Outbound
Well folks, wish me luck 🙂 I am off to Peru, 7 guests in tow, to partake in the Jungle medicine and Huachuma in the mountains. I am leaving 2 days early and coming back 2 days late (I like Peru!). We will begin in Iquitos to be picked up and escorted to the Jungle Lodge, 2.5 hours by fast boat on the mighty Amazon. After our 5 day stay in the jungle we will fly to Cusco and enjoy the many Inca archeological ruins. Not to forget, a Deluxe Vista Train ride to Machu Picchu. While in Cusco, we will travel with the locals by mini bus to Pisac to shop for handmade items and sit with San Pedro (separate days). Finally, we fly to Lima where we will tour the Historic District, Magic Water Circuit, and the many Inca Markets. I am planning a 2 hour walking tour of Miraflores and Barranco (awesome art, parks, music, and food) cumulating with a PARTY at an eatery in Barranco. Phew! Much love from all of us to all of you, f
Day 3 in Iquitos
It was hot and humid, perpetual sweat clings to your skin and clothing. Diego and i managed to negotiate a tour of he infamous Belen market (check out YouTube). And, took a boat ride to the butterfly sanctuary. During a deluge (?) of rain no less. When it rains it pours but only for a short time.
Scored some hand carved ceremonial pipes, bags of Pablo Santo, mapacho, grass shakers (i forgot what they are called), and Toe at the market … Shhhh! Oh, ya, purchased an awesome shipabo shirt at the shaman shop which is only open for a couple of hours in the evening.
6 guests arrived today. They will all take a 2.5 hour boat ride down the mighty amazon tmrw morning. I will hang back at the inn to wait for the seventh guest who will arrive tmrw.. We will head to the lodge Monday morning.
Local Scotia bank accepts Tangerine as well. The max you can withdraw is s/ 400 (soles) daily or about $160 cnd.
Ayahuasca Monday and Wednesday night with intermingled tours of the jungle in search of wild monkeys, alligators, snakes, pink dolphins (i will not swim with them. My guests are free to do as they wish), and piranha (last time they jumped right out of the water and into the f’in boat!! I kid you not!!)
Thursday we will return to Iquitos airport to fly to Cusco via Lima. Cusco sits 12,000 feet above sea level. You need to take altitude pills and chew lots of Coca leaves. That is fun!
I am eating waaay too much ice cream. Man! It’s good!!
Riding ’round day and night in tuk tuk (3 wheeled motor-taxi) is a hoot!
Love, f
Day 6 in the Jungle
Before we began our trip from Iquitos to the lodge we had to pick up several large filtered water bottles and food. Outside of the constant meandering in and out trying to miss the many tuk Tuks on the road, the trip from Iquitos to the lodge was uneventful. We drove 3/4 of the way to Nulta and took a shortcut off the main road to a makeshift dock where our ‘fast boat’ was moored.
Katrina and i sat by as one man loaded up the boat with supplies. Following that, we carefully navigated the wooden planks which can be found everywhere during the high water season. The high water which occurs for only about 4 weeks of the year in May and early June completely transforms the Jungle. The boat sped along and we soon found ourselves at the lodge.
The lodge surprised all of us: a semi paradise with 10 private cabins and a large central structure all interconnected with boardwalks. We each had private bathrooms and electricity generated by solar power. The simple food was well prepared and tasty and there was an endless supply of fruit juice
Completely surrounded by water, the lodge is alive with the sound of the jungle. An array of bird calls can be heard from early morning till evening. Also a generous helping of clicking and chirping by insects, other small creatures, and monkeys. You could easily get lost in the beauty and diversity of this magical place.
I swam in the Amazon! Yes, i know i said i wouldn’t but everyone else was diving in hoping to fraternize with the pink dolphins and i did not wish to be the only chicken shit on the boat. My word, the vivid pink color of these fresh water mammals was awe inspiring! Dolphins are exceedingly playfully creatures, popping up all around us and, at times, lifting themselves right up to their tails out of the water. It is a fleeting moment though and difficult to catch on camera.
Not surprisingly, the water was pleasantly warm with pockets of cold currents running throughout. The current overall was strong, all but completely negating my efforts to swim towards the boat. I am thankful that the boats carried a supply of noodles as i quickly became exhausted.
Upon out return to the lodge we were excited at the prospect of drinking the medicine with maestro. He is a bonafide medicine man who had traveled for hours by boat with his son to sit with us, at the lodge. I was told that he is a healer with a lineage who knows plants.
After the furniture was moved to make space for the ceremony 8 thin mats were arranged in a semi-circle. I noticed that some of the participants had brought their pillows and blankets from their rooms. Brilliant i thought.
