July 1st - Puno and Sillustani ruins

This morning, we walked to the Plaza de Armas and went window shopping down a pedestrian street.  I bought a little rain stick from a music shop...it has a "witch doctor" looking face with llama teeth in the mouth!

Then we went to the central market and bought queso and pan to make a cheap lunch!

This afternoon we joined a tour group for Sillustani ruins.  On the way, we stopped for a view of Lake Titicaca!

At the ruins, we saw chullpas, which are stone towers erected to bury the dead!  We also saw another lake that has a higher elevation than Lake Titicaca, but is only navigable by small boats.  Standing in the middle of Joyce and me is a lovely lady named Devika from New York (originally from India).

On our way back to Puno from Sillustani, we stopped at the home of a family who showed us how the inside of their living complex is set up.  We found out that they mix clay with salt and water and eat it with potatoes, cheese, etc.  It helps coat their intestines and provides some essential minerals.  The big stone pictured on the right is used for grinding grain such as quinoa into flour.

They had many animals such as alpacas, llamas, huanaco, cuy, and pigs.  I think the furry guy in the middle is "Chubacka"!

June 30th - Travel to Puno on the Inka Express

Today, we spent 10 hours on the Inka Express bus which made 5 stops along the way from Cusco to Puno.  Our first stop was a visit to Andahuaylillas town where we saw a beautiful church they call "the Sistine of the Americas". Of course, the inside was filled with frescoes, silver and gold-leaf detail...no photos allowed!

Then we toured Raqchi, pre-Inca ruins.

We made a 5 minute stop at the highest point of our journey to take photos of the Andean mountains.

In Pucara, we saw vicuñas which have the softest and most expensive wool.  They can only be sheared once every two years.  The statues of the bulls are symbolic of Pachamama (left) and Pachatata (right).  Some indigenous people have these on their roofs for health and prosperity and good luck.

Finally, we reach Lake Titicaca which means "great cut"....but I just like saying it "Titicaca, Titicaca, Titicaca!  A guy must have named this lake in my opinion!

June 29th - Travel back to Cusco

See June 25th in reverse...picturing the Gran Prix through the Andes. 

So we departed the camp at 5:30am in dense fog, riding with the current of the Madre de Dios thus our trip was only three hours to Colorado Village (instead of 5).

Here are some indigenous people on the banks of the river.

At Colorado Village we piled into a minivan (5 of us plus the minivan driver) and drove down the road with the infamous bridges.

Next we got in another boat to cross a river to Puerto Carlos. Mind you they are loading and unloading food, supplies, backpacks, fuel, etc. each time we change transportation.  Pictured here are our "Tres Amigos" who have been with us for the last 5 days: Abraham, our guide, is on the left; Agripino, our driver, is center; Jorge, the chef, is on the right.

At Puerto Carlos we locate a banos for much needed "relief"...complete with dog and satellite dish!

Agripino must have a hot date back in Cusco by the speed he is going through the Andes!

Here are some more views from the car window!

And alpacas were everywhere!

We should be back in Cusco by 7pm

June 28th - Maquisapayoj Trails

Today we hiked around the camp trails...we observed lots of fungi....

Beautiful dragonflies, butterflies and cicada mud spouts which contained the larvae...

And we saw black spider monkeys, white front capuchins and saddleback tamarinds up in the trees while we walked.  See if you can find the monkeys in these photos.  My camera does not zoom like Joyce's camera does, so it will be a challenge for you!

We went on a late afternoon hike and saw more black spider monkeys and a cute litte frog!

Then we climbed a platform that was 30 meters tall...we had a view of the canopy...and two white-throated toucans posed in a tree just for us!

We stayed up there until the sunset!

Our clothes are so sweaty and smelly!  They may walk off by themselves!  

June 27th - Blanco Lake

Today we left at 6 am and hiked to Blanco Lake where we floated on a pontoon boat around the lake.  Can you see the leaf-cutter ants?  In the roof of the boat dock, there were lots of long-nosed bats!

The reflections on the still water of the lake were beautiful.  Joyce added many birds to her list!

In the bottom right corner you can see the head of a great Caiman!  We hear that he likes dogs and even ate a tourist who decided to go for a swim!  True story!  Yikes!

As we were heading back, a band of squirrel monkeys and brown capuchin monkeys put on a show for us complete with "high wire" acts and trapeze swinging and jumping!  Hilarious!

Our clothes reeked and needed to be peeled off when we returned.  The air is steamy and the Mosquitos and ants "love" me...makes me feel so special!

June 26th - Macaw Clay Lick and Tapir Lick

We left at 5 am in the dark, following Abraham with our head lights for the Macaw Claylick.  First came the parrots to eat on the clay.

Later on came the Macaws!

Afterwards, we walked to a great Kapok Tree and climbed up 227 steps (42 meters) to a platform on the top. Can you make out the camouflaged bird?  It's the Great Potoo!

Then we boarded a pontoon boat and floated around Camungo Lake observing many birds and the otters.  In the top right picture you can see the great Kapok tree that we had climbed.

One of the birds pictured here is the Hoatzin.  The large bird on the right is the aptly named Horned Screamer!  The large rodents are capybaras.  Oh, and the butterflies are beautiful!

We returned to the camp after sunset!  After dinner, we hiked an hour in the dark to a tapir lick.

We were lucky, a tapir was just finishing up his evening Claylick!

June 25th - Manu Jungle

   

We were picked up at 3 am and driven over the Andean Mountains (highest pass - 15,583 feet) and then we were fed breakfast on the side of the road. Abraham our guide, Jorge the cook, Agripino the driver took very good care of us....although, being a male has distinct advantages when using the "wilderness facilities"!

We descended through the cloud forest and crossed the Inambari River by boat and then were driven in another vehicle to Puerto Carlos.  On the way, we crossed many questionable "bridges".  One of the bridges had been totally washed out so we walked across some boards while the driver carefully maneuvered the truck across two boards.

At Puerto Carlos, we boarded another boat and road 5 hours up the Madre de Dios to the "camp".

We sleep under mosquito nets and have candles for light after 6pm.