Three days in the jungle may have cured me from jungle fever. After leaving my new friend behind, Jenny the travel agent's friend came to pick me up at the hostel. She asked me to send her immigration papers to her sister in California. What? I said yes but found it pretty remarkable she trusted me with such sensitive information.
She called a cab and we picked up my jungle buddies Nabeel and Varun from Australia (although they are Sri Lankan and Indian, respectively). We took an overnight bus where there were supposedly "camas" but it was a reclining chair. The bus was broiling hot. The heater was on the entire time! We got picked by a cab driver when we arrived at Puerto Maldonado. It was a sweltering, unforgiving heat. The temperature said 28 degree celsius but the humidity made it feel like it was 1000 degrees.
We took a 25 minute boat ride to our resort in the jungle. I got my own room, with my own hammock. Although I was never really alone, given all the creepy crawlers that made their way into my room. The first day we had an impossible itinerary - 3km walk and canoeing in a river to the lake. Lunch made it worth it. Chicken, rice, olives, and egg wrapped in a banana leaf. Disneyland was pretty spot on with the jungle cruise. But I must admit, it was peaceful. We ate great food, and I got to nap on a hammock and fall asleep in silence sprinkled with jungle sounds.
The group that stayed in the jungle was hilarious and who would you least expect. Me (I love being clean), the Australian party boys (Varun is a salesman for a renewable energy company and Nabeel is getting an advanced degree in workers' compensation management. I'm pretty sure I saw through his shirt that Nabeel has nipple piercings, so there's that), a German girl from Iran that works in IT, and another law student from Germany named Verena Rudolph. She will also be finding out her results this November like me. Her friend Paula was probably the most into the jungle but even she hit her limit.
Day 2 we kayaked to monkey island. Everyone was two per kayak, except for me, Varun, and Nabeel. It was pretty silly, our paddling was a disaster, and we were the last to make it to the island. Three months out of the year, monkey island is underwater so the monkeys swing from tree to tree. The monkeys got a little too close for comfort for me. We also saw some "natives" where they face-painted us (I was horrified), sang songs, had us dance and play games, and shoot a bow and arrow. It was cultural appropriation at its finest and it made me uncomfortable.
That night we went on a night hike to see tarantulas, tree lizards, and jumping spiders. Jonathan the tour guide kept hitting on me and it was very barf worthy. No gracias dude. He asked if I was married and when I said no he asked if I was a lesbian. Classy!
Day 3 we fished, did the canopy bridge, and zip lined! All in all it was fun, minus the mosquito bites. They ate the part where my ankle hits my sock. I must have missed it with the insect repellant. I doused myself in Off and sunscreen the entire time! The jungle made me miss Cusco.
We had a final dinner with the boys and Maryam and we drank beers and talked shit before the bus. That final boat ride off the jungle/Amazon felt like what it must feel like to get kicked off Big Brother. The German girls missed their earlier bus and joined us. Our bus left 30 minutes early. How is that possible/even a thing? We were supposed to get in at 6am but ended up getting in at 8:45am since the bus kept breaking down. Somehow the bus ride home was worse than the way in. I was dirty, sticky, and the bus was even hotter. I vaguely remember Verena coming up to us when we were sleeping, freaking out about how it was dark and the bus was broken down and we were in the middle of nowhere but I couldn't be bothered. It did make me laugh when she kept saying "Where are we? Why won't anyone say what's going on?" She was right, there was definitely no "We're sorry for the interruption" announcements.
We had planned to get breakfast, but I had to go back to the hostel to briefly steal their internet, grab my pack, and take a taxi to the airport. I (of course) had accidentally thrown away my plane ticket that Jenny bought for me from Cusco to Lima. At the airport I had to check with every teller to find my flight. It was the last one I checked! He told me I was the last one to check in (but pssssh I had fifteen minutes to spare). The best part was when I went to the Peru tourist info booth and told the guy I lost my ticket. He was definitely the same guy I spoke to at Machu Picchu when I lost my train ticket. Same guy! If he remembered, he probably thought I was nuts (when really I'm just careless).
I cried on the plane to Lima (isn't there an SNL skit about that?) thinking about what a year 2017 will be. I'm in my late 20s now! I landed in Lima, got a cab for 50 soles, unpacked and immediately headed to the water. There were so many families out. I walked up and down the beach, treated my mosquito bites to salt water and watched the surfers, paragliders, and circus people bouncing/balancing/backflipping in the park. Miraflores is beautiful. I'm not ready for my adventure to end. Real life is too hard. I'm happy I get to see Morgan, Andy, and Ryan when I get home. I've had a wonderful, enriching time. I'm leaving Peru inspired and ready for change, recognizing the hard stuff has to come before the good stuff.
