flowering vines in the amazon.

after the festival, we managed to squeeze in a few days at the rainforest. there, we observed the mating rituals of the bright red gallito-de-las-rocas (peru's national bird), plucked exotic flowers, visited villages, and interrupted the wars and daily rituals of leaf-carrying and army ants. we were treated to mist-draped landscapes, white cascades, bursts of rain, and entertaining wildlife. our trip was almost extended indefinitely, however, due to a series of disastrous car troubles. even though we had dished out the cash for a private vehicle, the van we received was clearly on its last legs. throughout the trip, we agonized through a total of seven flat tires, not to mention several hours of rapidly deflating ones, which our driver revived by stopping every ten minutes to manually pump in air. the "patches" they applied accomplished nothing; we soon grew familiar with the sound of flapping rubber.

the final day was the most eventful. the ascent back to cusco involved several hours of driving up narrow lanes along sheer cliff faces. we regularly passed wooden crosses that marked the points where others had met their unfortunate end. needless to say, our useless tires, "patched" after the blowouts of the previous night, did not last long on this terrain. after we ran out of intact tires, we camped out on the road trying to convince passing drivers (few and far between) to loan us a spare. one reluctant guy finally forked one over, but it didn't help much when another tire blew a couple hours later. by this time it was getting pretty dark out, which meant that no more cars would be passing by. our driver then had the brilliant idea of attemping to drive on the rim --- gunning it along a cliff on screeching metal. not good. after screaming at him to stop and then leaping from the van in terror, we were were forced to remain stranded in the darkness along the side of the road, while our guide went back to the nearest village, a distant three hours down, to try and phone for help. we passed the time trying to spot monkeys with flashlights and despairing of ever escaping the rainforest. about four hours later, the cavalry arrived in the form of a packed bus, the likes of which we had never encountered before. it was the last night bus out of the jungle, and thus so stuffed with people, some were crouching in the aisles. the seats were tight even for me, bunches of bananas dangled from the racks above our heads, every possible niche was crammed with firewood, sacks, & boxes, and the entire vehicle reeked of body odor, fish, & kerosene. on this moving disaster we finally exited the amazon, and started on the long dry road to cusco, during which we were blasted with so much dust, we had to wrap handkerchiefs around our faces in order to breathe. oh, and just for good measure...halfway along, this bus also got a flat tire. unbelievable.

we finally got back to our hostel at around 4am...nine hours after our scheduled arrival and two hours before we had to get up to get ready for our bus to lake titicaca. phew. even now, any mention of a possible flat tire makes my heart freeze. it's a good thing that excursion was worth all the trouble. la selva is a pretty fascinating ecosystem, all told. just be sure to go with good tires!!


a hike through cloud forest before descending into high forest.


left: a thingummy tree (i think those are coconuts but have no experience with these things). right: wild orchids!


a lonely, prehistoric scene.