When I arrived in Lima I was shook by how different it was from home. The roads, cars, food, people... everything. Learning zone. Cusco felt even further removed. With cobblestone streets, many questionable foods ingested, and intense elevation, I was definitely moving further into the learning zone. But the jungle, oh man! It bordered on the panic zone at times. We flew into a town called Puerto Maldonado and realized very quickly that both food-wise and activity-wise we were pretty much out of luck. Not for poor planning, Puerto Maldonado is still a huge tourist town, but all of the tourist attractions are tours that go into the jungle for a few nights. We had to attack both our food and activity issues head on. First we walked until we found an open air market where we purchased the following items for bout $12:
For the price of not even one meal for one person anywhere in Europe, we had enough food to survive 6 days. Our next issue to tackle was that we had nothing booked for those 6 days. Luckily our hostel (as with most hostels in this town) ran jungle tours. We sat down with the man in charge of these tours and 20 minutes later had booked a 3 day 2 night adventure at their jungle lodge on the Tambopata River, by the Tambopata Nature Reserve, which is in the Amazon Jungle. Our tour was all inclusive, so for an amazingly low price we got 3 days of activities, food, lodging, and transportation. A backpacker's dream! A 45 minute car ride plus a 20 minute monster truck ride on an extremely muddy dirt road plus a 10 minute boat ride brought us to our new home for the next two nights. I was extremely surprised to see how nice this lodge was. The three meals per day provided here were actually super good. It was a nice relief to be eating food I trusted and didn't make me sick to the stomach like all of the food in Cusco pretty much. Additionally, they always had saltine crackers out which I admittedly ate a ton of (if you know my eating habits well, this will make sense). Day one of our jungle tour had an afternoon walk in the jungle to get to know the forest itself. Our guide was a literal jungle man. Not even 2 minutes after stepping into the forest he was standing up by a tree and put his hand on a termite nest. A half a minute later he came back over to me and Phil with his hand covered in termites, then started EATING THEM off of his hand. "They have lots of great proteins". You've got to be kidding me. Panic zone I tell you. He also could imitate bird and monkey calls so as to locate them better and allow us to hear their sounds. He knew everything about the jungle and showed us so much cool stuff in a short 30 minute walk. ~ We will now pause for a moment of appreciation for our accommodation during this tour ~ This lovely little bungalow was all ours! It was the furthest set back of all the accommodations and practically in the forest. It had a bathroom, shower, lounge area with a bench and hammock, all topped with an adorable thatched roof. Plus the whole thing was screened in! It was literally what I imagine as jungle paradise. Everyone but us was in shared buildings that even had outdoor bathrooms. We have no clue how we lucked out and got this bungalow, but it made this whole experience so much more fun. ~ We will now return to our regularly scheduled programming ~ The evening activity on the first night was cayman hunting. Not hunting to kill, just hunting to see. Robin took the group of 8 out on the boat and shined a light all over the shores looking for shiny eyes poking out of the water. When he would see a pair, we would skrrt over there, and then... with one bare hand... Robin would reach into the water and grab the cayman and pull it out of the water for us to see. Let me rewind a moment and explain for those who may not know (I did not know), a cayman is a small alligator. So this man literally reached a bare hand into a jungle river and took it out holding an alligator. Unbelievable. For the activity on day two we had to wake up at 415am. It was worth it though, to visit something I will probably only ever visit once in my life. We went to a macaw clay lick, which is the feeding and social ground for parrots and macaws. They feed there because the river is so far from the ocean, they have no salt in their diet. The clay provides them salt and other important nutrients. I am not really into birding and can't say that I've ever been before, but this was a dope day trip. There were hundreds of birds, and Robin had a sweet telescope