Dubai!

As I write this I am sitting in the airport about to embark on my 15 hour flight home. Security to go to the U.S. is rather intense - we went through four separate entry points before making it to our gate. Luckily we left our hotel early, and I have some time to write before heading out.

Yesterday was an incredible day. We decided to depart Abu Dhabi to spend a day in Dubai, which is about an hour and a half away by car. We left the hotel around 9 a.m. and were able to rent a van that took the remaining eight of us into the city. We had plans to go to to the Burj Kalifa that night, so as we were driving into the city we all frantically looked around to see if we could find it amongst the other buildings in the downtown area. It was kind of odd, because we really couldn't spot a building that was that much taller than the rest, even though everything seemed to caress the sky already. One of the funniest moments of the trip was watching Eileen and Kevin trying to distinguish which building it was, and expressing disapointment when we realized that it wasn't even that tall....

At least that's what we thought. Until we learned that there are actually TWO downtowns in Dubai. How crazy is that? We drove through an entire metroplex that was larger than downtown Dallas and it wasn't even downtown. It took us another 25-30 minutes to reach the true downtown, where we finally did see the Burj Kalifa. This time we had no doubt that this was it, as it looked as if it was double the height of all of the buildings around it. The excitement in the car was thick, as everyone was struck by how incredible it was that man could complete such an impressive endeavor. The architecture of the surrounding buildings was also beautiful. Everywhere we looked there was a building that would be the feature of any other city. If I were an architect, I would flock to Dubai to be able to make my mark in the playground of all architects. Today in Dubai must be the equivalent for architects that the renaissance was for painters. It provides an environment where creativity gets pushed to the next level because someone else, at the same time, is trying something that is just a little bit riskier than you are, and they're going to win if they make it.

When we made it into the city we started our expedition in the gold markets. I have never seen heavier jewlrey in my life - the necklaces could have doubled as shields. I'm not sure if everything we saw in the shops was actually gold. It would be awe-stricking if it was - it was like El Dorado of the Middle East.

As you probably could have guessed, we didn't make many (read: any) purchases at the gold market, but then we went on to the spice markets, which was an incredible experience. It wasn't quite as interactive as the spice markets in Istanbul, but it's a huge thrill to be able to smell and taste all of the different offerings. Some markets even sold pure sulpher.

After leaving the spice markets we took a river ferry for one durhim across the way to the textile market. It wasn't too different than the first few, although I did pick up some nice pillow cases and a pair of embroidered shoes.

After we departed the markets our group broke up and went two different ways: the first group went into the financial district to explore the malls and see some of the architecture up close, while Shuarya and I went out of downtown area and into the "second" downtown to go out to the Palm Islands. The Palm Islands are a man made creation, and each of the different frawns are filled with homes, while the circumference is packed with luxury hotels. It was fascinating to travel out onto an island that had no reason to exist other than as a showcase of wealth. To get there, Shaurya and I had to take two subways, a tram, and a monorail. The end destination was the hotel, Atlantis, which was at the very furthest point on the islands. They made an incredible vacation destination out of that resort: on the grounds they had waterparks, pools, beaches, restaurants, bars, and a massive aquarium.

We left the island to meet back up with the group at the Mall of Dubai in the other part of town. When we arrived at the mall the first thing we saw were two new Lamborghni's parked out front. It was a fitting entrance to the LARGEST MALL IN THE WORLD. I don't particularly love malls, but this place literally had everything you could ever want. There were food and dessert options from around the world, every clothing store you had ever heard of, and lots of interactive activities. We were at the mall, however, for one reason: to enter into the tallest building in the world.

The Burj Kalifa was completed in 2010 and is 829.8m tall (about 200 stories). The top 40 floors of the building are not open for the public, but we were able to ride the elevator up to the 124th floor. The view from the top was pretty breathtaking. It was a joy to see everyone's reactions as they stepped out onto the balcony to explore the entire city below. Eileen said that she thought she could see the curve of the horizon because it was so tall. A fun fact about the building that we learned was that it is so tall that you can watch the sunset twice every day by starting at the base for the first one then watching the second at the top.

When we came back down from the clouds we decided to head back to Abu Dhabi and to bed for the night. We woke up early the next morning to catch our 15.5 hour flight back home, and now we've made it back to the real world. Work starts back up today, and I'm sure it'll be a lot to catch up on, but the trip was absolutely incredible, and I am so glad that I got to take it with all of my dear friends.

