Travel Archives - Page 27 of 41

Africa Ethiopia Ethiopia Trip 2015

Village Life & Camels outside Harar

Today i left behind the charming bustle of Harar and went into the countryside. We drove for about an hour in a taxi. (I don’t think I’ve mentioned the taxis here and they’re great. You have blue tuk tuks and then these gorgeous bright blue and white Peugeots, some with fins. They look like they are from the early 1950s, but they have driver’s side air bags, so obviously not. I really like them though.)

Anyway, we drove for about an hour in this vintage looking Peugeot. It was a beautiful day and i watched the scenery go by, past deserty expanses and villages, as well as many herds of goats, sheep, cows, and camels. There were lots of people outside by the road, selling apples or tending to the livestock. It never fails: everyone we drove by who looked up either shouted, waved, smiled, or stared at me. Mostly the responses were friendly. Often the children will shout “you you you” or “faranji” (foreigner) until you pay attention to them.

Anyway, we drove through the “valley of marvels” where there are unusual rock formations perched on the top of small hills.

We then drove to Babile (a town) and onward to a village. We parked and walked through the village, which was great. It was hot and sunny and we could see people’s homes and, to some degree, how they live.

We crossed a field and then began hiking down the rocky slope into the valley below, past cacti, large flying insects, and then yet more herds of grazing livestock.

The people here, of whom i took few photos, looked and dresed differently than most in Harar. I was sold they were Somali. They spoke Somali and dressed in a slightly more traditional way (actually, for all i know, it is progressive, but it looks traditional). The wore colorful scarves and load of necklaces, and the men wore tartan sarongs.

We walked across the valley past ant hills – really more like towers – some more than 5 feet tall, until we reached the other side, where we started climbing. The climb wasn’t terribly difficult, but it was blazing hot and i, not knowing we were embarking on such an adventure, had left my water in the car. It was all worth it however when we reached the top and found about two dozen camels grazing.

I was so happy to see them just hanging out, not working, or dressed up for riding or show. I love camels, i have always found them to be sweet and peaceful and i love their kind faces.

We rested there for a while before hiking back. When we got back to the village, i took ff my sweat drenched army coat and cardigan (listen, it was cold when i left the hotel and i didn’t know i’d be scrambling over rocks); this attracted a lot of attention from the women who were surprised snd concerned about my tattoos. I covered up as soon as i cooled off. I get enough attention as it is.

Back at the car, we (me, my guide, our driver, and some random guy we picked up) were stopped by two policemen. The conversation sounded angry, but it was in Amharic, so i couldn’t tell. I did hear the word “Canada” twice, which made me nervous. I noticed that the cops were armed only with sturdy wooden sticks, not guns. Anyway, as it turned out, the driver’s cell phone was stolen while we were hiking. This led to a bit of a detour as we drove back to Babile to go to the police station. Now, to me the police station looked like a cafe. It was just a dingy two room building with a porch on which a bunch of guys were drinking coffee.

This suited me just fine. I had several coffees and cigarillos, chatted with a few strangers and just watched life go by. That should be an option that guides offer in addition to taking tourists to noteworthy places – they should just take them along as they run errands. It’s great. You get to see stuff you wouldn’t ordinarily. Just regular every day stuff.

We drove back to Harar, apparently not recovering the phone, and i went to a person’s house for a typical Ethiopian lunch (50 cents). It’s weird in Harar. There are lots of places that call themselves restaurants, but serve only coffee and beer. There are few legit restaurants, but most of the places where you can enjoy a meal is in the yard of someone’s home, where they cook and serve fresh food and coffee to locals and travelers lucky enough to be shown the way.

That was it for me today. I’m exhausted and enjoying a cigar and a parade of tiny coffees with a cigar outside at my hotel, watching lightening in the distance.

