PERU ADVENTURE by Don Henderson
It’s one thing to have a dream of
visiting a foreign country like Peru and its Inca ruins at Machu
Picchu, but to have the opportunity presented to you to take such a
trip is extraordinary. This is exactly what happened when Alice Cahill,
my wife, was chosen the Grand Prize Winner in the 2012 Audubon Photo
Contest.
Lima |
Alice's image of a Red-shafted Northern
Flicker, photographed leaving its nest hole in Montana de Oro State
Park, was chosen from over 6,600 entries submitted by 900
photographers. The award included five nights at three different
locations arranged through Inkaterra, a Peruvian eco-tourism company with
over 35 years experience. We added a day at each location and Alice did
all the arrangements by e-mail over an eight month period. We were able
to fulfill her dream.
We flew from LAX into Lima, Peru's capitol,
rested there, and then started our tour in the Amazon basin at
Inkaterra Amazonica in the Tambopata National Reserve, a 45-minute boat
ride from Puerto Maldonado. Then we flew to Cusco (11,000 feet
elevation) to catch the train to the Pueblo Hotel near Machu Picchu.
After touring the Incan ruins at Machu Picchu we took the train back to
Cusco. At each location we arranged for transportation with a guide to
meet us.
The bustle of Lima, with its population of
nine million people, is evident everywhere — street
corner vendors, drivers honking horns, cars merging into traffic from
multiple directions — and at every stop there are
street vendors at the car windows.
A large public park adjacent to the
Sheraton Hotel provided us space to amble along with our cameras and
take people photos.
Next, we flew to Puerto Maldonaldo
(elevation 600 feet; population 60,000) where we immediately felt the
sizzle of tropical heat and humidity. We met our Inkaterra staff,
boarded a bus, and rode through the town with its heavy motorbike
traffic.
The main industries of Puerto Maldonaldo
are logging, gold dredging (mostly illegal), boat building,
eco-tourism, and Brazil nut collecting. Arriving at the
Madre de Dios Rio, we stepped aboard a long boat for the 45 minute ride
to Inkaterra Amazonica, a lodge with high thatched-roof cottages in the
Tambopata National Reserve.
We knew Inkaterra Amazonica had high-end
accommodations, but we were still surprised to discover how luxurious
the lodge area and cottages were. As the sun rose each morning, we were
greeted by the gurgled repetitive song of the Dusky-Green Oropendolas
attending to their hanging tubular nests. In the afternoons we’d
see the Lodge’s pet tapir, an orphan adopted by the staff,
walking along the pathways.
During our time in Tambopata we toured Salgado
Lake and took hikes in the rainforest with our naturalist guides.
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On our return bus ride through Puerto
Maldonaldo we saw a small group of miner protestors who waved at us.
The police were present, casually waiting, and everything seemed
peaceful.
It was raining as we boarded our flight
to Cusco for the second stage of our tour.
Go on to
Page 2 of our Peru Adventure
