Peru

We had lots of fun with the monito that we met this morning in Pilcopata. And he had lots of fun with us, too. Little bugger couldn't help but show off his acrobatic skills, by swinging through the branches of his favourite tree. Luckily, we got him on video. Check it out.

The real part of our jungle tour began this morning, with a visit to a farm and tourist retreat just outside Pilcopata. There, we met the most gorgeous monito ("little monkey") you ever saw. Don't know what his name was; but all he wanted to do was climb up all of us, wrap himself around our necks, and cuddle up to our heads forever. He took a particular liking to me (because of all my hair, I guess — something of a jungle growing on my head), which unfortunately didn't turn out so well for me later tonight. Also very fond of bananas, of course.

This evening in Pilcopata, we were wandering around the main (and only) street of town, when we saw an ambulancia parked in the middle of the road, lights blazing and loudspeakers blaring. The driver was saying through the loudspeaker that they were offering Yellow fever vaccinations to the locals, on-the-spot, and 100% free of charge. As Pilcopata is on the edge of the Peruvian jungle, I guess it is technically a Yellow fever endemic area. Great to see that they're making a real effort to try and curb the prevalence of this illness, and to protect the locals from contracting it.

Also known as Cassava, yuca is a starchy, soft white vegetable that's eaten in many parts of the world, but more than anywhere else in its birthplace of tropical South America. It tastes like a bland potato, it's usually served boiled, and it's surprisingly filling. I ate quite a lot of yuca during my jungle trip in Pilcopata, where it's a staple food for every meal of the day.

Today began our three-day trip to Parque Nacional del Manú, and to the jungle town of Pilcopata therein. The trip has been organised by Ashley, who has someone in her family that works for the tour company that we're with, Selva Inka. The people on the trip are: myself; Ashley; Wil; Stephan; and Chris. Our first day consisted, more than anything else, of a very long, very trying bus ride from Cusco to Pilcopata.

Since I last reported on the status of the new Hampy web site, there has been a lot of progress. I've been working on the site pretty much every day over the past week (apart from my three days of rafting), and the site is basically functioning, set up, and ready to go. However, more work is needed (particularly in the area of custom templating) before it's 100% good to launch. So it looks like I'll be hanging around for at least a few days after my jungle trip next week, to finish off the loose ends for the site.

Jacinta is a wild and crazy girl (in her early 30s) from the dear town of Bendigo, Australia. I met her tonight at Jesus's birthday party; she's known Jesus for about 7 years, since she first came to Cusco and got taught Spanish by him. In her time, she's worked as a ceramics maker and as an international tour guide (among other things). But now, she's having a break from all that, and she's returned to Cusco to help out with whatever she can at Amigos. Oh, and did I mention that her singing and dancing gets more out of control with each beer she consumes?

Having got back from my three-day rafting trip yesterday, I was in Cusco today, in time for Jesus's birthday. In honour of the occasion, Jesus held a grand old fiesta this evening, which began with copious amounts of beverages in his apartment (none of which I could drink, due to my still being on antibiotics), and which continued with dancing (and more beverages) out on the town. A great celebration for my friend and school principal, with many of his oldest and dearest friends coming from far and wide, to be there and to celebrate with him.

As of tonight, my beloved little blue Nokia 3100 mobile phone is MIA (Missing In Action). I think it fell out of my pocket, when I got out of a taxi this evening. Very sad, and very much a pain in the a$$: people have been calling me (and vice versa) on it every day while I've been in Cusco, and would have continued doing so for the remainder of my time here, were my phone not lost. I've already tried calling and SMSing it numerous times, but so far, with no response. I still have hopes of recovering it, but the chances of that happening around here are pretty slim. Looks like I might have to say goodbye to my phone, and move on.

I've known about the Beit Jabad (that's Chabad house, for us English-speakers) in Cusco since my first week here, but I haven't had the time or the motivation to pay it a visit, until tonight. When I finished my three-day Apurímac rafting trip this afternoon, some of the Israelis on the trip suggested that I pop in tonight, for an Erev Shabbat shul service and dinner. So, tonight I had my first proper Friday night Jewish experience here in Cusco. The service was beautiful, the food was (kosher yet) delicious, and the company was (all-Israeli yet) friendly.