Getting Ready for the Looong Trek.

Byee Amazon!

Dec 17^th

It was painful to wake up this morning at 5am. I was nervous about meeting the people that I was going to be hiking with. I hardly slept all night, instead I tossed and turned wondering, “would I be the only solo traveler,?” “Would the hike kill me?- I really haven’t trained for this hike at all,” “Do I have everything I need?” I went to the dining room at 5:30am, the family was late and Hugo, seemed annoyed. The family and I both agreed that we were leaving way earlier than necessary though so I didn’t mind waiting. We left at 6am for the airport. The boat ride back to the busses was significantly shorter than on the way to the lodge, it only took us an hour and twenty minutes. We took the one hour bus ride to the airport in Puerto Maldonado and I slept almost the whole way.

We were dropped off at the airport at 8:45am. I was excited when we arrived to see that the airport wasn’t too busy. Hugo asked one of the airline employees if it was possible for me to jump on the earlier flight and they said it might be possible but that the flight was pretty full and I’d have to wait. I told Hugo I’d take the risk and at least try to get on the flight, so we said our goodbyes and he and the Gap Adventures bus drove away. Just as he drove away tons of people came in and waited in line. I followed suit and when I got to the counter I explained how I was nervous about getting altitude sickness and how I was going to be hiking the Inca trail and needed extra time to prepare myself. To my luck the airline employee understood and got me a seat on the plane (for no additional charge!). I went through security and met up with the family. Even though it was only 9am we were had all been up for hours and it was almost 100 degrees in the tiny airport with no air conditioning, so we all decided that ice cream was exactly what we needed. We only had a wait about half an hour before we could board the plane. I really lucked out because the airline changed my fight for free and they upgraded me to priority seating with extra legroom. I sat next to an interesting couple in their late sixties who had just gotten married and were enjoying being old, in love and adventurous together! It gave me hope!

   

The flight was only about thirty minutes and I met the family as we got off the plane. We gathered our luggage and said out goodbyes. I looked for a Gap Adventures agent to get a free ride to the hotel, but couldn’t find one. I finally gave up looking and grabbed a taxi for $10. I got to the hotel in Cuzco at around 11am.

Hello Cuzco!

 I checked in and called the Gap representative to inform her that I had arrived and found out that our group would be meeting later that evening. I checked into my room and was pleasantly surprised to learn that I would have a single. The room was nice, a bit dated, but I was pleased!  I spread out in the nice queen sized bed and enjoyed being in a hotel with electricity. I showered and went online for the first time in nearly a week. I skyped home and let my parents know that I was alive. At this point it was almost 1pm and I was starving. I dropped off laundry at the front desk to be washed and returned to me later in the evening and had lunch at the hotel restaurant. I knew that I would need some essentials for the trip so I set off to shop. I also realized that I had little cash on me and was waiting for my parents to transfer money into my checking account so I could withdraw money. I set off in hopes to find a store where I could buy everything that I needed (a headlamp, a water bottle, warm clothes, a hat, a day backpack, a pancho etc.) After walking around for almost two hours I realized that credit card machines in Cuzco practically doesn’t exist. I bought the essentials with the little cash I had. I felt stuck. I hate having money issues. I have money, but not having access to it is one of the most frustrating feelings in the world. I went back to the hotel and attempted to sort through my belongings to figure out what I should bring on my hike. We each have porters to carry our bags and we can only take 6 kilos worth of belongings- only about 12 pounds, which really isn’t much at all.

At 6:30pm I went downstairs and met everyone that I would be hiking with over the next 5 days. Everyone seems friendly. A majority of the group seems to be Canadian and they seem to know each other. There are sixteen of us in total. I was surprised that there was only one other American in the group. We had a briefing on what to expect and went over all of the information that we needed to know. I had to rent a sleeping bag, air mattress, and hiking poles, all of which needed to be paid for. I used up the tiny bit of cash that I had left and prayed that the money had been successfully transferred into my account. As my luck would have it, it the money didn’t go through. The other American, Chan, had been friendly to me at the briefing so we decided to go out and walk around the town together and grab some food. Not even thinking I assumed that the restaurant would take credit card but as my luck would have it, they didn’t. Luckily, Chan was a good friend and bought dinner for me. Stressed about my money situation we went back to the hotel to finish packing. I spend most of the evening on the phone catching up with friends and family. Then headed to bed at 1am just in time to get a few hours sleep.