Abu Dhabi Day 2

4/27/2015

Even though our first day in Abu Dhabi was an incredible experience, Day 2 definitely takes the cake. It was the perfect blend of relaxation, culture, and adrenaline. At the end of last night my friend Hannah asked me, "Do you know that state of nirvana that you reach when you're perfectly at peace in a vacation?" She paused a second and then said, "I'm there."

We slept in yesterday, which was pretty wonderful considering it was a Monday morning. For the eleven of us staying in this hotel, breakfast was a nice rotating table of six of us as we all meandered in and out based on when we woke up. I came in towards the end of the meal, and we quickly made a plan at the table to depart for the World Trade Markets. There was a mall there as well as a souk, where we had the opportunity to purchase suveniers, spices and teas. It was nice to have a place to admire the clothing, carpets and other cultural items that are demonstrative of the lifestyle in the middle east, but we didn't shop around for long. Instead, five of us went into the tea house to enjoy different types of teas.

We went back to the hotel briefly after leaving the markets, and a small sub-group of us went out to Yas Island (home of Ferarri World and some of the nicer resorts in Abu Dhabi) to spend some time on a beach. The public beach there had a small entry fee, but the sands and waters were just gorgeous. We swam and laid out for a couple of hours. It was just blissful. I could absolutely live my life on a beach.

We had to rush back to the hotel from the beach. We were really lucky to have found a van cab that seated 6, because the cabs only passed through the beach area every 10 minutes and we would have been in trouble if only half of us could have gone. When we made it back to the hotel we had 10 minutes to turn around and be ready to depart for our desert safari.

I had joked with Will previously during the day that the desert safari was going to follow a certain prescribed route. I thought that I knew exactly what to expect, and I couldn't have been more wrong.

The safari was AWESOME. It was easily the most fun I have ever had on a tour. We were picked up by Land Rovers at the hotel, and started the journey by driving an hour outside the city into the desert.

When we arrived at the site in the desert, we had to stop the cars. The driver got out and asked us to wait inside for 2 minutes, which was a no-brainer since there really wasn't anywhere we could run off to. He emptied air out of all of the tires on the vehicle, and then got back in and started driving really fast and would drift between the different sand slopes on the sides of the road. It was awesome, but in no way foreshadowed what we were going to do next.

Eventually we left the road and ended up driving directly over the sand dunes. This alone seeemed trecherous enough to me, but to made it even better the drivers would do tricks where the entire car would slide sideways down the dune, or we would get air over the top of the dune before baralleling over to the other side. Mom, I know you won't enjoy reading this, but it was SO MUCH FUN. I spent the entire time giggling.

We made two stops for pictures during the dune bashing section of our night. The first stop was with camels. At first I was very intimidated by the animals, and kept my distance from them. However, after being around them for 10 minutes I started to be able to sense their good nature. By the end of the photo session I was standing amongst 4 camels at a time, giggling as they would nudge my head or bend down so that I would rub their necks. It was an experience from another world.

Our second stop for photos was on top of a dune where we could see all of the stunts the other cars in the caravan were pulling. While we were standing there, Carissa's hat blew off of her head and down the sand dune. I ran after it, and had the best workout of the trip by climbing back up the dune. Kevin and Chris were inspired by my little sprint, and decided to race eachother to the top of a sand dune on the opposite side of our group, The dune was incredibly high, and I really didn't think that they would be able to make it, but alas - they did. I work with some athletes. The guides found their sprint extremely amusing.

After getting back in the car after the second stop we all started to feel a little car sick - riding over the dunes is incredibly motion intensive. Luckily we didn't have to wait too much longer before arriving at the camp where we were to have dinner. The camp was great - but much larger than we had expected. There were about 20 long tables with cushions as seats that surrounded a large stage. Along the perimeter of the camp were different activities that we could participate in - sandboarding, henna tattoes, shisha, a traditional garb photobooth, sand painting, and camel rides. It was such a tourist gig, but it was really fun nonetheless. Dinner was from a GIANT buffett, and although it wasn't incredibly authentic it was still delicious.

After dinner we rode back home, and spent some time unwinding together before heading to bed. We went into Dubai this morning, so it was definitely important for us to get a good night of sleep.

I am so grateful for this trip with wonderful friends. I will post the final day's adventures tomorrow after writing about them while on the plane. The trip is over, but the memories will last for a long time.

Abu Dhabi Day 1

We made it to Abu Dhabi, and so far, this city has not disappointed us.

