My jungle baptism

Yesterday I came back from the most amazing trip. Monday morning Maricarmen, her son Noicolay, myself, a guide Miguel, and a local family who works for Maria (Americo, Alicia and their daughters Kaitlyn and Vivanda) left Pilcopata in Maria's wooden motorboat--all pictures coming on Sunday, when I'll be back in Cusco. We went down the river all morning, with gorgeous jungle landscapes on the river banks, and thankfully Americo and Miguel who knew the ways 'cos otherwise it's impossible to tell one river from the next. At times we had to get off the boat and push it because the rivers are very shallow (they are not navigable dwith such big boats during the dry season). The boat ride there is dedicated to Lorenzo (he knows why--and his technique was not applied, but almost!)

We reached Palotoa, an indigenous Machichenga community, around 1 pm, and they offered us their school to sleep and cook. In my infinite naivity at first I could hardly imagine how the native must feel, living in their wooden houses, with no electricity, getting water from the river, and living in the middle of the jungle. After spending a few hours there, eating lunch, making juice with the coconas (fruits that look like kakis and taste like lemons) they gave me, swimming in the river, and watching the boys playing soccer, I was wandering what better childhood can a child have. Most people in Palotoa have studies and have been to Lima and Cusco many times, but about 80% return. Understandably.

That night we slept in the school, and it poured rain like I've never seen. The next morning we went upstream by boat for another hour and reached a hotel they build with funds from Manu National Park for sustainable "pro-poor tourism" (this is the politically correct name these days for locally-run tourism benefiting local communities). The hotel is beautiful and so is the place. The natives went fishing and caught 12 huge fish, with which we made a soup for lunch. In the soup you boil the head and tail--and for all the Americans disgusted at teh sight of a fish's head: they made me eat it, saying it's the best part, and I have to admit it tastes good.
In the afternoon we went for a walk in the jungle and we saw two red birds with long tails dancing; then we bathed in the river. At night we ate the fish's bodies: the best I've had in my life, with local yucca (a type of potato). As I provide the western tourist's point of view I got to go on all the the jungle walks, and talk to all the community leaders with Maricarmen, to give them suggestions on how to operate their sustainable tours. And for the advice I was able to give I can only thank my parents for all the travelling I've done, hotels I've seen and tours I've been on.

Yesterday morning we walked in the jungle from the hotel back to Palotoa (a 2 hour walk), on which I saw all sorts of gorgeus plants, flowers, and huge butterflies with eyes on their wings (I didn't think they really existed...). Then we came back to Pilcopata by boat and I could not believe my luck in landing this job (it will cost tourists over $100/day to travel to Palotoa). I was lying on the boat in the sun, enjoying the landscape, and talking to Maricarmen about how I could live this jungle life for a while, completely removed from the world, fishing, growing yucca, bathing in the river. She told me about how she worked in communities in the jungle with the priest from Pilcopata for 4 years, she wanted to go and live the easy life in the jungle and the father told her that couldn't be her life, she'd have to work hard during her life, for herself and others. I think the same is true for me. On our way we stopped at an island in the middle of the river, where bananas were growing, and picked 2 bunches (about 200 bananas), then we stopped to try to fish with dynamite in a lagoon (you make the explosive go off under water and it kills the fish around it), but they caught no fish.

We got back to Pilcopata last night, and I don't like it. It will be interesting to work here, but it's not city and it's not jungle--and the bugs are eating me alive. Back to Cusco on Saturday!