Africa Ethiopia Ethiopia Trip 2015

Hyenas in Harar

One of the reasons I wanted to come to Harar was because every night, just after dark, there is a man who feeds raw meat to wild hyenas. He had been doing it for years, as his father did before him, possibly as a way to keep them from eating his livestock. The hyenas live all around Harar and have a close relationship to the city – sometimes coming in to the city at night to scavenge scraps left over from the market. And there are annual rituals where hyenas are fed porridge as a way to secure a good year ahead. But the really cool thing is, you can go and watch the hyena man feeding the hyenas, and for a small donation you can feed them too. This has become a popular tourist activity.

I went, with a guy i paid to show me the way to the hyena man’s house. I was so glad i had him with me because i never would have found it on my own. We left the old city and walked down a dirt road into the countryside. The walk was fairly long and was made difficult by the fact that it was pitch black. No street lights, lights from houses, cars, etc. nothing. Just stars and a rough road to contend with. It felt very unsafe, but was also slightly scary, due to my fear of the dark and the horrible sounds of hyenas in the distance. They really do may horrible noises. Fears aside, it was nice to be outside, hearing all the nature sounds and seeing the stars. Finally we got to the hyena man’s house and there he was, surrounded by hyenas, with more lurking in the shadows, with only their eyes shining out of the darkness. He had a big basket of meat and there were a few other tourists there (who had prudently arrived by van) who were taking turns feeding the hyenas. They each looked so scared as they went that i was sure it would be mildly terrifying.

Finally it was my turn. I kneeled down next to the basket of meat and the hyena man must have held some meat over my head, because while i was distracted by the 2 hyenas near my face, another hyena jumped in my back and stayed there for what seemed like forever. It was heavy, which was not surprising, given that they are fairly large and solid muscle. (Did i mention that they are second only to crocodiles in terms of their jaw strength and that they can pulverize bone with their teeth?)

I then took a small stick and put it between my teeth and the hyena man hung raw meat on it and in moments, a hyena snatched it away, coming inches from my face. Weirdly, it was not intimidating at all. The walk there was far scarier. It was just very cool. And watching them interacting and laughing their horrible hyena laughs was amazing.

The walk back seemed far less scary.

After that, i just went for some lentils and injera, had a cigar and went to bed, reflecting on the adventures of the day.

Africa Ethiopia Ethiopia Trip 2015

Hararian Hospitality

Today in Harar started with rain but quickly dried out leaving the air cool and perfect for walking.

I returned to the old city and embarked on a new route. I visited the other church in Harar (there are 2 churches and countless mosques – well, actually someone told me there are 99 mosques, but i have not fact checked that) and several tiny mosques, which were virtually hidden behind walls and houses.

I could wander here for ages. It’s like a medieval Muslim maze. You turn down these tiny alleys with no idea where they will lead: to someone’s house, a dead end, a bustling market, one of the gates into the city, a mosque…it’s endlessly fascinating.

I visited the Harar coffee roasting company, where the coffee smelled amazing, but coming in 1 kilo bags, i don’t think I’ll be bringing any home. I went to the Shoa gate, which is now my favourite of the six gates into the old city. It is a crowded market place with people selling vegetables and fruit, bread and meat. There are also a few women cooking and serving food while seated on the ground. One woman saw me looking and said “ful”, which i have only ever has as a breakfast dish in Egypt. It is mashed beans cooked with tomato, onion and spices. After some communication issues i managed to ask and understand that it was 5 birr (about 25 cents). The woman mashed the ingredients in a tiny pot over hot coals and then it was ready to eat with a piece of bread for dipping. Delicious.

I hadn’t seen much in the way of street food here until that. Just samosas, French fries, and a few sweets.

After lunch i went back to the coffee place to meet up with a guy i had met there as we had made plans for coffee and shisha. We went to his friend’s house, which was basically two rooms with an outdoor cooking area and toilet. Inside, 5 guys were reclined on a cushion covered floor, chewing chat. Chat is a plant, or rather the leaves of a plant, that is ubiquitous here (in other countries as well – and especially Yemen, I’m told, but Harar is the first place I’ve seen it). It is sold by the bagful on the streets and everywhere you see people chewing it, often while reclined, the effects are reportedly increased wakefulness and pensive thought and if you chew enough of it you achieve ‘merkana’ (spelled phonetically), a peaceful and relaxed state. The guy whose house it was gave me a handful to try. It tastes awful, bitter, like a vegetable that you shouldn’t eat. Often they chew peanuts with it to kill the taste. One handful was enough for me. I did not notice any effects.

