Beware the wild tomatoes....

We have made it back from the Jungle!  It was amazing and I could have stayed much longer, especially after I figured out that the fruit juice they were serving (that had a kechwa name that sounded like coconut) was in fact a yellow, wild tomato!  Those of you who know me know that I am allergic to tomatoes, but since I had no idea they were tomatos, I had been drinking the juice for half a day before I started throwing up!  No worries- they mystery was quickly solved, and I am doing much better!

Our jungle days were glorious.  We would arise much too early and head out for a very long (5-6ish hours) nature-watching excursion in the morning.  We would return to the lodge at about 11 to shower and rest a bit.  Lunch was at 1, and then siesta was from 2-3:30...ahhhh, I love to siesta in a hammock!  In the afternoon we would go on a briefer, less intense adventure, and then dinner was at 7.  After dinner, you could go out to do creepy night time things (which Claire will tell you lots about).  I did not do creepy night time things, because the night claire went out, I was throwing up and sleeping!

Despite all the noises, I slept soooo well in the jungle, tucked into my mosquito netting.  It was so incredibly dark, that if I woke in the middle of the night, I could figure out which way I was facing in my bed!  The stars were unbelievable, and the milky way was clearly visible.

Our guide, Pedro, clearly loves nature a little more than he loves tourists (tourists are sometimes loud and scare the nature), but he loves tourists plenty, and we saw many AMAZING things, including macaws, monkeys, giant rodents, tarantulas, toucans, etc.  Other highlights included swimming in the Tambopata river, getting our passports stamped at the river checkpoint, visiting a fruit farm, and many lovely boat rides.

Our tour group was fantastic.  The british couple were hysterical, because the woman wanted NOTHING to do with the jungle, and the man wanted lots to do with jungle.  The American couple were lovely, and the Danes were way tougher than us!  While in the Jungle, we realized how incredibly gross our clothes were.  We had them washed (by hand using biodegradable soap) at the lodge, and let me tell you, the woman who hand washed our pants should be Sainted for her work.

Now we are back in Cusco, where we were greeted heartily by our old fried Raul!  He took us briefly to another Inca site this afternoon, but it started HAILING (HAILING!!! HAILING!!!) while we were there, so we left quickly.  As Raul said, in Cusco, you can have 4 seasons in 1 hour.  So, we rushed back to the hotel for dry clothes and headed to a local market, where we bought and ate much deliciousness.  Now, we are resting a bit before heading out for dinner in Cusco.  We are determined tonight to not fall asleep before we eat dinner!

~Emily