Jungle Fever

A three-day, two-night trip to the AMAZON is the perfect way to spend a final weekend in tropical Peru, right? That’s exactly what we thought and so booked an all-inclusive package to the Amazonas Sinchicuy Lodges outside of the northern town of Iquitos. A short flight, short ride through the city of Iquitos, and long boat ride through the Amazon River landed us in these simplistic but enchanting lodges in the heart of the jungle. Completely made of wood, with mosquito nets covering all rooms beneath secure, leaf-thatched roofs, the lodges captured perfectly what it was to be encased in “la selva”. Little rooms with hammocks and hang-out chairs lined the river for a wonderful view, and parrots greeted us as we entered the common room to enjoy our welcome drink of some kind of juice (can’t remember the name, but every meal we had a different fruit juice from one of the hundreds of unique fruits found in the Amazon). The actual rooms were plain in a cute way, with no electricity or hot water, and definitely not much privacy because the walls were basically mosquito netting!

Sinchicuy Jungle Lodge

Our first day was the most action-packed, and we set out for one of the oldest still-existing Amazon villages in Peru. The inhabitants were dressed in traditional outfits, skirts made of durable bamboo, and showed us their hunting weapons and body paintings. We even got to take a “shot” at a hunting target, and if we hit the target we got a picture with the hunters (I was a good shooter, FYI). Then we browsed in their hand-made market full of purses, jewelry, and carvings, and made some purchases to support the village and satisfy our souvenir-hungry families back home J That afternoon we headed to another village to learn about the medicinal uses of different plants, flowers, and trees in the Amazon, and tried some of the many remedies sworn to help arthritis, gastritis, migraines, etc. Pedro was sold and bought some of the concoctions, but I’ll just stick to my extra-strength Tylenol, thank you! The night itinerary included dinner followed by a canoe ride through the complete darkness of the Amazon – at one point we were all silent for about 20 minutes just listening to the millions of sounds coming from the jungle: birds, insects, monkeys – it gets SO loud at night and even makes it a little difficult to sleep. Because we had no electricity, only lanterns, every night was an early one as there is literally nothing to do in the pitch black dark in the middle of nowhere.

Opposite ends of the culture pole

The next day consisted of an intense hike through a thicker part of the jungle, admiring HUGE trees and being eaten alive by mosquitoes. No one told me that black attracts them even more, and guess what color tank top I was wearing? Mmmm-hmmm I am still looking like a 6-year-old chicken-pox super star. On our boat ride on the way back, we had a “pink dolphin” watch and were able to see around 10 of them! The Amazon River is full of these freshwater dolphins, which turn pink as they mature. That afternoon was the Peru-Colombia futbol game for the Copa America semi-finals, and we hiked over to the nearest village to try and find a TV. One of my most unforgettable experiences abroad was that game. Almost every futbol fan in the village was packed in a small shack watching the game on a fuzzy screen of a TV the size of my head. We all huddled cross-legged on the shaky, elevated floor, cheering for Peru (Pedro for Colombia) and regardless of the stares received from all the young kids, I felt so welcome and comfortable in one of the most destitute areas I have ever been. I don’t know why, but I just felt content sitting there among the Peruvians, the only American for miles, sweaty and itchy, not able to even see the players of the screen. Peru won, which made it that much better, and we celebrated with some beers back at the lodge.

The final day in the Amazon was my favorite because we got to see up-close the animals of the habitat. We ventured to a wildlife reserve full of different species of monkeys, sloths, snakes, turtles, and birds. We were greeted by a large black monkey who climbed all over us, grabbing our necklaces and even taking money from the pockets of someone in the group. All the monkeys loved this game and you never knew when the next one would come climbing up the back of your leg. My favorite though were the sloths; they grip onto you like you are their long-lost mother, literally hugging you and they don’t let go. I also held a beautiful toucan, and gawked as our guide pulled out an anaconda and a huge turtle from a nearby pond! Sad to say bye to all the cuties (minus the snakes) we hopped back on our boat and headed for our good-bye lunch at the lodge. All of the meals were wonderful, consisting of traditional food from the Amazon: rice, fish, banana, mango, different juices, etc.