Then they started the coffee ceremony. There was a young woman who did all of the work (of course). She took a pot of hot coals and sprinkled incense on it. Then she took another pan of coals and, using a shallow pan, roasted fresh coffee beans. This smelled amazing. Then she took the pan outside and pounded the beans into a fine powder with a heavy metal rod. Then, very slowly, the coffee was mixed with water in a clay pitcher and heated over a fire. The coffee was served in tiny cups ad, oh my god, it was the best, freshest coffee ever. This was repeated until everyone had 3 cups – they said you need 3 cups: one for the eyes, one for satisfaction, and one to think “all of the thoughts”.

All if this occurred while we smoked shisha and listened to music – a mix of traditional Egyptian, Swahili hip hop, and Lil Wayne. The whole experience lasted about 3 and a half hours and was very relaxing, a great experience.

Africa Ethiopia Ethiopia Trip 2015

Harar: The Old City

I keep reading that Harar is “the fourth holiest city is Islam”. I don’t know if this is true, but it is a Muslim city and has an extraordinary, walled old town which is crammed with tiny mosques and shrines, and women covered head to toe in colorful dress.

Harar was founded in either the 10thC or 13thC and its old walled city, which has 368 alleyways in a 1sq kilometer space is absolutely magical. The alleys wind their way around courtyarded residences, tiny mosques, shrines, markets, shops, and churches, and the streets are lined by women selling vegetables and chat, roasting coffee, and weaving baskets. Men and children tend to cows and goats. The buildings, which have a slight Flintstonian quality in their shape and construction and ether white or painted bright hues. Everything begs to be photographed, except that people aren’t keen on it, and i can’t say i blame them. They’re not putting on a show. They’re just getting on with their lives.

I walked around aimlessly for hours and still didn’t see everything, but this is why i gave myself more an one day here. I wanted to be at liberty be at leisure.

One thing that gets a bit wearing is the friendliness of the people. This is not unique to Ethiopia, but here i am. People are very friendly. Anyone who knows a bit of English wants to say hello and ask where i am from. That is fine, but many of them will just walk along side me and keep talking to me or when i am sitting at a cafe will sit down and just start asking me questions. Some of them are guides looking for business, but most of them just want to talk. I don’t know if this would be different if i was not alone. And of course there are comments from men on my appearance. While it is nice to talk to people to learn about the culture and their experiences, sometimes i just want to be left alone to walk or sit in silence.

Last night i went out for a traditional Ethiopian dinner, which is injera – a large, thin pancake made of tef, which i find both sour and delicious – and on it are dollops of different stews or meats. Fortunately, as Ethiopians have 2 fasting days (vegetarian days) per week, you can order fasting food and get a feast of spicy lentils, different vegetables, and other delights. You eat the food with the injera, but tearing off pieces and using them to pick up the food. No utensils allowed. This suits me quite nicely. It was delicious and very cheap.

I walked back to the hotel after dinner, down streets that were pitch black and filled with large holes and speeding vehicles and people. Like a huge dork, i carried a flashlight, both to make myself visible, to cars and to avoid falling down. I’m sure i was mocked for my cautiousness, but at least i arrived at the hotel in one piece. It did, however, start to pour rain on my walk back and i returned drenched. The rain continues this morning, but appears to be subsiding, so i am waiting a bit over breakfast and blogging.

Speaking of breakfast, i ate outside, under an awning, and watched two men lead three small goats out of a house an into a shed, one by one. It was quite cute. A fourth goat tried to follow, but was ushered back inside the house. Then i heard the horrible, shrill cries of the goats as they were slaughtered. I’m not passing judgment. People can do what they like, but I’ve never actually heard that sound before and don’t care to again. Of course, this is what i travel for: new experiences.

