Nov 2009 Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca and FL, Part 1

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Pat and Cornelia with Lamas and native girl
Native girls dyeing the wool
At Machu Picchu
Alpaca with owner

Part 1 Machu Picchu

We left the heat and humidity of the jungle for another extreme - high altitude and very dry - when we flew from Iquitos to Cusco, via Lima. Cusco sits at 10,200 feet. Needless to say we were not acclimated to the altitude, but as soon as we landed we were off on a guided tour of the Incan ruins in the hills surrounding Cusco. Cornelia and I had problems adjusting to this altitude. I can’t say I got much out of this tour other than shortness of breath and a tingling in my hands. Even with altitude pills and coco tea, I didn’t get much relief until we descended by van to the Sacred Valley the next day. Here there were more ruins to explore, more long steep staircases to climb. Fortunately, due to the downturn in the economy and tourism, we were upgrade to the Rio Sagrado Hotel Villas and Spa. It was a beautiful spot and we caught up on our rest. The next day we boarded the train for an hour and a half ride to Aguas Calientes. From here we took a bus up the side of the mountain to the entrance of Machu Picchu.
We were lucky to get an excellent guide for this portion of the trip. He helped recreate the history and explained the symbolism in the temples. We all walked the final portion of the Inca Trail before entering the passageway into Machu Picchu. After the guided tour and lunch, Pat walked the Inca Trail up to the Gate of the Sun, the first place that hikers get to see Machu Picchu. The rest of us continued to tour the remainder of the ruins. Instead of that mystical feeling that some people get here, my stomach was giving me very disturbing feelings. Back at the hotel, I passed on going out to dinner. Pat planned to bring me some chicken soup back for dinner. I guess carry out is not a concept that has caught on here. The waiter carried a large fancy bowl of soup five blocks to our hotel, carried it up the stairs to the third floor and delivered it to me in our room. He waited in the lobby for 45 min, then he returned to pick up the bowl. The next morning the hotel manager fixed up a mixture of three teas to help settle my stomach and allowed us to stay in our hotel room a few extra hours. We took the afternoon train back to Cusco. Here we said goodbye to Tom and Cornelia, who returned home.

Nov 2009 Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca and FL, Part 2

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With Family on floating island
Reed boat ride
Pat dancing with our hostess
Native dancers

Part 2 Lake Titicaca
We headed to Puno, which sits on the shore of Lake Titicaca, via the Tourist Bus. It was a ten hour bus ride but was broken into segments as we stopped to see interesting sights along the way. At 12,500 feet, Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world. From Puno we took a boat to Uros Floating Islands in Puno Bay and stopped at one of the islands. We learned the islands are made with a base of root mat from the reeds, which are tied together to form a large floating mass. Then reeds are cut and placed in criss-cross pattern until the desired height above the water is reached. The floating island is then staked in shallow water so it doesn’t drift away. If you don’t get along with your neighbor island, you just pick up your stakes and move. Before we left we were given a ride on a reed boat - very cool.
We left the Puno Bay and entered Lake Titicaca to reach Amantani Island where we would spend the night with a native family. Needless to say, we were a bit apprehensive about this part of the trip, especially considering my stomach condition which had not returned to normal. When we landed our personal guide, who speaks Spanish, English and Quechua (the local language) saw a lady he knew and soon we were racing up the hill, trying to keep up with this old woman. We found our room to be cleaner and nicer than expected. They even built a special bathroom just for their guests. For lunch our hostess prepared a delicious soup made from vegetables straight from her garden, along with potatoes and goat cheese. It was more than we could eat. We hiked up to an altitude of 13,300 feet to reach Pachamana, Temple of Nature, to see the sunset over Lake Titicaca. That evening, the locals held a dance party in honor of their guests. The guests were all attired in the local costume. Trust me, dancing with a wool poncho and knit hat will warm you up. The locals performed a few of their dances for their guests.
Our time spent with this family was very special and memorable. Long after I forget about the structures of Machu Picchu, I’ll remember the night we spent on this island in Lake Titicaca. After two more days of sightseeing, we started the trip home, which included a 7 hour layover at the Lima airport. While we were glad to get back to our RV in Florida, we were thankful for the special trip we had.