Our flight went by incredibly smoothly, with the exception of a delay at the beginning because of a big storm passing through Dallas. Although the flight time was 15 and a half hours, it seemed like we were only aboard for about five. I sat on the same row as Grace, and we had the middle seat open between us (which was such a blessing). In front of us were Shaurya, Amanda and Eileen, while Winston, Kevin and Will were further back in the plane. We had a great group to fly with, which made the time pass all the more quickly.

We landed in Abu Dhabi at about 9:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, and quickly grabbed two cabs to the hotel. We are staying at the Sheraton (which is a first for me with international travel since I am normally camping out in tents or hostels), and because of the amount we travel for work we were able to upgrade our room - which has been awesome! We decided to kick-start the vacation with a group dinner out by the pool and beach. The restaurant was Lebanese and the food was very interesting. I ordered what I thought was something like the Cevapcici I had in Bosnia, but it turned out to be like a hamburger quesadilla. We had great appetisers though, and the environment was perfect .


We started today by all gathering at the hotel breakfast buffet. The spread was incredible, and we enjoyed juices, smoothies, and coffee (or maybe that was just me...). After we were all fuelled up for the day we set out to go see the palace. We ended up getting into two different cabs, and quickly learned that we were not prepared. At all. First we learned that shorts and flip flops were not allowed. Although all of the girls had dressed very modestly, the guys were all wearing shorts and had to go back to the hotel. First, however, they thought that it would be a good job to drop the girls in the cab off at the mall... which is generally my least favorite place in any city. When we were at the mall, we learned from one of the girls in the other cab that we needed to have a reservation to the palace, and wouldn't be able to get in that day. Not too discouraged, we decided to go walk and explore the city instead of waiting around shops that were all American and European in nature before meeting up with the rest of the group to figure out what we were going to do next. That's when things started to get pretty amazing.

After only walking about 200 yards from the mall we ran into the waterfront. The water here is a beautiful deep aqua, and as we approached the rail separating the street from the stone beach we saw a group of 6 dolphins frolicking around in the water! They were so graceful, and jumped out of the water often as if they knew we were looking for a show. Across the waterway were two of grandest buildings I have ever seen - the Palace and the new home of the UAE president. I have been to some beautiful palaces before in Europe and Russia, but these two were unbelievable in scale and beauty. In front of the white house was a full marina stocked with super yachts, and both were sitting atop beautiful sloping white sand beaches.

We spent a while walking down the waterfront to take in the beauty of the water and the architecture. After some time, however, we decided that it was time to rejoin the rest of the group and we set out to meet them at Heritage Village. The village was a collection of handicraft shops, history museums, and demonstrations of the different environments and nomadic cultures present in the UAE. It was an enjoyable experience, but it wasn't the most thrilling attraction and we didn't stay for more than an hour.

After leaving the village we decided to go to some of the markets. We were first dropped off at the Iranian market, which one of my travel partners described as "an outdoors Wal-Mart". I don't exactly agree with the title, but I think that it demonstrates the fact that the goods for sale at these stalls were not souvenirs or art work, but rather very practical things that people use in business and every day life - like cooking stoves, cookware, knives, and storage containers. We stepped into a furniture store to look at the rugs for a little bit, but then decided to turn around and explore some of the other markets in the area, which turned out to be very enjoyable.

The first market we walked through was the flower market. It was different from the flower markets I enjoyed this summer in Croatia and Peru, as the offerings were mainly potted plants rather than cut stems, but the flora was vibrant nonetheless. We saw a variety of plants that fostered fruits like pinaples, kumquats and grapefruit, as well as many flowering bushes.

After leaving the flower market we decided to go to the fish market. Although I really don't like eating seafood, the fish market was very cool (with the exception of the smell, of course). There was a massive variety of types of fish, and there were very adventurous shellfish and delicacies as well. It was definitely a place that only the locals visited, and it felt kind of awkward to not make any purchases. The people were kind, however, and Kevin and Chris made friends with one of the stall owners.

Following the fish market we visited the vegetable and fruit market, which is always one of my favorite things to do. I tried new fruits from India and Egypt, and we bought a bunch of mangoes as a group that the stall owner cut on the spot for us to enjoy. We were a loud group, and we attracted the giggles of many of the shop owners in the market. They told Shaurya in Hindi that they thought we were crazy (all in good humor though). We departed the markets after being on our feet most of the day and decided to head back to the hotel. Although we had spent the day cabbing all around, the fares were extremely affordable and made transportation much easier. I could only imagine what it would have been like had we tried to walk everywhere.