Africa Ethiopia Ethiopia Trip 2015

Addis Ababa

I arrived in Addis Ababa at 6am, just as the sun was coming up. Got my visa at the border and changed some US dollars to Ethiopian Birr. Caught a taxi (a bright yellow, decrepit Lada) to my hotel. There wasn’t much in the way of lovely sights on the drive in. Busy streets with traffic, pedestrians, and donkeys. Aside from a few nice churches and mosques, it’s all just very shabby, which is, what i expected. What was nice though was seeing the crowds of people going to church, dressed in white robes and veils and some of the residential side streets we drove down, which were very poor, but i liked seeing all of the people out starting their day.

My hotel is a a chandelier-crazy 3 star (ish) hotel. When i arrived, all of the staff were crowded around a tv watching the Mayweather flight and when the bell boy (he was probably 40 but his badge said “bell boy”) took me to my room he immediately put the boxing match on my tv too.

My room looks out over tne city and directly down on a corrugated tin conglomeration of houses.

I headed out to explore. All i knew about Addis Ababa (which means ‘new flower’ is that it is about 4 million people, home to a handful of decent sights, and according to most reports is poor and one is likely to be harassed, cheated, and mugged. Oh and i was told that you shouldn’t walk anywhere. So of course i spent the whole day walking. The weather was warm and lovely. The streets are admittedly not good for walking. Only intermittently paved and when they are they are broken and often you have to walk with the traffic, but if you don’t walk you can’t really experience things.

Today was not only a Sunday but some sort of a holiday so many businesses were closed but people were out in throngs. I walked past hole in the wall stores selling beverages and fruit, at least a hundred shoe shine guys, several blocks of shops selling colorful, fringed coffins and flowers, and tons of butchers which were either marked with a cross or a moon and star so you can tell the christian from the halal meat. And there were people on the street selling peppers, limes, books, bits of wood that people chew on instead of brushing their teeth, candy, and cigarettes. Lots of very thin homeless people, often crippled or high on glue or gasoline, I am told. Also in the streets are dogs, goats, sheep, donkeys and a few cows.

Was it charming? Not at all, but i really liked it. It was bustling and interesting and sometimes I would meander off a main road into the side streets where i caught glimpses of very simple homes. There were many things that i wanted to take photos of but didn’t, as people didn’t seem keen on having their picture taken and it was impossible for me to be discrete since in every scenario, as I was the only tourist/white person and i attracted a lot of attention. But I took some pictures of people.

I went to a few churches, where people were praying or in the midst of weddings – lots of weddings with enthusiastic singing and dancing.

I walked past multiple squares and countless streets, until i got to Meskel Sqaure, which last week was the site of violent protests. No so today. I visited the Museum of the Red Terror, which shares the history of the oppression and genocide by the Derg regime, primarily in the 1970s. They killed a half million people and tortured countless more. It was very similar to what you see and hear in Cambodia – photos of the dead, mass graves, human remains, general misery. It was however very interesting.

By mid afternoon i was exhausted and starving. The people who approached me on the street were friendly and curious, but by this point i was too exhausted to be pleasant. One guy came up to me and I blew him off but he kept walking along side me and talking and, well, he was actually pretty nice. When i said i was starving and vegetarian, he took me to the historic Taitu Hotel, which although recently damaged in a fire, was till open for business. It had a cozy interior and a shady patio and, most importantly, it has a daily vegan lunch buffet of Ethiopian delights. The food was awesome and it was $3.50. He didn’t eat but had a drink and we carried on chatting. After that we went to a rooftop cafe and had coffee and smoked. I had a really nice time.

Refreshed, we parted ways and i went back to my hotel, where i crashed. I had thought i would go out again tonight, but it is intimidatingly dark out in this neighborhood (like no street lights, power outage dark), so i am at the hotel cafe having a sandwich and trying not to eat this delicious looking salad they brought be which will certainly make me sick.

Oh, I must say something about the coffee. Ethiopia, being the birthplace of coffee, is mad for cafes. There are cafes on every block, tons of them and the coffee is amazing. Basically they serve espresso or machiattos and sometimes they roast and pound to a powder the beans right in front of you. I went to several several cafes, but particularly sought out Tomoca, which is considered to be the best. It is a hole in the wall joint where you order and drink standing at the counter. It’s packed and understandably so. I blurted out “oh my god” after every sip.