Querencia!
She called a cab and we picked up my jungle buddies Nabeel and Varun from Australia (although they are Sri Lankan and Indian, respectively). We took an overnight bus where there were supposedly "camas" but it was a reclining chair. The bus was broiling hot. The heater was on the entire time! We got picked by a cab driver when we arrived at Puerto Maldonado. It was a sweltering, unforgiving heat. The temperature said 28 degree celsius but the humidity made it feel like it was 1000 degrees.
We took a 25 minute boat ride to our resort in the jungle. I got my own room, with my own hammock. Although I was never really alone, given all the creepy crawlers that made their way into my room. The first day we had an impossible itinerary - 3km walk and canoeing in a river to the lake. Lunch made it worth it. Chicken, rice, olives, and egg wrapped in a banana leaf. Disneyland was pretty spot on with the jungle cruise. But I must admit, it was peaceful. We ate great food, and I got to nap on a hammock and fall asleep in silence sprinkled with jungle sounds.
The group that stayed in the jungle was hilarious and who would you least expect. Me (I love being clean), the Australian party boys (Varun is a salesman for a renewable energy company and Nabeel is getting an advanced degree in workers' compensation management. I'm pretty sure I saw through his shirt that Nabeel has nipple piercings, so there's that), a German girl from Iran that works in IT, and another law student from Germany named Verena Rudolph. She will also be finding out her results this November like me. Her friend Paula was probably the most into the jungle but even she hit her limit.
Day 2 we kayaked to monkey island. Everyone was two per kayak, except for me, Varun, and Nabeel. It was pretty silly, our paddling was a disaster, and we were the last to make it to the island. Three months out of the year, monkey island is underwater so the monkeys swing from tree to tree. The monkeys got a little too close for comfort for me. We also saw some "natives" where they face-painted us (I was horrified), sang songs, had us dance and play games, and shoot a bow and arrow. It was cultural appropriation at its finest and it made me uncomfortable.
That night we went on a night hike to see tarantulas, tree lizards, and jumping spiders. Jonathan the tour guide kept hitting on me and it was very barf worthy. No gracias dude. He asked if I was married and when I said no he asked if I was a lesbian. Classy!
Day 3 we fished, did the canopy bridge, and zip lined! All in all it was fun, minus the mosquito bites. They ate the part where my ankle hits my sock. I must have missed it with the insect repellant. I doused myself in Off and sunscreen the entire time! The jungle made me miss Cusco.
We had a final dinner with the boys and Maryam and we drank beers and talked shit before the bus. That final boat ride off the jungle/Amazon felt like what it must feel like to get kicked off Big Brother. The German girls missed their earlier bus and joined us. Our bus left 30 minutes early. How is that possible/even a thing? We were supposed to get in at 6am but ended up getting in at 8:45am since the bus kept breaking down. Somehow the bus ride home was worse than the way in. I was dirty, sticky, and the bus was even hotter. I vaguely remember Verena coming up to us when we were sleeping, freaking out about how it was dark and the bus was broken down and we were in the middle of nowhere but I couldn't be bothered. It did make me laugh when she kept saying "Where are we? Why won't anyone say what's going on?" She was right, there was definitely no "We're sorry for the interruption" announcements.
We had planned to get breakfast, but I had to go back to the hostel to briefly steal their internet, grab my pack, and take a taxi to the airport. I (of course) had accidentally thrown away my plane ticket that Jenny bought for me from Cusco to Lima. At the airport I had to check with every teller to find my flight. It was the last one I checked! He told me I was the last one to check in (but pssssh I had fifteen minutes to spare). The best part was when I went to the Peru tourist info booth and told the guy I lost my ticket. He was definitely the same guy I spoke to at Machu Picchu when I lost my train ticket. Same guy! If he remembered, he probably thought I was nuts (when really I'm just careless).
I cried on the plane to Lima (isn't there an SNL skit about that?) thinking about what a year 2017 will be. I'm in my late 20s now! I landed in Lima, got a cab for 50 soles, unpacked and immediately headed to the water. There were so many families out. I walked up and down the beach, treated my mosquito bites to salt water and watched the surfers, paragliders, and circus people bouncing/balancing/backflipping in the park. Miraflores is beautiful. I'm not ready for my adventure to end. Real life is too hard. I'm happy I get to see Morgan, Andy, and Ryan when I get home. I've had a wonderful, enriching time. I'm leaving Peru inspired and ready for change, recognizing the hard stuff has to come before the good stuff.
Querencia!
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