Monday May 7, 2007

I’m 26 years old, and for one of the few times in my life I was awake at the time I was born, 5:29 a.m. I got up at 5 a.m. to hike with Daddy, Pamela and Oscar to the clay lick again in search of more birds. No dice, again, but it was a great walk in the jungle. We wore the mud boots again, which was good because the mud was 6 inches deep in places. I had fun talking to Pamela and splashing in the mud. I got back, met Crystal and got ready for breakfast, which was fresh fruit and hot rolls (awesome, once again). Then we packed up and headed from the lodge to the river for the last time.

As the boat pulled away from the bank, I thought wistfully of how, in a few days, the whole experience will seem kind of a like a dream. A good dream, yet it won’t seem completely real after the sweat and bug bites fade away. That is part of the reason I am trying to keep such a detailed account of this trip – so that it doesn’t ever fade completely.

My visit was just a transitory passing in my life, but for the people at the lodge, this is life. It makes me think and feel grateful to have known them, albeit briefly. I know that good people are to be found in all places, which helps me know even more that we are children of a loving God who granted the Light of Christ to each of us.

We rode downriver for about 45 minutes, then got off the boat and loaded into a bus for a very bumpy ride to Puerto Maldonado. We arrived with time to spare for our scheduled 11:30 a.m. flight to Cuzco, but ended up waiting in the airport for a couple hours, because somehow the flight became a 1:30 p.m. flight.

The structure of the Puerto Maldonado airport was interesting and different, to say the least. We got our tickets, waiting inside the building, which was build like a large airplane hangar. It had a tin roof and walls made of open bricks, which means they were shaped kind of like a chain-link fence, with open holes. It was the first airport I’ve ever seen without air conditioning, and one of the few I’ve been to that could use such environmental control year-round. After we got our tickets, we headed for the departure area, which was separated from the ticket area by a 15-foot wall, leaving an open area for air to pass between the areas, as the roof was probably 45 feet high. The ticket area consisted of about one-third of the airport, with the departure area (two gates that were doors leading right to the tarmac) on one side and the arrival area, with a small conveyor belt for luggage. I was impressed by the skill the workers showed in moving the luggage back and forth from plane to airport, especially because they had to move some of the luggage carts by hand.

We went to security, which consisted of a gloved security officer man going through our carry-ons and then sliding them along an unmoving conveyor belt attached to a non-functioning x-ray system to another security agent guy, who watched us walk through the detector and gave us back our bags. When planes landed, as did two that were not ours while we waited, they parked about 100 feet from the airport building to let passengers walk stair platforms (also pushed into place by hand by airport workers) which were put at exit doors on the front and the back of the plane. This two-door get on and off approach made for the fastest deboarding/reboarding cycle I’ve ever seen. People just got on and sat down; that’s how air travel should be! The open walls of the airport also made it interesting when the jets started their engines; the wind through the building was wonderful, but the sound was almost deafening.

Finally, our plane came and we flew to Cuzco. When we landed, I was not sweating anymore, but rather I felt a little chilly. We got our bags and found a Southern Explorations guide and bus waiting for us. We drove through Cuzco to our hotel, The Casa Andina, which is a block from the main plaza.

I was feeling light-headed, probably from the 11,000 feet-above-sea-level elevation (Puerto Maldonado is about 600 feet), so after I helped Crystal wash some of our stinky jungle clothes (I wore the same thing the whole time so that only one set got all the sweat) I took a nap.

Also, right after we got to the hotel, Crystal gave me my birthday present, or at least a letter describing it. I will get a t-shirt with references to a joke in our favorite TV show, “The Office,” in which a character loves waking up to the smell of cooking bacon, but burns his foot on a grill he set up near his bed to cook bacon in the mornings. She also promised me a dinner with bacon in it and a round of golf with her. I haven’t been golfing since we met, and I am excited! Crystal had a bad experience with the sport in high school, so I am hoping we have lots of fun and she can see some enjoyment in our excursion. I know she loves me tons, because golf would not be her choice for an outing. I am so blessed to be married to her!

After the nap, I put on warmer clothes and we met Mother and Daddy to go to dinner. We found a restaurant on the other side of the block, with a balcony overlooking the main square. It was called El Meson del Espadero (The Swordsman’s Table). For appetizers, we had some salad and some “palta a la reyna,” (Queen’s Avocado), a half avocado filled with potato and chicken salad. It was supergood. Then, I ordered a “family grill,” which the waiter said had enough for four people. Boy did it ever! It came with four t-bone steaks, two pork chops, two grilled chicken breasts, four meat skewers with four kinds of sausage and some beef hearts, French fries and two whole baked potatoes.

We all ate all we could and the “Parilla Familiar” defeated us soundly. Not wanting the food to go to waste, I called over our pleasant waiter and told him we couldn’t eat it, but would he have friends or family he could share it with. His whole countenance brightened and he said “Si, gracias.” He came and grabbed the tray with the food (he had to use a hot pad to handle it because it had coals in the bottom of it to keep the meat warm) and quickly took it back to the kitchen. When we left, he came over to thank us again, smiling widely. His obvious gratitude for the food helped us know it wouldn’t be wasted and we talked several times of the good feeling we had by making his day better.

After dinner, we waddled over to the plaza for a minute, then went back to the hotel, where we played Perudo and laughed and laughed. It was a fun night and a happy birthday.