Touuuuuucan Sam

Venturing back to civilization was bittersweet: it was sad to leave the natural beauty of the Amazon, but also great to get back to some electricity. I now feel extremely energized to finish up my final week in Peru and undertake the next adventure…

My Peruvian Winter

Finally, a little bit of settlement in my current home country of Peru. I have officially not taken an international flight in five weeks and it has been so wonderful to just focus on my project here in Peru and discover a little more about this country. The project has continued to fare well; it has been just Pedro and I for the past few weeks, which has made everything less stressful, more organized, and just easier! One of our coaches, Kelly, was here for a week, and we had one memorable meeting with the CEO of the second-biggest gold mining company in Peru. He invited us to his home for breakfast on a Monday morning, and awaiting us was a beautiful “hacienda” type walled-in mansion! His “muchacha” (house maid) served us coffee, fried eggs, and avocado on his porch as we listened to and watched his monkeys – yes, monkeys – play in the trees of his very own back yard! It was so wonderful and the man was extremely intelligent and kind. On top of the nice invitation, he sent us away with a $10,000 “donation” to our program and delivered all three of us “tourist bags” to our hotel, filled with Peruvian chocolates, coffee, coffee maker, a traditional blanket, and Peruvian olive oil (didn’t know they made that here). This anecdote shapes perfectly with the welcoming and heartfelt behavior of the Peruvians; even though it is an extremely slowwwwww culture, the people here mean the best and are always extremely inviting and warm.

Another highlight of the past couple weeks was interviewing the most famous chef of Peru, Gaston Ascurio, for our program. Every Peruvian is crazy about this man, as he is working extremely hard to put Peruvian cuisine on a more international level. He is opening one of his restaurants in Manhattan in Madison Square this summer, and is looking to expand all throughout the U.S. He told us he wants to make Peruvian food as common as Japanese – everyone loves sushi and it is extremely common all over the world, so why can’t Peruvian food do the same? The main issue is simply getting the word out that Peruvian food is DELICIOUS and unique, and also ensuring that the correct ingredients are available from this agricultural nation. The interview itself was awesome just because this guy is so famous here and I felt a little starstruck, but to be honest Gaston was a little bit of an ass! Definitely didn’t fit the depiction of typical Peruvians. Nonetheless, it was a fun experience, and here is an interesting TIME article on the foodie: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1924061,00.html.

The biggest, most influential event during the past month has been the presidential elections here in Peru. Ollanta Humala and Keiko Fujimori are the names of the moment, and the entire nation has not stopped talking about the race between these candidates in some time. Humala is an extreme-leftist former army officer, who lost to Peru’s current president, Garcia, in 2006. He has a radical image to many, and mentioned cutting Free Trade Agreements and talks with some of the country’s greatest allies. Extremely socialist, he appeals to the country’s poorer population, which greatly outweighs the upper class. He was also supposedly endorsed by Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, which is enough reason in itself for the business class to remain worried and aware. His opposition, Keiko, is daugher of ex-president Fujimori, who is now serving a 25-year sentence for corruption. More right-wing and “safe” than Humala, Keiko was the obvious choice for the Lima region, but her family ties also led many citizens to distress in who to choose to run the country. Humala proved triumphant, 51.5% versus Keiko’s 48.5%, and the week following the outcome was the slowest for us business-wise that we have had yet. The business world had a literal “freak out” and reaching companies and scheduling meetings was nearly impossible for us. One reply email I received simply read: “Today is not a good day, as you know we have had elections this Sunday and things may change, nobody knows what’s going on.”

Every Minister and CEO we have met since the outcome is worried. The Ministers will be replaced on July 28^th, and everyone is wondering how the economy and development of Peru will change. Will investors keep looking at Peru in the future or turn to more politically-stable countries in Latin America? Pedro jokes the only good thing about Humala winning is how it will maybe benefit Colombia’s economy – more investment left to go there! However, we have an extremely biased view about the next President – we have only been hearing the opinions of the top CEO’s and politicians of Peru, whereas the lower class is extremely hopeful that the distribution of wealth will be more balanced, as a taxi driver was explaining to us the other day. The only thing I can concretely say is that the result honestly has slowed down business; we have seen it first hand working as an international company here in Peru.

