Lima and Peruvian Amazon

Our South American journey began when we landed in Lima, Peru on Feb 7th.  We spent a few days exploring Miraflores - Lima's most pleasant, safe and "posh" neighborhood.

PARQUE DEL AMOR in Miraflores

Views of the Pacific Ocean from lush green parks with locals embracing gave new meaning to the term "Latin lovers".

our first grocery store purchases, ready to be enjoyed on the stony surfer "beach". From left, granadilla, avocado, lime, maracuya 

Yum! Slurping up slimey, tart, crunchy seeds from this Andean passion fruit (granadilla)

Shakka brah!

Meet our future pet

He's a Peruvian hairless dog, an ancient breed from pre-Incan cultures

Some have Mohawks and wear Sun protection garment

We took a flight from Lima to the heart of the Amazon rainforest.

Flying into Iquitos, Peru, a dirty, noisy city in the Amazon, we saw a lot of the actual largest river in the world(above) and trees and tiny indigenous villages from the  sky. 

A small boat took our group from Iquitos, down the Amazon and up one of its tributaries, Rio Momón. It is on this calm riverfront where we spent the most peaceful and spiritually fulfilling 8 days of our life. 

The local food at the jungle sanctuary retreat was nourishing and we never tired of the exotic fruits, avocado, and fresh fish.

Quinoa, fresh vine-ripened avocados, happy chicken eggs were the cornerstone of our breakfasts at the retreat. 

Jungle drums used by indigenous peoples to communicate across miles

We took a boat down river and met an indigenous local tribe called the Bora.

Immediately upon arrival, the tribe folk adorned us with handmade jewelry. We later learned that this was part of an expert sales strategy.

Oh yeah, boobs were out. We danced the locomotion, Amazon style, all around the "maloka" (hand-built ceremonial structure made only from forest materials found within walking distance)

They painted our faces and shared headdresses with Macau feathers.  Unfortunately they didn't have a XXL for me. 

 Bora people have great respect for the rainforest and are animists, believing all things have a spirit, including the trees and animals.

Our next day trip was to an ethical (I asked) animal sanctuary located on the Amazon. 

Immediately after disembarking the boat, this friendly primate jumped onto Jody, our favorite Irishman. 

"Hola!" He said with an accent

This guy was making the loudest squeak and jerking his head up violently, reminding me of the raptors in Jurassic Park. 

Our first encounter with a sloth was epic.  Meganita had no clue that a sloth was a real creature but it's association as slow-moving and lazy was on point.

Not so sure about this creature at first as he was plunged into my arms by the caretaker in the background. The sloth and I shared a real moment, gazing into each other's eyes and smelling each other's breath. 

Thought bubble: "Is his butthole on me? Nope. Wait, where is his butt? Why is there no sign of his naughty parts?"

Although slow, his little claws are sharp and his muscles strong. Their instinct is to latch onto stuff, as demonstrated here on my head and tricep. I think this is the point where he transferred some fire ants from his arm to my hair. 

This grinning happy sloth face resembled  a combo of ET and Chewbacca as he slowly dug his claws into the back of my skull. 

RAINFOREST RAINBOW

Serene clouds reflected on glassy river

The sanctuary retreat had trails all over the jungle and we enjoyed a brisk walk until the mosquitos pounced!

One of many body parts devoured by those devilish skeetos

Lots of time spent relaxing in paradise and pondering soothing jungle sounds

banana blossoms dripping with clear nectar

Bobinsana - appeared to have glowing flowers

Happy Valentine's Day!

This sky deck was the most incredible place to gaze up at the stars during clear nights

Moustache face hanging out on the dining deck - river was where we went swimming almost daily

MEGANITA & DON HOWARD, who owns the sanctuary and taught us too many things to share in blog form 

After 8 nights in the jungle, we flew back to Lima.   Our good pal Dickie (or Richard as he is known among his fellow Christians) was in Lima on a mission trip.  We felt grateful to join them and help build wheelchairs which they distributed to disadvantaged locals in need.

Dickie making a difference and sporting patriotic sneaks

These super sustainable and easy-to-maintain contraptions included sawed off plastic deck chairs and bicycle tires, were very light-weight and assembled in about 10 minutes. 

The mission trip crew from DC was welcoming and it was fun to contribute our energy to the cause (about 200 wheelchairs built that day)

The chair parts are manufactured by freewheelchairmission.org

One of the tastiest fruits we discovered was Cherimoya

While it looks green and strange, the inner texture is a white creamy custardy sweet perfection. 

typical Peruvian grocery store produce section

Best meal so far - cebiche pescado del dia (fresh fish of the day in lime juice, onion, hot peppers) with sweet potatoes and fresh corn & tacu tacu al Mar (rice & beans with fresh seafood)

All cebiche is served with sauteed crunchy salty corn nut things. The spicy warm beans were a surprise at lunch today. 

Tomorrow we leave Lima behind and head from sea level to Cusco at 11,200 feet 

This blog was created on a kindle so sorry for all the typos and lack of creativity.   By the next blog, we hope to switch to WordPress and it should look more legit 

Ready to Launch

Hola everybody! Megan AND Scott here. Since the last blog post, Scott left his job and we moved out of Germany (stay tuned for the delayed Shanktastic Euro blog final highlights from Oct-Dec).  

Scott has embraced this hopefully brief phase of unemployment by growing out all his hair.

One month of facial hair growth (longest ever) with hopes to blend in below the Equator

We spent the last month in Charleston visiting with wonderful friends and family and preparing for our upcoming trip.  While we miss our friends from Germany and the bakeries, we have enjoyed being back in the South where strangers smile and the sun shines bright!

 Now we're a day away from launching to Lima, Peru where we will begin our 13 week adventure around South America.

These are the places we've researched and will likely visit.  

Packing for this trip was challenging but we have managed to fit everything we need into 3 backpacks and 1 waterproof duffle with legit rollerblade wheels.  

Absolute minimal gear for hopping on/off chicken buses.  We've brought far more on 2-night trips in Europe.  Please note the manny pack.

NERD ALERT!  I had to show the tech gear we are taking.  We decided to not bring a laptop for security and ease of transport.  Instead we have (clockwise from bottom/left) an iPhone each with extra battery, adapters and USB chargers (they charge everything but the cameras), waterproof rugged camera, one pocket point-and-shoot cam (not shown b/c it took this pic), iPod with three ear buds, wireless device for reading USB drives and SD cards, two iphone and two micro USB cables, Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Fire (for reading and blogging), big solar batter pack for long journeys without power outlets, small MP3 player, headphones, hundreds of GB of storage for pics, movies and extra tunes.   

We purchased a few new items since proper gear is essential for this journey into the unknown.  It's too cold right now in MD to go outside and practice so just picture me in the wilderness.

What the hell!? 

Oh, I think I see...

No way!  

Yes, it is!!  Perfect for trekking and tiny bus toilets.  

I did not pack my hair straightener since we are trying to be "minimalists" so this will be the last time my hair is not crazy and curly until I make a new friend and borrow her straightener. 

Last night in the USA til May

 We are super excited to speak Spanish with the locals and meet other travelers!  Towards the end of the trip, we will volunteer on an organic farm in Argentina and hopefully become master gardeners.   We appreciate any tips for this journey so please leave comments if you have any advice about Peru, Bolivia, Chile or Argentina.

  Muchas Gracias!

Unlike our weekend warrior mentality in Europe where we had most travel time planned in detail, we're embracing a different philosophy for this journey.  

"A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving" - Lao Tzu