At the hotel we donned our swimsuits and headed out to the pool, where some of our group had retreated to after our first adventures at the Heritage Village. The pool felt amazing, and it revived the part of my soul that only really lives during the summer. The heat here, while it frustrates some, only makes me anticipate summer in Texas with even more excitement. After the pool we went out to the beach and spent some time lounging on a floating dock as a group before heading back in to get ready for our trip to the Mosque.

After dressing very modestly (closed shoes, long baggy pants, shirt, cardigan, and head scarf), we took cabs to go just outside the city to visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. I can hardly express just how beautiful this mosque was. It was larger than the Taj Mahal (115m versus 73m tall), and its newness made everything glimmer. It was opened in 2007 to serve as a mosque not only for the people of each of the emirates, but to be a destination for people from around the world. The mosque has visitors from 100 different countries daily, and welcomes 2.5 million guests per year.

The architecture was beautifully modern. The massive entry doors electronically opened when the laser sensor was triggered, and there were 5 12 ton chandeliers throughout the prayer rooms indoors. In addition to the chandeliers, the entire entry was covered in the world's largest hand-knotted carpet, which took 1200 laborers 20 months to create. It's pretty impressive that they were able to build such an incredible building in only 11 years, when buildings of similar caliber used to take multiple lifetimes to complete in an older time.

I loved the floral decorations and the creative usage of lighting, textures and mosaics across the interior. The ceilings were unbelievably tall as well. It's hard to describe how impressive the building is, so I will just have to rely on pictures.

After the mosque we went out to another lebonese restaurant for dinner. The company was great, and our meal was out on a patio overlooking the entire harbor. The skyline reminded me of Singapore, and the warm night breeze was the perfect way to end the night.

Tomorrow we are taking it easy before leaving in the afternoon for a desert safari out to a Bedouin camp. It'll be an exciting day. So far, this vacation has been all of the adventure and fabulous company that I hoped it would be.

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi 2015

After this summer, it would seem that I am completely traveled out. Never fear, though. My colleague sent out a message on Christmas Day seeking fellow adventurers to act on a fantastic deal that he found: a $300 RT direct flight from Dallas to Abu Dhabi. Needless to say, I was very quick to jump aboard.

Tonight I will be departing Dallas for a whirlwind trip (the consequences of having to take vacation days). We will be sepending some time at the beach, exploring markets, experiencing the mosques and religion of the area, camping at a Bedouin settlement in the middle of the desert, and going on top of the world's tallest building. To make it even more incredible, I will be joined by about 15 of my incredible co-workers. Who said team building had to be done in the office?

Stay tuned to follow the adventure....

Journey Home

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. 

The Amazon Research Center

9/10/14

Our time at the research center has been good, but I'm really starting to feel the effects of the jungle - namely in terms of bug bites and heat exhaustion.

Our first afternoon here was pleasant. We arrived in time for lunch, which was a good meal because of all the people staying out here yesterday. After lunch we took the boat out down the river a little ways before docking it on the shore to embark on a hike. The purpose of the hike was to find monkeys, the hoazin bird and macows. Along the way we saw a capuchin monkey, a great whip snake, and the hoazin bird. The hike itself, however, was very strenuous. It took us over several "treacherous crossings," as one of the other traveler liked to call them. These crossings entailed either knee deep mud or a foot of water, so the easiest way to pass was through to balance on top of a log that was laid across the trouble zone. The more difficult stretches were 20-40 feet long and required continuous balancing over three or more of these logs.

We also were hiking at a very brisk pace, and it was all I could do to keep up with Witt enough to not loose sight of him ahead. The hike ended with us arriving at a lake where the hoazin bird lived before we turned back to return to the river and the boat. The hoazin was an interesting bird. Our guide explained to us that it was alive during prehistoric times! It also has two stomachs, like a cow.

On our return journey it started pouring down rain, so we truly got to experience the whole rain in the rainforest thing. It was pretty intense, and the rain was pelting down on us. My rain jacket was great to have on, but I was still nervous about the safety of my camera. Luckily we made it out alive, although completely drenched, and my camera survived.

When we got back to the lodge we had enough time to shower before dinner. It was a lot of the guests' last night, so the dinner was a feast that ended with a cake! I went to bed immediately after the meal, and slept all the way until breakfast at 8 - almost 12 hours worth of sleep.