My Amaharic is poor, but i have mastered hello, goodbye, please, thank you, yes, no, and coffee. What more could i need on my first day?

Tomorrow i have an early flight to Dire Dawa where i will hopefully convince someone to drinve me to Harar, where i will spend the next few days.
It’s off to a good start.
d

England Ethiopia Trip 2015 Europe United Kingdom

No Place Like London

When i was booking my flight to Ethiopia, i chose the one with the longest possible layover, which was through London. I had about 10 hours. Not a leisurely visit, but more than enough for a good afternoon.

I lived in London briefly from 1994-95 and loved it, but have not been back since. The idea of being back there was exciting and actually being there was awesome. In some small way i was able to tap into the excitement of young me arriving in London for the first time. I couldn’t stop smiling and i just wanted to walk around and see everything.

Of course though, i didn’t have time for everything, so i planned a strategic walk past some key sights and old haunts. I took the train to Westminster and caught a glimpse of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, before walking up to Trafalgar Square.

I was struck by how lovely everything was and how thoroughly British everything is. Almost to the point of cliché. The architecture, monuments, flags, black cabs, red phone booths and double decker buses, chip shops, mind the gap, and every wonderful variation on the British accent you could imagine. Delightful. Trafalgar Square was teeming with people, but the inside of St Martin-in-the-Fields was serene.

The streets were busier than i remembered and there seemed to be more advertising and you can’t smoke everywhere anymore, but all of the stuff i cared about was the same. I wandered in all of the squares and parks i passed, enjoying the flowers and sculptures and meandered through the streets, enjoying the bustle.

Then, i turned down a street and was met with the Dunhill shop. For those of you who don’t smoke, it is a famous tobacconist shop. I went in and it was beautiful and i suddenly became very conscious of the fact that i looked very shabby. I apologized for my attire and immediately began prattling on about cigars and Dunhill and the man working there – with a posh accent and nattily dressed in fine tweeds – could not have been nicer. I picked a Partagas from the walk-in humidor and settled into the lounge, for a smoke and espresso.

The only other guys there were two very handsome and super fancy looking young men, smoking Cohiba Behikes and playing cards, immaculately dressed. We chatted a bit and then i was on my way and discovered that there are in fact 3 more cigars stores on that block. If i hadn’t had a plane to catch i would have spent all day there, but instead i walked past Buckingham Palace, through Piccadilly Circus, the theatre district, Leicester Square, Soho, and Chinatown, before ending at Covent Garden. I didn’t really do anything; i just walked and took everything in. Finally it was time to head back to the Airport.

Africa Ethiopia Ethiopia Trip 2015

Ethiopia!

In less than a day i’m off to Ethiopia! I can’t believe this is finally happening. I have only been to Africa once before and that was to Egypt in 1995. Twenty years later and I’m finally heading back.

Like most people my age, my foundational knowledge about Ethiopia is from the images seen during the famines of the 1980s. Since then i have discovered Ethiopian

A few random facts: Ethiopia is big (bigger than British Columbia or Texas) and is landlocked in Eastern Africa, bordered by Somalia, Eritrea, Kenya, Djbouti, the Sudan, and South Sudan. The capital city is Addis Ababa (which i will not tire of saying in full, even though it is commonly shortened to “Addis”). Ethiopia has a population of just over 90M, for whom the average life expectancy is about 63. The literacy rates run at a little less than 50%. The main language is Amharic, which looks like this: አልገባኝም (which translates as “I don’t understand”, a phrase i am sure i’ll be using frequently). The currency is called the Birr and for $4.90 US you get 100 Birr. Your dollar goes a long way in Ethiopia, with a coffee costing about 15 cents. The country is nearly 50/50 Muslim/Orthodox Christians, with the Christians slightly in the lead, numbers-wise. Ethiopia is also the rare African country to have never been colonized, although it was occupied by the Italians for a few years in the 1930s, which apparently only enhanced Ethiopia’s existing coffee culture. This prevailing independence has, as i understand it, left Ethiopian culture largely intact.

