Our visit to Peru was better than we expected it to be. Peru is a wonderful, wonderful country! After a night in Lima, we spent the first seven days visiting Parque Nacional Manu, two days exploring and shopping in the city of Cusco (formerly the center of the Inca world), and nearly a week in the town of Urubamba (one hour outside of Cusco and situated in beautiful Sacred Valley). There is nothing quite like the rain forest and the Andes - both filled our eyes with beauty. We feel fortunate to have witnessed animals in the wild and to have met really good people. Illness kept us from visiting Machu Picchu, but this only means we will return one day. We left happy and fulfilled with our experiences, our feelings and with new friends in our hearts.

Here's more on the jungle: http://www.pbs.org/edens/manu/history.htm

People

• People stared at us and returned our smiles. When they saw our cameras, they motioned for us to move closer for a better photo. People were very warm and kind.
  
• Vendors of postcards, cigarettes, shoeshines and tourist trips were somewhat pesky, but they also went away easily after we said, "No, gracias." Many of these vendors were children. One small fry jokingly offered to trade one of his postcard for Tien's hiking boots.
  
• Everywhere we went, it was apparent that Peruvians work very hard. Many are farmers, rising at 3a to care for their crops. We saw untold citizens carrying large packs on their backs, most of which were women. Here is a hard working couple.
  
• Folk dance and music are taught at all levels of education. The many festivals are an occasion for children to dance in Cusco's streets wearing costumes.
  
• In the town of Pisac a Sunday market is held and is a gathering place for highland locals who bring their crops to barter for other food necessities - a real sense of sharing is present in this process.

• Small villages dotted the roads. There was livestock everywhere and children played in the streets.
  
• Remains of ancient pre-Inca and Inca structures stood out. We stopped at this Chanka burial site. The insides were empty.
  
• Jungle highlands have steep walls of densely filled forestry. It was BEAUTIFUL!
  
• Jungle lowlands are a tight growth of greenery. Why anyone would want to destroy a lush rainforest? Think of tall trees with long, narrow limbs and foliage at the very top (like Jurassic Park movies); they all fight for sunlight.
  
• Low water levels during the dry season exposed many trees lying on the riverbed, which made navigating a boat a real challenge.
  
• Oxbow lakes are formed from highly meandering rivers when rising and falling waters from successive wet and dry seasons cause the tight river bends to get cut across and ultimately isolated from the rest of the river.
  
• Terraced agriculture in the highlands means water must be hand carried to the crops in areas where water sources do not exist. Agricultural terraces built by Incas are still in use today.
  
• Rolling hills between Cusco and Sacred Valley looked like patchwork quilts of various crops. Craggy Andean peaks are capped with snow.

New Foods/Drinks We Consumed

• Alpaca meat was beefy and used in stews. Chunks of it were served with sauces over rice.
  
• Cuy (guinea pig) was oven-roasted; the skin is crispy; the meat tasted like duck with the texture of chicken - we LOVED this dish!
  
• Cuzqueña beer is available in white or black; Tien tried the white which has a light flavor.
  
• Huacatay is a fresh herb grown in the Cusco area and used in cooking. It is one of the main flavors for roasting cuy. It grows in the highland, and despite Lauren's persistent research, cannot be found anywhere except as a fresh herb in the areas we visited.
  
• Inka Cola is a popular soft drink that tasted like fizzy pineapple. Nice!
  
• Mate de coca is illegal in the U.S. Dried coca leaves are used extensively in Peru for tea or for chewing. The leaves are rich in vitamins, protein, calcium, iron and fiber, and are a mild stimulant.
  
• Pisco sour is a popular cocktail served to tourists; Tien said it tasted similar to a margarita.
  
• Quinoa, a grain, is served in cereal as well as in soups.
  
• Roasted corn kernels - they appear "gently popped" and are three times as large as our corn kernels.

Cusco Sightseeing

• Plaza de Armas is in the center of Cusco and is the central meeting place for all activities for locals and for tourists.
  
• Catedral on Plaza de Armas was built over a one hundred year period beginning 1559 and has a solid silver altar. Behind the silver altar is an ornately carved wood altar even more beautiful. The catedral has about a dozen small sanctuaries surrounding it. There is a Last Supper painting with a feast of cuy. The catedral has a meeting room with two rows of elaborately carved chairs which looked like a small Parliament.
  
• Inca walls exist everywhere as foundations of newer structures. The stones fit precisely and without mortar. It is impossible to fit a piece of paper between them! The Spanish tore down the Inca structures and built on the Inca foundations; an earthquake toppled the Spanish structures, but the Inca foundations were intact.
  
• El Templo del Coricancho was the most important Inca worshiping place. Iglesia Santo Domingo (Spanish) was built OVER the Inca structure after the Inca gold was stripped from the bricks, the precious stones removed and the solid gold statues were stolen, then the gold was melted into bullion to take back to Spain. Although it made us sick to know what was once there, the solid Inca workmanship remains.