Today has been a bit slower paced. After breakfast we went into the jungle behind the lodge for a hike, but there weren't many animals out and the humidity was excruciating after the rain yesterday. Witt didn't have any long pants left because of the drenching we got yesterday, so he did the hike in shorts and ended up paying the price for it - the Mosquitos devoured him. I was ok in terms of bites, but the humidity was tough for me. Llyako made me a head reef that was made out of green leaves and some vines that he had woven in order to absorb some of the humidity, and it worked! I looked a bit silly, but since there was nothing but monkeys in the jungle to see me I rocked the head gear all the way back to the lodge.

We had a small lunch then took some downtime for reading before heading out on the boat for some fishing. We didn't have any live bait, so we used lurers instead and the fish were not biting. Then it started to rain so we ended our expedition a little early. Around the bend the rain stopped so we hunted a bit for sloths, with no avail, and I attempted some canooing after getting off the boat, but decided my technique needed a little work before I would be comfortable going out on my own in the Amazon.

We leave tomorrow to return home, and it is going to be quite the travel day. We have 2 hours back to the main lodge by boat, then 4 hours to Iquitos, 30 minutes to the airport, 2 hours to Lima, about 6 hours of layover, 7 hours to Houston, then a layover and short flight before we return to Austin. It'll be a long day, but I'm thrilled to be coming home. 

Amazon Adventures - Continued

The rest of the first full day

After lunch we had a bit more free time before we headed off to the local village around 3 p.m. At the village we met with the shaman, and he explained (with the help of interpreters) the process through which he became a shaman, the difference between black and white shamans (he was a white one), and showed us his medicines before leaving us each with a blessing that will last 6 months.

His father was a shaman, so he learned the arts originally from him, then continued his studies under his wife's grandfather after his father had passed away. The process of becoming a shaman is intense and strenuous. It requires studies, but also a full 6 months of isolation in the jungle with a teacher to learn the ways of the plants. During this time, the student can only eat what his instructor tells him to, and the two of them will also undergo several periods of influence under ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic that creates a gateway with the spiritual world. The drug strains the body, and induces vomiting and diarrhea, but it is also said to cure all illnesses one may have had before taking it and leaves him or her with a fresh body. Our guide also said that it helps people to find their purpose and to unleash their hidden talents. The shaman takes the concoction every time he has a new patient in order to gain insight into the diagnosis and the treatment, if a treatment is possible. The trip will also show him which plants to use as medicines.

The medicines that he showed us were really cool. They were all bottled in old water bottles or wine bottles, and many of the roots or plants were kept in sugar can rum to keep them fresh. With each plant our translators told us what they would cure, and the list included cold, diabetes, ovarian cancer, birth control, fertility and more. It was quite impressive.

The blessings were really special as well. The shaman blessed Vicky, our friend, with the spirit of the wind. He then blessed me with the spirit of the plant, and Witt with the strength of the black anaconda. The plant has medicinal powers, but it is also flexible, sympathetic, and patient. The anaconda has great strength and determination.

After visiting the shaman we did a tour of the village and watched as the locals played soccer and volleyball. There skill level was really high - I was impressed! The town is laid out so that all of the buildings surround the soccer field, which I thought was pretty awesome. We also saw a typical oven, garden, and home layout.

By the time we returned to the lodge it was almost time for dinner. The sun had set and the moon was high in the sky and almost full. Our day had been rather full, so we opted out of the evening activity and called it an early night.

We woke up the next morning for a 6:30 breakfast, but I got up extra early to wash some of my clothes, as I had packed dangerously few short sleeved items. After breakfast we got onto the boat and went out for our first fishing excursion! I caught a catfish early on, then ran out of luck. The others in the boat caught some small red and white piranhas and some little trout.

After our first bout of fishing we returned to the lodge for some free time before lunch. In the afternoon, we headed off into the jungle again to scout the pygmy marmoset monkey, which is the world's smallest monkey. It took us a while to find one, but when we finally did it was very much worth it - it was tiny! Witt joked that the squirrels on the UT campus are bigger than this monkey. We learned about their living style, their diet, and their polygamous mating from our guide Llyako. On our way back to the lodge we saw a momma and baby owl monkey, and a fertile lance, one of the most venomous snakes in the world. After my black mamba encounter in Africa I'm starting to gain a collection of encounters with the world's most frightening creatures.

We were pretty sweaty when we for back to the lodge, so we went back out on the river to try our hands again at fishing. The wind from the moving boat is the perfect antidote to the jungle sauna. My fishing luck was awful, and I didn't catch a single thing. Witt was a bit better off, but most of his catches were baby piranhas that had to be thrown back because they weren't big enough to eat.