Speaking of culture: Ethiopia has its own means of telling time. They start with sunrise each day as being at 00 and each hour after sunrise (until sunset) is counted from that point. So, one hour after sunrise is 1:00am, two hours after is 2:00am…get it? This goes on until sunset and then the evening/nighttime hours are counted from sunset until the next morning. Apparently this means that one has to be very careful when booking bus tickets etc as to whether it is Ethiopian time or foreign time that is being used. Oh, and Ethiopia has 13 months a year. They have 12 months of 30 days each and then a 13th month of 5-6 days. As a result of this, in Ethiopia it is currently 8 years behind and it is 2007 there. Confused? Well, given that i still haven’t mastered 24hr hour time telling and i’m not great at reading analog clocks to begin with, this could prove to be a special challenge.

My first stop is Addis Ababa, via London, where i have a layover long enough to afford me some time in the city, which i am looking forward to, but the real excitement is getting to Ethiopia and exploring.

I have a list of things that i want to do and see, but for the most part, i just hope to be surprised. I’ll be blogging as frequently as the wifi allows. The next time i write i should be fresh from London and en route to Addis Ababa. Happy trails to me.
d

Peru South America

Final Day in Iquitos

The day we left Peru we did not fly out until the evening, so there was still one final day to enjoy. After luxuriating in our wonderful hotel room and breakfast buffet, i set out to the Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm and animal rescue. To get there i took a 4 Sole tuk tuk ride from the hotel to Bella Vista-Nanay, a nearby town along a tributary of the Amazon. It had started to rain, so when i was dropped off at the muddy market along the river, i waited out the rain at a floating cafe and watched the boats depart.

I then found a boat heading to Padre Cocha, the village where my destination was located. I had been told that a boat would cost 20-30 Soles, but the going rate seemed to be 3, which suited me just fine. I got on a simple boat with a thatched roof and run by a rickety motor. I was the only tourist on the boat which was mostly filled with locals and items going to or from market. The trip wasn’t very long, but suddenly seemed to take forever when water began entering the boat and a couple of people had to pitch in, bailing water with buckets. This made me nervous, but we were always swimming distance from shore and i just tried to put giant Amazonian fish out of my mind. No one else seemed too concerned.

We arrived and i landed in the village. There were no signs, but the place wasn’t very big, so i just started walking, figuring that i would find a sign at some point. I walked past the simple houses, which were not on stilts, due to the village being elevated somewhat from the river. It was a pretty, sleepy little place and the few people i asked about the butterfly farm seemed to have no idea what i walk talking about, despite my passable Spanish and excellent butterfly charades.

Finally, i saw a sign, or rather, a series of signs, leading me along an increasingly tropical and beautiful jungle path.

I headed back by boat to Bella Vista-Nanay (this time suffering not a near sinking but an engine that regularly cut out and left us adrift), where i spent sometime at the market, ogling the giant grubs being grilled up for snacks (and being thankful of my vegetarianism).

We flew out that night, from Iquitos to Lima, Lima to Los Angeles, and Los Angeles to Vancouver. We even got upgraded to business class on one leg of the trip. The business class seats were entirely unbooked i guess and in some weird, racist airline policy, the only white people on the flight got bumped up. One couple, with a white woman and her Mexican partner, found that only she was offered an upgrade. I can’t support the policy, but i did not decline the upgrade. I’d never pay for first or business class, but it really is better.
I wish i didn’t know that.

And that was it for Peru. I am happy with the trip. I did everything I wanted to do and didn’t feel rushed. There is always more to see, but i am happy with our choices. I think I am done with South America for a while, but this was a great trip. Home now and time to start daydreaming about the next destination.

