jenny not feeling in the best of condition after the altitude changes of the first half of the day was more in the mood to nap then hike, but she moved on. This is where things began to go awry. A little bit of a stomach issue began to appear and a little bit of overheating and maybe some chills and maybe some other things. Jenny was not doing well as we attempted to surmount this pass. Already not being a fan of uphills and now getting sick, this was not looking good. We stopped by some Incan ruins, which are apparently just lying around all over the place here, I asked the guides if they had anything for Jenny´s sickness. They thought the best cure for this would be to take her pack and let her walk the trail. Jenny does not seem to believe this is the best of ideas, because Jennys don´t give up there packs to anyone, even Jimmys. So things moved slowly and we took it about 3 to 10 steps at a time, but we found the top of that peak. Now awaiting the grandeur of Jenny skipping down the hill was probably not the best idea, but I could hope. So we fought our back down an other 1,000 feet and things just seemed to be getting worse. At one point I did sneak off and explore some more unbelievable ruins off to the side of the trail. As the sun set we found our way through the rain forest and into our final location. Jenny quickly found a comfy spot in the tent and I headed over to hustle some hikers at cards and eat a couple plates of popcorn. We ate, we laughed, we waited for Jenny to get better. Eventually the best idea seemed like to sleep amidst the mountains and the rain forest noises and to put day two to bed with no dessert.
Dia Seven (Day 3 of trek)
Jenny back in charge...
I awoke feeling much better and ready to face another day on the trail. The valley we camped in was surrounded by mountain peaks, and breathtaking. It rained most of the night which meant that the porters and our guides who had forgotten ground clothes spent the night soaked. The hardest part of the day was a gradual hike at the beginning. After that the trail remained level and completely set in Incan Stone (as the Incans laid stone 1-2 meters deep all along the trail). We went through several tunnels and again walked through ruins. Clouds however set in during the day and obstructed most of the mountain scenery. We made it to the last campsite before lunch. This last campsite is crazy as everyone camps here the night before heading to Machu Piccu. Tourists are everywhere and there is a main lodge that served snacks, coca-cola and alcohol. Most of our group opted to pay for warm showers and clean clothes but Jimmy and I took our chances with the ice cold shower and put back on our filthy clothes. In the afternoon we went to Wiñay Wayna a ruin 5 minutes from the campsite, which was spectacular. Here Reuben went off on one of what some in our group called "insanologues" telling us how this site reflected the rainbow and how everything was divided by 7 when in fact nothing was. Entertaining nonetheless. That evening we thanked the porters and retired to bed in order to wake up at 4:30 am.
Dia Eight (Day 4 of trek)
We awoke bright and early and went to a "light breakfast" which seemed to have just as much food as previous days. We hiked to the checkpoint in the dawn light and then waited in line, which seemed rather like a Disney World experience. We arrived at the Gate of the Sun within an hour and half and watched the sun hit Machu Pichu. We then headed down to the sight, quickly distracted by the resident llamas, especially the mother and her day-old baby. After getting rid of our packs, we followed Reuben around and listened to explanations about the various sites. Our attention span quickly waned and we round ourselves starring off into the mountain scenery, which in some respects is even more remarkable than the ruins themselves. We hiked toward Wayna Pichu were found that we could still scale its peak as the 400 person limit has not been met. Seven of us decided to make a go of it. At the bottom we ran into Nate Scott and his dad and arranged to have dinner when we got back - stange place to run into people from MN. Anyway, the hike up Wayna was more like a climb, and I believe in the US it would either be off limits, completely rebuilt to meet safety standards (and covering the Incan work) or you would need a mountaineering guide with you. It was scary to say the least, especially as people were going up and down narrow stairs that had shear dropoffs. At the top Jimmy and I mistook the exact route to the top and hence missed the climb through a cave to the tip-top. The view was spectacular, though, and worth the trip.
After our climb we made our way out of the ruins, but not before spotting hidden llamas who were chomping on dirt. We took the bus to Aquas Caliente, we we spent the afternoon exploring. Jimmy and I made acquaintances with the local kids and puppy dogs. Jimmy even got involved in a "heated" game of futball with two 5 year old kids. It basically involved the kids trying to kick the ball down a hill that lead to the train tracks while Jimmy ran after it.
That was the end of our Incan Trail adventure. We of course have more detailed stories and hundreds of pictures.
Dia Five
Early morning bus ride through gorgeous mountain scenery that we missed out on because of foggy windows and sleepy eyes. We stopped to have breakfast before heading on to Ollantaytambo to pick up the other group and then take the narrow, boulder ridden "road" to KM 82 and the start of the Inca Trail. The drive seemed to involve almost as much driving backwards as forwards as we met buses, trucks, etc. We were greeted at the drop off point by locals hawking hats, water bottle carriers, and of course walking sticks. After some organization our hike began under the leadership of our guides Reuben and Elvis and the help of 16 porters and 2 chefs. The first day was slow paced and we passed by many local huts where locals sold cool drinks and food to hikers. At lunch we became acquainted with our 3 course meals - you definitely don´t go hungry on the Inca Trail. We passed by ruins that were the supply center for Machu Pichu: The scenery was superb - steep Andean glacier covered peaks (the main peak being Veronica), rivers, and the occasional llama and donkey. We camped away from the masses as our tour hiked further up the mountain for our first night where the porters had everything set up for us and locals where present selling beer and coke.
Dia Six
Jimmy typing now...
Day 2 of the Inca Trek started at 6 am with hot tea delivered to out tent door, a daily occurrence.of course. This was followed by a multi course breakfast with some coca leaf tea. Let me clarify that although cocaine and coca do have some basic origins in common they are by no means the same thing. Now all hopped up on coca, we begin what many (just me) call the death march. This is also the day where the 9 hikers who have porters carrying all their stuff could go ahead and hire more porters to carry even their day hiking bag, but we figured it was more fun to carry stuff and keep our money. It begins with the basic concept of walking forward and going up and repeat. This went on for a couple hours and about 2,500 vertical feet. We stopped and had a nice little break to enjoy the view. This was followed by roughly the same actions as stated before. This went on for about another hour and a half and took us up an additional 1,000 feet. Much like the destructive capabilities of the lines at Disney World this portion of the Inca Trail has only one goal, basically to torture tourists. From what I saw it was extremely successful. At the top of the 14,000+ foot high pass we took in the awe inspiring view of the clouds and fog. We do have some pictures of us celebrating up there. Now with the hardest part over, the rest of the day will just go by nice and smoothly. Jenny not being much for up hills exuberated in the wonder of a 2,000 foot downhill and I believe was once found skipping down stairs at full speed (see picture some day in the future). After this little decent we stopped for a lite 3 course lunch extravaganza and a bit of a siesta. Apparently most other tour agencies consider this an ideal breaking point for the day and are letting there regularchacos end their day here. Ahh but Reuben had grander ideas for his superchacos. We were going to go up over a 13,000 foot pass to get a head start on the crowd.
