The Cheese Post

2/17/14 8:50 PM

This is my first official post about cheese. I've spoken of cheese quite often, but this is the first full post.

I should start by explaining that while at the lodge, food has been prepared for us. Since I am vegetarian, my food differs a bit from what the others are eating. The chef has made a valiant effort to provide a protein-rich diet that matches what the others get in flavor and style. 

Notice the large chunk of cheese covering half the meal on the right next to the boiled egg.

Unfortunately, there is only so much that can be done with a Peruvian cuisine. For almost every meal, my protein source has been cheese. 

I love cheese! Gouda and brie and provolone! But sometimes, cheese can be a bit too much. This Peruvian cheese is along the lines of Mexican cheese in consistency, but it's also a stronger, saltier cheese. In small amounts, this Peruvian cheese is just fine. In very large quantities (2 1/2 x 3 x 1 inches), it is not. Essentially, the chef is cutting off a hunk of cheese comparable to the size of the others' portion of meat and frying it up. 

After 3 days of this, my body has just about had it. Alli keeps telling me not to eat the cheese, just leave it on the plate. But I can't do that. First, if I do, I starve. Second, I might offend the chef who has gone through extra trouble to provide me with vegetarian meals. So I must continue to eat large chunks of salty fried Peruvian cheese, at least until tomorrow morning when we leave.

Rain, Rain Go Away (or Not)

2/17/14 5:10 pm

I woke up this morning to rain. Lots of rain. And more rain. The guide later told us that rain that heavy was normal during rainy season. Granted, it was no monsoon, but still, it was heavy enough. We were scheduled to meet the guide in the dining hall at 7:30 AM for breakfast and a hike at 8 AM. I walked over the the dining hall in flip flops; I wasn't expecting to go out in the rain. Honestly, I didn't want to go on any sort of a hike after yesterday's failure. 

Pathway to the lodge

After breakfast, the guide asked us meet him again at 10:00 AM to see if the rain had died down by that point. It hadn't. The guide asked us to meet him at 12:30 for lunch and to try again then. Although it was still raining when we began lunch, it had stopped by the time we were finished. I was still hesitant to hike after yesterday. I reluctantly agreed to get ready to hike in the jungle around the lodge. 

Our dirty boots hanging out outside the cabin.

We met at 1:30 PM with our wellies on and almost immediately saw 2 species of monkeys, the tamarind and the titi monkeys. Monkeys are very difficult to photograph by the way. They absolutely won't hold still for you, and they are almost always in motion.

A monkey!

The highlight of the hour and 45 minute hike through mud and standing water really was the monkey sightings at the beginning. Aside from a short monkey interlude in the middle of our hike, we didn't see much more wildlife, only a few bugs. I'm okay with that. I have now seen 5 species of monkeys (not in a zoo). Not bad.

In the Jungle, Part 2

2/16/14 5:45 PM

This morning on our first full day in the jungle, we awoke at 4:30 AM to be ready to leave at 5:00. The goal of the morning was to view birds at the Chuncho clay lick. When we boarded at 5AM, I didn't realize that the clay lick was two hours away. Alli and I weren't sure what we would see at the clay lick. We were warned that if it was raining, we would see nothing. It did, in fact, start raining while we were on the boat. I don't know about Alli, but I got nervous that there wouldn't be any birds when we arrived. Finally, we did arrive, and the driver moored the boat in a bank of mud. 

The rain had stopped, and I wasn't disappointed. We saw macaws and other birds. The sound of a couple hundred active, hungry birds was incredible. Apparently, toxins from the foods the birds eat build up in their bodies. They go to the clay lick to eat clay rich in calcium and other minerals to counteract the toxins.

Birds eating clay at the clay lick

After the activity died down, we traveled back a few minutes in the boat and docked on a pebbly beach to eat breakfast. We headed back to the clay lick area after breakfast. Although we had seen some scarlet and blue and gold macaws earlier, they weren't as active as the smaller birds. We primarily had seen blue-headed macaws eating the clay; the larger macaws had been hanging back high in the trees. We viewed these larger macaws flying in pairs among the trees for a few minutes then headed back in the direction of the lodge.

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On the way to our next destination, the boat driver stopped so we could see a capybara.

A capybara

We stopped at an aboriginal property named El Gato (The Cat). No one was there, but primitive cabins dotted the property and ripe fruit sat on the back ledge of the property meeting hall. The guide explained that the aboriginal family that lived there provided lodging to tourists sometimes.

When we first stepped foot on the bank and saw the property, I immediately noticed a toilet out in the open. I realize how ludicrous my assumption was, but I actually thought that the toilet was there as a joke. 

No. No it was not.

The toilet.

By this time, it was about noon, and we hadn't seen a bathroom since about 4:30 AM. I had to go. I asked the guide if that was the only toilet. In fact, there was a second toilet. This other toilet was not completely exposed, just partially exposed as the stall door would not close the last ten inches or so. 

The other toilet.

Unlike in most of the other bathrooms I've seen in Peru, toilet paper existed in the stall. However, this toilet paper was splotched and stained brown. Don't worry. I carry my own just in case of emergencies like that. 

We ate lunch at El Gato at a table in the meeting hall. Surprisingly, lunch was hot. I was expecting a cold sandwich like we had for breakfast. 

On several occasions, I've had the opportunity to try local fare. I may not be the best judge because I have been consuming vegetarian versions of the dishes. All dishes that I have tried are very salty. Alli has said that her food has been too salty as well.

My salty lunch.

In dry season, a waterfall flows and tourists are able to swim. Now, the river is high and there is no waterfall. Instead of swimming, we boarded the boat and rode to a dock a little further down the river (closer to the lodge). 

We stepped off the boat into over a foot of mud. Fortunately, we were wearing wellies. Unfortunately, they weren't quite tall enough and by the end of the day I ended up with mud caked on my pants. I really wish we had been warned about the mud.

My muddy boots (and pants).

About an hour into the hike, I was exhausted and beyond done. The only "wildlife" I even remember seeing was a grasshopper. I was overheated, overtired, bug-bitten, muddy, and foot sore. Alli asked about the rest of the hike. We didn't understand the guide's response, "The same."

Trekking through standing water.

Apparently, "The same," meant that we would hike another five minutes to a canoe, row across a small lake, hike another twenty minutes to a spiritual tree, canoe back across the lake, and hike another hour on the same path back to the boat. 

I let the guide do all the canoe rowing. Alli felt guilty enough that she helped row a bit, but I kept my guilt in check by reminding myself how tired I was. 

I was miserable the rest of the hike. And of course, we aren't just talking about a bit of extra hiking, we are talking about hiking through mud and standing water through clouds of mosquitoes after having woken up at 4:30 in the morning.

A few minutes after 4:30 PM, we were finally back at the lodge. I was more than frustrated with our guide (more on him later - he gets his own special blog post). 

The rest of the evening basically consisted of climbing into a very cold shower and eating dinner with the guide and trying to look like I was politely listening as I zoned out (as I said, I was tired). Finally, we climbed into our mosquito nets and fell asleep to the sounds of the jungle and humidity that rivals Texas'.