Dinner last night was fantastic. There were about 20 guest at the lodge, so we all had a ton of different dishes to choose from. It was great. After dinner I decided to go on the night hike, and ventured into the jungle with some other travelers and a new guide. We saw tree frogs, spiders, giant ants, and a HUGE Amazon Bull Frog. It was an entertaining trip, and I enjoyed the goosebumps I had from tromping along the wet forest floor in the dark.

This morning we woke up extra early for a 6 am fishing trip, and our luck turned! I caught a barracuda and two piranhas, and Witt caught lots of piranhas as well. At the end of the trip we had 8 fish that were big enough to cook for lunch.

We had breakfast with everyone else at 8, then packed our bags for the next stage of our journey. As I type this out we are currently taking a boat 2 more hours up the Tahuanyo  River to the research center, where we will spend 2 nights. Because of the humidity my washing from yesterday morning didn't dry, which put me in a bit of a fowl mood. I'm also starting to get a little frustrated with the bugs and smells, so the time is ripe for change. This truly is a once in a lifetime experience, in that I don't think I'll ever make the journey back, but I am so pleased to have the adventure now. 

Into the Amazon

We made it to the Amazon! After taking our flight from Cusco to Lima and another from Lima to Iquitos we were picked up by a new guide at the tiny little airport in the jungle and taken by car 20 minutes to a travel office on the river. When we arrived, a woman gave us a sack lunch and ushered us to the back, where we got our first glimpse of the Amazon. It is gigantic! Our luggage was transported onto the boat and we all clamored in afterwards. There were 2 other travelers who arrived with us, so the four of us plus the four members of the staff disembarked together from Iquitos on a journey that would take 4 hours going upstream on the Amazon.

The river was beautiful, and at all points it was as wide as a typical lake in Texas. There were a couple of bends of the river that reminded me of spots on Lake Travis near our old lake house where I would train all summer long for wakeboarding. The only thing that is not particularly beautiful is the color of the water. The water of the Amazon is a murky brown from all of the mud, clay and silt that the water picks up as it flows down the Andes Mountains and into the tributary.

The boat ride was long, and since I had woken up at 4:45 that morning I drifted off to sleep many times along the way. Finally, around 4 in the afternoon we arrived at our lodge after having left the main body of the Amazon for the Tahuanyo River an hour back. The lodge is a pretty cool place. It is built on stilts because of the potential of the river to flood, so it has the feel of a giant tree house. Most of the rooms in the complex share a bathroom, and there are common rooms like a hammock room and reading room for any of the guest to enjoy throughout the day. It is extremely hot and humid in the jungle, but because of the remote nature of the lodge there isn’t enough electricity from the solar panels for fans, and certainly not enough for A/C. Instead all of the rooms are screened to prevent bugs and mosquitos from entering, but they’re open enough to catch the natural breeze.

It took me a while to adjust to the humidity, but after I became comfortable with a nice constant glistening of sweat I have been really enjoying myself. The sounds out here are unbelievably rich and full. We can hear a number of different birds, toads, and monkeys at all times during the day. At night the sound of insects and bullfrogs fill the air so strongly that I had to sleep with earplugs in order to drift off and not be distracted from all of the sounds. Some of the other challenges of being out here include not being able to flush toilet paper, only getting to charge electronics between 1 and 3 p.m. or 6 and 8 p.m., the high density of mosquitos, cold showers, and once again – the heat. It counts twice because it’s so tough to deal with. A perfect packing list for this trip would include a pair of chacos or similar sandals, several pairs of light weight high socks, binocculars, bug repellent pants, dry fit shirts or PFGs, a wide brimmed sun hat, a water sanitation UV light, a rain jacket, and LOTS OF BUG SPRAY. Make up won’t stay on in this heat, and your hair won’t stay dry in the humidity, so there’s no point to bring any of those products with you. While I have most of those things with me, I’m missing a few and there’s no way to purchase replacements out in the middle of nowhere. We can get by, but it would be more comfortable otherwise. Anyways, the adventures here are more than worth a little discomfort. They’re once in a lifetime opportunities.

Last night before nodding off to sleep we had a fun nighttime boat ride up the river to a lake in search of Caymans and toads, and before that a really great home cooked dinner with all of the other travelers staying here. Although a big group of people took off for the research center this morning, I greatly enjoyed their company last night and their enthusiasm for the jungle. The lot of them were from California and were all retired, and their stories of travel, family, and excursions passed time pleasantly.