viewer through which he could take awesome pictures on our iPhones for us. A few of these are below in a slideshow. That afternoon before dinner we went piranha fishing. I messed around and caught two. Had a big day... not a huge deal or anything. Our guide for this activity pulled back the piranha's lips and we could see the sharp teeth super clear, very cool. Phil and I were really looking forward to this and enjoyed it very much because we have spent a lot of time during our childhood summers fishing at his family's lake house in New Hampshire. The evening activity for day two was a night walk in the jungle. I'm not going to lie I was jumpy and nervous during this walk. The jungle at night is a scary place to be. I won't say much more, I'll just leave you with the following photo. Our final day in the jungle was a relaxed one, we simply kayaked on the river. Phil and I got a double, but I ended up just laying down and sunbathing while Phil kept us on track. Luckily the river was flowing at a decent speed so (hopefully) it was not too much effort for him. Thanks, Phil! (sorry, no photos of this activity) Everything we did in the jungle was super cool. This was a totally different jungle than the one both Phil and I had visited in the North of Thailand, Khao Sok National Park. The activities, food, and accommodation were all really incredible and we enjoyed our time very much. Back at the hostel for the final 2.5ish days we just hung out by the pool and walked around the town. It has been really nice to get this rest, before we head back to Lima for a packed 4 days. Before I wrap this post up, I need to share the largest (literally) reason for me being out of my comfort zone in the jungle. The bugs. And not just mosquitos, even though they have diseases, or ants, even though they can bite you and send you to the hospital. For me the big (huge, colossal) bugs really paralyze me with fear. Moments after having a deep conversation with Phil about the Thailand jungle, and how the bugs there were the hardest part of that trip for me, I went to go shower. When I opened the curtain there was a massive cockroach, the first one we had seen. I'm seriously talking like a thick (thiccc) 2 inch long bug. A small animal if you will. We got a mug from the dining area, and I volunteered to capture it. With adrenaline pumping I trapped the cockroach and was able to remove it from our corner of paradise. We valiantly captured and released 4 massive cockroaches and 2 spiders, taking turns between Phil and me. One of the times I released a cockroach I threw it off our porch and an instant later a bright green lizard pounced on it and ate it right in front of us. What an exciting way to end that hunt! Of course as a facilitator by nature and profession I am doing my best to take advantage of opportunities like these where I feel that I can push myself. Clearly the bugs in the jungle made me unsettled but nonetheless I was able to tolerate and even, at times, conquer. The jungle was a whole different adventure than Cusco. I have gained a ton of new knowledge as well as fond memories, plus many other benefits that I may not discover for months or even years to come. It's always a good time getting your cortisol levels up for a few days, for the sake of an adventure. Our return to Lima tomorrow for New Year's Eve will bring us many comforts of home as well as an action packed end of the trip.
Five days to go! The second stop on our Peru adventure was the city of Cusco. Cusco is in the Sacred Valley, and is the closest large city to Machu Picchu. We gave ourselves one week in Cusco, hoping to get to know the city well and do some awesome day trips. We did a lot in this past week, more than I ought to write about because it would be a lot of words, so I am going to include many photos to help me tell the story. We stayed at another Pariwana hostel in this city. Our room was set back a little from the main gathering areas so it was a little quieter, and we really enjoyed our stay. Same as the Pariwana in Lima, there were games that we got to partake in. My favorite here was futbol tennis. We also took part in a BBQ on Sunday night which was mediocre but came with a free beer, and a Christmas Eve dinner which was quite pleasant and tasty. City Exploration Cusco is home to about 500,000 people and is the fourth largest city in Peru. It was once the capital of the Inca empire and remains a culturally robust place to visit. Phil and I walked all around the city, as our hostel