I felt that the ceremony’s starting time of 8pm was a little late as it had been dark for well over an hour. Maestro began by blowing Florida Water and smoke down his shirt. Then he proceeded to touch each of our heads several times while blowing smoke.
I felt strongly that i should not drink the medicine this night, i had been totally stressed out for weeks before the trip and i was certain that this built up negative energy would waft its way into my journey Organizing a trip, of the complexity, for 8 people is no small task.
The Icaros were magical, in a relentless and pleasant way. But I was already concerned… Fearful of what was to come. My attempts at trying to hold onto reality were thwarted by the gentle songs maestro was offered using voice and a rattle. This night was a shit show with mama aya continually manifesting fearful images. Images which were too close to home to ignore. “Mama Aya was angry with me,” I told maestro the next day during integration, “She asked, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!”
maestro responded (in Spanish), “No, mama Aya is not like that. She is a loving and welcoming spirit. You must drink again the next night and you will see.”
I was completely alarmed. Drinking the medicine in the jungle with a master healer is not like drinking anywhere else. There is something so very authentic about the process that you would not think to question anything. It simply IS.
Day 9 and we find ourselves in Cusco
The following day was packed with tours. Understandably, i figured we would all sleep in after sitting the night with mama aya. Not so! Someone came to my cabin to gently knock on the door and inform me the breakfast was ready. I reached for my phone only to discover that it was 8:40. Once i got dressed and walked to the breakfast table i saw that everyone else had already eaten and my eggs were cold.
After breakfast we left promptly in 2 boats in search of exotic birdlife, and we found them in abundance. The driver had to swap out the motor because it was trash. The lodge is located in a large animal reserve and judging by the shear number and variety of wildlife the animals here have discovered that this is a safe place to nest and raise a family.
Even though the water level is very high this year, it was no small feat to maneuver the boats through the thick clusters of plants floating on the river and found everywhere. While on the the boat in search of animals, Diogo told us that he has a community of monkeys living very near his hut. He had been alerted to their presence most every time he was in his hut. Clearly, this is a very large reserve and not a rescue center. There are no cages here and the animals are wild and free to roam about the expanse.
Like the pink dolphins the day before, wild birds were spotted in abundance. Spectacular is the word that comes to mind. This lodge is known for the variety of birds living in the area. Our guide was randomly pointing out different species of animals as we passed by; sloths hanging from treetops, kookaburra jumping into the river, various species of monkeys largely ignoring us, caiman, and a variety of birdlife.
At end of the 4th day at the lodge our jungle experience confronted us like a deer caught in the headlights and the time for another evening with maestro was upon us. He had asked me to sit with him again and, although i was concerned, i thought it couldn’t hurt. After maestro’s ritual with Florida water and mapacho smoke he began pouring potions of medicine. One after another he would measure the magical tea and his assistant would offer it to the guest.
I realized that he gave me a very small amount indeed, perhaps only a taste. The sound of the chakapa and his beautiful voice washed the sacred space with an ambiance which i can only describe as mesmerizing. You really do not need to drink medicine, his songs were enough to nudge your spirit to the hidden worlds. At some point in time i was blessed with a vision; i was running from several men with a small box in my hand. Tired of running, i stopped and turned to confront them smiling, “No, no,” i said. “This is a stage.” I have no idea what these men thought i was carrying or why they were chasing me.
At which point the box opened up to reveal a full size theatrical stage and i immediately began to act a part in an unknown play, all the while the feeling of joy accompanied me. The next day, as i recounted these events, maestro smiles and with a twinkle in his eyes said, “the box is your medicine.” He went on to discuss what constituted my protection and my strength; an attempt to build my confidence i felt. As i have since been attempting to digest this experience, the visions, and maestro’s insight.
This was our last morning at the lodge and we would soon be ushered to the Iquitos airport and bound for Cusco. The trip to Cusco was long and arduous, with the elements of earth, water, and air providing the mediums upon, over, and through we travelled. One of the more unpleasant parts of travelling is the traveling itself; packing, bus rides, boat rides, walking, and flights, and bathrooms are always scarce.
Cusco
We landed at Cusco airport at around 20:30 and immediately jumped into the large uber i had requested beforehand. My chest felt a little tight and my level of available energy took a nosedive. Cusco sits about 12,000 feet above sea level and at this altitude the volume of oxygen in the atmosphere is about 13.5%. compare this to a volume of 21% at sea level. The oxygen is thin here any everyone can feel it.
We would spend the following day acclimatizing and settling in.
