I had arranged with my program coordinator to do some volunteer work at a lodge at the edge of the Cloud Forest in Manu Rainforest. However, there was little to do and I spent most of the time in deep reflection and trekking with the lodge manager, Raul, learning about different species of plants, birds, butterflies and more. It was absolutely amazing...
The journey began on Saturday morning, but not without complications...a flat tire at the edge of Cusco was the first one...I knew I was up for an adventure!
The small van was filled with me, the cook, the guide, a french father and his two daughters and Dante the drive (who I quickly trusted my life to). After the tire was fixed we were once again on the road. A slight delay with the traffic police was the next incident, but that again was quickly rectified with a little payout.
We began on a usual road, trucking along at a good clip...then we turned off on to a dirt road that continued up and up and up and up and got bumpier and bumpier and bumpier...
this is when I had to breath, trust and know that my skilled driver didn´t plan on dying anytime soon and that I was going to be fine. It might have been the 10,000 foot drop that was right beside the edge of the car or maybe the fact that it was a one lane road... but two lane traffic...or maybe because it was one of the roads you only see in movies like "Jewel of the Nile" or "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom"...I don´t know, but at some point I had to go with it because there was no turning back. Once I did that...I saw the most amazing landscapes I have ever been witness to in my 37 years of life! It constantly changed and became more amazing as we got closer to the jungle...but I still had not idea.The entire ride took almost 10 hours. Twisting up and up and down and down and then back up and up...but I never missed a bit...my eyes and mouth were wide open with awe the entire time. We stopped at a few locations and saw a couple of sites, but mostly we stayed on the road.
We really could only get up to speeds of 40 mph because it was so incredible bumpy...so we had to stay the course.
At about 4pm we started to decent into the forest...it was beautiful...
I don´t think the pictures or my words can express the flora and fauna that started to surround me! At about half way in we ran into a slight traffic jam 
and had to wait until the truck was dug out before we could move on. This gave us some time to walk down the road and explore.
At about 6pm (it was pretty much dark) we arrived at the lodge. We struggled down to the path, across the river on our swing (see picture below). I couldn´t see much because there was NO electricity and the entire lodge was only lit by 4 candles...but in the morning this is what I saw...
My sleeping room
The main lodge
Inside the open air lodge
The swing for crossing the river and The swing in action with my two hosts on board
The first day I was there it rained all day, but it didn´t seem to matter. I just sat and watched the rain and thought. It was great! Later in the evening 14 Chileans on motorcycles showed up for the evening - they drove from Santiago to the edge of the jungle and now were heading back. I made some great connections for my trip to Santiago!
The second day I went on a short hike with Raul. We had to save the long trek until the third day to give time for the jungle to dry up a bit.
After the hike we look a 10 minute walk and a one hour taxi ride into the small city called Pilcopata to take the cook to the bus and to enjoy a few beers at the local bar (a small wooden shack with no windows)...
it was quite interesting...it is also interesting swinging across the river after a few beers...but I managed it.
The trek on the third day was amazing!! Here are a few of the highlights...
Crazy looking fauna...
This is a walking tree...it moves at least 2 ft. per year...amazing!
Me Jane...swinging through the jungle
Taking a dip under a local waterfall
and there is so much more but it takes forever to upload the pictures so I hope that those are enough of glimpse into what I saw! I have many more pictures of strange bugs, trees, butterflies in colors I have only dreamed of and flowers that I have only seen in pictures. Those will have to wait until I see all of you in person!
On Oct. 18th Dante arrived for my drive home. I was sad to leave the jungle. It left much more of an impression then I ever expected it would...I want to go back...go deeper into the land and meet more of the people who live there... I am very interested in a conservation project that is going on there and plan on looking more into the project...It is called Asprideq and is a non profit organization with the main objective being the protection and conservation of the environment...I believe it is prime time for this and I am curious as to how I can use my skills to help...the thought of doing this type of work fills me with so much more satisfaction then I have ever felt...I am just not quite sure how to sustain it...but it will come...there is time.
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