June
21st
to 25th,
2018
Mostly
Sunny days. Cold at night, warm in the day.
June
21st
Up
and out on a very frosty morning at the Puiray Outdoor Centre, I go
for a long walk along the shoreline. I would have thought that waders
such as Lesser Yellowlegs would all be in the USA and canada by now
where they breed but no, there are six of them feeding along the
shallow margins. There are also a couple of Black-necked Stilts and
Andean Lapwings. An Andean Negrito is on a dried out previously
underwater area and there are masses of Andean Coots and Moorhens. A
few ducks, Puna and Yellow-billed Teal with Masked and Cinnamon
Ducks, are present in small numbers and there are around twenty
White-tufted Grebes. With just a couple of Silvery Grebes amongst
them I enjoy trying to get decent photographs of each. Finally a few
Andean Geese and gulls swim around.
After
a cup of coffee at the centre, I set off to try and find a TV nearby
to listen to the Peru vs France match. Cycling with all my gear as I
am really on my way to Cusco now, I fail to find a TV but instead
come across two workmen who have a loud radio. I ask the score, the
match having already started, and am saddened to know that Peru are
already 1 – 0 down. I decide to keep going towards Cusco. In fact I
decide to go down a dirt road and choose the wrong one. There are two
coming out of the village and I chpoose one that deteriorates into a
bumpy, rocky and occasionally very steep disaster of a pathway. Over
the other side of a deep valley I can see the dirt road I rejected
looking flat and smooth and maybe even cyclable! I continue.
After
passing a radio mast enclosure and after descending into a rather
beautiful valley, the chosen path crosses a stream via a shallow ford
and, after negotiating that and some deep mud, I push up a hill and
meet two women and a young boy, all of whom are looking after a small
herd of sheep with some cows and a few pigs. The women are knitting
as they stand watching their animals. The young boy is sitting on a
rug and beside him is a small solar panel attached to a small radio.
The radio is tuned into the match and I sit with all three to listen
and see whether Peru can equalise.
They
don't. They lose 1 – 0 and hence are out of the World Cup. So
disappointing that they haven't even scored a goal. Oh well, there is
still one group match left so maybe they can restore some pride and
beat Australia next week.
I
say goodbye at the end of the match and give a little money to say
thank you for letting me join them. The path goes up to a small
village and the road through it, a much better one, is good enough
that I can cycle if I am very careful and so I do so for around four
or five kilometres where it joins to the main Chinchero to Cusco
Road. It is all downhill from here and I quickly reach the town of
Poroy where I stop for some lunch.
From
here it is mostly uphill and it takes me a few hours to reach Cusco.
Diving down various side roads on the bike to get to the historical
centre of this wonderful, high altitude city, there are a lot of
dogs. Some of them bark and one in particular is extremely aggressive
and bares his teeth at me as I pass.
After
walking the heavy bike down a street with a really steep decline,
with both hand gripping the brakes, I reach the bottom and recognise
from previous visits where I am. I am just north of the main Plaza in
Cusco, Plaza Mejor del Cusco. I soon find a hostel I have stayed in
before and the young girl at the reception, Beronica, says she
remembers me. This I doubt as it was four years ago that I did last
stay here but then she says that she remembers my daughter and me
dancing with everyone. That's me alright. I stayed here last time in
2014 with Rebecca, my daughter.
Shown
to a room with three beds, I leave my things there and go out to find
food and an internet place.
June
22nd
Jungle
Jimmy and his soon to be wife, Gina have invited me to stay with them
for a few days and as I need to ask Jimmy a hell of a lot of
questions about packrafting the Madre de Dios river and about camping
in a rainforest, I gladly accept their wonderful invitation and get
around to their house for ten. Nearly the whole day is spent chatting
with Jimmy and writing notes about how to set up camp and how to
properly inflate a packraft. Jimmy is an ex-soldier and one of Peru's
best jungle survival experts. I know that I am in good hands.
June
23rd
I
am up early and despite it being very cold I go birding by
circumnavigating the wonderful Inca ruins of Saqsaywaman. Up at
Blanco Christo, the large white statue of Christ, I see a superb
Black-tailed Trainbearer sipping nectar from small flowers on the
bushes nearby. There are dozens of Rufous-collared Sparrows and a few
Band-tailed Seedeaters. All of a sudden all Eared Doves, Spot-winged
Pigeons and Rock Doves take to the air in panic as a superb Aplomado
Falcon flashes through. Puna Ibis and a few Andean lapwings are in a
field by the ruins.
I
am walking back to Jimmy and Gina's when I try to take a photograph
of the fabulous view over the city. My camera won't work. I try
again. Still no good. It is broken. At least it has happened now when
I can do something about it. It would have been a major disaster if
it had happened a week later whilst I was starting to descend the
famous birding spot that is the Manu Road.
June
24th
England
are playing Panama in the World Cup and the start is an early one
here in Peru. I run around Cusco trying to find a place to watch the
match. I even tweet the BBC to say that I can't find anywhere and
they publish the tweet on their live feed with a question headline
above it asking 'What the hell are you doing there?'
With
ten minutes to go before kick off I see a large TV screen in the
office of a hostel and go inside to ask if I can watch the match. The
owner, Richard, says of course and he even has someone bring me a cup
of rich coffee as I sit on a black leather settee and relax. A TV is
found and the match starts. England win 6 – 1 and it could have
been a lot more. 5 goals to the good at half time, England relax in
the second period and one can't blame them when the temperature at
the ground is above thirty degrees Celsius! I thank Richard at the
end of the match and return to Jimmy and Gina's to do some internet
work.
Today
is a massive festival day in Cusco and Jimmy is on security detail at
the Saqsaywaman site where thousands of people will watch as hundreds
of colourfully re-enactors will stage the Inca festival, Inti-Raymi .
. . The Festival of The Sun. Without a camera I decide to do some
important work to prepare for the Manu Rainforest instead of going to
the festival.
Jimmy
phones and asks me to bring him a couple of things and so I set off
up the very steep hill and join the throngs of people going in the
same direction. Once I have found Jimmy and give him what he
requested I bring, I go back down. I am just about to get to street
level when I am grabbed by a man. He shouts into my face, “You
haven't seen me for thirty years. I am Ian Smith!” Now Ian Smith
was a student of mine thirty years ago when I was a biology teacher
at a secondary scool in Wolverhampton in the UK called Coppice High
School. I look and can see the young Ian Smith in this man's
features. “It is you!” I exclaim. Amazing to meet him in Peru.
Such a coincidence and the usual phrase comes to mind as always at
such times. It's a small world after all.
June
25th
The
day is spent coordinating lodges in The Manu and shopping for a few
necessary items. Size eleven wellingtons are found, as are
long-sleeved t-shorts and long socks.
Green
Year list : 274 birds
average new birds to list per day : 3.19
birds
altitude
: 11,209 feet
