CLARE:
I'm so thrilled that, this late in the trip, we have had some of the best days for me. I'd always dreamed of going to Machu Picchu (funny to find out that my father has too!). We saw it in a perfect way - not from the classic spot on the hill, or at sunrise, but from afar, from the top of Putucusi, a neighbouring mountain, after a 2000ft climb up a steep, rocky path and rickety wooden ladders attached to near vertical slopes. Across the valley we could see the ruins of the Inca city, clinging to the narrow ridge, stone terraces carved into the mountain to support it. The thing that struck me was 'why?' And the truth is no one really knows. The tour we did the following day around the ruins remained full of unanswered questions - they can only guess. Its mystery, position and hints at grandeur give it a majestic and enthralling atmosphere.
But even this didn't compare to how much I enjoyed our trip to the jungle. Bus, flight, bus, 3 hour motorized canoe ride and a walk took us to the remote and beautifully simple Refugio Amazonas on the Tambopata river. This tributary of the Amazon winds its way through Peru and Bolivia before joining the great river at Manaus, dropping its gold heavy silt as it goes. The banks look like a text book cross section of rainforest - dense darkness rising to a canopy carpet and the giants of the emergent layer towering above, occasionally bright with colourful foliage. There were big spiders, gigantic ants, huge leafs, and towering climbs (the boys and Lance both climbed ropes up to a platform 100ft up a brazil nut tree, I only managed half way before terror kicked in; and we climbed a wavering canopy tower for sunrise one morning). The mornings were early, 4.30 am, to catch the animals - great, brightly coloured macaws at the clay lick - and the dusks busy looking for cayman in the river and ox bow lake. We ate delicious food at rustic Hogwarts style long tables, lit by kerosene lamp, but my happiest moment was lying under the mosquito net, Lance and the boys breathing sleepily in the bamboo walled room with only a curtain for a door, the wall at my head an empty space so that the jungle was almost touching my pillow, the Milky Way like a fountain of white in the sky and the sounds of the forest lulling us to sleep. I didn't want to leave.
We shared Peru with a family from Wisconsin and their Peruvian sister in law and her sister. You bond quickly over experiences like these and it turned out to be a bonus to have company and share it all. Judy provided us with our funniest moment when we were walking back to the lodge in deepest darkness save for small ring of light from torches, echoing our guide's warning cries of 'Root!' 'Mud!' 'Tree' ... being in the middle of the rainforest, the constant chorus of this soon reduced us all to hysterics.
I don't feel I've quite got a grip on the Peruvian cultural and social history. The Inca civilisation is so famous, but at its height only lasted for under 100 years. The architecture, language, religion are all heavily descended from Spain, but we couldn't work out if the population felt that they were indigenous, of Spanish descent or Peruvian. Our guide, **** told us that these divisions are only just beginning to melt away, and most people acknowledge they are a mixture, and are gaining a sense of national pride as Peruvian.
Now we are in Ecuador and our thoughts are turning to home. We're running out of steam - is that because we know the end is near or because 6 ½ months is enough? Not that we've stopped - we've had a salsa lesson in Quito; gazed at the perfect volcanic cone of Cotapaxi, its slopes dripping with snow like icing; bought ponchos for the boys at the Otavalo handicraft market and hiked around Cuicocha crater lake and we have whale watching and surfing lessons on the coast to come. Ecuador feels smaller, less developed, more arid than where we were in Peru. There's less influence of both the Spanish and the Inca empires here, it has a much more indigenous feel and therefore seems somehow more 'authentically South American'.
Our journey is nearing its end. We have to face real life now - with all its routines. We are all looking forward to seeing family and friends, but I certainly feel anxious at adapting to 'normal' life again. It has been a very special adventure.