Nov 2009 Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca and FL, Part 3

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Red Shouldered hawk
With Mary’s family
With my Cousins Brenda and Mary
With my Aunt Bernie

Part 3 Florida, Family and Friends
After we flew back to Orlando, we went down the Gulf Coast and camped at several state or county parks along the way. We drove across to Fort Lauderdale and had Thanksgiving dinner with my Cousin Mary’s family. We also enjoyed our time with Randy in Boca. We spent a week in the Keys camping at Bahia Honda, Long Key and Jonathan Pennekamp State Parks. In Key West we toured the fort at Zachary Taylor State Park. We also took a 2 ½ hr boat ride to the Dry Tortugas National Park. We toured Fort Jefferson and snorkeled around the island. We left Key West with a $75 parking ticket. Apparently Key West is not RV friendly. We returned to Fort Lauderdale and our friends Don and Patty had us over for dinner. We caught up with my Aunt Bernie who had just returned from Maryland. On our trip north we had dinner at Conchy Joes with our friend Sandra. We left the warm weather and headed for Maryland.

Oct 2009 Amazon Rainforest in Peru Part 1

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Pat, Cornelia, Don and Tom
Floating village on the Amazon
Market day in Iquitos
Young girls in their village

What an experience! The life along the Amazon and its tributaries was a journey into another world, a world where the main source of transportation is a dugout canoe. The children are happy playing with marbles and bottle caps and are lucky to get their equivalent of a 5th grade education. Their houses are on stilts because their land is flooded 2 months of the year. The lucky ones might get electric 2 hours per day from solar energy, but the houses have no bathrooms, not even an outhouse (just a jungle). The principle job of the men is to provide food, mostly by fishing and a little hunting. Fish, plantains, and yuccas are the basic foods here. The woman are busy with their children, washing clothes in the river, hauling water from the river, cooking, cutting the grass with a machete, and making handicrafts to sell to tourists. Despite all of this, these are very happy people.
If you think the men have it easy, you haven’t seen them work. We watched them construct the foundation for a lodge renovation. They carried all the sand, water, rebar and water up a steep hill from the boat on their shoulder, a human conveyor belt. They dug the foundation with a shovel while wearing flip flops, but they never stopped smiling. Their only construction tools were a machete and a chain saw (they cut raw wood to made concrete forms). Without electricity, power tools are useless.

Oct 2009 Amazon Rainforest in Peru Part 2

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Silky Anteater (photo by A. Santos)
Poison Dart frog (photo by A. Santos)
12 Foot Anaconda which we released back to the river
Pygmy Marmoset (photo by A. Santos)

We planned this trip through Amazonia Expeditions. The owner is an American biologist, who did years of research in the Amazon rainforest. His wife is from Peru and her family runs the office and lodge in Peru. In addition to their regular staff of guides and boat drivers, they hire local men and women from nearby villages, on a rotating basis. This keeps the communities in close ties with the lodges and serves to educate them about the importance of preserving the wildlife in the protected areas.
The Amazon was the source of wealth for the Rubber Barons of the past. Now the biggest threat is oil and gas development. When oil is found near a village, the government can sell the land to the oil company and force the natives to move elsewhere. The national government is not highly regarded, but things have improved since the 1980’s and 90’s when thousands of Peruvians were killed as the military tried to rid the country of the Shining Path Marxists and their supporters.

Oct 2009 Amazon Rainforest in Peru Part 3

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Sea turtle

Pat and Cornelia enjoying a dugout canoe ride

Piranha

Shaman works on Tom

Enough about politics, I’ll tell about our experience. After meeting our friends Tom and Cornelia from Washington State at the Atlanta Airport, we all flew to Lima, Peru and took an extra day to explore the city. Next we flew to Iquitos, in NE Peru, a town with a million people, all zipping around on 3 wheel motor/bike taxis. A two and a half hour motor boat ride up the Amazon and its tributaries took us to a jungle lodge where we spent six nights. It was very hot and humid and after our first hike in the rainforest, I didn’t think I would make it through the trip. Fortunately, it either cooled down a bit or I got acclimated. In addition to these hikes, we took boat rides looking for wildlife or went fishing for piranha with raw meat. At night we might go out in small dugout canoes looking for wildlife we could sneak up on. It was amazing how the guides could spot critters that the rest of us could not see until we were right on top of them. In the rainforest, a zip line was set up in the forest canopy; it was quite a view from the top. We visited the local villages where we were always the biggest attraction for the children. They found our binoculars particularly fascinating. One village was participating in a project to reestablish sea turtle nesting areas. They received dozens of turtle eggs and raised the turtles until their chance of survival improved, and then they were released on nearby beaches.
Natural remedies are still used in the villages. We visited with a herbalist who showed us her garden and treated Tom’s arthritic thumbs. He was quite impressed with the results. On another trip to the village we met with the Shaman -first she purified her potions with smoke and she treated his chigger bits with camphor water. This considerably relieved his pain and itching. We also saw a dugout canoe and paddle being made. For $110 you could buy both.
In between these trips we ate. Most Americans have to be very careful about what they eat or drink south of the border, but at the lodge treated water was brought in and used in food preparation. As a result, we had plenty of opportunity to eat the local fruits and vegetables. I ate so healthy I actually lost weight.

