Jungle! Day 4

Morning shots at Camp Erica before departure:

CJ, Jackie, and Claire ready for our 7:00am departure.

Dining Hall at Camp Erica

 Boat landing at Alataya after our 40 minute trip upstream in the rain.

Boat Landing at Alataya

It rained all night so we were a little worried about getting out of the jungle. When we first left Cusco on Saturday, Jose said we could leave an hour later because "the roads are good." With all the rain and judging from the drive in, I had horrible thoughts of what "not so good" roads would be. It was a 40 minute, soggy boat ride back to Alataya where Manuel was waiting to collect us. The first obstacle was a truck stuck in the mud. No wonder when the road looks like this--

That's the dirt road we were on and on the right is where the ground/road is giving way. The red "flag" says "peligro," or Danger.

Despite the delay, Jose still had time for one last surprise--a stop at an animal rescue. 

Annie holding the baby Anaconda - That's a big deal!

The monkey liked Jackie so much that he cuddled in her arms, nibbled on her necklace, and then pooped on her shoulders. Later, a little while into our return journey we hear the following dialogue:

"I need to go to the bathroom." 

"Just go on Jackie. Everyone else does."

This wild ride back to Cusco covers all sorts of terrain. We went from humid jungle to chilly cloud forest to dry and dusty mountain regions before reaching Cusco. At times, the road is so dusty that it necessitates closing the car windows. Twisty tarmac is a huge luxury after 7 hours of twisty dirt roads. 

We are now nestled into hotel comfort, drying out and considering springing for laundry service as the jungle smell has followed us here. 

Kenamari Hotel - Cusco