On a lighter note, the past two weekends have been filled with (surprise!) traveling. Pedro and I took advantage of having a rental car and took a road trip to the small coastal town of Paracas, about three hours outside of Lima. We found a modest, perfect hotel right when we got there, located directly on the beach with an awesome balcony and view of the ocean. A majority of the time was spent relaxing in the sun with cervecitas; even if there wasn’t much to do, it was so nice to get out of the exhaust-filled metropolis of Lima. The Thing-to-See in this area are the Ballestas Islands; tourists take a powerboat to get close to these islands famous for their penguins and sea lions, and also the fact that they are painted completely white from bird poo called “guano”. I have never seen penguins or sea lions in their natural habitat so was super-duper excited. However, when we woke up on Sunday morning to catch the boat, we and many other early-risers were disappointed to learn there had been an earthquake in the ocean near the islands so all tours were closed for the whole day! Bummed, we instead took the car through the Paracas National Reserve, which is basically a vast stretch of sand next to the ocean. The crazy thing about Peru is the range of terrains and temperatures throughout the country. Here we were, driving through the desert, when earlier that morning we were meant to sport our winter coats while snapping pictures of real-life penguins. Not to mention the various mountain ranges, beaches, and jungle that make up the rest of the immense country.

The desert of Peru!

The following weekend was spent in the second-largest town of Peru, called Arequipa. We flew down for some meetings on that Friday and Monday, so of course stayed the weekend to explore. Since being in Peru I had heard many great things about the city – that it was a neat, organized, colonial-type town with a constant clear view of the Andes Mountains. It was again nice to be outside of gloomy Lima (winter in Lima = no sun EVER, not exaggerating), and the air was extremely dry and fresh in the high altitude of the city. The meetings were really interesting – one with the oldest chocolate company of the region, another with the largest exporter of Alpaca fiber. Alpacas are members of the “camelid” family, very similar to llamas, and only found in the Andes region of South America. After this meeting we received a tour of the grounds, met some of the Alpacas (so cute, except for the spitting pregnant one and the one that jumped on top of Pedro), and learned how their fur is processed and made into knitted items. Extremely expensive and rare, Alpaca fur coats can cost up to $1000!

Typical business meeting playing with animals

That Sunday, we woke up early to catch a private mountain-biking expedition next to the famous Misti volcano outside of Arequipa. A driver took us to the top of the mountain range paralleling the volcano, and when we began our decent on bikes we were around 15,000 feet above sea level. I couldn’t walk without becoming extremely out of breath, and biking on any level but downhill was one of the most excruciating activities I have done! At many points it was pretty intense mountain biking through rocks and sand, and I could understand why our guide made us suit up head-to-toe in padding. The four-hour bike ride was exhausting but beautiful; the whole time we had a view of the snow-capped volcano sitting right next to us on one side, and an overhead view of Arequipa on the other. I wasn’t able to move that night or the next day, and luckily we were headed back to sea-level Lima for a little bit of a breather.

Mountain-biking in Southern Peru!

I’m writing all of this from Café Havanna, an Argentinean café situated on the coastline of Lima, so I’m looking out on the ocean and have seen about 10 paragliders flying past me in the past hour. It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon, and I am trying to chill as much as possible because I caught an unforgiveable virus last week and have been out-of-commission for the past five days. I haven’t been so sick since I can remember, and the doctor told me it was most likely from something I ate in Arequipa. I can’t remember because I was so hallucinatory, but I think he said something like 9/10 tourists get a virus from the food or water here in Peru; I guess it was just my time. So I am taking it easy and trying to enjoy my last three weeks here in Peru. Pedro and I found out this week that this is our deadline, and we are continuing the Latin thang with our next placement: Uruguay! I am beyond excited because I wanted to stay in Latin America, and yet Uruguay is a different vibe completely from Peru or Colombia. More influenced by Argentina and Europe, it will be a nice, fresh change, where I can learn about a whole new culture yet continue practicing Spanish. Definitely more to come on that subject – until next time/country!

100 Years of Machu Picchu

Hard to believe, but the famous Inca site that has truly put Peru on the touristic map was only discovered 100 years ago. Actually, the 100 year anniversary of this unearthing is on JULY 7 of this year – a pretty special day if I do say so myself!