Jenny not feeling in the best of condition after the altitude changes of the first half of the day was more in the mood to nap then hike, but she moved on. This is where things began to go awry. A little bit of a stomach issue began to appear and a little bit of overheating and maybe some chills and maybe some other things. Jenny was not doing well as we attempted to surmount this pass. Already not being a fan of uphills and now getting sick, this was not looking good. We stopped by some Incan ruins, which are apparently just lying around all over the place here, I asked the guides if they had anything for Jenny´s sickness. They thought the best cure for this would be to take her pack and let her walk the trail. Jenny does not seem to believe this is the best of ideas, because Jennys don´t give up there packs to anyone, even Jimmys. So things moved slowly and we took it about 3 to 10 steps at a time, but we found the top of that peak. Now awaiting the grandeur of Jenny skipping down the hill was probably not the best idea, but I could hope. So we fought our back down an other 1,000 feet and things just seemed to be getting worse. At one point I did sneak off and explore some more unbelievable ruins off to the side of the trail. As the sun set we found our way through the rain forest and into our final location. Jenny quickly found a comfy spot in the tent and I headed over to hustle some hikers at cards and eat a couple plates of popcorn. We ate, we laughed, we waited for Jenny to get better. Eventually the best idea seemed like to sleep amidst the mountains and the rain forest noises and to put day two to bed with no dessert.
Dia Seven (Day 3 of trek)
Jenny back in charge...
I awoke feeling much better and ready to face another day on the trail. The valley we camped in was surrounded by mountain peaks, and breathtaking. It rained most of the night which meant that the porters and our guides who had forgotten ground clothes spent the night soaked. The hardest part of the day was a gradual hike at the beginning. After that the trail remained level and completely set in Incan Stone (as the Incans laid stone 1-2 meters deep all along the trail). We went through several tunnels and again walked through ruins. Clouds however set in during the day and obstructed most of the mountain scenery. We made it to the last campsite before lunch. This last campsite is crazy as everyone camps here the night before heading to Machu Piccu. Tourists are everywhere and there is a main lodge that served snacks, coca-cola and alcohol. Most of our group opted to pay for warm showers and clean clothes but Jimmy and I took our chances with the ice cold shower and put back on our filthy clothes. In the afternoon we went to Wiñay Wayna a ruin 5 minutes from the campsite, which was spectacular. Here Reuben went off on one of what some in our group called "insanologues" telling us how this site reflected the rainbow and how everything was divided by 7 when in fact nothing was. Entertaining nonetheless. That evening we thanked the porters and retired to bed in order to wake up at 4:30 am.
Dia Eight (Day 4 of trek)
We awoke bright and early and went to a "light breakfast" which seemed to have just as much food as previous days. We hiked to the checkpoint in the dawn light and then waited in line, which seemed rather like a Disney World experience. We arrived at the Gate of the Sun within an hour and half and watched the sun hit Machu Pichu. We then headed down to the sight, quickly distracted by the resident llamas, especially the mother and her day-old baby. After getting rid of our packs, we followed Reuben around and listened to explanations about the various sites. Our attention span quickly waned and we round ourselves starring off into the mountain scenery, which in some respects is even more remarkable than the ruins themselves. We hiked toward Wayna Pichu were found that we could still scale its peak as the 400 person limit has not been met. Seven of us decided to make a go of it. At the bottom we ran into Nate Scott and his dad and arranged to have dinner when we got back - stange place to run into people from MN. Anyway, the hike up Wayna was more like a climb, and I believe in the US it would either be off limits, completely rebuilt to meet safety standards (and covering the Incan work) or you would need a mountaineering guide with you. It was scary to say the least, especially as people were going up and down narrow stairs that had shear dropoffs. At the top Jimmy and I mistook the exact route to the top and hence missed the climb through a cave to the tip-top. The view was spectacular, though, and worth the trip.
After our climb we made our way out of the ruins, but not before spotting hidden llamas who were chomping on dirt. We took the bus to Aquas Caliente, we we spent the afternoon exploring. Jimmy and I made acquaintances with the local kids and puppy dogs. Jimmy even got involved in a "heated" game of futball with two 5 year old kids. It basically involved the kids trying to kick the ball down a hill that lead to the train tracks while Jimmy ran after it.
That was the end of our Incan Trail adventure. We of course have more detailed stories and hundreds of pictures.
4.28.2008
Getting to the Inca Trail
Dia One
Our flight to Miami went well, besides the sad and confused look on Skidaway´s face when we jumped out of my parent´s van and left her behind. Once in Miami it got a little hairy. Jimmy called up our hotel for the night to get the shuttled and was told that his reservation had been for the night before. A flurry of anger ensued as this was not a smooth start to a 6 week long trek. We decided to treat the event like a regular airport mishap and sleep in MIA overnight. After bumming around the airport for 3 hours, we came across a helpful information attendant who informed us that we could take the local bus to Miami Beach. So off we went luggage in hand to walk up and down the boardwalk, nap in the sand, and watch a crazy bird lady shotgun a drink with a straw, parakeet in cage on hand,and scattering hundreds of bread crumbs the local birds.
We returned to MIA where Jenny slept awhile and Jimmy underwent his "punishment" as night watchman.
Dia Two
We flew Aviança airline to Bogota, without incidence and then onto Lima. Customs in Lima took forever, but went without incident. We spent our time in line "people watching" a modeling agency and others. From Lima we took a taxi to Miraflores, a richer suburb of Lima which has a very European feel. We went to dinner were Jimmy enjoyed his first Peruvian meal while Jenny was stuck with cold fish and corn-not a very appetizing experience. After dinner. we wandered about town coming across an impromptu dance session in small amphitheater and a large outdoor photography exhibit in the plaza.
