Robyn in Peru: Trip to the Amazon

DAY ONE

I've barely slept in days. Not because I'm freaking out excited about leaving for the jungle today, but because I've been trying to get everything work-wise set in motion before I drop off the planet for 10 days. Where we are going there is no cell phone reception. No text messaging. No e-mail. Nothing to keep me in contact with my site or work life.

It will just be the six of us and the Amazon.

DAY TWO

On the bus ride from Chiclayo to Tarrapoto they gave us barf bags. I wasn't sure whether to be frightened or not. It had been raining hard, and landslides were a definitely possibility.

We lucked out. In 18 hours we went from desert coast through the mountains and into the high jungle. Again, I hardly slept through the night. Sarah and I froze as we went through the highest passes, making it impossible to fall asleep. That and the movie they showed before lights out was I AM LEGEND, which terrifies the gajeebas out of me. I clung to Jenny's sleeve the whole ride.

But now we're here in Tarrapota, safe, in one piece, and barf bags unused (though the reason they gave them out super obvious). We got to the hotel and heard that another Peace Corps group left the day before we did and got caught in the aftermath of a landslide. They were stuck on the bus for 28 hours.

We were exhausted but decided to go to a waterfall that is apparently quite the tourist attraction. Someone (*coughRyanandJennycough*) decided it was a good idea to jump from a landing a few meters above the pool at its base. The water was FREEZING. But I jumped! Even though I was terrified. I want to start this trip off right.

DAY THREE

To get to a place called the Blue Lagoon, we had to cross a river. The whole ride takes two hours, even though it's really only about 30 minutes away. The reason is because there's no bridge. Cars and buses form a queue to get on a ferry that takes them across before they can continue on the road. Only three vehicles are allowed at a time with its passengers.

The "ferry" is nothing more than three large canoes tied together with boards on top and three motors propelling them. Three men man the motors, pushing forward as much as they can before the current can pull them back.

We saw a long cable stretching across the water.

"What's that?" We asked our driver.

"The ferry used to be connected to that line, but it flipped over and sank." He said. "There was too much weight."

"When was this?" We ask ... expecting anything but the answer we were given.

"Last week."

Our eyes darted the van full of beefed up soldiers in line in front of us.

As we crossed, we saw a line jut from the cable and into the water mid-stream, the weight from the sunken load pulling on the cord making it bow.

Thankfully, we made it across safely and to the lagoon, where we swam and ate boiled plantains with peanuts and cheese.

On our way back, we didn't have to wait as long.

Back at the hotel, we showered in ice-cold water. I tugged on long sleeves, and we headed to a restaurant to try local food like paiche and juanes.

We're beginning to feel like we don't speak Spanish anymore. All the words are different, and we can barely understand the menu. When in doubt, we assume it's the name of a fish.

We ordered a sampler platter and some juanes – a corn/rice mash-up cooked inside a banana leaf with chicken or pork. I've had it before in Lima. But this one was terrible. The sampler, on the hand, was amazing. Venison, ham, and something that tasted a lot like bacon. I'm beginning to feel very Peruvian. I barely noticed the lack of vegetables.

There was some confusion after we got back about whether there would be a boat the next day. I guess we'll have to see.

We've decided to make a video log of our adventure.

DAY FOUR

We left this morning at 4 a.m. The owner of the hostel where we were staying woke us up at 3:30 and asked why we weren't ready to go yet. She sounds like she's singing when she talks, and it works like a lullaby. I'm so tired.

We took a car to a town where we could catch a boat to the reserve. The daughter of our guide met us at the docks and fed us breakfast before grabbing our hammocks to hang up in the boat.

It's Easter Sunday, and the regular boat wasn't going downriver. Instead we were shuffled into a smaller one with the 120 other travelers leaving today.

We walked onto the boat and nearly were decapitated by hammocks. At least 40 hammocks were hanging in a room about 40ft x 20ft. Everywhere, people were tucked inside their hammocks and sitting along the walls. Luggage piled up below the series of sunken cloths, and we had to duck, crawl, and backbend to get into ours in the center of the space.

Jenny had the great idea of going head to toe so that we could fit. Anytime we had to go to the bathroom, we had to do the dance again. Ducking, sliding, shimmying our way to the back ledge.

There was a kitchen though. And they fed us rice and fried potatoes with a small piece of chicken. Our guide's wife traveled with us, and she made us jelly sandwiches.

We slept or read most of the day, stopping hourly to make a video log. Kids were climbing beneath us asking us questions. I don't think they've ever seen a gringo before. Or at least not so many. They liked playing hide and seek, despite not being able to move from our positions in the hammocks.

We discovered around hour 5 (of 10) that we could leave the main cabin and venture up to the roof of the boat to get some air. I nearly slipped trying to climb up and had to get help from some men who were laughing at me.

Tania hung her feet off the edge for a while, but a guy told her to stop.

"There are things in there that will bite your feet right off," he said.

She laughed. He didn't.

"No ... really."

It was a beautiful view of the river. We came close to the shore, and I could hear the frogs singing inside the forest.

We landed in a town called Lagunas that's near the reserve where we'll be canoeing and camping. Our guide met us at the docks and took us to a hotel where we're sleeping 3 to a double room. It doesn't matter much though because we leave early tomorrow for the reserve where we'll present our guides with a list we've made.

TO DO: