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Peru I Rainforest, Cuzco & the Sacred Valley, and Lake Titicaca with Andes Adventures (www.andesadventures.com) June 22 to July 3, 2005 |
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Introduction
I had wanted to hike the Inca Trail for some time and finally decided to do it so I searched the internet for companies offering a good hiking trip. As you can imagine there were dozens. I easily narrowed it down to 3 or 4 and finally selected Andes Adventures. I was not sorry. They think of everything, and the hotels and food were very good. They even made the camping and trekking experience on the Inca Trail a marvelous experience as all I had to do was the trekking--the guides and porters did everything else. § I actually took three trips as I added two extensions. I put the "Posada Amazonas & Tambopata Research Center" extension in front of the "Inca Trail to Machu Picchu with Inti Raymi Festival Trekking Adventure" and added the "Lake Titicaca" extension after it. Because of the large number of pictures involved I have placed all the Inti Raymi Festival and Inca Trail and Machu Picchu pictures in a separate file and these pictures can be viewed by clicking on the Peru III link. I have organized about 90 pictures and maps that include pictures of my experiences in the rainforest, Cuzco, and the Sacred Valley in this file. You can scan the thumbnails and click to enlarge only those pictures that interest you. I hope you enjoy many of them, and I hope you also enjoy some of my explanations. |
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Basically the narrow white strip is coastal lowlands, the brown represents the Andes, and the green is rainforest. Puerto Maldonado After arriving in Lima I transferred to the domestic terminal and flew to Puerto Maldonado--a Tambopata river port situated at the confluence of the mighty Madre de Dios and Tambopata Rivers. In Tambopata I met a family of four who would travel with me through the Inca trail. I also met Gilbert and Samantha who would be our guides for the rain forest trip and two other guests. There are only the 7 of us in this rain forest group. We stayed one night in Posada Amazonas then traveled on to the Tambopata Research Center and stayed there two nights then returned to the Posada for one final night. The trip up river even on a boat with a motor was very slow, but it was comfortable and enjoyable to see the new sights and learn about the rain forest. |
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We joined with another group for the trip to Posada so there were more than just the 7 of us and the 2 guides on the boat. Gilbert is standing at the front and talking to us.
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I'm eating my lunch--the leaf held the tasty fried rice mixed with egg, soy sauce, and a few other things and served as a plate. When you were finished you threw everything except the fork in the river. |
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When we arrived at Posada Amazonas the hostess met us with a delicious fruit drink and explained the lodge to us and gave us our room numbers.
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Posada Amazonas is a 23 bedroom lodge located on the banks of the Tambopata River in SE Amazonian Peru directly adjacent to the 1.5 million hectare Tambopata Candamo Reserved Zone and is owned by the Ese'eja Native Community of Tambopata. Posada Amazonas is built using the same traditional materials and architectural techniques that native communities throughout the Amazon use for building their homes: wood, palm fronds, wild cane and clay. The lodge itself consists of an interconnected complex of four sections: guest rooms, dining area and kitchen, relaxation area and internal support facilities. The entire roof of the lodge is constructed using high quality palm fronds, whereas the floors are of tropical mahogany. Interconnecting passageways are also roofed. Each guest room has a large window facing the forest, and a 2nd small window on the opposite side, set up very high, to keep the rooms well ventilated. Beds have spring mattresses and a mosquito net. Each room has a private bathroom with cold water in the shower and sink and a flush toilet. The dining area is designed to sit 80 people. It can also be used as a conference room and a slide presentation area. The lounge is designed for 80 people at once with a bar and a fire place and has several low tables and hammocks. |
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This is my room. There were no lights just kerosene lanterns and no doors. The back wall was open to the jungle, and I had my own private hammock. At night someone lowered the mosquito net around the bed. |
we had a shower but no hot water
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the walkway in front of the guest rooms
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We left at 5 am the next morning for a visit to the nearby Tres Chimbadas oxbow lake before continuing our trip upriver to the Tambopata Research Center or TRC. Gilbert is both steering and paddling the boat on the lake with this mechanism. Carey & Dana are sitting on the right side.
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an Anhinga or snake bird The Anhinga is also known as the Snake Bird, because when it surfaces all that shows is its long skinny neck and sharp beak - and at first glance it sometimes looks like a snake as seen here. When I got home I got a picture of the bird from the Internet and it is shown on the next page. the 2nd picture was obtained at |
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Gilbert is fishing for piranha
he caught one and is showing its teeth to us |
About 9:30 we headed back to our boat as we had a LONG 4 to 5 hour boat ride upriver to the Tambopata Research Center, which is located in the heart of the reserve. After the first hour we left the final traces of human habitation behind as we stopped to register at the first station (one boat is already tied up) and crossed the northern boundary of the 700,000 hectare, completely uninhabited, proposed Tambopata National Park. |
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Tambopata National Reserve and Bahuaja-Sonene National Park border one another in the southern Peruvian Amazon region. The area contains high levels of biodiversity and beautiful natural landscapes. The two protected areas were initially declared as a reserved zone in the early 1990s. Subsequently, after a drawn-out consultation process and negotiations with stakeholders, two definitive areas were set aside as a national park and reserve. The Tambopata River watershed is one of the world's richest ecosystems in terms of biodiversity. The area features a major diversity of plant life, including forest species of economic importance such as cedar, and mahogany, and palm trees among others. The area is home to large numbers of giant river otters, an endangered species, as well as vulnerable species such as the anteater, the giant armadillo, black spider monkey, the jaguar, pink river dolphin, the yellow-headed river turtle and the anaconda among others. Peru classifies the Reserve as vulnerable due to a variety of threats. The most pressing problems are agriculture and land conversion, gold mining, illegal logging, excessive extraction of other natural resources (wild game, fish, fruit and palm fronds, among others), paving of the Cuzco-Puerto Maldonado road, and increased migration to the region. |
We then stopped to register at the 2nd station--when you register you have to give your passport number, age, reason for entering the reserve, the length of your visit, etc.
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a pineapple plant
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Capybara belong to the mammal class and are classified as a rodent. They are 3 1/4 to 4 1/4 feet tall and have a vestigial tail. They range from Panama to Eastern Argentina and live in a forested area near water as their diet consists of plants including aquatic plants. The capybara spends much time in water and is an excellent swimmer and diver; it has partial webs between the digits of both its hind feet and forefeet. When swimming, only its eyes, ears, and nostrils show above the water. Capybaras feed on plant material, including aquatic plants, and their cheek teeth grow throughout life to counteract the wear and tear of chewing. They live in family groups and are active at dawn and dusk. In areas where they are frequently disturbed, capybaras may be nocturnal. Males and females look alike, but there is a scent gland on the nose that is larger in the male. They mate in spring, and a litter of 2 young is born after a gestation of 15 to 18 weeks. The young are well developed at birth. |
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Tambopata Research Center is located in a one acre clearing located in the uninhabited 350,0000 acre core area of the Tambopata Candamo Reserved Zone in southeastern Amazonian Peru, 500 meters from the world's largest macaw clay lick. The Tambopata Research Center is a spartan yet comfortable 13 bedroom lodge built by Rainforest Expeditions with the object of lodging tourists and researchers alike and of protecting the adjacent macaw clay lick. It is composed of 4 interconnected, thatch-roofed buildings designed after traditional low-impact native architecture providing the creature comforts necessary for enhancing your wilderness experience without compromising authenticity. All buildings and interconnecting passageways are raised on 4-foot stilts built from palm trunks or hardwoods. The main building is a 33 foot by 100 foot platform divided into 13 double rooms. The Tambopata Research Center offers its guests beds with mosquito netting as well as unobstructed views of the forest. To the left of the main building a 15 foot-long roofed passageway connects to the bathrooms containing four flush toilets and four cold water showers. To the right a 15 foot-long roofed passageway connects to the dining and meeting room which in turn is connected to the kitchen. (the 2nd picture shows the porch leading to the dining room) |
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a small papaya tree
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both rainforest lodges provided us with boots to wear in place of our shoes as the trails were VERY muddy - you would sometimes step into mud about a foot deep and it would nearly suck your boot off your foot |
a thatched roof and walkway leading to the dining area
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my room & my private view of the jungle
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We got up at 4:30 the first morning to visit the world's largest macaw clay lick where hundreds of parrots and macaws congregate almost daily. We waited and waited ... hundreds of birds showed up but it was chilly and had rained during the night and they stayed in the trees and didn't come down to the clay lick. |
colorful mushrooms |
a palm tree |
the fruit or nuts of a palm tree |
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Ceiba Tree (also known as the Kapok Tree or Silk-Cotton Tree) It is a massive tropical tree with deep ridges on its buttressed trunk and bears large pods of seeds covered with silky floss which is the source of the silky kapok fiber. It grows more than 200' tall with widely spreading branches, and is the tallest tree of the Amazon rainforest. The trunk can be more than 9' in diameter. While still on the tree, the fruits burst open exposing the cotton like substance, which is the kapok used as stuffing in life jackets as it is resistant to water and decay. The small, brown seed, inbetted within the fluffy kapok, is blown away in the wind for many miles. Oil from the seeds is used in edible products and the ground seeds in animal feed. |
Bird of Paradise |
It's
a branch! No, it's a twig! No, it's a stick! Look closely it is actually
a Walking Stick Insect! When these insects are in their natural
habitat they can camouflage themselves into their surroundings. They
live on the plants they eat. Female walking sticks shed their skins many
times and are much larger than the males and can self-reproduce and lay
a great number of eggs. They are found in forested or bushy areas,
mostly tropical areas. They have both claws and suckers on their feet to
help them cling to their plants branches or food. |
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orchid |
star fruit |
Gilbert opened one of the star fruits up and showed us the star and then let us eat it. |
we got up at 4:30 again & visited the clay lick and this time we saw some macaws |
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The
macaw clay lick, is a huge, 50 meter tall cliff of reddish clay that
extends for about 500 meters along the west bank of the Tambopata River.
On most clear mornings of the year scores and sometimes even hundreds of
parrots and macaws flock to the lick. Six species of macaws and nine
species of parrots as well as guans, tapir, capybara, howler monkeys and
pigeons come to the clay lick to obtain hard to find minerals that are
only present in high concentrations on the lick's soil. |
colorful mushrooms we saw as we exited the viewing area |
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capybara tracks in the mud along the river |
trekking through the mud back up to the TRC |
While we were eating breakfast one of the chicos visited. The chicos are the macaws that were raised by the researchers and released into the wild. They still have a taste for crackers, bananas, and pancakes |
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exploratory hike through the rainforest |
capybara again |
when we got on the boat each of us had another leaf wrapped lunch on our seat |
termite nest |
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We hiked to a 12-story observation tower and climbed up for some great views. |
view of the forest canopy & the river |
one of the muddy trails |
one of the carved statues in the walkways at Posada Amazonas |
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the brazil nuts we are used to seeing grow inside one large nut |
walkway connecting the dining & lounge area with the guest rooms |
part of the buffet food for one of the meals |
Picoaga
Hotel entrance in Cuzco after you enter the small door off the street.
The
Picoaga was originally the old mansion of the Marquis of Picoaga and has
now been converted into a comfortable Hotel with 72 rooms. |
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Cuzco Sacred capital of the Inca Empire and known to the early Incas as the 'navel of the world', Cuzco is the oldest continuously inhabited city in South America. Gateway to Machu Picchu, the city is filled with the Inca legacy, evident in the straight cobbled streets lined with the remains of exquisite stone walls built by the Incas, examples of ancient stonework incorporated into the structure of colonial churches and buildings, and the Quechua-speaking descendants of the Incas that fill the streets with their bright dress and colorful handicrafts. It is one of South America's biggest tourist destinations with a thriving traditional culture, ancient ruins, archaeological treasures, and magnificent colonial architecture. Chief among its attractions are the Inca Trail (culminating at the magnificent hidden city of Machu Picchu), the villages and archaeological ruins in the nearby Sacred Valley, and the Inca fortress of Sacsayhuamán overlooking the imperial city. Despite its popularity, Cuzco remains relatively unspoiled and its beautiful setting in the Andean mountains, at an altitude of 11,000 ft, is guaranteed to leave visitors breathless. The heart of the city is the stately Plaza de Armas, dominated by the Cathedral and framed by colonial arcades and wooden balconies. |
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Plaza de Armas Dominated by the magnificent Cathedral, this graceful square is considered the heart of Cuzco and is characterized by covered walkways, colonial arcades and houses containing numerous shops, restaurants and travel agencies. |
Plaza de Armas with the La Campania Jesuit Church at the end of the plaza |
Cuzco Street Festivals Prior to Inti Raymi they have a week of festivals, and we were there the day before and the day of Inti Raymi--the Inca Festival of the Sun celebrated each year during the winter solstice when the Incas offer their praises for the return of the Sun, the source of life. |
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natives dressed in traditional costumes for the festival |
Holy Family Cathedral It was constructed over the old temple of Wiracocha and in 1536 a papal bull elevated it from a church to a Cathedral. On the right stands the El Triunfo chapel in homage to Virgin Mary and on the left stands the chapel of Jesus and Mary. |
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the main altar is covered in layers of beaten silver and gold |
The Choir's double row stalls are made of very fine and delicate carvings. |
When you tour the Cathedral, take a good look of the painting of the Last Supper. It was done by local artists of the Cusco School and is very unique. In this rendition of the Christian dinner, Jesus and the apostles are dining on cuy (guinea pig) and drinking chicha. How else would you celebrate Passover if you were an Inca? |
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La Compania Jesuit Church Construction started on this church of the Jesuit order in 1576 at the Palace of the Inca Huayna Qhapaq. It is considered the best example of colonial Baroque architecture in America. The facade of carved stones, is spectacular. In the interior there is a beautiful altar of gold, built over an underground chapel. The church also possesses a collection of sculptures and paintings of the wedding of Saint Ignatius Loyola's cousin and a Ńusta of Inca stock. |
Coricancha Santo-Domingo The black, curved wall is the original Inca wall. The rest is colonial construction, for the monks of Santo Domingo.
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Coricancha The greatest prize in the Spaniards' 1533 sacking of Cusco was the sun temple. For the Incas, the building had many functions. It was foremost a place where offerings were burnt in thanks to the sun, though there were also rooms devoted to the moon, stars, lightning, thunder, and rainbows. Like so much of Inca ceremonial architecture, the building also served as a solar observatory and mummy storehouse. The south-facing walls of the temple were covered with gold in order to reflect the light of the sun and illuminate the temple. Inside was the Punchaco, a solid-gold disk inlaid with precious stones, which represented the sun and was probably the most sacred object in the Inca Empire. Pizarro's scouts had already produced approximately 1 1/2 tons of gold by stripping the inner walls of Coricancha. When the main Spanish force gained Cusco, they gathered hundreds of gold sculptures and objects from the temple, including an altar big enough to hold two men and an extraordinary artificial garden made of gold, including cornstalks with silver stems and ears of gold. Tragically, everything was melted down within a month--except for the Punchaco. It disappeared from the temple and its whereabouts are unknown to this day. The Dominicans took over the Coricancha and dismantled most of it, using the polished ashlar to build their church and convent of Santa Domingo on top of the sun temple's walls. For centuries, many of the Coricancha's walls were hidden beneath the convent. But in 1950 an earthquake caused large sections of the convent to crumble, exposing Inca walls of the highest quality. It requires considerable imagination today to imagine how the Inca's most important temple must have once looked. The eight-sided sacrificial font, stripped of the 55 kg of gold that once covered it, stands in the middle of the Coricancha's main square. The rooms that surround it may once have been covered with silver and dedicated to the moon, stars, and thunder. The wall running along the temple's eastern side is 60 meters long and 5 meters high, and each block is perfectly interlocked with its neighbor. But the highlight is the curved retaining wall beneath the facade of the church, which has not budged an inch in all of Cusco's earthquakes. |
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courtyard inside the Church of Santo Domingo The world's gay community and the ancient South American Inca people have a common source of pride - the rainbow flag which is the official flag of Cuzco. According to historians, the Incas regarded the rainbow as a gift from the sun-god. |
some Peruvians sell their handicrafts inside the courtyard |
2 native girls outside the church |
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This is a famous Inca stone that has 12 angles. It´s featured in all the local art and is a ubiquitous symbol of Cuzco. Very few stones in Inca walls have 12 angles. |
at dinner the first night there was music & dancing |
another view of the plaza & Cuzco in general from the hills above the city |
this family posed for pictures with their llamas for tips |
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a group picture including the native family and llamas |
Sacsayhuaman - On the peak of a hill overlooking Cusco lies this ancient fortress which means satisfied falcon and is pronounced like sexy woman. It was an Incan sacred and strategic site and was the domain of Inca warriors, nobles and engineers. It is now in ruins but visitors explore its maze of intricately constructed walls, stairways and structures. After the conquest of Cusco in 1536 most of the inner structures were dismantled and used to construct Spanish Cusco. The carved stones fit so perfectly that a blade of grass can't slide between them, & there is no mortar. They often join in complex, irregular surfaces that would appear to be a nightmare for the stonemason. One wonders who created these great edifices with such precision with such limited tools. Most of these walls are found around Cuzco and the Urubamba River Valley. There are a few examples elsewhere in the Andes, but almost nowhere else on Earth. Sacsahuaman was supposedly completed around 1508. It took a crew of 20,000 to 30,000 men working 60 years to complete it. We don't know how the Incas could have cut, dressed, raised, and lowered these great rocks and set them so exactly in their places. Archaeologists tell us that the walls of Sacsahuaman rose ten feet higher than the walls that remain. The additional stones were the building materials for the cathedrals and casas of the conquistadors. |
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Sacsayhuaman has a series of walls that are built in a zig-zag shape. According to many experts, these were the "teeth of the puma", as the Incas saw the city of Cuzco built in the shape of a puma and Sacsayhuaman as its head. |
The perfect assemblage of the rocks without mortar has resisted the centuries of Spanish depredations as well as earthquakes. |
me in one of the massive stone doorways |
Fredy is standing against a huge monster of a stone |
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Statue of Christ on a hilltop near Sacsayhuaman |
Quenko Shrine Quenko is located east of Sacsayhuaman, and its name means labyrinth, zigzag, twisted, or with many turns. Chicha (corn beer) or blood was poured in the zigzag conduits during the celebration of rituals. |
there is an underground chamber with a roof, floor, walls, niches, and tables carved in the rock. |
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This table inside Quenko was used for body preparation & mummification. |
Tambomachay - "tambo" means resting place & drinking from the upper area was believed to give eternal youth whereas drinking from the lower area was believed to cause twins. |
Pisac terraces |
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more llamas & children posing for pictures for tips (they are so cute you have to take their picture then they come up to you with their hand held out) |
the urubamba valley
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farming terraces developed by the Incans in the Pisac area
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to view the 2nd half of these pictures--specifically the remaining Sacred Valley pictures & the Lake Titicaca pictures click here |
to view the pictures I took of the Inti Raymi Festival, the Inca Trail, & Machu Picchu click here
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Andes Adventures offers tours that include trekking and running
in the Peruvian Andes and Patagonia. For example, you can tour Cusco,
hike or run the Inca Trail, and explore Machu Picchu.
