Remote Lodge on Amazon Tributary

We treated ourselves to a lodge on a tributary of the Amazon
River about two hours by boat from Iquitos, Peru.  These are
Piranha; small but they have sharp teeth and there are lots.
Not wanting to be wasteful, we ate them.

It is a lazy river, but not the Suwanee

We spent our time birdwatching . . . 

Exploring . . .

Viewing giant lily pads

Kuelap - Ancient Fortress of the Chachapoyas Culture of Northern Peru

We went to a place near the present town of Chachapoyas, Peru in September 2014 to learn a little about this ancient culture which flourished between 500 and 1,400 a.d.  The ruins are located somewhere above 3,000 meters and twenty-some kilometers from a paved road down in the valley.  We went with a group in a 12 passenger van  and just the shelf road was quite an experience.  Photos do not do justice to the views.


Residences were circular.  Archiologists speculate that this design was more resistant to earthquake than rectangular structures - an important consideration in the Andes.  The structure shown below is a controversial reconstruction.

Before I forget, let me apologize to my Greek readers who patiently tell me that it isn't Ancient if it is less than 3,000 years old.

Though the pictures don't show it, early phase of the construction involved building a wall around the whole site with limestone quarried five kilometers away.  Then fill material was placed within the wall to make a relatively level space for residences and temples.

When the Incas came to conquer the Chachapoyas, they had to find another way to breach the citadel or run the gauntlet through one of two access ports with Chachapoyas warriors raining death and destruction down from above.

Apparently there was a third option which was to prevent the Chachapoyas from leaving to access their water supplies beyond the walls.

Trekking the Andes

Calling it trekking probably sounds grander and more challenging than it is but we are walking through the mountains near the town of Celendin in N Peru.  Here is how part of the trail looks.

We are sitting on a hillside above Celendin looking over very dry alpine mountainsides.  The land is overgrazed and over cultivated with thin rocky soil.  Cattle and sheep graze but no llamas.  Two men plow the hillside with two oxen yoked to an antique iron-tipped wooden plow.  The oxen, Deb and I wait for the farmers to return from lunch.  A calf roams free, describing a wide orbit around the oxen.  Two cattle egrets orbit the calf.  Dogs bark in the distance, clouds gather – an empty promise of rain.  The oxen are in yoke with no food or water.  Most of the mountainside is not cultivated, but we see a few plots of corn.  Some trees including eucalyptus, and something like Cyprus decorate the hills.  Smaller brush, including two kinds of aloe abound, but the overwhelming majority of the flora is short dry grass marked by braided trails of grazing animals. 

When the men resume their plowing, they graciously invite Deb to take photos, even posing.  The older man shows a badly injured foot, bandaged and bleeding that still does not keep him from his work.

 

North Peru: Beach, Desert, Mountains, Archeological Wonders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


We are taking a couple weeks off the boat and exploring northern Peru.  Currently we are in Cajamarca where many of the people on the street look like this:

Lady of Cajamarca ethnic heritage

We find the economy here includes production of wonderful cheeses and a gold mine owned by a company in USA.  The mine is reported as causing water pollution and I saw the visual pollution and erosion problems first hand.

Arriving in Ecuador

Columbia, yes, but mostly Ecuador. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

This is Isla Malpelo, waaay off the coast of Columbia.  We pass this way by default while seeking favorable wind.  Some make the passage from Panama to Ecuador in six days.  We take twenty-two.

This is a street scene in Bahia Caraquez (say Caracas) our landfall in Ecuador and where we remain in late August 2014.  Sorry Jen, w didn't serve you coconut milk.

In Bahia Caraquez the wealthy live down low (near the water) and the poor live on the high ground, but it is a long way to carry drinking water.

In the nearby lowlands, crops of rice, above and onions, below are abundant.  We are told the best onions are exported to Columbia.

Farmers also raise shrimp in this area but the shrimp are not so photogenic.

A Farewell Tour of Western Panama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bahia Honda, Panama we see these guys scavenging for clams at low tide. >>>>>

We walk a beach on Isla Coiba where some sections are eroding, exposing the roots of the palms and . .

some sections were accumulating new deposits.  We paddled and walked about five miles of this beach and never saw another person.

Anton del Valle'

Addressing Deb's desire to visit parts of the interior of Panama, we take the bus to Anton del Valle' for couple of days diversion.

View of Anton del Valle' from nearby ridge

This excursion puts a smile on Deb's face ----->

Mascot at our accommodations is the Golden Frog

Day one brought low clouds and a bit of rain.  Our room is on the left in this photo.








One of the attractions of Anton del Valle' is a market which expands on Sunday to include orchids and other potted plants.  A modest zoo on grounds that double as a plant nursery entertains us for hours.

Lawn, water hazard and rest stop at the zoo.

    "Somethin' tells me it's all happening at the zoo
    I do believe it, I do believe it's true."

                 Simon or maybe Garfunkel?

Gregg admires Japanese glass balls collected in
Alaska by our hosts which now decorate the
Golden Frog Inn of Panama.

Our host and hostess at the Golden Frog spent time in Alaska.  Larry was a tug boat captain and even took barges into Dillingham, our old stomping ground.

We rise early one morning to hike the ridge known as the sleeping Indian princess.  This was fairly strenuous but well worth the effort.  The guide book describes the silhouette of the mountain and the trail as beginning on her brow, proceeding over her nose and mouth past her breasts and navel.  The navel is the cave in the lower right of the photo above.