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| A Peruvian Moto-Taxi |
We got up at 5:45 AM and joined the others for a breakfast buffet, returning to the lobby with our luggage at 7:30 for a dash across the street to the airport and our LAN flight on an 319 Airbus to Tarapoto. We emerged from the smoggy haze of Lima and crossed the snow-capped Andes. I was sitting next to a middle-aged woman who was returning home on her first flight ever. She was quite scared and crossed herself repeatedly. I chatted with her in my pidgin Spanish which seemed to reassure her.
We flew over the eastern Andean foothills, emerald green forest, rivers and farmland. We landed in Tarapoto, elevation 860’, very warm and humid, and gathered our luggage. My seatmate came over with her son and gave me a big hug for helping her survive the trip!!
The ten of us tour participants, John Rowlett and Pepe Rojas, our leaders, and Maggie, from the Field Guides office, climbed aboard our very comfortable bus. Maggie is a travel agent and got to come along at the last minute when a client canceled - one of the perks of working there! We noticed one of the main forms of transportation here is the Moto-Taxi - very colorful motorcycles attached to a 3-4 seater carriage.
We drove a short ways and started walking along a dirt road through farmland and jungle. This is the hottest part of the trip and it was very hot! We spotted several terrific birds such as the Bluish-fronted Jacamar, an iridescent blue-green bird with chestnut belly resembling a cross between a hummingbird and a kingfisher. Through a miscommunication we lost the bus and spent 30 minutes finding it before heading to lunch. We have another van carrying food and supplies and it had stopped at an overlook with a lovely view of the río Mayo.
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| cleaning up after the rain-interrupted lunch!! |
Several tables had been set up forming a single long table where we had fresh rolls with various cheeses, tomatoes, avocado & cold meats. We had just settled into our lunch when we could see a large roil of rain plowing down the river towards us! At first it felt great to have the cooling rain, but then it turned into a tropical cloudburst and we beat a retreat into the humid bus! It continued to rain for the next three hours as we drove along the highway towards Moyobamba. We would have stopped at various points to bird but it was hopeless. The rain finally stopped and we could see a great double rainbow spreading across the hills! We stopped briefly at a small bridge crossing a deep narrow chasm in which we could just see some Oil Birds roosting. These 19” brown birds erupt noisily from a cave just at sunset and fly great distances in search of fruit. We saw this happen many years ago in Venezuela near a cave around which an amphitheatre had been built to watch the amazing sight.
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| rio Mayo |
We had an hour to clean up and joined the others for dinner at 7:30 The menu was large and varied. Bob ordered pollo a la plancha, grilled chicken with French fries and I ordered a local specialty soup and papas a la huancaina, cold potatoes with a sauce of blended orange peppers, crackers, spices, and Peruvian cheese - a favorite of mine from the greatly-missed Papagallo’s restaurant in SB. The dishes came out slowly and erratically….I got the potatoes which were fantastic, but I was told at 8:30 that a main ingredient was missing for my soup and eventually at 9 I got a bowl of good but plain chicken soup!
No time to lose as we have to meet at 4:30 AM in the lobby with bags packed!!! I will have to post this blog tomorrow night as it’s ten already!
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