Dia Three
jimmy typing now...
We spent this day wandering around Miraflores. We visited the food market, where Jenny ogled all the fresh produce and I stared at what appeared to be some sort of brain. We walked away with some random fruit of the day at a very decent price. Then we moved on to the craft market. we perused many shops full of what is stated to be llama and alpaca wool garments (for now we will just assume that they are). Jenny found a nice sweater and I got some llama toesy socks. We also found some ancient ruins in Miraflores. They predated the Incan Empire by over a thousand years. They were so well ingrained in the city that most of them had been built over with houses and other developments. We also spent sometime relaxing in various parks waiting for our Machu Pichu adventure to begin.
Dia Four
We woke up bright and early and took a taxi back to the airport. We were met with some sort of "problema". Through my excellent abilities in Spanish, I was able to get the airport personal to talk in English. At this point I was told the horrifying news that we were on a different flight that left 20 minutes later and would somehow get in at the same time as our original flight. With this catastrophe well under hand, we moved on to Cusco (many different acceptable spellings for this city). For the first time in both our lives, we arrived to an airport to be met with a man with a sign with our names on it. He promptly delivered us to our hotel and notified us that we owed our travel agency a couple hundred dollars and that they would like to see that money sometime soon. We stayed at "Niños Hotel", where a portion of our payment goes to taking care of the children of Cusco. We even saw some kids knock on the door and receive free bread. The hotel was very charming and offered us free coca tea while our room was being cleaned.
After settling in, we went to SAS and paid the aforementioned pile of money. They were pleased. then we moved on to the local market and had some sort of random pile of fried street food as a test to our gastrointestinal fortitude. We won this battle. After some more exploring, we met up with our tour group and guides, Reuben and Elvis. We were informed of the struggles ahead of us, and by "us" I mean the porters who carry everything for "us". Jenny and I elected to carry as much stuff as they would allow, including their monstrous sleeping pads. A good night sleep, some altitude medication, and off we go on the next stage in our Peruvian expedition...
Our flight to Miami went well, besides the sad and confused look on Skidaway´s face when we jumped out of my parent´s van and left her behind. Once in Miami it got a little hairy. Jimmy called up our hotel for the night to get the shuttled and was told that his reservation had been for the night before. A flurry of anger ensued as this was not a smooth start to a 6 week long trek. We decided to treat the event like a regular airport mishap and sleep in MIA overnight. After bumming around the airport for 3 hours, we came across a helpful information attendant who informed us that we could take the local bus to Miami Beach. So off we went luggage in hand to walk up and down the boardwalk, nap in the sand, and watch a crazy bird lady shotgun a drink with a straw, parakeet in cage on hand,and scattering hundreds of bread crumbs the local birds.
We returned to MIA where Jenny slept awhile and Jimmy underwent his "punishment" as night watchman.
Dia Two
We flew Aviança airline to Bogota, without incidence and then onto Lima. Customs in Lima took forever, but went without incident. We spent our time in line "people watching" a modeling agency and others. From Lima we took a taxi to Miraflores, a richer suburb of Lima which has a very European feel. We went to dinner were Jimmy enjoyed his first Peruvian meal while Jenny was stuck with cold fish and corn-not a very appetizing experience. After dinner. we wandered about town coming across an impromptu dance session in small amphitheater and a large outdoor photography exhibit in the plaza.
Dia Three
jimmy typing now...
We spent this day wandering around Miraflores. We visited the food market, where Jenny ogled all the fresh produce and I stared at what appeared to be some sort of brain. We walked away with some random fruit of the day at a very decent price. Then we moved on to the craft market. we perused many shops full of what is stated to be llama and alpaca wool garments (for now we will just assume that they are). Jenny found a nice sweater and I got some llama toesy socks. We also found some ancient ruins in Miraflores. They predated the Incan Empire by over a thousand years. They were so well ingrained in the city that most of them had been built over with houses and other developments. We also spent sometime relaxing in various parks waiting for our Machu Pichu adventure to begin.
Dia Four
We woke up bright and early and took a taxi back to the airport. We were met with some sort of "problema". Through my excellent abilities in Spanish, I was able to get the airport personal to talk in English. At this point I was told the horrifying news that we were on a different flight that left 20 minutes later and would somehow get in at the same time as our original flight. With this catastrophe well under hand, we moved on to Cusco (many different acceptable spellings for this city). For the first time in both our lives, we arrived to an airport to be met with a man with a sign with our names on it. He promptly delivered us to our hotel and notified us that we owed our travel agency a couple hundred dollars and that they would like to see that money sometime soon. We stayed at "Niños Hotel", where a portion of our payment goes to taking care of the children of Cusco. We even saw some kids knock on the door and receive free bread. The hotel was very charming and offered us free coca tea while our room was being cleaned.
After settling in, we went to SAS and paid the aforementioned pile of money. They were pleased. then we moved on to the local market and had some sort of random pile of fried street food as a test to our gastrointestinal fortitude. We won this battle. After some more exploring, we met up with our tour group and guides, Reuben and Elvis. We were informed of the struggles ahead of us, and by "us" I mean the porters who carry everything for "us". Jenny and I elected to carry as much stuff as they would allow, including their monstrous sleeping pads. A good night sleep, some altitude medication, and off we go on the next stage in our Peruvian expedition...
4.18.2008
flying off to peru
Jimmy and I leave tomorrow morning for Peru. We will try to write when we get a chance, but I am not sure when that will be. Here's to the next few months of adventures.
3.04.2008
Pictures
Here's a link to pictures from my trip. The other students who were there with me should also be posting. Enjoy.
http://picasaweb.google.com/belize.feb
http://picasaweb.google.com/belize.feb
2.27.2008
nearing the end
Only 2 more days of clinic left and then 2 more days and I am home. The month has gone by fast. Yesterday was extremely busy with tons of mothers and their children. We gave out a lot of tylenol. Everyone had a URI... that and of course the staple of scabies. I went on the Wednesday morning market run for my last bit of fresh papaya, pineapple, and bananas. We had a speaker from Sustainable Harvest International come and speak this lunch and he was fabulous. The group teaches locals how to grow fruits and vegetables using organic, sustainable techniques in hopes that they will incorporate the foods into their diet and grow enough to sell at the market. It seems like it is doing great things throughout Central America.