Oct 2009 Amazon rainforest in Peru Part 4

Capitons

Pat with Wooly Monkey named Darilla
Snack time open wide, spit the head out
Rainbow boa pees on Don

Caiman (photo by A. Santos)

On a boating trip up river we met Darilla, a wooly monkey that had been orphaned. It later became a village pet, until it knocked over a kerosene lamp and burned their community house down. It was banished to an island and now welcomes any boaters that stop to feed it. It instantly became Pat’s best friend as it devoured three apples.
Our guide, Edson, found a Rainbow Boa on the trail. While we were holding it, it displayed its displeasure by peeing on my hand. Now it’s Pat’s favorite picture. Later our guide challenged us to a grub eating contest. Believe it or not, Pat ate more grubs than anyone else, even the guide. Since Cornelia and I failed the grub eating contest, we made dye from the tattoo fruit. Our hands were stained bluish-black for about 10 days as a result of straining the liquid dye from the fruit.
Because our accommodations were basically a screen room in the jungle, you could expect to find just about anything running around your room. The large pet boa that roams the lodge dwellings never appeared in our room, but a loud shout from Tom indicated something interesting was going on in their room. Turns out a tarantula decided Tom’s pants made a good spot to spend the night. Tom shook him out of his pants, but now the tarantula was loose in the room. Cornelia grabbed the camera and tried to track him down.
In addition to a resident Boa at the main lodge, the research lodge had a caiman who made his home in the waters just off shore. This, along with the piranha, was enough to keep us out of the water.
For all our adventures we had a guide and a boat driver/assistant. While Spanish was their native language, the guides all spoke English, some better than others. The assistant guides, while not being too fluent in English, were experts on jungle survival. We were taught how to make a pack for carrying game in the forest and even how to make a thatched roof for shelter.
In addition to the six nights at the lodge where we had an extra large screened room with private bath, we spent an additional three nights at their research lodge further up river in a nature preserve. Here we could explore 80 km of trails laid out in a grid pattern. The grid was used to better document the location of the wildlife. After 15 inches of rain one night, the trails were a bit muddy, over Pat’s boots on several occasions. The preserve is where we saw the most monkeys. One morning a troop of spider monkeys were passing overhead in one direction, and larger monkeys were moving overhead in the opposite direction.
If it was not for the heat and humidity it would be a great place to stay long term. This is fortunate however, because like Northern Canada, with its mosquitoes and black flies, these irritations help preserve vast tracks of land from becoming vast tracks of second homes. Only the government can protect these lands from logging, mining and industrial development.

Sept 2009 Nova Scotia to Ocean City MD Part 1a

Captions:

Barred Owl
Pat and Cabot Trail in background
Young Moose
Irish entertainment

Sept 2009 Nova Scotia to Ocean City MD Part 1b

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Picures from Longwood Gardens:

Tropical Day-Flowering Waterlily
Super sized bees attack Conservatory
Chinese Hibiscus
Pat and her Dad

Sept 2009 Nova Scotia to Ocean City MD Part 2

Sept 2009
Nova Scotia to Ocean City
After 7 weeks in Newfoundland we took the ferry from Port aux Basque to North Sydney. In Nova Scotia we visited the Alexander Bell Museum and then took several days to tour Cape Breton NP. We saw several moose along the Cabot Trail and even more on hikes. We spent Labor Day weekend at Eldon and Lois’ lot in Nova Scotia. Then we headed back to York, PA to dog sit for Linda and Rick, who went to Myrtle Beach. We went to Longwood Gardens with Pat’s father. We did have time to meet with family and friends and really enjoyed this. Kevin and Nick entertained us by butchering a roasted pig. The only thing missing was an apple in the pig’s mouth. My computer got infected with viruses and spyware programs. With Richard’s help, we got it back to normal. We are grateful to Tom and Julie for letting us share their house whenever we are in town. Parking our RV at Tom and Julie’s became an issue with their Property Manager, but thanks to Susan and Windsor and Russ and Shirley, we were able to work around this problem temporarily. We ended the month camping at Assateague Island State Park and visiting Ocean City, MD.