Some Hardships

• Cold showers
  
• Cold weather (stormy nights with thunder and lightening during our Sacred Valley stay)
  
• El Gato Negro Magellan was home all alone...
  
• Public bathrooms at aeropuerto provide toilet tissue outside of stalls
  
• Rising early everyday was difficult (4:15a, 6:30a, 5a, 4:45a, 3:20a; 6:20a, 5a, 5:15a, 5a, 6:30a, 8a, 8a, 6:30a, 7:20a…), but it was necessary as the animals didn't wait for us to get out of bed!
  
• Toilets without seats at the tented campsite
  
• The lack of modern sewage processing systems in the cities of Cusco and Lima require all toilet paper to be disposed of in garbage cans, no matter how you used it. All flushed items go into a local river. There are septic tanks at Manu lodges and campsites.

Things We'll Miss Seeing/Breathing/Feeling

• Indian women's colorful native clothing
  
• Cool, crisp highland air
  
• Beautiful lush green jungle
  
• Peace and silence in the rain forest and on oxbow lakes
  
• A cup of mate de coca each morning (similar to Asian green teas)

The Magic of Life: Continuous energy of the jungle's regrowth - we can feel it around us!

Tidbits

• Bricks of mud and straw are used to build homes, thatching covers the roofs.
  
• Produce grows two to three times larger than in the U.S. You should see the basketball-sized papayas!
  
• Established forest on one bank of the Madre de Dios River erodes due to seasonal changes. The opposite bank is "pioneer forest" comprised of new growth of three distinct plant layers: tessaria, gynereum and cecropia, all of which eventually become the compost material to provide new growth as the jungle re-establishes.
  
• Two seasons: rainy season and dry season. During the rainy season, the river will rise up to 26 feet. During the dry season, it can be as low as four feet.
  
• American ornithologists' names are used for identifying birds. If you ask a native about a bird, he is likely to answer, "Doesn't taste good".
  
• Cowbirds lay their eggs in the vacant nests of the Oropendula. If Oropendula eggs exist there, the Mother Oropendula will return and sit on both eggs. Cowbird eggs hatch quickly and the chicks are skilled at pushing out unhatched Oropendula eggs. Mother Oropendula returns and raises the Cowbird chicks, unaware of the duplicity.
  
• Howler monkey groups are led by a dominant male who howls like a windstorm to mark his group's territory for half an hour (from 5-5:30a!) and the sound can be heard up to two miles away. The females in the group "bark" in response. To avoid competition, the dominant male eats his male offspring.
  
• The flag of the Incas is a rainbow. Turn it upside down and it becomes what we know as the gay pride flag.
  
• Termites are blind.
  
• Many birds mate for life. If one dies, the mate remains alone.
  
• If you agitate a Wooley Monkey, he or she will urinate on you.
  
• We had vivid dreams every night of this vacation. They stopped when we returned home.
  
• In the city of Cusco, sheep were being herded on the sidewalk.
  
• Noted ornithologist Daniel Blanco was a passenger on our small plane leaving Parque Nacional Manu. Our departure was delayed by four hours due to a flat tire.
  
• Tourism is a popular subject in universities. Eight years ago, it wasn't.
  
• Children wearing brightly colored native clothing and flowers in their hats carry tiny lambs in their satchels and offer to be photographed for a fee.
  
• Cuscanians don't like the city of Lima because of its poor air quality and lack of sunlight. Lima people tell us they might have three months of brightness during each year. The remainder of the year is overcast and grey with fog and pollution.
  
• Although there are handfuls of American fast food places, we only saw Dunkin' Donuts and Subway Sandwich.
  
• Cool weather in the Cloud Forest means no mosquitoes!
  
• Lauren had the best hot chocolate and cinnamon drink EVER at moni café in Cusco. They have fabulous food. Moni is owned/run by Michael and Ester, of Britain and Peru, respectively. We left moni with two new friends and happy stomachs. This little restaurant is a must for great food and fine people.

Niceties

What GOOD Luck!

• Two colorful butterflies allowed me to hold them on my fingertip!
  
• During lunch on the patio at Cloud Forest Lodge, Tien opened a bird field guide and asked our guide Alvaro, "What is this bird like?" Just then, Alvaro pointed skyward as an example flew overhead!
  
• Unusually cold weather kept mosquitoes at bay. As the mosquito eggs have a four-day incubation period, we encountered less than the usual amount. Phew!
  
• Ears of corn which grow misshaped (i.e. two or more ears within the same husk) are kept inside a farmer's home as good luck for next year's crop.
  
• One type of traditional doll is made entirely of hand-woven materials in natural colors in various natural shades. They are burned in offering ceremonies for various needs such as crops, health, livestock, etc.
  
• Sara-sara seeds are used as beads to bring good luck as well as to ward away evil.

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