Three weeks ago (pardon the delay, but I really need to catch everyone up on my recent travels) Pedro, Nicky, and I decided last minute to make the venture to Peru’s most magical attraction, Machu Picchu. It is by some considered one of the wonders of the world, and has brought substantial revenue to the Peruvian economy. We soon realized exactly why it is such a fascination here, but not until we took a taxi, plane, bus, taxi, train, bus to get there! Situated in the Urubama Valley near the ancient town on Cusco, Machu Pichu is extremely difficult to get to – visitors either take our fast route or the four-day hike along the Inca Trail to reach the site. We did not have enough time to partake in the latter, but saw just enough of both Cusco and Machu Picchu. Arriving to Cusco airport we could immediately feel the altitude as we were short of breath – the city is 3,400 meters high, and our hotel driver immediately had us sipping on coca tea, which is meant to help adjust to the high altitude.

Cusco is a charming little city; we stayed directly in the center, and enjoyed browsing around and snapping photos our first day there. You can immediately sense how much less developed of a city it is than Lima; short women walking around with goats, lambs, and children wrapped to them in their traditional clothing gave me the feeling I was definitely outside of Lima and closer to the true society of Peru. Markets, churches, and large squares dominate the town, and while it is un poquito touristic, Cusco emanates a sense of inimitability that serves as the perfect gateway to Machu Picchu.

next morning we set out to the UNESCO World Heritage Site pretty early, and we FINALLY found ourselves on the bus ride, which takes you on a curvy, steep, narrow path to Machu Picchu. Rounding the final corner was almost suspenseful, as we saw the enormous, breathtaking site come into view. Everyone who has visited Machu Picchu agrees; there exists some kind of inexplicable vibe at the ancient historical sanctuary – perusing through the perfectly-placed stone walkways and structures was definitely an experience! Exploring took the entire day, and after many hours walking under the close sun we wrapped up our picture-taking and set back to Cusco.

Like this blog post, our visit was definitely a short one, but I have truly captivating memories from this trip. Capturing the essence of Machu Picchu in words is somewhat difficult, and I will just have to recommend that you find out for yourself what all the fuss is about…

De Colombia a Peru

And now I am in Peru! I have always fantasized about coming to this country – everyone who visits cannot express how much they enjoy the warm, welcoming country located in the center of South America. I am based in Lima, the capital, which is the only South American capital on the coast. The flight from Bogota to Lima was utterly beautiful – the mountains of South America were visible almost the entire time – but the shakiest I have ever experienced (aka I was holding on to dear life the entire 3 hours – not fun!) I arrived here about two weeks ago to be with Pedro for some high potential meetings. The first week here was just he and I and we made three great deals at the very start of the project! The business environment here is wonderful – people are very enthusiastic and love the combination of a Colombian guy and American girl working for a promotional TV program on Peru. Pedro knows the Latin business culture so well so really makes the CEO’s feel comfortable, and I am able to bring in a sense of intrigue being from another continent, so the mixture truly works. Also, because it is the beginning of the project, we have been meeting with the government and agencies as well as commercial companies. The other night I had the opportunity to interview the Peruvian Minister of Economy in front of cameras for our program! On Friday we also met with the Prime Minister, a wonderful, intelligent woman whom everyone in Peru really loves. This is by far the best part of the job, and until now I have not been able to truly participate in a country opening –I love it! Makes me want to be the next Diane Sawyer; interviewing influential people truly leaves you inspired and more conscious of the passion that leaders must portray about their own countries and citizens. However, one of the challenges I have faced is the constant switching of markets. In meetings I still want to say “our readers” instead of “our viewers” as I am used to print rather than TV. I sometimes say “Bulgaria” or “Colombia” instead of Peru, and forget name-drops of different government members so easily. There is also a lot more Spanish used in meetings here; nearly no one speaks English to me on the phone. Looking at the big picture this is wonderful, but day-to-day I can’t help but sometimes get frustrated when people cannot understand my gringa accent.

Meeting the Prime Minister of Peru!