This morning we were able to sleep in until 7:40 and woke up just in time for the 8 a.m. breakfast with everyone else. At 9 we were given a pair of rubber boats and were fitted for harnesses to prepare for our zip-lining adventure. We hiked through a km of the rainforest to get to the platform, but because we walked a very windy path our distance traveled seemed to be much longer. The walk was extremely entertaining for me. Because we were trouncing through the rain forest most of the path was wet and muddy, which meant that our boots squelched and sunk through all of the mud as we fought our way through to the platform. I had a blast.

When we arrived at the platform there was another surprise in store for us. Almost every zipline I have ever done has a set of stairs or pegs on a tree that you climb up in order to get to the starting platform. This one, however, had no such thing. Instead, there were two options. The first was what most people chose – you could clip your harness into a set of ropes and sit back while the staff hoisted you up by pulling on the ropes through a lever system. The second is the way the staff reached the top – climbing. Climbing didn’t entail climbing up the actual tree, but instead using a rope, a foot harness, and two hand grips to slowly advance up the rope to the top. The hand grips were locked in such a way that they would only move up the rope, but not down, so that every time you pushed it upwards it would stay there and you were a little closer to the destination.

The guide went up first, then let Witt have a try. The issue with choosing this path was the fact that once you start you can’t get back down, so you have to be able to find the strength to make it to the top. Witt started off slower than the guide (which is to be completely expected), but after a while he caught the rhythm of it and progressed upwards pretty steadily with some very heavy breathing and grunting. The climb was roughly equivalent to climbing 15 ropes in gym class at the same time, with the added difficulty that the hand grips sometimes were stuck on the rope and didn’t move as freely as our hands do while climbing.

After Witt made it to the top in pretty good time it was my turn. I had a pretty rough start, as I could hardly even get the grips to move along the rope at all. After a couple of failed attempts, however, I was able to adjust my technique to start the journey upwards. The climb was a total of 48 meters, and it was gruelingly difficult. My right arm, the one that had to thrust the first hand grip up the rope, was extremely sore and my breathing was ragged by the time I made it close to the top. The final few pushes were excruciating, and I pretty much just tumbled over the ropes onto the platform when I had finally made it. Witt was lying down still catching his breath from his climb when I arrived.

I regained my strength and breath pretty quickly, and had a blast ziplining down the three stretches of cable before repelling back down to the jungle floor. Our hike back to the lodge was equally fun as the one to the zipline, and the mud was just as squishy. Once back at the lodge we washed our rubber boots in the river and enjoyed some free time before lunch.

Machu Picchu!!!!

As I write this Witt and I are sitting in the airport bleary eyed and tired (a 4:45 a.m. wake-up generally has this effect) waiting for our flight out to Iquitos, the next destination in our journey. As excited as I am to begin our adventure down into the Amazon rainforest, I want to be able to adequately reflect on the incredible experiences of the past two days.

My last post detailed our introduction to the Incan society through the Cusco city tour and our trip out to the Sacred Valley. Those trips were the perfect primer for our expedition to Machu Picchu. We left Cusco on the morning train to Machu Picchu full of knowledge about rituals, Incan beliefs, architecture and astronomy. Our train departed at 7:45 a.m., and we were seated on one side of a table across from a kind gentleman from Japan who is working in Lima. He gave us his business card as way of introduction, and during the train ride showed us his handy handheld electronic language dictionary that he uses to translate from Japanese to Spanish and English. It was quite an impressive device, but I was more impressed by his mobility between so many different languages even without much mastery of them.

The train had other perks as well. It was very nicely decorated and it was pretty comfortable. The staff served us tea or juices and home baked goodies. My sugar cookie was incredible. It was a good thing that the train was so comfortable, however, because even though we were only traveling 57 miles to get to the site from Cusco, it took three hours and thirty minutes of travel to arrive.

