Tales from South America

Two years ago today I jumped on a plane at six in the morning for a three-week trip to South America. Halfway through my junior year of college I learned that my school would be taking a study-abroad trip to Peru and Ecuador the following summer. The minute I saw the poster, I was there. No questions asked. I didn't care if I spent my life's savings to make the trip happen. What intrigued me first was traveling to two countries I had never been to and were known for their rich indigenous culture, diversity, and astounding geography. What caught my attention next was what I would be doing while I was there: backpacking to Machu Picchu, hiking in the Amazon Rainforest, white-water rafting in Ecuador, and visiting the Galapagos Islands.

Our first destination was Cusco, Peru, an ancient city with a starting elevation of 11,000 feet. Cusco would serve as our base camp for the trek to Machu Picchu; the adventure began immediately. At dinner one night I accidentally ordered a bottle of wine for myself. The waiter even went through the whole routine of showing me the bottle, pouring a little in my glass and waiting nervously for my approval. I didn't snap until he left the bottle on the table, still three quarters full. So much for the 5 years of Spanish in middle and high school... We were due to wake up at 4:00 the next morning to begin the four-hour car ride to the trailhead. I was supposed to live out of my medium-sized backpack for the next four days so I stuffed the bottle of wine in my duffel bag, expecting to drink it in celebration when we returned from the hike, but that never happened. The maids got a nice tip.

On the morning of the second day of the trek we awoke to the soft, hurried voices of our guides, Carlos and Edgar, repeating "wake up time" and greeting us with hot cups of coca tea (derived from the same plant used to make cocaine). It was 5:00 in the morning. We were camped at the top of the pass on the Salkantay Trail at 15,000 feet. When I stepped out of the tent there was a thin layer of frost on the outside. The day before we spent 14 hours on the trail and were told we had traveled a distance of seventeen miles, though I'm pretty sure it was more than that. Before we left the trailhead, Carlos and Edgar had told us that normally people take five days to complete this hike, whereas we were going to try to cover the same distance in three, and planted the seed in our minds that we were in over our heads. Throughout the three days we spent on the Salkantay trail there were several instances where the group doubted their preparedness for such an endeavor. Within the first hour of starting out, two people in our group got such bad altitude sickness that they had to turn back. It was a rather interesting beginning to what many had thought would be "a walk in the woods." When we ended up not being able to hike all the way to the ruins, the alternative was a nighttime ride through the Peruvian jungle in the back of a fruit truck, which was undoubtably more appealing at the time, not to mention exciting. Machu Picchu was nothing less than spectacular. The expanse of the citadel stretches far beyond what the pictures perceive. I want to do it all over again someday. 

We then traveled to the town of Puerto Maldonado in eastern Peru, where we boarded a boat that would take us up the Tambopata River to the Posada Amazonas Lodge. Again, we were only allowed one small bag (presumably our backpacks), so we ditched our luggage at the Rainforest Expeditions headquarters. The boat dropped us off on a section of muddy river bank next to a rickety staircase and a trail. Ten minutes later we arrived at the Posada Amazonas. The hotel was not what anyone had expected, but it was by far the coolest place I've ever stayed at. There is no electricity in the hotel except for the main lobby and the dining building. Everything is built above ground to protect the rainforest ecosystem. The hotel is almost completely open to the outside, and inside there are no doors, just curtains for privacy. One whole side of my room was exposed to the forest. In the bathroom I was able to see straight through the slated floor to the ground below.

Seal on the Galapagos Islands

Since the trip was a summer study abroad class, I had an assignment to create a book based on my experience of the trip. Upon my return, I made a photo essay book titled The Spiritual Landscape, which presented images in three sections: Lands Untouched, Civilization, and People.