Bye for now.

Love,

Katie. 

In the Deep Dark Jungle

Dec 16^th

I woke up again this morning at 5:45am and went to the dining room for breakfast at 6am. The family arrived at 6:10am, still late but getting a little earlier! We had a buffet breakfast of toast, fruit, bacon, and ham. After breakfast Hugo brought us to the gear hut and lent us all rubber boots to wear since the area we would be visiting today was very muddy. After we were all geared up we left for our hike. We took a twenty-minute boat ride and then went on a two and a half hour hike. We saw a snake eating a frog which was very national geographic, especially because this particular type of snake only eats once every two weeks. We also saw a snake skeleton, insects, and lots of big cat footprints in the mud.

 It was very muddy. We were all slipping around, I was so glad I didn’t fall over, even though I came close several times. We got to a lake where we went on a boat ride and saw more Macaw (it was really impressive how lucky we were, usually people don’t see them as frequently as we did) and crocodiles.

After our boat ride we went to a campsite where we eat our picnic lunches. My feet were very sore at this point and sweaty from the rubber boots in the extreme heat. Hugo had recommended that we wear long socks, but I didn’t have any with me, blisters were definitely forming. The hike back to the boat took us an hour and forty-five minutes, we were all tired and hot at this point; we were relieved to finally get back to the lodge. I still didn’t have my key at this point and Hugo informed me that there wasn’t a spare anywhere at the lodge, so after dinner they would have to break open the wardrobe with an axe.  I felt horrible, but I needed my passport, laptop, phone and everything else to get back to the states. I went back to the room and searched a bit more for the key with no luck. I took a quick dip in the river again with the family, but I was nervous to stay in too long since my legs were cut up and filled with blisters from the rubber boots. I cold feel fish biting at my ankles which scared me a little. I prayed that I wouldn’t get any crazy infections, but the water felt very refreshing. Afterwards I went back to the room and showered and took a much-needed nap. Dinner was at 7pm and consisted of leek soup, steak, rice, and banana pudding. I have really been impressed with the food here. Hugo also told me the good news that my key had been found earlier that afternoon. I was so relieved that they didn’t have to break my wardrobe and to finally get my stuff back! At dinner we discussed plans for the morning. Since it takes three hours to get back to Puerto Maldonado we have to wake up super early. Breakfast in the morning will be at 5:30am and we would be leaving at 6am sharp. He warned us not to be late, I wondered if the family would be on time. I was a little annoyed that my flight wasn’t until 12:40pm and the family had an earlier flight and I would be waiting around the airport. I decided that I should try to hop on their flight and get into Cuzco a littler earlier and give myself more time to adjust to the altitude. I am starting to get really worried about the altitude. Last year I went to Denver (the mile-high city) and was wicked sick, Cuzco is almost two miles above sea level and altitude sickness is very common. I went back to my room and packed my bags and went to bed early at 9:30pm.

Bye for now.

Love,

Katie

Crocodile Hunting ...

Dec 15^th

I’m not sure if it was my malaria medicine or my thoughts of what I saw on the hike but I had horrible bug nightmares all night long. It was also approximately 95 degrees so I was constantly dripping with sweat and miserable. All in all it was a bad night of sleep for me. Hugo told us that he had a guest last week who couldn’t take the heat and insisted on being moved to a room with air-conditioning. Since the lodge doest have electricity changing rooms wasn’t an option so the man forfeited his whole trip and demanded to go back to the airport. I wasn’t quite at that level but I can understand what the guy went through. Hugo woke me up at 5:45am since my phone was locked in the wardrobe drawer and I could get to it. I met Hugo at the dining hall at 6am the time we were supposed to meet but the family was a bit slower moving and didn’t arrive until 6:15am. We had ham, bacon, eggs, toast and fruit for breakfast all of which was really good. We left the lodge at 7am and took a twenty-minute boat ride to a trail where we went on a one-hour hike. We saw all sorts of neat things like butterflies, birds, and tons of ants. We also saw so many neat trees like the pregnant palm and also some of the biggest trees I've ever seen in my life!

 We finally reached another dock where there were canoes parked. We jumped on a canoe and paddled around a while.

