Distinctly Peruvian

Two trips to Peru in two years; I am humbled to have had the opportunity to experience this wonderful country twice in a short amount of time. My first journey was a trip for teachers, and the second journey was with my church.  Both took me out of my comfort zone. I learned, saw, felt, and thought. I was changed beyond my wildest expectations, and it left me thirsting for more. And while I yearn to go back, I am left me with certain memories that are crystal clear in my mind…distinctly Peruvian moments. Allow me to turn back the clock and share a few with you.

We're waiting for the birds to arrive at the clay lick.

I’m in the Amazon rain forest sitting by a clay lick at 5:30 a.m. with twenty American teachers and our Peruvian guides. The goal for the morning is to observe macaws at the clay lick and to take notes about their behavior. The birds don’t care that we’re waiting for them. They’ll arrive when they feel like it. And so, we wait. I begin to write a few notes in my journal when a terrible cacophony starts up in the trees. It’s the howler monkeys. They all howl at the same time, and the noise sounds like a freight train. The din continues for a few moments, and then it suddenly stops. As I puzzle at the abruptness of it all, rain starts to fall. I pull out my raincoat and marvel at the timing of the monkeys. Did they know the rain was coming and call out as a warning? I’ll never know for sure, but the timing of it seems too perfect to be anything else.

It’s a dark night in the Amazon rain forest. We have spent an hour in a boat searching for caimans, relatives of alligators, along the river bank. We found a few, easily seen by their eyes reflecting our light, but it certainly wasn’t the bounty we’d hoped for. We return to the shore and stop for a few moments to listen to the sounds of the forest, the tree frogs. Their croaking sounds more like the chirping of insects. I lay down in the sand of the riverbank to watch the stars above and listen to the frog chorus. With no light pollution to mar the sky, the stars are brighter than I’ve ever seen them. I search for familiar constellations, but the southern hemisphere’s sky looks different from the northern hemisphere’s. In that peaceful moment, I feel like staying on the riverbank forever, listening to the frogs and watching the stars twinkle in the sky.

Fast forward two years, and I’m in Peru again. This time I’m standing on a mountain top. It’s cold, and I’m wearing multiple layers of clothes, plus my hat, scarf, and gloves. The sun has set and the night sky is clear. The stars above me make the sky look like it’s filled with diamonds. I can see the Milky Way cutting a path through space. My breath is taken away at the spectacle of it all. The constellation of the Southern Cross, only seen in the southern hemisphere, is visible before me. Our group spontaneously starts to sing because the sight before us is so majestic. This beautiful scene is repeated night after night. I wish I could photograph what I see, but no camera could do it justice.

This family came out to meet us as we hiked.

Now I’m walking along a mountain path heading towards a village to distribute the translated New Testament to the native Quechua people of Peru. As usual, I’m at the back of the group because I’m a slow hiker, but this time it pays off. A family comes out of their house to talk to the people at the end of our group. Through a translator we are able to have a conversation with them and give them a Bible and a children’s picture Bible. They are so touched by our gift that they run into their house and return with a large basket of potatoes. They insist that we take the potatoes as a thank you gift for the Bibles. They immediately start to look through the Bibles we’ve given them and they even walk down the road to meet the rest of our group. Later that evening, they walk two hours to the village to hear our presentation and see the Jesus video. Their excitement humbles me as I realize what a big deal it is for these families to receive Bibles written in their own native language.

It’s moments like these, plus many more, that have caused me to fall in love with Peru. The people, the scenery, the ruggedness of the place; it has seeped into my veins and become a part of me. I can’t wait to go back, to experience more of what makes this South American country “distinctly Peruvian.”

This is NOT the Discovery Channel!

 

My group hiked extensively in the Peruvian rain forest. We observed plants and the structure of the forest, but we mainly searched for animals. One thing I learned is that although there are lots of animals in the rain forest, they don't come right out to say hello. They are hard to find. Before the trip, I expected something like I've seen on the Discovery Channel. On those shows, all the animals are right there in living color, up close and personal. In reality, they're well-hidden, and we had to be quiet and observant if we wanted to see anything.

Hiking through the rain forest was a unique experience. Our hiking apparel included long pants, knee-high rubber boots, long sleeved shirts, and hats. All of this was to keep insects off our skin and poisonous plants off our legs. We needed the boots because in some areas we trudged through mud. I always coated myself with bug spray, and I never went hiking without my hat because I didn’t want bugs falling into my hair. All of this gear was hot, even though I had the kind of clothing that was moisture-wicking. The humidity was so intense, the entire day was spent sweating, no matter what type of clothing was worn. Even with those challenges, I made myself ready to head out and find those animals.

We had guides who took us into the forest when we hiked, and we were not allowed to hike alone. These guides could identify lots of animals by sound, and they saw animals that were perfectly camouflaged. Sometimes we didn't see animals, but we saw the tracks, nests, or holes that they left behind. In the areas where we hiked, paths had been cut. This didn't mean that there weren't things to step over or around, it just meant that we had a clear trail to follow.

We mostly saw insects. The rain forest was literally crawling with them, and some of them sting and bite more painfully than any Ohio insect ever could. I always imagined that the big animals would be the most worrisome, but those animals never came out to reveal themselves. Bugs were everywhere, and if their territory was invaded, they would definitely fight back. Hiker, beware! The next most common animals we saw were birds. In fact, birds were one of our main studies of the entire trip, and we saw plenty. My favorites were the large macaws. I enjoyed watching these majestic birds soar across the sky in a flash of color. They were a sight to behold.

A squirrel monkey at the Tambopata Research Center

My most exciting animal moment was the first time I saw a monkey. Our group had stopped along the river at one of the few checkpoints. As we were waiting, we heard chattering in the trees nearby. I had my camera with me, so I started snapping pictures right away. They were little squirrel monkeys, and they were having a great time swinging through the trees. I was thrilled to see them! Now I felt that I was really in the rain forest. Later, when I scrolled back through my pictures, I had another reality check…photographing wildlife was as difficult as finding it. Those monkeys didn’t want to sit still and pose for pictures. I had a lot of pictures, but only a few that were quality. How do they get such great pictures of animals on the Discovery Channel?

My goal over the next few days was to take quality pictures of the animals I saw. Sometimes I was successful, but many times I was not. Those animals had no interest in participating in any human endeavors whatsoever. I was disappointed that we never saw any big animals, either, like jaguars or sloths. The guides told us that it’s rare to see a jaguar. Oh sure, they’re out there, but they have no interest in revealing themselves. I did see some animals that were new to me, like capybaras, which are the world’s biggest rodents. I also saw caimans along the river. They’re related to alligators. One day while several of us just happened to be standing outside the Tambopata Research Center, an agouti, relative of the guinea pig, decided to come strolling out of the forest. I started snapping pictures, and after awhile, it just turned and walked back into the forest like it didn’t have a care in the world.

These days, when I watch the Discovery Channel, I have great respect for the wildlife photographers who take those pictures. I understand how patient they have to be to get just the right shot because as soon as a human sets foot in the rain forest, every animal knows he or she is there. However, that doesn’t mean they have to come out and play, as I definitely learned the hard way.