When we finally got off the train in the small town built around the tourist attraction we had a guide waiting for us. He walked us to our hotel where we dropped off our baggage (we only brought our backpacks with us since we were only there for a night and left our suitcases in Cusco). We had time for a quick lunch before meeting back with our guide at 1 p.m. to head up to the site. The tourist agency actually was rather efficient. They sent someone to escort us from the hotel to the bus station, put us on the bus, then had another guide waiting for us on top of the mountain when we arrived. Because the town is located in the valley and Machu Picchu is on top of the mountain, the bus that took us up was a surprisingly long trip. It had to travel along different switchbacks up the mountain and couldn’t drive more than 25 miles an hour because of the steep paths, the sharpness of the curves, and the ever-present chance that it could run into a bus coming back down the mountain head on since the road was not quite wide enough for two vehicles. After a couple of close calls with other buses, we made it to the top. When we had arrived in the train station that morning it was raining, but by the time we made it to the site it was a beautiful, warm and sunny day. Our guide was named Lou, and he took us all throughout the old Incan city. He explained to us that Machu Picchu was not the most important Incan city, and that the nobility and scholars that had lived there were not as high ranking as those who had lived in Cusco, which was the center of the empire. He also explained that the importance of the site derives from the fact that it was never discovered by the Spanish, so it was well preserved and better showed how the Incans had lived.

Some of the buildings in Machu Picchu were similar to those we had seen in the Sacred Valley – made with such exact architecture that you had to marvel at how it was even possible to build without modern tools. Others looked like your typical European ruin – homes that were made of stone, but without the same size of stones or the tightness of the locks between them.

During our tour we learned about grain storage, the construction of two-story buildings, the temples and sacrifices, the agriculture (my personal favorite part of the society), and astronomy. I was very taken by the quality of work that seemed to surround Incan lifestyle. Their terraces for farming were built in a way that allowed water poured on the first terrace to filter down all the way to the bottom of the terrace set. They used clay, gravel, sand and soil in succession to make the terraces, and they would import the sand from hundreds of kilometers away to ensure the best quality. It fascinates me.

After a couple of hours with Lou we decided to take the bus back down the mountain. Our hotel had included dinner and a drink at the bar, so we tried a pisco sour (the most famous local cocktail) and chatted with some travelers who we had ran into a couple of times before on our tour. Dinner was pretty good as well, and we finished it early enough to go out in the town. There weren’t a ton of people around, but we managed to join up with a group of American travellers who had just completed the Incan trail and we all headed into a bar that had a live band. We must of set a trend, because although we were the first people to enter, the bar was packed by the end of the night. We played Jenga, met some girls from Chile who joined us at our table, and danced salsa. The only lady in the band looked really familiar, and after talking with the other travelers we realized that we had all seen her do some sort of yoga by the river that morning. I had the chance to talk to her some during the night, and she agreed to teach us some of it the next morning!

We had settled on 8:30 a.m., so Witt and I got up early enough to have breakfast and be ready for her arrival. Unfortunately rain accompanied the first morning light, and it didn’t let up. Instead of cancel our plans, however, we decided to give the Tensegrity a try under a tree by the river. Tensegrity was an ancient practice that was dreamt up by its founders thousands of years ago in Mexico, and was brought to the public’s attention in the 1980s by a man named Carlos Castaneda. It included different breathing exercises and rhythmic movements. Lauren, the singer we had met from the night before, taught us 3 or 4 different routines. Unfortunately I can only remember the last one (because we did it 9 times in a row), but it was pretty cool to experience all of the different ones.

We wrapped up around 10, and Witt and I quickly checkout out of the hotel and headed to the bus station to go back up to Machu Picchu for a second time. The rain still hadn’t really let up, but it wasn’t too much worse than a drizzle. When we got to the top of the mountain the site was completely different than it had been before. Clouds were everywhere – we were literally in them! It largely obscured our vision of the city, but it gave the experience a very exotic feeling. We spent our time on top of the mountain hiking out to the sun gate – the official entrance of Machu Picchu off of the Incan trail. The hike was pretty long – 45-50 minutes at my best guest. Along the way we found a huge rock overhang that offered some protection from the mist and rain and a dry spot to sit. It had attracted other travelers as well and we met a troupe from New Zealand and a guy from France while resting and enjoying the dryness. After 10 or 15 minutes we headed back out on the trail and passed some structure that had a huge altar stone on it then hiked even further to get to the gate. The gate itself was cool but nothing spectacular. The view, however, was out of this world. It was a great reward for the long uphill hike. We made it back down pretty quickly (albeit with a couple of slips and falls on the wet rocks), and caught a bus down with just enough time to grab lunch before heading back to the train station to return to Cusco. The train was extra long on the way back, and after about 4 hours we finally arrived back to Cusco. Freddy, our tour director, was there waiting for us when we stepped off the train. He drove us back to the hotel, and we were settled by 10 p.m. and quickly fell asleep after such an active day. This morning started early and appears to be a travel day, but we’ll see what excitement the afternoon will hold in the Amazon!