Peru South America

The Village in the Peruvian Amazon

Our third and final day at the Tahuayo Lodge in the Amazon was only a half day, as we were scheduled to go back to Iquitos by boat in the afternoon. After breakfast we took a boat downriver to a nearby village, nicknamed Los Chinos, for reasons i couldn’t really determine. The village was simple. Huts with thatched palm roofs and many sitting on stilts were located around a central field along the river and on the edge of the forest. The houses were very simple and were open at the sides. Few had walls, or had only half walls.

One man invited us into his home. It had a single room which served as living room, kitchen, etc. and then a separate area as a bedroom for him and his family. It was very simple and completely open. on the fire freshly caught river fish were grilling.

Most houses did not appear to have electricity, but some central, shared buildings had wires and satellite dishes and there was a public phone outside under a palm shelter on a wooden stand.

We spoke with (through our guide) a woman who was picking tropical fruit which could be used as both a medicine and a pigment.

Then it started to rain, gently at first and i naively said it was not a problem. Then it became a torrential, tropical downpour so heavy that it was blinding. We took shelter under an outdoor but covered area where a couple of women were cooking lunch for the whole school of kids. They had a fire going and were making fish, rice, and spaghetti. We warmed and dried ourselves by the fire (a smell, as it turned out, we would wear for the rest of the trip) and then pitched in helping with lunch. It was a marvelous way to wait out the rain until it was time to head out on the boat.

We said good bye to the lodge and sped back to Iquitos in the rain (this time taking half the time as it had to get there). We returned to the Casa Morey hotel where we found we had been upgraded. Our previous room was huge and more than adequate, but this room was so grand that we simply giggled upon entering. It was easily bigger than the main floor of Betty-Lou’s house and was many times bigger than my apartment. It had three big beds, 20 foot ceilings, and giant french door type windows that opened up with views of the Amazon and the city. There was a sitting room and a giant bathroom with an antique tub, and outside was another sitting area looking down on the pool. The hot shower was the best thing i could have imagined.

Peru South America

The Peruvian Amazon

Day two in the Peruvian Amazon began early – before dawn – so I could go on a bird watching trip. Full disclosure: I hate bird watching. It’s super boring in my opinion, but this was to be from a small boat on the Amazon, which sounded better than my last experience, which was standing in a wooden tower with binoculars.

The boat ride was lovely. The air was wonderful and the scenery was spectacular in the morning light. And yeah, we saw birds. It was a nice trip though I still am not excited by spotting a scarlet tanager, or whatever, high in a tree.

We returned to the lodge for breakfast, followed by a jungle walk that three of us and two guides went on. We walked for a couple hours, sometimes on pseudo paths and sometimes cutting our way through the trees with a machete. In some areas we were sucked into mid-calf-deep mud and in others we walked precariously along slippery logs. It was fun.

We did see some wildlife: a tree rat, some monkeys, a lizard, a millipede, and more frogs.

After our hike we relaxed at the lodge for a couple of hours, which of course meant that i lounged in a chair by the river with a couple of cigars. Then a group of us and several guides went out on a boat in search of the Amazonian pink dolphin. I was huge cynic setting out on this boat ride: sure, what were the chances that we would see the rare pink dolphin? Not bloody likely, but it’s nice to go on the boat. We set out and we saw a sloth high in a tree, a ton more birds, and some sleeping bats. The scenery was pretty. We traveled past some villages where people were visible along the shore, bathing and doing laundry, and the air was pleasant with the breeze from the boat.

And then, we saw them. Unexpectedly, slivers of bright pink started to appear around the boat. At least two and maybe four pink dolphins. It was quite exciting. I have no pictures to prove it because it was impossible to know when and where they would surface and the one picture i have where one is visible is so blurry that it looks like a grainy loch ness monster photo from the 1920s. But we saw them and it was pretty cool.

We opted out of a nighttime activity and Betty-Lou and i stayed in the lodge that night to play some cards before killing a hoard of cockroaches and going to bed. It was a very full day.

Wandering North

Tag: Travel

Village Life & Camels outside Harar

Hyenas in Harar

Hararian Hospitality

Harar: The Old City

Addis Ababa

No Place Like London

Ethiopia!

Final Day in Iquitos

The Village in the Peruvian Amazon

The Peruvian Amazon