We saw more birds, huge “strangler” trees (which were really neat because we could stand inside of them)and more Macaws.

 It took us another hour to hike back to the boat and then another 20-minute boat ride to get back to the lodge. It was only 11am at this point, so we had some free time. I showered and napped. I set my alarm for 12:45pm so I would be on time for lunch at 1pm. Somehow I managed to sleep through the alarm and woke up at 1:11pm. I frantically got dressed and walked quickly to the dining room. The family was also running late, and I ended up beating them, so I didn’t feel so bad about oversleeping. For lunch we had chicken, tomatoes, fries, and papaya. After lunch we had more free time. I continued to look for my key, which was still missing and rested a bit more. From 4- 5:30pm I went to the river with the family. The river is runoff from the Amazon and the water is the same dark brown color. I was nervous about going in the water especially because I couldn’t see into it, but Hugo promised us that it was safe. I enjoyed relaxing in the cool water. The heat here is killer. The three boys in the family had a great time playing; I wasn’t as brave and only went up to my waist. Afterwards I showered and we met at 6:30pm for our evening activity, crocodile hunting! I guess hunting is the wrong word to use since we didn’t actually kill the crocodiles, more so just spotted them. At 6:30pm the Amazon is DARK. Without the help of lanterns and flight lights its nearly impossible to see anything. We all loaded onto the boat and turned off all of our lights and Hugo used a huge spot light to scan the banks of the river. Hugo claims that when the light shins on a crocodile the eyes shine red and its easy to spot and get close, however I have good eyes and I was looking hard and somehow never managed to spot any of the crocodiles until we were up close. Hugo even was able to catch a baby crocodile and bring it onto the boat for us each to hold. This was definitely the highlight of the trip for me! I loved every second of it!

It was really cool being on the Amazon at night because there was heat lightening that would illuminate the sky. It was beautiful. At one point we turned off the boat and all of the lights and just listened. Its clear most of the millions of living things that live in the jungle of the Amazon are nocturnal. I was so impressed at the sounds as we sat in complete darkness. We had a buffet style dinner with steak, soup, and lots of veggies. I was exhausted after getting up so early and having a full day of activities so I went to bed early at 9:30pm!

Bye for now.

Love,

Katie

Bring it on Amazon!

Dec 14^th

The alarm went off at 5am this morning, which was rough since I had only gotten a couple hours of sleep. I snoozed, which was a horrible idea when I had a plane to catch. I woke up at 5:20am in a panic that I was going to miss my 7am flight. I quickly packed everything, and was very thankful that I was the only one in the six person hostel room and I could turn on the light since it was still pitch black outside. I was able to checkout at 5:40am and the front desk called me a taxi since the hostel was in a residential area. I anxiously waited for the taxi, even though it only took 10 minutes it seemed like it took centuries. I checked into the airport in Lima and was happy that I didn’t miss the flight. The boarding had just begun when I arrived at the gate, so I knew I had a few minutes to spare and grabbed a quite yogurt parfait at Starbucks. I walked right onto the plane and discovered that someone was in my window seat. I was really looking forward to sitting by the window so I could lean against it and sleep, but the language barrier was annoying and I was so tired that I didn’t feel like fighting to get my seat, so I took an isle seat and feel quickly asleep before the plane even took off.