PS. Amy caught me typing this and asked if it was a book. I laughed and replied, “No. Its title is Day 9 and we find ourselves in Cusco.”
“Oh! Its a journal!” She smiled. “Where are you putting it?”
To which i replied, “Well, i have been putting parts of it on The Flying Sage.” And we all cheered.
Day 13 Enduring the Thin Air in Cusco
The next day we felt the symptoms brought on by the lack of oxygen more acutely. Every effort to walk uphill or climb up stairs was met with gasping for air and a tingling at the tips of my fingers ; our body’s way of telling us that something is wrong. Most everyone in the group had a prescription for altitude pills but they didn’t seem to help much. i found myself chewing, with considerable regularity, the raw coca leaves were left in the apartments we rented in the San Blas district of Cusco. Chewing coca leaves is fun!
You cannot avoid climbing stairs or walking uphill in Cusco; it is a city of hills and troughs. Everywhere you go you will find yourself struggling… And it does not mater how big or how buff you are, when you don’t get enough oxygen in your blood you will falter. I am 73 and at this age i have earned the right to complain. The others, all considerably younger than i, put up a good front but i knew they were feeling ‘it’ too.
From 1300 to 1533, Cusco was the Inca capital. you can find remnants of this great civilization everywhere. Very large stones cut perfectly to mesh together and form flat vertical walls so perfectly that you cannot push a piece of paper between them. Remarkable.
The full day tour, scheduled for the following day, would prove too rigorous for yours truly to complete and i found myself opting out of climbing the many steps to get to the top of several archeological sites. I was fine, viewing the sites from below as the others pushed on.
Chinchero was the first stop on our tour and we were ushered into a shop of sorts where an amazing array of alpaca textiles were displayed. After a quick demonstration of how the raw wool is washed, cleaned, and dyed we were given the opportunity to purchase some of the fine garments available. Alpaca wool is very soft and strong and at the top of the heap is baby alpaca; as rare as it is expensive. It is frustrating that you don’t have a suitable base line from which to gage a fair price for these garments. It won’t be till we reach Pisac that we can begin to understand how much prices are inflated for tourists.
As an example, there were some beautiful scarves available for s/ 350 (350 soles or about $175 cad). This stuff is gorgeous mind you, natural baby alpaca dyed in natural color; however, there is no way to know what it is worth. And if you are anything like me, you hate being cheated. I knew that we would have more opportunity to buy alpaca goods in Pisac and on other tours so i was not overly concerned, and i informed the others.
Next on our list of things to do was shopping at the Sunday market in Pisac. This excursion would serve two useful purposes; 1) we would come to understand how the local Collectivo minibus service worked and 2) we would have the opportunity to purchase handy crafts and alpaca textiles at the market. We were planning to use Collectivo to get to out retreat space in Pisac for our Huachuma Ceremony the following day.
Collectivo is a minibus service set up by private operators to shuttle locals between Cusco and Pisac for s/ 6 or about $3. The trip from central Cusco (calle piputi) to Pisac takes about one hour to complete so this is a smokin’ deal and whipping through the mountain pass is a hoot!
The Pisac Sunday market was bustling with activity, colorful shops and restaurants are everywhere. We decided to split up and reconvene at the pizza place overlooking the main square in a couple of hours. Many of the shops sold the same items; trinkets made in china for the Peruvian tourist market but a couple of the shops stood out. The shaman shop, a flute shop, and those stores selling quality alpaca clothing. I was fortunate to find a flute made by a local artisan at a reasonable cost. The maker and i played a short tune together.
The shaman shop was selling large bags of râpé and Tepis (devices used to offer the powdered tobacco). The alpaca shops were bound and determined to separate me from my money. The Peruvian tourist shop proprietors are an impetuous lot, downright relentless and aggressive. I had a couple follow me down the block, all the while trying to strike up a conversation in hopes that they would make a sale. You have to be firm! If you waffle you are lost.
The following morning Amy, Katrina, Dawn, Jody, Russell, and Diogo took the Collectivo to Pisac to participate in the Huachuma ceremony. Angela was still processing her second Aya journey and i do not care for San Padro at all – the effects linger too long for my liking. I was to come later in the day after i completed a couple of tasks. I very much wanted to meet Paul the facilitator and see his beautiful home.
I fully expected to encounter problems looking for Paul’s home behind Pisac proper, on a road less travelled. The tuk tuks in this small town are more like small 3 wheeled automobiles than the chopped 250cc 3 wheeled motorcycles you see all over Iquitos. Nevertheless, the ride to Paul’s home was engaging to say the least. What a wild ride! I almost lost some of my fillings bouncing about in back of the tuk tuk on route to the retreat. But after a couple of wrong turns and a short walk we found it!
