Back to Cusco (Again)

2/18/14 11:42 AM

Here we are on the airplane, this time headed back to Cusco.

Last night before dinner, we headed out on the motorized canoe in the hopes of seeing caymans and capybaras. In fact, we saw a stick (the guide mistakenly thought a stick was a snake, a bat, and a cayman. Again, the rains and flooding had kept the animals away. As we drifted along in the canoe, the guide used a high-powered flashlight to scan the water in search of dots of red. Caymans' eyeballs appear red under flashlight beams. Finally, the guide gave up on finding more, and we headed back to the lodge.

So far today, we have spent our time traveling.  We woke up early to be at breakfast by six and to leave the lodge by 6:30 AM. The canoe took us two hours and ten minutes back up the river to the port. This port appeared to be a center of commerce We witnessed a couple of guys unloading pineapples from a boat and loading them into a cart pulled by a motorcycle. The mud banks (not normally muddy, but now covered with several feet of mud) were lined on either side with small shops selling various wares. 

Unloading bananas from the banana boat

Although the guide attempted to get us onto solid mud as we exited the boat, I stepped just a bit too far and sank down several inches. The mud had such a strong hold on my shoes that when I attempted to free myself, my shoes stayed behind. Alli had to help pull me out. Unfortunately, my new shoes are caked with mud and every shoe polisher we pass persistently tells me my shoes are dirty and asks to clean them. Fortunately, I still have shoes. 

Alli later told me that while I was grappling with the mud, I had missed something big. A young Peruvian man approached us with a realistic-looking gun, pointed it directly at Alli, and made the gun noise, "Pew, pew. Pew, pew." She said it took her a few seconds to realize that the gun was a toy gun. She also thought it was odd that in that crowded area, not  one person seemed to notice what was going on. I didn't even notice! That's right, let the two tourists get shot up while everyone else loads and unloads produce!

A car met Alli, the guide, and me at the dock. Since we arrived early in Puerto Maldonado (the city we would be flying out of), we had time to stop at the local market before heading to the airport.

Notice the bananas strapped to the top of our tour van.

This market was nothing like the tourist market we had seen in Aguas Calientes. This market featured covered stalls selling everything from underwear for one sole (about 33 cents), to piranha head key chains and candied Brazil nuts for 4 soles.

The Puerto Maldonado mercado

After sharing a bit of information about local goods, the guide led us back to the tourist car, and we were driven to the airport. We said our goodbyes to the guide and checked in to our flight. And now here we are, flying back to Cusco and landing shortly.

The plane taking us back to Cusco