Well, I've made it home. With the exception of travel that I will be doing for work this year, I think I'm going to tie a bow and put my world travels away for a bit. This year I have been to 19 different countries, and three different states in the U.S.. It has been an incredible year of growth and adventure. I white water rafted in Slovenia and Zambia; saw incredible wildlife in Tanzania, Namibia and Peru; hiked sand dunes, mountains, and ancient trails; scuba dived in Thailand and Zanzibar; clubbed in Bali and South Africa; sat on the shores of beautiful lakes in Slovenia, Croatia and Malawi; sky dove in Austin, and bungee jumped in Zimbabwe; and met people from all over the world. I saw unbelievable ancient architecture, and was amazed by new contraction of buildings and parks in Singapore. I learned how to say "cheers" in many languages, but also shared worries and doubts with people from all walks of life. Most of all, I have felt the bond of humanity, and the faith of our ability to bring about a bright and promising future.
Getting home from this past trip in Peru was an adventure in itself. We traveled for a full 28 hours before reaching our home in Austin. Although this doesn't really near my record, it still was a draining experience.
Our first leg of the journey was by boat from the Amazon Research Center to the Main Lodge on the Tahuayo River. Because we were going down stream, it only took us about an hour and a half to reach the main lodge. When we got there we had some free time before lunch, but because we didn't have a room there anymore and my clean clothing was limited, I opted to just hang around and read instead of venturing out into the jungle one last time. After lunch we took off on our second leg of the journey - a four hour boat ride from the Main Lodge back to Iquitos down the Tahuayo River and the Amazon River. The boat that we loaded up with all of our suitcases and gear was the same one we had traveled back from the research center in, but they swapped out the plain seat cushions for chairs that had backs on them, which made for a little more comfortable journey. However, the boat was not covered, unlike the one that we came up to the lodge in after our arrival in Iquitos.
The first part of the boat ride went rather well, but the sun was glaring and I quickly noticed that I was becoming sunburned. I had to take one of my long sleeved shirts that I had packed for the airport out of my backpack to wear in order to give myself some protection from the sun, despite the heat. Soon after I donned it though, it started raining. I took it back off in order to preserve it as a dry shirt, and Llyako pulled out a massive tarp that we had to arrange over our luggage to keep it dry. The rain wasn't very heavy, so we we fine leaving our heads out from under the tarp and just using it to cover our bodies.
After about 20 minutes or so of the light rain we hit a dry spot and were able to remove the cover. Unfortunately, that didn't last long. We could see in the distance a wall of black. We knew we were doomed. After about 10 more minutes we hit the fringe of it, and everyone had to duck underneath the tarp, except for our brave driver. We were in the middle of a full blown storm on the Amazon. I could see trees on the shore bending 90 degrees under the wind, and the water was white capping. The rain felt like bullets on my skin through the tarp, and I could feel puddles of water building in my lap as the water ran down the tarp. Luckily, I stayed dry, and my backpack was at my side and out of the storm, protecting my phone, camera and laptop.
At one point something really hard hit my arm through the tarp. I didn't know what it was, and the rain was too strong to check. We stayed underneath the tarp for about 2 hours as the storm continued to rage. Afterwards, we were able to let our heads out from underneath the tarp to get some fresh air, but it was still raining lightly, and we had to keep the tarp over our belongings. The funniest thing, however, was finding 2 fish that had jumped into our boat during the storm. After seeing one right in front of my feet in the front of the boat I realized what had hit me in the arm during the storm!
The whole thing was just really epic. I would repeat the experience if I could - even though it was a little difficult staying under the tarp for so long. After we arrived in Iquitos and got off the boat our travel was like any other return trip. We flew from Iquitos to Lima, had a bit of a layover then flew from Lima to Houston, and finally Houston to Austin. The flights weren't exceptional in anyway, and unlike our travel down to Peru, everything ran fairly smoothly.
I'm thrilled to be home. A hot shower and air conditioning seems like such a luxury now. It's also wonderful to see my parents and animals. While I think I'll be settled at least for a bit in the States, I never really know when my next adventure abroad will begin. I have a couple of places on my list, and a number of items on my bucket list. The real question now is how long it will take before I get restless again.