On the downside, my computer has decided to go caput... at least from the internet standpoint. For some reason the wireless connection has never worked here and I have no idea why. I tried downloading a new driver software and the like and nothing worked. Now the ethernet card has also stopped working. It cannot sense the connection and yes it is connected on both ends. I think I am going to have to let Dan take a look at it when I get home. Blah.
Nothing much else of news or importance. I am getting excited for Match Day which is less than a month away. I want to know where Jimmy, Skidaway, and I are going to end up next year. I don't know if I am going to write another blog entry before I leave, but we shall see. If I don't, I will see most of you soon.
On the downside, my computer has decided to go caput... at least from the internet standpoint. For some reason the wireless connection has never worked here and I have no idea why. I tried downloading a new driver software and the like and nothing worked. Now the ethernet card has also stopped working. It cannot sense the connection and yes it is connected on both ends. I think I am going to have to let Dan take a look at it when I get home. Blah.
Nothing much else of news or importance. I am getting excited for Match Day which is less than a month away. I want to know where Jimmy, Skidaway, and I are going to end up next year. I don't know if I am going to write another blog entry before I leave, but we shall see. If I don't, I will see most of you soon.
2.25.2008
titles escape me
Another day in clinic, nothing too exciting. After clinic we went back to the University of Belize to do free sports screenings. A pretty busy afternoon, which included a stop at the coffee shop. yum. Here are some thoughts on my mind right now. Yesterday I mean an older American couple who are volunteering for the Peace Corps. It was great to talk with them and get their perspective on Belize as they have been here for almost 8 months. The Peace corps has almost 70 volunteers in Belize and their are countless other non-profits here. We discussed how Belize is poorer than the U.S. but it is not as poor as many of its neighbors and has benefited from a relative stable political structure. I wonder why there are so many people here, myself included in those people; because as I compare it to other places I been, I believe that the need is not as great here. I think the big draw is that Belize is welcoming and a relatively easy place to adjust to, as compared to other parts of the world. (I use my experience in India as my personal comparison). Its just an interesting thought. And the people who are here are doing good things and I do not fault them for coming here. I appreciate the effort and any step taken to reach out to the world is a noble step.
My other pondering of late concerned my reaction to people who walk by me while I bike and how that has changed since a year ago. Last summer, a pedestrian try to knock me off my bike while I was biking at 4 am to get to the hospital to round with my surgery team. Ever since then my heart seem to skip a beat when a pedestrian walks toward me while I am on a bike. Its weird, especially as I have had that reaction here in Belize. A change in perspective that is hard to shake, maybe for the good.
That's it for tonight.
My other pondering of late concerned my reaction to people who walk by me while I bike and how that has changed since a year ago. Last summer, a pedestrian try to knock me off my bike while I was biking at 4 am to get to the hospital to round with my surgery team. Ever since then my heart seem to skip a beat when a pedestrian walks toward me while I am on a bike. Its weird, especially as I have had that reaction here in Belize. A change in perspective that is hard to shake, maybe for the good.
That's it for tonight.
2.24.2008
another weekend passes
I spent the weekend here in P.G. Saturday I biked into town to Jeff's house and borrowed his kayak for a little ocean fun. It was beautiful and I saw tons of fish below the sea's surface and tons of jellyfish above. Also passed a fisherman perched on a rocky outcropping - it seemed like an ideal place to spend the day. I also "borrowed" Jeff's hammock on his porch and took a long nap, ate some ice cream, and just took it easy. Today I again biked into town, which seemed a lot more difficult this morning if I stayed here much longer I would definitely invest in a bike with an adjustable seat and non-rusty chains... I spent the day at the Coral House Inn at their pool and met a bunch of Peace Corps volunteers. Another relaxing day in the sun. The only bad part of the weekend are my burnt lips, hopefully they heal fast.
2.22.2008
just another Friday
Fridays seem to be slow around here, although Erwin states that the Friday that students and doctors leave is always the busiest so we shall have to see what next week brings. I saw our regular visits HTN check-ups and children with diarrhea. But no scabies. We found out why we don't see Botfly with its long emerging worm in clinic. People know how to extract the worm at home using saran wrap and tobacco and see no need for the doctor. Too bad for us as it would be something new for us to see.
Matt left today as he had arrived a week before us, so now we are down to four students. Tim, Kara, and Emily went to Placencia, which I opted out of as I had spent my first weekend on the island. Instead I am haning out in P.G. this weekend, alone in our treehouse. I am going to borrow Jeff's, one of the administrators here, kayak tomorrow and explore the ocean for at least a little while. I am excited. Today I got a ride into town and then biked back about a 30 minute trip on an one-speed bike with deflated tires. I saw a really cool crab - yes, I get excited about crabs I did teach Marine Biology for a year. He (or she) was striped like a Zebra and shaped like a swimming crab. He was definitely aware of me and I had to be sneaky to get a picture. The crabs antics brought me much amusment. Not much else planned that is all too exciting. I am feeling poor at the moment with all of the upcoming expenses that Jimmy and I are going to have and I feel like just taking it easy.
Matt left today as he had arrived a week before us, so now we are down to four students. Tim, Kara, and Emily went to Placencia, which I opted out of as I had spent my first weekend on the island. Instead I am haning out in P.G. this weekend, alone in our treehouse. I am going to borrow Jeff's, one of the administrators here, kayak tomorrow and explore the ocean for at least a little while. I am excited. Today I got a ride into town and then biked back about a 30 minute trip on an one-speed bike with deflated tires. I saw a really cool crab - yes, I get excited about crabs I did teach Marine Biology for a year. He (or she) was striped like a Zebra and shaped like a swimming crab. He was definitely aware of me and I had to be sneaky to get a picture. The crabs antics brought me much amusment. Not much else planned that is all too exciting. I am feeling poor at the moment with all of the upcoming expenses that Jimmy and I are going to have and I feel like just taking it easy.
