Where In The World are Brian And Angela?!?: Family Vacation Part 2

Part 2b: Sandoval Lake, Madre de Dios
A real journey through Peru is not complete without experiencing the insane amount of diversity that the counrty encompasses. It is the third most biologically diverse country in the world, and first in variety of birds, fish, butterflies, orchids, medicinal plants; and second in primates. For an area just three times the size of California, Peru supports 84 of the 107 life zones and 28 of the 32 climates. And I never really comprehended this magnificence until travelling to the jungle. I have seen the coast, the dry forests, the mountains, and the cloud forests, but this is only two-thirds of the story. It´s hard to believe that one can travel from a scorching dry desert, through humid cool forests, to alpine tundra and glaciers, and end up in the largest jungle in the world - all within less than 2 hours in an airplane.

Getting onto the canoe to go to our jungle lodge.

Coming into Sandoval Lake. It is technically an oxbow lake, for my geography inclined readers.

For Joanie, the jungle was a welcome relief from the chilly climate of Cusco. For all of us, it was like being a kid again, seeing creatures and environments for the very first time. Kristyn´s uncanny organizing skills (we think her next career should be in a travel agency) landed us in a drift-wood constructed logde on an oxbow lake in a national reserve. We had to take a boat, walk 2 miles, and then canoe across a lake to arrive (cool, hugh?!) The conservation group that owns the logde helped the local farmers convert from making their living by exploiting and destroying the forest to eco-tourism. It is a non-profit, 60% of the proceeds going to local families and 40% going to conservation. The cool thing about the lake is that we were able to see aquatic as well as terrestial species, taking canoe rides and hiking through the forest. We saw river otters, caimans (South American crocs), macaws, tarantulas, leaf-cutter ants, sloths, turtles, tree frogs, monkeys, snakes, and incredible sunsets on the lake.

Kristyn, I LOVE you!!

An evening Pisco Sour with my pops ;)

Our guide was a very conscious and spiritually-minded woman, and helped us to appreciate the jungle through her eyes. What I liked about her most is that she wasn´t ashamed to share her strong energetic connection with the forest. So many Americans would be afraid of seeming ¨cheesy¨ or ¨granola¨ as we closed our eyes in the forest to listen and feel. But the purity of her appreciation wiped away these silly inhibitions and freed us to see things through her perspective. Maybe that´s why it was such a powerful experience for us. Either way, this will not be the last time!
Upon the somewhat sad retreat back to our homes, we stayed in Lima for two nights to slowly adjust back to civilization. It was really hard to leave my family again, especially knowing how truly blessed we are to have such a close and special relationship with each other. With a heavy heart, I made the trek back to Sicchez. But don´t worry mom, within a week things settled and went back to normal, as I´m sure is the same with you guys.