On Tuesday, November 24th, I found out about the Senior Class trip for my school. They were going to Tarapoto, in the jungle. I asked, casually, if I could go, using the wonderful excuse of being an exchange student who wants to see all of the country. To my surprise, I was granted permission. So, I bought my ticket, and we left the next day. This last minute stuff usually annoys me, but hey, I got to go on an extra vacation, so I can not complain.
Wednesday 25 November
We arrived in Tarapoto, Peru at 11 in the night on Wednesday. After getting to the hotel it was just shy of midnight, but we walked the three blocks from the hotel to the Plaza de Armas and ate Pollo a la Brasa for a late dinner. [Exciting day, I know.]
Thursday 26 November
After breakfast in the hotel, we all [9 students, 8 parents, 3 tour guides] piled in 2 buses and drove 2 hours to the city of Moyobomba. We drove through the prettiest scenery. Tarapoto is the ‘high Amazon’ area; so it is a combination of both Rainforest, and Mountains.
We hiked about 20 minutes to arrive at some waterfalls (whose name I forgot). We got to swim for almost an hour. The tour guide rented this tube thing, and we could use it to paddle into the center of the falling water, which would then expel us out again. Anyone who knows me will know how happy I was just to be in the water.
We ate a lunch traditional to the Jungle (Cecina and Talapia). After lunch, I called my parents, since it was Thanksgiving. “They” say that Thanksgiving is a time of year where American exchangees (and Canadian… did you know that Canada has a Thanksgiving??) miss their families a lot, since it is not celebrated anywhere else in the world. For me, it was mostly just weird. I was in the middle of the Jungle, eating Cecina (a type of Pork) in the bright sunshine. I also have plans to go the beach on Christmas and New Years, which is something only very very crazy people would do in Wisconsin.
We then went to the Plaza de Armas in Moyobomba to look at this Orchid sanctuary. It was really cool, but the best part was the parrots. Parrots are awesome. We also ate Chupetes de Anguaje, which is a weird, fruit-based type of popsicle.
We then drove about 10 minutes outside of the city to a hot water spring place. The water was awesome.
We got back to the hotel at about 12:30… Que sueno!
Friday 27 November
We left the hotel we were staying at in the morning, and moved to a resort. After getting the rooming arrangements sorted out (mucho drama!), we left for another 2 hour bus ride to La Laguna Azul (The Blue Lake). On of the coolest parts of this journey, was that we had to cross a river via ferry.
We took a boat turn around the lake to see all the pretty trees and stuff. It is also called Lago Sauce because there are a lot of Sauce Trees around the perimeter of the lake.
(Me and Geneva, the other exchagee in my school from Canada; this was the trip for her class that I just sort of ended up going on)
We got back early to the hotel (7ish) and spent some time in the pool. We were hoping to go out to a Disco or something, but the parent would not let us, so instead we sat around and gossiped and played truth or dare.
Saturday 28 November
Saturday was our only day of rest. We spent the morning lounging around the hotel. We swam, and then went canoeing in this cool little lake, which had a small island inhabited by monkeys in the middle.
At noon, the party threw a party for an anniversary. It was my 4 month anniversary since when I arrived in Peru! (And the hotel’s 15th year, but who cares about that?) There was a cool cake and free Pisco Sour :)
We went out for lunch and walked around the Plaza for a bit. To return, we used a very authentic mode of transportation for Tarapoto, Mototaxi, so named because they are motorcycles with a sort of cart attached in the back. Look. I think they are pretty cool.
After lunch, we changed hotels again, to a different resort. We rode horses and bikes for a bit, and then swam some more. We had pizza at the hotel, and then spent about two hours getting ready to go to the Discoteca :)We got there at 11… Boring! They started playing good music at about midnight, and we stayed until 3 (as did allll the parents..)
Sunday 29 November
We were all obviously realllllyyyy tired from being out so late the day before, but I got up at 6:30 to go to the market with all the moms to buy some traditional food to bring back to Lima. The rest of the group joined us at 10 to go to the Waterfalls of Ahuashiyacu. We only had to walk for about five minutes, but the tour guide stopped us a lot to explain. When we finally got to the waterfall, I was astounded. I can not begin to describe how beautiful it is in real life. This photo will have to try to display the sheer awesomeness of the waterfall, until you all have the chance to go (better be soon!).
Geneva, the tour guide, his son and I were the only one in our group who wanted to swim, but that did not stop us. We only got to swim about 10 minutes, because it started raining and the rest of the group were wimps XD.
After the waterfalls, we went to the small city of Lamas (said how we would say llamas [the animal]). The tour guide gave us a description of their Seal of Arms (which contains: a drum, a flute, and a Pineapple. We went to a few artisans shops to look for souvenirs. I bought a couple things, mostly stuff I plan on using to decorate my dorm at college (UC hopefully!) next year.
Unfortunately, this was the last event of our vacation. We left that night at 10, and got back to Lima (to our school) at midnight.
P.S. Also, I just have to brag for a second. Remember that National Novel Writing Month thing I mentioned in my last blog?
Yeah. I Won. =DDD
“Winning” by the way, only entails writing more than 50,000 and verifying it before midnight on the 30th. I wrote 50,153 before the 25th. I feel accomplished, even more so than last year, since this time I completed the entire plot. It needs a LOT of editing, but you ought to look for it in a couple of years ;)
P.P.S. Tomorrow I am going to CUZCO!!! That is where Machu Picchu is!!! ahhh! Dream come ture much??? I think so!
P.P.P.S. More photos on facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019857&id=1602540165&l=36be2fd7b1