2.21.2008
pharmacist for the day
Today we had mobile clinic in Barranco, a Garifuna community south of P.G. I was feeling better this morning but not completely up to par, but decided to go because I can only lie around being sick for so long. Since all five of us were able to go today, I opted to be the mobile clinic pharmacist, which basically involved slicing pills in half and counting them. I am so glad for pharmacists back home. We had a traditional Garifuna meal for lunch which involved a lot of plantain and fish. It was good, but I avoided large portions in respect of my stomach. I think one of the more interesting things I found out today was that at least some of our patients go to the various health clinics with the same complaint in order to get "stockpiles" of medication. Our intake nurse, for lack of a better word as he does much more than that around here, told me that a family I saw yesterday had gone to the P.G. clinic before coming to see us at Hillside for the same complaint of scabies. He also said that years ago one of the doctors at Hillside would go on home visits and look at everyone's medications. Supposedly he found enough medications in peoples' homes to run the clinic for 5 years. I know that is an exaggeration, but it is an interesting phenomenon. Everything we give out is free and so is the medication at the P.G. clinic, and virtually all patients walk out of the clinic with at least Tylenol, which if you believe this information they might not even need because they have stores of it at home. Tylenol is pretty benign but it is a little scary to think that they have stockpiles of other medications, such as the scabies cream lindane which can be neurotoxic lying around their houses to use at their convenience.
Anything interesting phenomenon is the market produce here. A lot of it is not from Belize at all. In fact yesterday morning we saw bags of produce from Guatemala being dropped off. Its a little strange as one expects markets to have local produce and the grocery stores to carry the imports. Although the Minneapolis Farmer's Market also has the same phenomenon. I think the issue is more on my radar right now as I just finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbabra Kingsolver and The Ominvore's Delimna before coming here, both of which talked about the environmental impact of shipping food across long distances. Granted shipping food to Belize from Mexico and Guatemala is not the same as shipping produce to the US from New Zealand and Argentina, but it is the same concept. I find myself wondering if it would be possible to be a local-vore in Belize. I think it would be quite hard. As for the above books, I highly recommend them as reads. They are fascinating and make you re-think your particular eating habits whatever they may be.
I also want to put a plug in for A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah and They poured Fire on Us From the Sky by Deng, Deng, and Ajak. Both are true stories out of Africa. Beah talks about the war in Sierra Leone, and how he was sucked into becoming a boy soldier. It makes you realize you never know what you may become under difficult circumstance. It also shows how vulnerable children are to war and violence. The second book is about the lost boys of Sudan and again another touching story about children torn apart by war.
Anyway, enough typing for now. I have a little over a week left before returning to the cold of Minnesota. That is definitely going to be a shock to my system.
Anything interesting phenomenon is the market produce here. A lot of it is not from Belize at all. In fact yesterday morning we saw bags of produce from Guatemala being dropped off. Its a little strange as one expects markets to have local produce and the grocery stores to carry the imports. Although the Minneapolis Farmer's Market also has the same phenomenon. I think the issue is more on my radar right now as I just finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbabra Kingsolver and The Ominvore's Delimna before coming here, both of which talked about the environmental impact of shipping food across long distances. Granted shipping food to Belize from Mexico and Guatemala is not the same as shipping produce to the US from New Zealand and Argentina, but it is the same concept. I find myself wondering if it would be possible to be a local-vore in Belize. I think it would be quite hard. As for the above books, I highly recommend them as reads. They are fascinating and make you re-think your particular eating habits whatever they may be.
I also want to put a plug in for A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah and They poured Fire on Us From the Sky by Deng, Deng, and Ajak. Both are true stories out of Africa. Beah talks about the war in Sierra Leone, and how he was sucked into becoming a boy soldier. It makes you realize you never know what you may become under difficult circumstance. It also shows how vulnerable children are to war and violence. The second book is about the lost boys of Sudan and again another touching story about children torn apart by war.
Anyway, enough typing for now. I have a little over a week left before returning to the cold of Minnesota. That is definitely going to be a shock to my system.
2.20.2008
sick.
Since I last wrote you we had an internet malfunction. Last night the internet was so slow. It wouldn't load anything and we were scared that we had overused our quota for downloads and uploads for the month and perhaps may be doomed to no internet for the rest of our stay. But it seems to have resolved itself and hopefully will remain online until I leave.
Yesterday Kara and I went on home visit with Pat. It was interesting to see how many of these patients lived. Most of the patients were elderly and homebound. They suffered from diabetes and hypertension. The homes were often in a state of quasi-disarray and not as nice as most American homes. I realize though that many of the patients I have taken care of in Minnesota especially at HCMC lived in similar conditions or even worse. The plight of the family-less elderly person in America is often a sad one, and I wonder if they even have it worse as it seemed that at least the people here had not been abandoned. They still had family and friends who cared for them, even if they were poor themselves.
The biggest thing in my life however right now is the gastrointestinal bug that had hit me with a vengeance. It is not nearly as bad (yet... fingers crossed) as what I got on my peds rotation last year nor the food poisoning I suffered after eating Shawn's chicken last winter, but bad nonetheless. I skipped evening clinic today and may not make it out to mobiles tomorrow, especially as the bathroom situation in the villages is not always amiable to bouts of gastro. I am also missing out on birthday celebrations for Matt, one of the Brits, who is turning the ripe old age of 21. I know, its not a big deal for him.
I should probably go back to resting, and drinking water. Hope none of you are afflicted with what I have,
Yesterday Kara and I went on home visit with Pat. It was interesting to see how many of these patients lived. Most of the patients were elderly and homebound. They suffered from diabetes and hypertension. The homes were often in a state of quasi-disarray and not as nice as most American homes. I realize though that many of the patients I have taken care of in Minnesota especially at HCMC lived in similar conditions or even worse. The plight of the family-less elderly person in America is often a sad one, and I wonder if they even have it worse as it seemed that at least the people here had not been abandoned. They still had family and friends who cared for them, even if they were poor themselves.
The biggest thing in my life however right now is the gastrointestinal bug that had hit me with a vengeance. It is not nearly as bad (yet... fingers crossed) as what I got on my peds rotation last year nor the food poisoning I suffered after eating Shawn's chicken last winter, but bad nonetheless. I skipped evening clinic today and may not make it out to mobiles tomorrow, especially as the bathroom situation in the villages is not always amiable to bouts of gastro. I am also missing out on birthday celebrations for Matt, one of the Brits, who is turning the ripe old age of 21. I know, its not a big deal for him.