Having lived in India for 15 years, Paul was clearly an enlightened spirit who carried an air of wisdom wherever he went. After checking in on the 6 travelers, now fully engulfed in their huachuma journey, i was happy to sit with Paul and chat about this and that. I was saddened to hear that Paul is not well and may soon have to close the retreat he has been hosting for the last 25 years.
After saying my farewells, i caught a tuk tuk back to the Pisac market in search of more quality alpaca clothing. And, after a mishap in taking the Collectivo to the wrong part of Cusco i eventually found myself back in my apartment. This was a good day and when my friends returned to the apartment after their medicine experience i gave each one a warm hug.
The end of your amazing journey …
We are all back in Canada but I am still waking up in the Jungle.
It shakes you! To the core! Waking up in your own bed but feeling the humidity, the heat, and hearing the bird calls. I swear, I can see the jungle, the water, the monkeys. For the last four mornings … it’s like I never left. This speaks loudly to the profound impression a journey of this type places upon our sense and sensibilities.
… I caught a bad case of sun stroke. I forgot my tilly style hat at the apartment and immediately regretted it. It is sunny most days in and around Cusco and the Sacred Valley and head covering is mandatory. I did the best I could, trying to cover my head with the hood of my windbreaker but, to no avail, the sun would find its way.
The tour of the south valley was wonderful. The church of Andahuaylillas seamed wildly out of place, here in this small village. Often called the “Sistine Chapel of America,” it’s renowned for its vibrant murals, intricate altarpieces, and ornate carvings.” We were already bound for the next stop when I asked our guide to go back. Dumbfounded, Freddy asked why, to which I replied, ” There is a baby alpaca shawl in the gift shop which I must have… for my wife.”
We were the only members of this tour so it was not a stretch to ask for this favour. With the intricately designed peach and white shawl in hand I felt complete thinking that if I did nothing else this day I would be happy.
I think it was Tipon, a marvelous example of Inca engineering and our last stop this day where I contracted the heat stroke – too much time in the open sun will do this to you. And, once I cooled down and for the rest of the day, that night, and the following day no amount of clothing or covers could control the shivering I endured. It was not just I mind you, several guests sustained bacterial infections on this trip in spite of my cautions and the pro-biotics I shared with everyone. You cannot avoid the bacteria completely and must travel with a healthy gut and suitable medicine.
The next morning found us on the Vista Dome Train to Aguas Calientes (trans – Warm Water) and Machu Picchu. I had to book the earliest train (6:40am) because I wanted leave from San Pedro Station, in the Historic District of Cusco and all other times were full. I opted for the better class tickets because we were promised food and drink; however, the food was Quinoa bars and cookies and drink was coffee, tea, or juice. Note to self, in future do not book the more expensive tickets as, like everything else related to Machu Picchu, this is a cash grab by the Peruvian government. This was the most expensive part of our entire 15 day adventure.
Machu Picchu is spectacular and touring all 4 circuits is required if you want to see everything, an exhausting proposition. we opted instead for circuit 3 which provided access to terraces, Temple of the Sun, House of the Inka, Ceremonial Fountains, Hall of Mirrors, Temple of the Condor among other features. The entry level inn we stayed at was adequate for a single night stay and, as expected, everyone loved the hot mineral baths. I had to forgo the bath and the tour due to my continued illness.
The following day we were off to Lima, the last leg of our journey. My plan was to tour the Historic District and the Magic Water Circuit that afternoon and a walking tour of Miraflores and Barranco the next day cumulating with a goodbye party at a hip restaurant. The group had other ideas and I was too sick to argue. All 7 of them did make the last Water Show that day and we did a partial walking tour. I think they were happy which, is what counts after all.
We stayed in a couple of great apartments in Miraflores ($160US for 2 nights for 5 girls and $130US for 2 nights for the boys) and an awesome hostel in Barranco. I, along with Diogo and Amy, hung around for an extra couple of days. I was happy to try a couple of restaurants which catered to the locals. The food is simple, nourishing, and surprisingly affordable s/ 18 for a meal.
The Google Translate, Uber, and Google Maps apps proved to be indispensable provided that you had a SIM or eSIm for your phone. I got mine for s/ 40 plus a top-up of s/ 6 for additional data for the 3 weeks I was in Peru. A smokin’ deal by any account.
Th-th-th that’s all folks. Thanx for reading! Love, feliz
PSS. the people in my group are some of the most beautiful spirits I have ever had the priveledge of knowing. Thank you dearly for putting up with an old man’s idiosyncrasies. I love you.