Over the Andes to Manu

Trip Start Aug 20, 2005
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Trip End Dec 20, 2005


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Thursday, September 8, 2005

As we settled in to our Spanish classes I was thrilled to be moved up a level. Four hours a day proved to be a bit much and as a result we were all overjoyed to hear classes would be cancelled on Thursday to give us enough time to make it to the Manu Bio-reserve for our second development project. Manu is a protected national park that contains the highest concentration of plant and animal species in the world. Part of the Amazon basin, the center of the park is so rich in diversity it is off limits to anyone without special admittance from the government. Our project will be near the outskirts of the park near the Pueblo of Pilcopata. ProPeru has funded a latrine building project for two extremely small communities in the area. Unfortunately our original plan to assist in this project was delayed as the government decided it would finish building the road to the communities this weekend. This meant latrines would have to be put on hold! Fortunately ProPeru lined up three local schools to allow us to conduct health campaigns as an alternate project
Break on top of the bus
Break on top of the bus
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Departing ProPeru at 8am on Thursday, I settled into my seat in the bus for the nine hour journey that would take us over the lowest point in the Andes and down into the jungle. Due to the number of people, luggage, and supplies a combi followed us with nine members of our group. Climbing to about 4,500 meters the change in terrain was amazing. At times it almost seemed like we were in the desert of California; being the end of the dry season vegetation was incredibly sparse. After about an hour the road became a single lane dirt road that we would follow for the remaining eight hours. We passed through many rural communities and often had to stop to allow flocks of sheep, cattle, llamas, and alpacas to separate so we could pass. The going was not very quick; I don't think we traveled faster than 35 or 40 miles per hour and the many switchbacks and road obstructions further slowed our progress. We stopped in a little town for lunch. To be from Cusco would have been celebrity enough, from the United States and you would have thought we were rock stars. The local children mauled us out of curiosity as you can see from the pictures. The time provided a great opportunity to talk and get to know each other a bit better. Given we had all been separated into six different Spanish levels, this was one of the few instances we would all be together. Descending into the jungle provided amazing vistas. We passed an array of waterfalls and lush vegetation. At times I could have sworn I was on the back roads in Hawaii. The temperature and humidity quickly rose as we advanced to Pilcopata. Be the time we arrived it was 7pm and quickly getting dark. We separated into two groups as neither hostel in town was large enough to take all 28 of us. Luckily I scored a single room and quickly dropped my backpack to meet everyone in the restaurant attached to the other hostel. After dinner which took forever and a bit of exploring the town I settled in to my uncomfortable bed, lowered my mosquito net, and drifted off to sleep...Day 2 to follow.
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