I should probably go back to resting, and drinking water. Hope none of you are afflicted with what I have,
2.18.2008
presentation for the local college students
Clinic was very busy today. Go, go, go. Sick kids with upper respiratory infections, rashes (there seems to be a plethora of rashes here), and other things. After clinic we went to the University of Belize - Toledo Campus to present on Diet, Exercise, and Stress Management to the local college students. It went well, although they weren't as interactive as I am used to from my days of teaching mainly elementary aged students. It was like pulling teeth to get them to respond to questions. I think it went well overall and I don't think I spoke too fast, as I sometimes have a tendency to do. Afterward we went to town in hopes of getting iced coffee but the shop was closed as she had just moved. :( I finally tried Charlette's across the street - tortillas, fried chicken ( it is always fried chicken down here) and beans. It was good, especially the home-made tortillas. Tomorrow we are heading out to mobile sites or to home visits. I am not sure which I am going on. It should be good either way.
We discovered the local movie rental store, which rents movies for about $2 US dollars but you have to be careful as the entire movie is not always on the disc and others are obviously taped in the theater. No quality control here.
That's all for now. I now go back to trying not to scratch my mosquito bites.
We discovered the local movie rental store, which rents movies for about $2 US dollars but you have to be careful as the entire movie is not always on the disc and others are obviously taped in the theater. No quality control here.
That's all for now. I now go back to trying not to scratch my mosquito bites.
2.17.2008
Cockscomb Wildlife Sanctuary
Cockscomb Wildlife Sanctuary, the world's only jaguar reserve, is about a three hour bus ride ride from
Matt and I did a couple hikes after they left, including a night one in hopes of seeing a jaguar. Of course we didn't but we could hope. We did witness the evening howling of the howler monkeys but only glimpsed the braches moving as the monkey jumped from tree to tree. Today we hiked to
2.15.2008
canoeing down the rio grande
Clinic seems to always starts out like it is going to be extremely busy as people show up a half hour before we start seeing patients. Thus we get "slammed" when we open our doors. But it soon slow downs. I saw an entire family today all afflicted with scabies. Scabies is everywhere it seems here. After clinic we headed to local a resort. Matt, Tim and I went exploring along the resorts trails. It is a little disorientating to wander in the rainforest without any changes in terrain. We went for the whole turn left at every intersection and ended up at the base of the lodge far from where we thought we were going to be . At least we didn't get lost. Jimmy can smile about that.
We went to the lodge to meet a Belizean who Emily met in town and promised us a canoe/kayak trip. We canoed down the Rio Grande looking for monkeys, crocs, birds of all shapes and sizes. The river was very calm and an easy paddle. It made want to get a kayak once again... oh wait I have never gotten over wanting a kayak.
Conversations with my fellow students here have made me realized how strange and sheltered my childhood was. I knew this before but I haven't been confronted with the fact for awhile. I need to remember that my childhood was different as I talk to patients, especially teenagers. I know I don't really understand the world of "normal" teenagers. But maybe that is good thing as I won't make any assumptions about life as a teenager. At least I hope I don't.
Jimmy is packing up our stuff, getting ready to move out at the beginning of April. It is going to be strange to come back to nothing. Hope all is well at home.
We went to the lodge to meet a Belizean who Emily met in town and promised us a canoe/kayak trip. We canoed down the Rio Grande looking for monkeys, crocs, birds of all shapes and sizes. The river was very calm and an easy paddle. It made want to get a kayak once again... oh wait I have never gotten over wanting a kayak.
Conversations with my fellow students here have made me realized how strange and sheltered my childhood was. I knew this before but I haven't been confronted with the fact for awhile. I need to remember that my childhood was different as I talk to patients, especially teenagers. I know I don't really understand the world of "normal" teenagers. But maybe that is good thing as I won't make any assumptions about life as a teenager. At least I hope I don't.
Jimmy is packing up our stuff, getting ready to move out at the beginning of April. It is going to be strange to come back to nothing. Hope all is well at home.
2.14.2008
valentines and my half birthday
Jimmy and I refuse to celebrate Valentine's Day, but ever since we met we have celebrated my half-birthday which is Feb 13th. Kind of a leftover celebration from childhood, as I was unable to celebrate my summer birthday in school, so got to bring in treats on my half birthday. Yesterday was the first time we haven't been together to celebrate my half-birthday. Jimmy was a little distraught when he discovered this, but he made a way to make the day special by writing me a poem. It was sweet.
Back to life in Belize. Yesterday started out with a trip to the market where I stocked up on fruits and tried a Belizean fruit called Caimito or Star Apple. It was super sweet and maybe a bit overripe as it is suppose to taste like grapes according to the internet. :) Clinic was slow. Although I had an interesting run-in with a patient who was probably an untreated schizophrenic. He grabbed my face and then tried to grab mg again while leaving. It made me very uncomfortable. At least nothing worse than that happened. Last evening we went to watch traditional Garifuna dancing and drumming in PG. We also tried it ourselves... well I was forced to but it was fun in the end.
Today mobile clinic was canceled, no not because of Valentine's day, but because our medical director's back still is not better. Thus we headed to Blanco Grande National Park to hike and swim. The others all jumped off the cliff, but I couldn't do it. You would like that I would be okay with heights and falls after rock climbing, but I am not. A little strange. Tonight holds perhaps dinner in town. Pat, a nurse practitioner from the States, has offered us a free lift into town. Free rides are always nice. That's all for now. I think we are heading to Cockscomb Wildlife Sanctuary this weekend. I'll tell you about on Monday.
Back to life in Belize. Yesterday started out with a trip to the market where I stocked up on fruits and tried a Belizean fruit called Caimito or Star Apple. It was super sweet and maybe a bit overripe as it is suppose to taste like grapes according to the internet. :) Clinic was slow. Although I had an interesting run-in with a patient who was probably an untreated schizophrenic. He grabbed my face and then tried to grab mg again while leaving. It made me very uncomfortable. At least nothing worse than that happened. Last evening we went to watch traditional Garifuna dancing and drumming in PG. We also tried it ourselves... well I was forced to but it was fun in the end.
Today mobile clinic was canceled, no not because of Valentine's day, but because our medical director's back still is not better. Thus we headed to Blanco Grande National Park to hike and swim. The others all jumped off the cliff, but I couldn't do it. You would like that I would be okay with heights and falls after rock climbing, but I am not. A little strange. Tonight holds perhaps dinner in town. Pat, a nurse practitioner from the States, has offered us a free lift into town. Free rides are always nice. That's all for now. I think we are heading to Cockscomb Wildlife Sanctuary this weekend. I'll tell you about on Monday.