was in an awesome central location. If you know me, you know I'm a picky eater. If you've lived or traveled with me, you especially know how challenging this can be. But, I had in mind a goal to try new foods so here ya go! Phil and I tried guinea pig, which is a delicacy in Peru. Neither of us liked it very much. At this same meal Phil also got an alpaca burger which I tried a bite of. That's enough food exploration for me for the year. Day Trips We took four day trips while in Cusco. Each was too amazing to leave out of this post, and I honestly think these four day trips have been the highlight of my trip so far. Awana Kancha & Ccochahausi Animal Sanctuary Awana Kancha is a Llama/ Alpaca museum and farm. Free to enter, we learned all about how these Camelids are used in textiles. Textiles from these animals are a huge industry in Peru, and Phil and I both made sure to buy sweaters before leaving Cusco. The Ccohahausi Animal Sanctuary was a tiny zoo on the way home from Awana Kancha. We did not even intend to stop there, but our taxi driver offered so we said hey why not. We were so glad we stopped! We got to see spectacle bears, colorful birds, pumas, condors, and of course more llamas. All of the animals at this zoo were rescued and were either being rehabilitated to be released into the wild, or they would not be able to be released again so they are given a good life here. We had a private tour of this small zoo, which was included in our 5 soles ($1.50) admission charge. Our taxi driver was named Elvis, and he drove us to and waited for us at Awana Kancha and the zoo, plus he gave us tons of information about Cusco. Phil was able to communicate with him in Spanish, and it ended up working out so well. Rainbow Mountain A new iconic Peru destination is Rainbow Mountain. This mountain was discovered only three years ago, and is one of only three rainbow mountains in the world. Our day trip to visit this gorgeous natural wonder started at 3am, and was the most challenging of all of our day trips. The summit of the mountain was at 17,000 feet, which made the hour and a half hike up one heap of an effort. The views were well worth it! The Andes Mountains provided a landscape so grand it took my breath away (wait maybe that was the elevation?). But seriously, I enjoyed my time in these mountains so much, even with the bittersweet knowledge that I may never be in the presence of mountains this dramatic again. The photos here hardly begin to do them justice. Via Ferrata & Zip Line Adventure Via ferrata is Italian for "iron path", and there are via ferratas all over the world. A via ferrata is a climbing route up a cliff that uses metal ladders, bridges, and other man made features. As you ascend, you are clipped onto cables which would save you from death if you fall, but would not prevent serious injury. Just outside of Ollantayampo, Peru, one of these via ferratas exists and upon its completion you go on 6 huge zip lines back down to the ground. Phil and I thoroughly enjoyed this tiring and thrilling activity. Macchu Picchu Everyone's heard of it, it's one of the 7 wonders of the world, and if you're in Peru you're going to visit. A huge price tag on a day tour doesn't stop an average of 10,000 visitors per day. In the high season (late summer) it sees 15,000 people per day, while in the low season (winter) around 5,000. Our guide told us that because of this Machu Picchu is sinking about 2cm per year, and UNESCO has in the plans to close it in the next few years. Walking around the city the way we did will no longer be an option, instead he mentioned a potential cable car, or simply only viewing from the top view point. This information made me very glad that I visited now. Phil and I were both super stoked to visit Machu Picchu, as one should be. And when we actually got a tour of the place, it surpassed all of my expectations. The construction was genius, the methods backbreaking and time consuming. The town is believed to have housed around 800 people, all of whom would have been important people including priests and nobles. The Incas had amazing techniques for telling time, storing food, and distributing water. Our tour guide was wonderful, he knew everything about Machu Picchu and lead us through the town in a two hour walking tour. I learned so much about the Incas and their way of life just in this one day. Aside from finally seeing this gorgeous site with my own two eyes, this new knowledge was the coolest part of the tour. In summary...