Lima as a city is much more relaxed than Bogota. Peruvians are used to the slow, coastal way-of-living, and we try our best not to get frustrated every time it takes a waiter 20 minutes just to bring you the menu. However, Peruvians are extremely nice people who love to talk – all of our meetings are extra long as the CEO’s and Ministers passionately and eternally attempt to express the love they have for their country. Every meeting has centered around the theme of corporate social responsibility; it is sincerely amazing that almost every CEO here feels the need to do something to help the farmers and fishermen and children of Peru. Our program is created to promote ideas like this to the international world, and therefore the main theme of it will definitely touch upon the corporate social responsibility that almost every Peruvian company feels it should carry out. The Peruvian climate is hot and humid and foggy – an odd combination but because Lima is on the coast there is often fog coming from the sea. It gets a little colder during our normal summer months, so the normal temperature right now is around 70 degrees F. Many days it has been sunny and wonderful, which I am still absolutely loving! I can also usually smell the sea and the beach when I walk outside – which again gives a calming feel to the city. The hotel we are staying in also contributes to my ease here. It is one of the nicest chains in Peru and the staff is SO welcoming and friendly. The hotel is in the center of district Miraflores and boasts wonderful fresh fruit and omelette breakfasts, a waterfall pool, sauna, fitness center, etc. (Although I here more American English here than Spanish due to all the tourists!) Miraflores is a central district of Lima with nice parks, some of the best outdoor restaurants and bars, hostels, a nice walking zone called Parque de Kennedy, the discoteque street called “Calle de las Pizzas”, and much more. It is by far the best place to be located in Lima and I love walking around the area.

Miraflores, the Central District of Lima

A whole paragraph is undoubtedly needed to explain just how delicious the Peruvian food is. Peru boasts the best cuisine of any country I have ever visited! Being directly on the coast, Lima restaurants offer fresh seafood year-round, and Peru is known as one of the top fishmeal exporters in the entire world. Ceviche is the country’s signature dish; I have downed the acidic masterpiece about three times a week since I have been here. Other fish concoctions I can’t put names to have filled me to the brim at every charming restaurant we visit; Pedro and I even went to La Rosa Nautica (a famous restaurant in a circular building at the end of the Costa Verde pier – you can hear, sea, and smell the waves from every table!). Fruit is another specialty and served with many dishes (aka fried bananas) and made into many juices (aka jugo de papaya y granadilla). Corn and potatoes are so prevalent they are also compliments of most meals – the corn is HUGE and the potatoes varied (yuca and sweet potatoes being my favorites). Lomo Saltado is a tasteful sirloin marinated in vinegar, soy sauce, and spices, and Argentinean beef has a large influence here as well. The drinks here are also one-of-a-kind, only-find-in-Peru kind of stuff. The legendary Pisco Sour is the signature cocktail – made of pisco, lime juice, egg whites, and cinnamon. The non-alcoholic specialty is termed chicha, and most Peruvians drink it with every meal. It is made with purple corn and to me tastes like sangria without the alcohol! Inca Kola is the legendary soft drink that is known as the only soda brand in the world which Coca-cola company could not take over (Pedro loves it, but to me it tastes like the gum you get from a blow-pop ew!) Needless to say, every restaurant we go to is wonderful and a new experience. We already have some favorites and have made friends with the waitors/waitresses there. Our new trainee, Nicky from Amsterdam, is getting used to everything, and I already like to pretend I am an expert in the food category and love recommending what to try! Last weekend Pedro, Nicky, and our Colombian friend Vanessa road-tripped to Pachacamac Inca ruins, around an hour outside of Lima. Pyramids, burial sites, and housing from the ancient Inca times dominated the grounds which we both drove and hiked through. Peruvians are extremely proud of their ancient heritage and there are numerous sites throughout the country that give tourists a peek into the lives of the Inca tribes that inhabited the country around 1200AD. After a cultural afternoon we headed to Asia Beach which is as well outside of Lima, and where many politicians and businessmen have summer homes. We found a deserted spot and watched the sunset and dolphins over and in the Pacific.

Sunset at Asia Beach

This work week was of course long and busy, as our coach from Chicago flew in to check up on the team. Therefore the following week of Semana Santa will be a much-needed break. Rarely anyone in Latin America works during the whole week, so our office is giving us off next Thursday and Friday. Pedro and I are flying to Colombia Sunday, will work there for a few days, and then head to the Caribbean coastal town of Santa Marta for a long weekend! Vamos a la playa!