2.12.2008
a day with a cuban doctor
We went to San Jose village today. Our medical director at Hillside was unable to go with us as his back has been giving him grief. We were gearing up for a day off, when word came that government doctor at San Antonio had few patients and would come with us, Thus, we headed off to the village once again on bumpy dirt roads. Belize like much of Central and South America has quite a few Cuban doctors. I was interested in seeing how they function, having been told that medicine is quite good in Cuba and that their training was supposedly comparable to ours.
Clinic turned out to be quite frustrating. Some of it was probably due to a language barrier, The Cuban doctor's English was not perfect, but it also had to do with philosophy. We are so use to asking complete histories, doing full exams and then presenting them to our preceptor (the doctor overseeing us). We set about to do this but quickly found that the doctor only wanted cheif complaints and then s brief physical finding. He had no time it seemed for more. A patient would complain of headache/backache and they would get Tylenol. They would complain of cough and have some coarse upper respiratory sounds and they would get amoxicillin. I felt that we were giving drugs out like candy. He seemed to want to give everyone Tylenol and/or Benadryl. It was crazy. It reminded me of my experience of being a patient in India back in college when complaints were given and then drugs were doled out. It was crazy to be a part of and definitely made me appreciate the American, British, and Australian doctors that come here and provide an alternative to this type of care. It was also shocking because it was not what I had expected coming into the experience. Maybe Michael Moore wasn't completely right about medical care in Cuba in "Sicko."
Finally made some real coffee, but the beans were a little bitter. I will have to see if Jeff's one of the administrators here at Hillside who also happened to be roommates will Will Shortz of crossword fame, home roasted coffee is better. Hope all is well at home and that the cold weather soon ends for you.
Clinic turned out to be quite frustrating. Some of it was probably due to a language barrier, The Cuban doctor's English was not perfect, but it also had to do with philosophy. We are so use to asking complete histories, doing full exams and then presenting them to our preceptor (the doctor overseeing us). We set about to do this but quickly found that the doctor only wanted cheif complaints and then s brief physical finding. He had no time it seemed for more. A patient would complain of headache/backache and they would get Tylenol. They would complain of cough and have some coarse upper respiratory sounds and they would get amoxicillin. I felt that we were giving drugs out like candy. He seemed to want to give everyone Tylenol and/or Benadryl. It was crazy. It reminded me of my experience of being a patient in India back in college when complaints were given and then drugs were doled out. It was crazy to be a part of and definitely made me appreciate the American, British, and Australian doctors that come here and provide an alternative to this type of care. It was also shocking because it was not what I had expected coming into the experience. Maybe Michael Moore wasn't completely right about medical care in Cuba in "Sicko."
Finally made some real coffee, but the beans were a little bitter. I will have to see if Jeff's one of the administrators here at Hillside who also happened to be roommates will Will Shortz of crossword fame, home roasted coffee is better. Hope all is well at home and that the cold weather soon ends for you.
2.11.2008
snake scare
Today was another clinic which I spent seeing scabies and trying to erase viruses on the volunteer laptop (which we were unsuccessful at). After clinic, I heard screaming from the Admin building. Turns out there was a snake hiding in the rafters. We rushed to see the neck that turned out to be quite small and not nearly as exciting as we hoped it to be. It looked like a Belizean version of the garter snake. We headed into town today and found this fabulous coffee shop run by an American. I am so excited to finally have real coffee after days of instant Nescafe. We ate dinner in town and it was fabulous (and cheap). It is a little strange as it seems that often eating out ends up being cheaper than making food. Probably because everything we know how to make is imported from the US and elsewhere. Hence food is more expensive here than home. Except for fruits and vegetables.
Tomorrow we head to a large village of 1000 to 2000 people. It suppose to be busy. I am interested to see what life in a larger village. I hoped you all enjoyed the pictures I posted yesterday. I will try to post some more later.
Tomorrow we head to a large village of 1000 to 2000 people. It suppose to be busy. I am interested to see what life in a larger village. I hoped you all enjoyed the pictures I posted yesterday. I will try to post some more later.
2.10.2008
tobacco caye
We had a short clinic on Friday, where I got to see my first kid since I have been here. Exciting stuff for this future pediatrician. We headed off on the local bus to Dangringa where then we planned to take a boat to Tobacco Caye. The trip there went off without a hitch and was as comfortable as it could be in a old beat-up school bus. We were talking amongst ourselves (Matt, Tim, Kara, and Emily - the other students here with me) that Belize is a school bus graveyard or at least retirement community. You see buses everywhere and I even saw one from Hennepin County, Minnesota in Independence. Crazy. The boat ride to the Caye was bumpy but definitely worth it. Gorgeous postcard Caribbean sea water and scattered Mangrove covered islands. Tobacco Caye itself is this tiny little island that you can walk around in 10 minutes tops. It is covered in beach houses and palm trees. I think it use to be a mangrove island that they settled and then dredged up sand to make it inhabitable. This is happening all over Belize. Kind of sad really as tourism is encouraging the development of islands on the reef at the expense of the native habitats. Mangroves are important hurricane barriers from what I recall so it shall be interesting to see what happens as development continues.
Anyway, the reef is very accessible from the beach at Tobacco Caye and we spent the weekend snorkeling, spotting all sorts of sea life. The reef was awesome, although you could definitely see evidence of coral die-off and I couldn't help but wonder what it had been 10-15 years ago. Thanks to Jimmy for telling me to bring my mask and snorkel - it definitely got good use although I think I actually ended up taking his... oops. When we weren't snorkeling we were relaxing in hammocks and on the docks. We met the locals which turned out to be interesting characters as well. We were going to stay longer today, but it stormed all night long last night and it looked like it was continue to storm today. We didn't want to get stuck on a tropical paradise - work duties to do - so we caught the morning taxi back to Dangriga and the caught another school bus back to Hillside. A great weekend and I am glad I had the chance to see Tobacco Caye. Although, the first day I was a little sad and I sat and pondered how much Jimmy would have loved the place and how we were not getting to share in the moment.
Below is a map of my trip so far. Enjoy.