We made a quick stop in Cuzco where about half of the plane got off and only about ten people got on. I woke up and realized what was going on and moved to a window seat and continued my slumber. We arrived in Puerto Maldonado about 25 minute later at 9:40am. Puerto Maldonado is easily the smallest airport that I have ever seen a commercial jet pull into. The boarding area, check in area, and baggage claim was all in one rectangle shaped building with small barriers for walls to divide the sections. I grabbed my bag and was greeted by the Gap Adventures tour agent that I booked my trip with. He led me to the van where I met Hugo, who would be my tour guide for the entire trip. Hugo told me a lot about the Amazon and explained that it would still take a while to get to the lodge. We would be taking a one-hour drive to the dock, then a two-hour boat ride. The kicker for me was that we would need to wait for the rest of the group to get there before we could start this journey. I was annoyed that I had gotten up so early and now was waiting around for the rest of the group, they were arriving form Lima as well, and it would have made much more sense for the tour group to book us all on the same flight. I also found out that the rest of the group consisted for a family. I had mixed feelings at first, since I had hoped it would be people my age. The family ended up being great and I had a lot of fun with them over the four days that we were together. Hugo took me to the “office” in Puerto Maldonado where I was instructed to buy some water for the few days and kill time by walking around the local shops. Hugo then left and went to the airport to greet the family. I walked around and bought water and poked in and out of the shops but I didn’t need anything. I got many weird looks from the locals and I knew I looked very out of place. I returned after 45 minutes like I was instructed, only to find that I was locked out and Hugo was nowhere to be found. I waited for over an hour before someone in the office let me in. I sat and waited for another thirty minutes before Hugo returned form the airport. The plane that the family arrived on had been delayed so we all waited. Finally at 12:15pm Hugo arrived with the family and we loaded the van full with our bags, food, and people. I was very confused why there were so many locals on the bus with us, but I later figured out that they were guides and cooks who were going to the lodge to work. We finally left at 12:30pm. It was interesting for me because I already felt like Puerto Maldonado was a remote area, but I clearly had no idea what I was in for because as we started to drive the one hour drive to the dock I felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. On the drive Hugo explained that the lodge we were going to had no electricity. I was SHOCKED! I had assumed that Internet access would be out of the question, but never did I question whether or not I’d have electricity. I was instantly glad that I decided to lug my flash light this whole trip. We learned that our rooms would have three candles to illuminate the room. We also were told not to drink the water, and not to even use it to brush our teeth. We arrived at the boat dock at 1:30pm and loaded everything on the boat. The boat ride was exactly two hours. I really wasn’t sure what I expected the Amazon to look like, but the water was a dark chocolate color, which was definitely not what I was expecting. We had a cute little basket lunch prepared for us which consisted of chicken pieces, rice, two tiny bananas and a bottle of water.

I was starving after getting up so early and waiting around all day so I was excited to eat. We also lucked out and saw Macaw which are impressive birds found specifically in the rainforest and very rare to see. I instantly knew this trip was off to a good start!

We made a stop along the way and go out passports stamped which was exciting to me. During the stop we saw a monkey, which I loved.  

We arrived at the lodge at about 3pm and were greeted with fresh mango juice and were assigned out rooms. I was very excited that I would get my own room since I was a single traveler and was told that I would be paired with another single female. We learned that he lodge was nearly empty; there were only two other people in the whole lodge, which sleeps 65 guests. I went to my room and was surprised that it was a bungalow.

 There was a small porch with two hammocks hanging and inside was a cute little room all open air with just screens and curtains that could be closed.

 I unpacked and followed Hugo’s instructions to lock all of my valuables and food into the top drawer of the wardrobe so that animals wouldn’t get in. I showered, only to discover that the hot water in my bungalow didn’t work and that it was a dark brown color. I was so hot though that the cold water actually felt good. The heat was almost unbearable, close to 100 degrees. Hugo had invited me to a staff volleyball game that started at 4pm. I was exhausted and really wanted to nap, but I felt like I should go and meet some of the locals – maybe they would be cute? The game but it was interesting. I was the only female and the only non-Peruvian. I felt very out of place. I also couldn’t understand their Spanish so I simply watched on the side as the men played. At 6:30pm we headed to the “theater” to watch a slideshow about the jungle. The slideshow was an actual slide projector with a recorded tape that played along with it, Hugo had to make sure that he was paying attention or the sound and the slides wouldn’t coincide. At 7pm we went on our first nature night hike. We saw lots of cool things like spiders, lizards, fireflies, a tarantula, and tons of insects. I was scared about the idea of what I couldn’t see since we all only had flashlights.

 The family was very prepared and had all of the essential gear, the right kind of lightweight but long clothing to cover their arms and legs, headlamps, and water bottles. I had nothing and felt very unprepared. We went back to the lodge at 8pm and had dinner that consisted of sweet pea soup, steak, French fires, green beans and fruit pie for dessert. It was wonderful! I was impressed that they could have such high-class meals in the middle of the jungle. I went back to the room where I realized that I was missing the key for the wardrobe with all of my valuables in it. I panicked and tour the room apart searching for it. After forty-five minutes of looking I finally gave up. I was exhausted and passed out at 10pm.

Bye for now.

Love,

Katie