The past week in Cusco has been one of the most adventurous, adrenaline filled, aesthetically pleasing of my life. So many interesting, different, and new experiences all packed into one memorable city. Apparently it is supposed to be rainy season in Cusco but we only got rained on once, and not even during one of our day trips. The weather gods were smiling on us and we could not have asked for a better time visiting this historic place! Next up we head to Puerto Maldonado in the Amazonian Jungle. The forecast is for 90s and humid with a chance of Malaria. Should be exotic! The first stop of our Peru trip was the capital city of Lima. Lima is a huge city, we learned that 30% of Peru’s population lives in Lima. We have only been here a few days and we are already loving this travel experience and happy with our choice of country to visit. South America is a new continent for both Phil and me. We stayed at the Pariwana Hostel in the Miraflores district of Lima. This area is the most commercial, clean, developed etc. of the city. There are lots of hostels and great restaurants, plus it’s right on the coast. This hostel was the most fun hostel that I have ever stayed at, rivaled only by Yes! Hostel in Lisbon, Portugal. Pariwana has a rooftop bar and patio complete with a ping pong table, foosball, and lots of comfortable seating. They run activities every night, which usually consists of some sort of tournament. They put a bracket up on the huge chalk board wall and run these activities very well. I won one of these tournaments on Saturday night and earned a free night’s stay! I arrived two days before Phil because he got an interview in NYC the day we planned to fly out. He rescheduled his flight to accommodate which left me with two days to be alone in this new place. I spent my first day at the Parque de Las Leyendas which is a huge zoo/ botanical garden/ historical park in the city. I mainly went to see the botanical garden, as that is something I like to do in every new country if possible, but the park had way more than I expected. I saw the biggest snake I have ever seen, lots of beautiful colorful birds, and even my first Llamas. The park also contains fenced off sections of the Huaca ruins which were businesses and buildings occupied during 200 BC to 1450 AD, and very cool to walk by. That night, I hung out at the Hostel’s rooftop bar and patio with an awesome group. There were 2 Americans, 2 Australians, a Dutch dude, and a French girl. I learned so much about their countries and lives just from that night. I am traveling for the shortest amount of time of all of them, they are traveling for 3 months at a minimum. As you can probably imagine, anyone cool enough to quit life for a few months and backpack around South America is most likely a really fun person to hang out with. I got so many ideas for future adventures and got to pick their brains as to how they make it all work. Super cool perspectives and stories to be exposed to. My second day alone in Lima was nice and chill. I went for a run along the coast then explored the coastal outdoor urban park/ mall with a new friend from the hostel. By this point in my stay, I had a squad believe it or not. 4 of us in my room had a nice long chat in the early evening on my first full day, so we went up to the evening activities together, then breakfast the next morning… and before too long at all I had my friend group in the hostel. Two were Australian and one was from Texas, then me! Phil and I spent our first and only full day in Lima together by doing the hostel’s free walking tour. We bussed to downtown Lima and participated in this nearly 3-hour long walking tour. All of my questions about the city were answered in that tour and we even got small amounts of free time here and there to venture around alone. For example, in the Plaza de Armas / Plaza Mayor we took some time to watch the changing of the guards, which is basically a musical performance. It was funny to hear the military guards playing the Spiderman theme, and our tour guide told us that they have even been known to play hits like the international chart-topping banger, Despacito. The tour ended with a free pisco cocktail tasting then we grabbed a wonderful lunch right near the main plaza. That evening Phil and I participated in that evening’s ping pong tournament and tried out the salsa dancing lesson. We were pretty bad at salsa so we tapped out after a short while but it was so fun to watch the Latinos do it. You can pretty much tell by watching the group dance who could speak Spanish and who couldn’t. As I typed this blog post Phil and I are sitting at our gate at the Lima airport to catch our flight to Cusco. We are eager to explore this city, we have heard rave reviews from our hostel friends. We will be staying at another Pariwana Hostel in Cusco and people have told us it’s a really cool spot. It will be interesting to see how the altitude affects us, thankfully we have the time to acclimate for a day or two as we will be spending 8 days in Cusco.
I am having an absolutely amazing whirlwind of a time. This is already exceeding my expectations for this trip in many different ways and I am so excited to see more of what Peru has to offer. Onward! For the second time in my college career I have been blessed with no finals. This means I have 4 full weeks off for winter break. Plenty of time to go big and do something exciting. For this winter break, I am headed to Peru for 21 days with my family friend & homeboy for life, Phil. What started out as a pipe dream concocted while floating on a lake on July 4th came to fruition this semester. A lot of planning has gone into this trip, but not too much. All that we have booked is our flights, hostels, and Machu Picchu tour. Our plans have us visiting the coastal urban capital of Lima, then on to the "spiritual center of the world" Cusco and the Sacred Valley, then into the Amazonian Jungle to a town called Puerto Maldonado. The diversity of these places will make this trip very interesting; each is something totally new. With so little booked right now, we are planning to take things day by day. We definitely expect to meet people in hostels with suggestions or invitations. This is both me and Phil's first time traveling without plans made for each day in advance, so this trip will expose us to a new style. Phil and I both went on the same trip to Thailand through the program Pacific Discovery, although we did it in different years. For both of us it was the summer after our freshman year of college, which for me was 2016 and for him 2017. We have this strange kind of shared travel experience where we can talk about "oh this place was so cool" or "yeah I loved that very specific activity" although we did not experience it together. We are super excited to team up in a new country and have lots of cool experiences together.