View Larger Map
Anyway, the reef is very accessible from the beach at Tobacco Caye and we spent the weekend snorkeling, spotting all sorts of sea life. The reef was awesome, although you could definitely see evidence of coral die-off and I couldn't help but wonder what it had been 10-15 years ago. Thanks to Jimmy for telling me to bring my mask and snorkel - it definitely got good use although I think I actually ended up taking his... oops. When we weren't snorkeling we were relaxing in hammocks and on the docks. We met the locals which turned out to be interesting characters as well. We were going to stay longer today, but it stormed all night long last night and it looked like it was continue to storm today. We didn't want to get stuck on a tropical paradise - work duties to do - so we caught the morning taxi back to Dangriga and the caught another school bus back to Hillside. A great weekend and I am glad I had the chance to see Tobacco Caye. Although, the first day I was a little sad and I sat and pondered how much Jimmy would have loved the place and how we were not getting to share in the moment.
Below is a map of my trip so far. Enjoy.
View Larger Map
2.07.2008
election day
It's election day in Belize, which meant no mobile clinic for us. Instead we headed off to Blue Creek and its cave. The cave was enormous and the creek runs all the through it. Thus in order to explore you have to be willing to swim, in the dark. It was quite fabulous. We went without any guides and swam around until we decided head back to the entrance. The outside of the cave was covered with boulders, not quite big enough to boulder. I wish they had been. I really miss climbing and there is not much of it to be had here.
It was cool to see the voters today with their fingers covered with ink, proud to show off their participation in democracy. Tomorrow a morning of clinic and then we are heading to Tobacco Caye for a weekend of snorkeling and relaxation on the beach.
It was cool to see the voters today with their fingers covered with ink, proud to show off their participation in democracy. Tomorrow a morning of clinic and then we are heading to Tobacco Caye for a weekend of snorkeling and relaxation on the beach.
2.06.2008
market day
I went crazy at the market today. I bought papaya, pineapple, bananas, eggs, some strange fruit or vegetable that they said was good, and this corn mush thing or some sort that was wonderful. Oh, and I even willing bought green beans. Today was a slow-ish day in clinic. I realized I am quite rusty in my medicine skills right now. I hate feeling that way.
I cut up my papaya this evening. YUMMY! I love fresh fruit. The pineapple is ripening on the counter. I should have picked a riper one. We are cooking fresh fish for dinner. Awaiting the results. Tomorrow we have the day off as it is the elections here. The elections are a little crazy, with rallies all the time where the parties pay people to be bussed into town. They also pay people to wear their shirts with party slogans. Crazy but not as crazy as election time in India. This is supposedly a big election. The current PM is supposedly corrupt and has been giving away land, right, whatever to his friends and supporters. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Hope all is well at home.
I cut up my papaya this evening. YUMMY! I love fresh fruit. The pineapple is ripening on the counter. I should have picked a riper one. We are cooking fresh fish for dinner. Awaiting the results. Tomorrow we have the day off as it is the elections here. The elections are a little crazy, with rallies all the time where the parties pay people to be bussed into town. They also pay people to wear their shirts with party slogans. Crazy but not as crazy as election time in India. This is supposedly a big election. The current PM is supposedly corrupt and has been giving away land, right, whatever to his friends and supporters. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Hope all is well at home.
2.05.2008
super tuesday
It's Super Tuesday and I am wondering what our country will decide while I am away. I have the New York Times up to watch the results role in as we are tv-less at Hillside. We talked a lot today as a group about who might get the nomination during our long ride back and forth to the village where our clinic was held today.
Clinic was slow as they had just been their a few weeks ago and usually the villages only get a doctor every 4-6 weeks. There was a lot of scabies which I have been told will be a common issues amongst the villagers. I only saw one patient, a women who had a non-reducible hernia and who needs to have surgery sometime soon. The only issue is that there the closest surgeon is in Dangria which is several hours away. (I am not sure of mileage as I not sure exactly how far the village was from Punta Gorda and I don't believe will recognize the name of some small village in Belize). I hope she is able to get to the surgery and hopefully nothing happens before she can get to Dangria. The village was beautiful set in the jungle mountains of Belize. It was interesting to drive and see crops scattered among the rain forest vegetation. Corn interspersed with grass, trees, and vines. No bare soil to be found.
We road into town this afternoon on one-speed beach cruisers. I always wonder if the locals find it odd to see "rich" foreigners huffing and puffing it around town. I am sure they must thing that we must have enough money to buy a car or at least pay for a taxi. It was a pleasant ride, but definitely more work than riding my bike at home. Oh, I love the coke down here - so much better than coke back home made with sugar, not corn syrup. I think I am going to have to frequent the Latin American markets when I get back to the states to get some of the imported Mexican coca-cola.
I was excited to see my first toucans this morning - a pair in the trees behind our treehouse. Tomorrow we get to go to the market and get fresh fruit, vegetables, and supposedly fish. Should be great. I love wandering through the markets of the world and I am excited to finally get fresh tropical fruit. The "supermarkets" don't sell fresh fruit really and it has been disappointing not to sample the produce of this country.
Enough for now. I hope all is well back home.
Clinic was slow as they had just been their a few weeks ago and usually the villages only get a doctor every 4-6 weeks. There was a lot of scabies which I have been told will be a common issues amongst the villagers. I only saw one patient, a women who had a non-reducible hernia and who needs to have surgery sometime soon. The only issue is that there the closest surgeon is in Dangria which is several hours away. (I am not sure of mileage as I not sure exactly how far the village was from Punta Gorda and I don't believe will recognize the name of some small village in Belize). I hope she is able to get to the surgery and hopefully nothing happens before she can get to Dangria. The village was beautiful set in the jungle mountains of Belize. It was interesting to drive and see crops scattered among the rain forest vegetation. Corn interspersed with grass, trees, and vines. No bare soil to be found.
We road into town this afternoon on one-speed beach cruisers. I always wonder if the locals find it odd to see "rich" foreigners huffing and puffing it around town. I am sure they must thing that we must have enough money to buy a car or at least pay for a taxi. It was a pleasant ride, but definitely more work than riding my bike at home. Oh, I love the coke down here - so much better than coke back home made with sugar, not corn syrup. I think I am going to have to frequent the Latin American markets when I get back to the states to get some of the imported Mexican coca-cola.
I was excited to see my first toucans this morning - a pair in the trees behind our treehouse. Tomorrow we get to go to the market and get fresh fruit, vegetables, and supposedly fish. Should be great. I love wandering through the markets of the world and I am excited to finally get fresh tropical fruit. The "supermarkets" don't sell fresh fruit really and it has been disappointing not to sample the produce of this country.
Enough for now. I hope all is well back home.
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