28 Aug, 2014
Our program officially began today and am blown away by how
much of Peru we have seen in the past twenty-four hours. From Hostal Alfonso
II, where we stayed in Cusco, we began our journey to the small town of Atalaya
via bus. As we made our approach eastward journey through the Andes mountains,
as far as we could see were vast valleys painted in shades of beige and spotted
with the green plots of Eucalyptus trees.
*The Eucalyptus tree is not native to Peru, but was
brought into the western Andes
from Australia as a profitable resource that is often
sold or traded between Peruvian communities."
We stopped
briefly at the pre-Incan chullpas (tombs) at Ninamarca. The tombs looked
nothing like I had expected, resembling little adobe huts rather than burial
sites.
There was a little girl with a
baby goat there and several other children trying to sell us bracelets handmade
from yarn. Their attempts were successful. I bought five.
We made another small stop at the
town of Paurcartambo, a small and uniquely colorful village with views of the
river rapids running through it. We were fed delicious egg sandwiches and coca
tea before resuming our expedition.
Seemingly
suddenly, the view from my seat on the bus transformed into lush green
vegetation. As our bus ride continued, the space between individual plants
became less and less until the vines, ferns, and all of the other species
unknown to me coalesced into a spectacular blanket of vibrant life and
occasional waterfalls. The level of species diversity made obvious by only one
quick glance through the window could easily overwhelm any biologist,
environmentalist, or nature lover I've ever known. (In a good way.) It is
impossible to become familiar with the endless number of species that exist
here in one lifetime which I find to be the most fascinating fact about this
part of the earth.
*The Amazon Rainforest is home to roughly 10% of all
the species on earth.
There are about 16,000 species of trees alone that
exist in the Amazon.
Our bus
carried us along the Manu Road which, despite recent repairs, is not for those
with a fear of heights. Manu road is an intensely long and winding, one-lane,
dirt pathway carved into the Andes, varying
about 3000m in elevation. The sheer mountainsides felt only feet from
our wheels and often left me nervously fidgeting despite the many years of
experience I knew our driver had. At a few hairpin turns, our driver asked us
to wait outside of the bus while he maneuvered the turn. This provided us with
opportunities to observe and explore the environment around us, which changed
with each stop. At one such spot, we found several cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola peruvianus) that we watched intently
for what felt like only seconds before we were asked to board the bus once
again.
We arrived
in Atalaya late this evening and were promptly served a delicious soup.
Suddenly, I heard a terrible noise. A very large cicada was frantically and
loudly floundering on the table behind me. This prompted my body to ignore
every logical thought and sprint across the room in an attempt to assert the
furthest possible distance between myself and this mammoth winged monster. I
don't entirely understand why I can't seem to quell my instinct to completely
freak out in response to large insects, but it's one of my priorities while
here in Peru to learn to coexist with all of the creepy crawlies (even the huge
ones that have wings).
I can hear
the Alto Madre de Dios river nearby but it's too dark right now to see it at
all. I'm one of many in our group that will be staying indoors tonight while
the others are sleeping a short walk away in their tents. I am partly wishing I
had chosen to sleep in my tent, but I haven't slept well since I left Seattle
and I don't want to risk another sleep-deprived day tomorrow.
Sara Grossie is a junior at the University of Washington Bothell pursuing a degree in Environmental Studies. Sara enjoys hiking and exploring Washington State Parks in her free time.
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