This trip to Peru will see many active elements including adrenaline sports and outdoor exploration. Additionally, we plan to take advantage of the ancient history of the country as well as its different cuisine. The plan is no plan; we are going to go with the flow and be open to new experiences with everything this unique country has to offer. The best places to see updates from the trip will be this blog and my instagram @adwitz. Similar to my Europe trip a year and a half ago, I will be writing a blog post after each city we visit. I fly into Lima tomorrow, Friday, December 14. Onwards and upwards, lets hope for a zika free month! My older sister, Ronia, is fresh out of college and working in the lovely city of Miami... lucky me! She works for the company Restaurant Brands International, which is the corporation that owns Burger King, Tim Horton's, and Popeyes. At the end of the summer when she arrived in Miami, I set a google flights alert for flights from State College to Miami. One day I got an email saying that the flight price had dropped a hundred dollars or so, and I decided to go for it. After all, I don't have to pay for a place to stay! So I took off for Miami from State College on Friday afternoon, and arrived in time for dinner that night. I was there all day Saturday and Sunday, then flew home to State College Monday morning. All in all I only missed one class, and felt that the weekend was a nice break from the dreary weather and daily grind in State College. On Saturday my sister and I made a turkey. Yes, that's right, just like Thanksgiving. She found an 18 pound turkey at the grocery store for $3 so we spent the morning getting that into the oven. It was the first time we had ever done that without parents, or at all, and it went very well. The turkey tasted amazing. After the turkey adventure we hung out by the pool at her apartment complex. Ronia fell asleep so I went to the pool bar to watch college football Championship Saturday. My kind of paradise. In the evening we took a trip to Wynwood Walls to see the murals. Wynwood is a graffiti art museum in the open air, and it was so fun to walk around and see the amazing work. After Wynwood we headed to Little Havana where we got dinner at a Cuban restaurant. With the travel restrictions on Cuba these days, I guess this is as close as I am going to get. My food was great, the atmosphere was cute, and it was great to be out with my sister. Below is a gallery of photos from Saturday evening. You can scroll through the photos using the control in the upper right of the photos. Sunday was beach day! We headed to Key Biscayne, which is apparently where the locals go. It was 85 and sunny with a light breeze. The sand was clean and white, the water was clear and blue. What else can I say? On Sunday night after the beach my sister helped me do some nerdy things. She is the in-house nerd, and I had dozens of data points from running that I wanted to graph. So we teamed up and she helped me with my excel spreadsheet a little bit. For context, I have paper records of every run I have ever gone on and recently put those data points into a spreadsheet. This was so that a) they would be safer and cleaner to read but also b) I could make graphs out of them and gain insights. Above is the main graph I wanted to see. I was curious if I had become a faster runner since I started in the summer of 2011. I have become faster on average, going from the 9:07 min/mile range down to 8:30 min/mile. While it is not a massive improvement I do see two very positive things. First, I have become more consistent. The data is aggregated much closer together in 2018 than it was in previous years. I know my pace, and I commit to it every run. Second, my runs have gotten longer. So while I have lowered my average pace, I have also increased my average distance. You can not see this on this particular graph (just trust me!). In 2011, 2012... I would never run more than 2 miles. These days, I would never go out for less than 3. So I guess in conclusion I have gotten stronger. But what I think is super cool is that I'm 21 and just beginning on a life of training, with hopefully many hundreds of runs to come. I can't wait to look at this data many years down the road (pun intended).
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