August 2009 Newfoundland Part 1

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Village near Summerford
Alexander Murray Hiking Trail at Kings Cove
Bull Moose
Pat rides Cressie

August 2009
Newfoundland
Vikings
We covered a lot of Newfoundland (NL) this month, from Terra Nova NP in the east to Gros Morne NP and the Northern Peninsula. At the farthest point North in NL is L’Anse aux Meadows, where the only Viking settlement in North America was found. It was interesting historically, but it was also fun to play Viking at the various Viking related entertainment venues. We attended a Viking feast, where the diners might charge fellow diners with a “crime”. We were accused of “Having too much fun”. Our travel schedule was used as evidence against us and we were found guilty. As our punishment we had to sing for the group. This gave us a chance to punish them!
Moose
Before we came here, I told Pat she would see plenty of moose in NL, there are 120,000 of them here. Amazingly, after 5 weeks here, we had only seen a cow and calf moose. Some nights we would even go out and drive past bogs and lakes looking for them. No luck. Finally our luck changed in Gros Morne when we saw 10 moose in one night! We saw a few more in the L’Anse aux Meadows area.
I was talking to one of the locals and his explanation may account for our lack of moose sighting. He said that if he sees a moose in the evening, it’s likely he’ll see the same moose the next day, covered in gravy, between the peas & carrots and the potato.
Hiking
We did a lot of hiking this month. Hiking is different here. You don’t need a guidebook; many towns have developed hikes and proudly advertise their location. Standard hiking trails don’t work in the bogs, so boardwalks are used to keep you from sinking knee deep in the bog. Instead of switchbacks, stairs are installed straight up the side of the mountain. On one hike we did over 1000 steps up and a completely different set of 1000+ steps back down. Despite all this, you usually return with wet boots.
Gros Morne National Park
Gros Morne is one of Canada newest parks, and certainly Canada’s best this side of the Rockies. It is situated on the west coast of Newfoundland on the Northern Peninsula. It qualified as an UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its exceptional natural beauty and outstanding examples representing major stages of earth history. It provides great illustrations of plate tectonics. The Tableland rock is one of the most accessible examples of exposed mantle material in the world. Take a boat ride down Western Brook Pond, which is actually a 2000 foot high glacier carved fjord, and you’ll appreciate the natural beauty of this park.
Interesting Personalities
Dr. Wilfred Grenfell spent his life bringing medical care to the people of Labrador and northern Newfoundland. He established hospitals, clinics and the organization to manage them through a lifetime of effort. He developed many important friends in his fund raising activities, including US Presidents, T. Roosevelt and W. Wilson.
Captain Robert A. Bartlett, from Brigus NL, was a great arctic explorer and sea captain. He was captain of the ships for three of Robert Peary’s polar expeditions. He was awarded the National Geographic Society’s Hubbard Medal. He became a US citizen and dedicated his later years to collecting arctic flora and fauna samples for scientific study at US universities and museums.
Summary
In 7 weeks in Newfoundland we drove about 3500 miles and still left many places to explore when we return. It’s a great place to spend the summer especially, if like us, you hate heat and humidity. Typically it was in the 60’s or 70’s and mostly just rained at night. We did have several FDR (fog, drizzle, rain) days in Eastern NL. The big tourist attractions off the coast are whales and icebergs. Come in June or early July to catch these.

August 2009 Newfoundland Pictures part 2

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Bunchberry
Don considers his dinner options
Lake at GMNP
Southeast Brook Falls, GMNP

August 2009 Newfoundland Pictures part 3

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Viking Chief and wife
Noddy Bay Head
Sleds used for hauling cut wood, or in this case dead wood
Fishing Village of Croque

August 2009 Newfoundland Pictures part 4

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Tablelands, GMNP
Western Brook Pond, GMNP
Harbor Seal, St Paul’s Inlet
Sunset over Canada Bay