May
16th,
2018
VERY
hot and sunny, no cloud. Sweltering again!
After
a night of disturbed sleep, disturbed by the frequent lorries coming
through the village at all times, I am disappointed when the workers
on the hostel's building work arrive to start at 6:15! Loud banging
and sawing to wake me up good and proper.
Screams
and cries outside my open bedroom window. A young girl has been
bitten by a dog. Every day I get barked at and chased by dogs and now
to see a young girl bitten by one is alarming. How many people get
bitten by these dogs. Don't get me wrong, I love dogs but it is
ridiculous how many vicious ones there are here in Peru. An old man
grabs the dog and takes him indoors. The girl runs off down the
street. Nothing else is done.
With
another very hot day ahead I set off and walk down the high street.
There are a lot of stray dogs and I don't want to be the next one on
the bit person list.
Over
the bridge unscathed, the road is of an excellent smooth quality
tarmac with some rock fall along the right hand edge. The landscape
is cowboy western with very tall cacti and small shrubby trees. Birds
are almost non-existent. A handful of green and white hummingbirds,
most likely White-bellied and Scrub Blackbirds are seen and a group
of four Bright-rumped Yellow Finches add a splash of colour, yellow.
The
tarmac disappears at a large flash flood gully and reappears again
once I have crossed a wooden log bridge. Obviously a new bridge for
the tarmac section of the road hasn't been built yet. About four
miles down the road, tarmac once more and with sections where
downhill cycling is speedy, safe and an absolute pleasure, the tarmac
abruptly stops and I have to back track through a sparsely inhabited
village. The small mudbrick and corrugated iron buildings have masses
of cacti everywhere around them and I wonder how children play in
such a place. I have to be careful myself as clumps of massed spined
pieces of cacti are on the paths as I trudge towards the old bridge.
Oh yes. You see by now I have found out why the tarmac stopped. A
brand new bridge is within days of completion and then the tarmac
road will go over a wonderful, large and no doubt expensive bridge.
After saying hello to families and a gentleman milking one of his
goats, which emits a strange pleasurable groan as he does so, I find
the old suspension bridge. First I am surrounded by eight curious men
who laugh at the cuddlies on the bike and all insist on shaking hands
with the twit who has them.
I
walk the bike along a dirt road section and on reaching the far end
of the new birdge a group of Peruvians are gathered for what reason I
do not know. One of them, a middle aged man, shouts “Hola Gringo!”
at me. “Gringo?” I reply. “Gringo!!!” I walk towards him and
the group laughing. “No Gringo . . . amigo!” And so I meet them
all, laugh with them all and explain how, why and where I am
travelling. Handshakes and laughs all around as I do my usual silly
handshake routine that embarrasses my daughter so much when we travel
together but people love it. A lady suggests a group photograph. My
pleasure. Photograph taken it is goodbye and I carry on.
The
road is flat. The road is smooth and the cycling is easy. Enjoy it
whilst you can Prezza. It won't last. It doesn't. The landscape by
now is in sharp contrast to the claustrophobia of the last week, with
it's towering cliffs and twisted rock formations, clinging roads high
above the river with ever present precipitous drops. Now it is wide
and expansive, the hills are soft both in rock type and colour and
the shades melt into each other with layer upon layer of pinks,
yellows and greys. There are orchards and one can see for miles. Now
the road starts to climb. This I am expecting and accept the
challenge of a ten mile ascent to the town of Huanta.
A
raptor on a high mudstone cliff has me confused. The fully grey head,
with no white areas and breast suggests a Roadside Hawk. It's
underparts below a well defined breast band has bright rufous barring.
An
American kestrel on a telegraph wire is easier. The push goes on. A
small dead, silvery snake is on the road. The first snake I have
seen.
Croaking Ground Doves, a favourite bird of mine, appear again
and still the relentless climb in extreme heat.
Birds
there might not be many of but there are plenty of butterflies,
including two that are dead by the side of the road. One is a
Monarch, I put it in my passport. The other is a beautiful black and
white Monarch like butterfly, which has been avoiding my camera for
days. There are yellow species, white species, Grizzled Skipper
species and the occasional blue. One species I do know and please
remember that Peru has more butterfly species than any other country
in the World, around 4,000 of them, is the Brazilian Lady, which
looks like a small Painted Lady with dark red instead of the orange.
There are lots of them.
Higher
still and around a bend in the road, I can at last see Huanta but it
looks a lot further away than I expected. I carry on pushing. A
small, green plastic bag floats by on the convectional breeze. Coming
across a bridge a young man with a long stick is carefully yet
confidently walking down the road. He is blind and his courage is
inspiring. I can't help but tell him how fantastic and amazing he is.
Huanta is still five miles or so away and he must have walked all the
way banging his stick against the curb to know where he was.
Incredible.
Eventually
I reach the town and after having negotiated a very steep hill I find
a very busy road with lots of motortaxis and cars. I ask which way
the town centre is and am pointed to the right. Cycling along with
the motortaxis, I pass one big plaza and then another. A hotel looks
a better bet than the cheap hostels. I want a shower desperately and
maybe a hotel will have hot water. It may even have the internet!
It
does. It has both and most of the rest of the afternoon and evening
are spent cleaning, well scrubbing myself and catching up on family
news. I do go down to the market and enjoy a plate of chicken, rice
and pasta but by early evening I am asleep, dog tired!
Green
Year list : 196 birds average new birds to list per day : 4.26
birds
Distance
walked : 19.28 miles
elevation
: up 2,710 feet, down 1,305 feet
altitude
: 8,667 feet
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